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[RedStep]

Does this make any sense? Somehow Microsoft did exactly what Sony was already doing with Rocket League since launch and turned it into a knock against Sony.

What are you talking about? Nobody's "knocking" anybody by saying "the ball's in their court". Sony has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Microsoft has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Now Microsoft is open to cross-platform play with the PS4. If Sony is as well, they should be able to figure it out.

Of course there are rules, every part of the development process has rules. You don't just say "here's our network, go nuts" unless you don't like having a network much. The goal should be to accomplish true cross-platform play, not making sure the other team doesn't get a "point" against your team.

 

[KingV]

I really would like to see full Xbox Live cross functionality in console-heavy online shooters for PC, with chat, parties, and so on.

I'm ok if they make it controller mandatory to be able to do so, but is love to be able to buy like... Titanfall 2 on PC knowing that I won't have a dwindling player base in 6 months. Now I just buy them on Xbox, but given a choice, I want the better PC graphics and the better player base.

 

[LewieP]

Judging by Yoshida's statement about how MMORPG's are run,it sounds like the policy in question is the one about there having an option to play with only xbox people aswell. Which we knew about from the start.

I don't think it's a bad policy, I'm glad it's there for when games have an advantage on PC. Of course it sucks that it doesn't really fit an MMO, I think MS should make certain exceptions in that case.

If you're talking about because PC has keyboard and mouse:

• Microsoft are adding Keyboard and Mouse support to the Xbox One.
• Some players on PC use a controller.

The solution for the problem you highlighted is to allow players to toggle between "Only controller input", "Only keyboards and mouse input" and "I don't care".

This system would not require an option to "only play with Xbox players".

 

[Jrs3000]

What are you talking about? Nobody's "knocking" anybody by saying "the ball's in their court". Sony has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Microsoft has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Now Microsoft is open to cross-platform play with the PS4. If Sony is as well, they should be able to figure it out.

Of course there are rules, every part of the development process has rules. You don't just say "here's our network, go nuts" unless you don't like having a network much. The goal should be to accomplish true cross-platform play, not making sure the other team doesn't get a "point" against your team.

Best post so far. Hopefully they can work out a agreement to allow it. This would bold well for future MMOs once standards are set by both parties.

 

[Chris1]

If you're talking about because PC has keyboard and mouse:

• Microsoft are adding Keyboard and Mouse support to the Xbox One.
• Some players on PC use a controller.

The solution for the problem you highlighted is to allow players to toggle between "Only controller input", "Only keyboards and mouse input" and "I don't care".

This system would not require an option to "only play with Xbox players".

KBM on Xbox is just a bullet point very few people are actually going to pull them out to use it to play games lol. If they were going to do that they would most likely be PC gamers. Not every game will support it either.

A toggle for inputs would be just the same as only play on xbox basically in this scenario, there's no real difference. MMO's want all their playerbase on the same worlds, not split. Having different worlds depending on your input method is still splitting them. So nothing would change here.

 

[twobear]

I wonder what the nature of the regulations is, whether they're technical or merely formal.

 

[LewieP]

KBM on Xbox is just a bullet point very few people are actually going to pull them out to use it to play games lol. If they were going to do that they would most likely be PC gamers.

A toggle for inputs would be just the same as only play on xbox basically in this scenario, there's no real difference. MMO's want all their playerbase on the same worlds, not split. Having different worlds depending on your input method is still splitting them. So nothing would change here.

I agree it won't be the bulk of the userbase, but MS will obviously still need to design a solution for it.

I never said anything about MMOs not wanting to split their userbase. I never even mentioned that in the post you replied to.

 

[Justified]

Judging by Yoshida's statement about how MMORPG's are run,it sounds like the policy in question is the one about there having an option to play with only xbox people aswell. Which we knew about from the start.

I don't think it's a bad policy, I'm glad it's there for when games have an advantage on PC. Of course it sucks that it doesn't really fit an MMO, I think MS should make certain exceptions in that case.

Maybe something to due with requiring XBL, while FFXIV has it own sub also

 

[...Scatter...]

We have no idea what the policies on either side are, so at this point I'm just going to blame both Sony and Microsoft.

Yep. Love the fanboyish accusations by folks with zero knowledge on the matter. I know that I know nothing about how this works so I withhold judgement. Sony never said we'd do it but MS is restricting us. Also FFXIV was a Mattrick era launch and not indicative of what's happening today. I'm sure it's just hard as hell for both sides to make it work with little financial incentive to get it done.

 

[Chris1]

I agree it won't be the bulk of the userbase, but MS will obviously still need to design a solution for it.

I never said anything about MMOs not wanting to split their userbase. I never even mentioned that in the post you replied to.

Splitting the user base is probably why it's not happening though. At least if I'm correct about it being the xbox one only option. Yoshida specifically said they don't understand how MMO's work, and the only real difference from MMO's and other games is they kind of need their playerbase all in the same servers and not being split because of X and Y.

Of course it could be an entirely different rule but that one seems likely at least. Another MMO I played asked MS about porting their game to Xbox 360,though they didn't allow cross play then, they pretty much said they weren't willing to split the userbase so it won't be going to consoles.

Maybe something to due with requiring XBL, while FFXIV has it own sub also

DCUO has a subscription and requires XBL aswell, so they definitely allow that. I don't see why they'd stop allowing it just because there's cross play involved.

DCUO has their own servers on XB1 though and said they can't do cross play, which could be for the same reason as FF14/Above. But that's DCUO making exceptions for Xbox, I'm guessing FF14 doesn't want to do that.

 

[CountAntonius]

You guys realize the whole "ball in Sony's court" thing was regarding Rocket League right? Why does this game get a pass from Microsoft? No crossplatform communication other than quick chat, no visible avatars from other services and dlc purchases being separated by platform.


My guess is an MMO requires more communication than quick chat meaning Msoft can't control it and the big one is probably content being bought out of the Live ecosystem being brought into the live ecosystem.

 

[Rymuth]

Your move, Sony

 

[Justified]

Splitting the user base is probably why it's not happening though. At least if I'm correct about it being the xbox one only option. Yoshida specifically said they don't understand how MMO's work, and the only real difference from MMO's and other games is they kind of need their playerbase all in the same servers and not being split because of X and Y.

Of course it could be an entirely different rule but that one seems likely at least. Another MMO I played asked MS about porting their game to Xbox 360,though they didn't allow cross play then, they pretty much said they weren't willing to split the userbase so it won't be going to consoles.


DCUO has a subscription and requires XBL aswell, so they definitely allow that. I don't see why they'd stop allowing it just because there's cross play involved.

DCUO has their own servers on XB1 though and said they can't do cross play, which could be for the same reason as FF14/Above. But that's DCUO making exceptions for Xbox, I'm guessing FF14 doesn't want to do that.

DCUO is F2P

 

[Chris1]

DCUO is F2P

It's F2P but there's a membership subscription aswell

 

[Justified]

It's F2P but there's a membership subscription aswell

Required or not (didnt used to be)? Like FFXIV?

 

[Chris1]

Required or not (didnt used to be)? Like FFXIV?

It's not required but I don't think that'd make a difference. It's still another subscription on top of XBL.

 

[jaypah]

Seems like the ball is in both MS and Sony's court. Neither seems to have a problem with PC but console to console cross-play in this day and age is going to take a mutually agreed upon contract from both.

 

[Orayn]

Seems like the ball is in both MS and Sony's court. Neither seems to have a problem with PC but console to console cross-play in this day and age is going to take a mutually agreed upon contract from both.

Yeah, this is what I've gathered. They both have their own rules for cross platform MP and those won't necessarily coincide for every game.

 

[Dyson Industries]

Great way to start a thread....

Seems like a legitimate question to me, especially considering their track record.

 

[rakkadakka]

why is there always i giant fucking asterisk to go along with every MS announcement ?

Oh boy.


Well Op let's take a moment to think about why there might be rules with letting games talk between multiple networks.

 

[Galactic Barret]

So, that means there is hope for a FF14 launch on XBO?

Thats good. Time to bend the rules MS.

I've always wanted Cross-platform Online gaming. I don't understand why it hasn't happened yet; Its good for everyone involved, I would imagine.

 

[Warablo]

Was pretty obvious to me when MS announced it but didn't have any announcements of games that would be using this new policy.

The simple fact that they want a user togglable option of "Play with everyone" and "Play with only other people on Xbox" is obviously going to break things for many game types.

Allowing cross platform multiplayer to happen is one thing, being open enough so that actually implementing it is practical for more developers is an entirely different matter.

Microsoft is obviously the roadblock, rather than Sony. Sony actually have cross platform multiplayer already implemented in a range of third party games.

I wouldn't want cross network play unless this was an option. Especially with PC. In fact, I would like filters of play with other consoles, then play with everyone (PC & console), or Xbox One only.

I think people are forgetting that they would also need to release updates simultaneously if there's cross network play. Which could get held up by Sony and Microsoft.

 

[DrkSage]

Oooooh so this is what Phil was talking about.

So if wasn't a deal huh? More like MS being to restrictive.

 

[CountAntonius]

I wouldn't want cross network play unless this was an option. Especially with PC. In fact, I would like filters of play with other consoles, then play with everyone (PC & console), or Xbox One only.

I think people are forgetting that they would also need to release updates simultaneously if there's cross network play. Which could get held up by Sony and Microsoft.

Rocket League get's slower updates cause of this. Luckily Psyonix is great about it and delivers huge updates but for other games i could see this as a definite downside.

 

[Lanrutcon]

You'd have to be pretty naive to think MS would just play ball without a mountain of demands. Pushing their tech comes first, always.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

a policy have regulations? Gasp*

Really though, not surprised and kind of taken back saying its ms fault when they all are in negotiation. Not a mandate for ms to remove this or that. They are asking them to waive certain things or change things cause reasons.

 

[LukasTaves]

They didn't tell, but I guess was Ms requirement that "xbox live users should always have the option to play only with other xbox live users if they want". That obviously doesn't gel well with a MMO.

 

[tearsintherain]

I thought it might be Windows 10 and/or UWP store apps only, but doesn't Rocket League do cross play from within steam?

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

I thought it might be Windows 10 and/or UWP store apps only, but doesn't Rocket League do cross play from within steam?

Yes.

 

[LukasTaves]

KBM on Xbox is just a bullet point very few people are actually going to pull them out to use it to play games lol. If they were going to do that they would most likely be PC gamers. Not every game will support it either.

They haven't announced anything, but I assume they are just making a platform feature since they have to support anyway on Pc.

On the upside, phil did say that with mouse and keyboard support they would try to get some pc only games ported to xbox, so that's a nice plus.

 

[Kagari]

I imagine they still want a cut of the subscription fees or something.

 

[Moon_frogger]

I'm not sure about FFXIV - haven't touched it in a while - but for Sony/PC crossplay I'm engaged in there are two major grievances with Sony for all the players:
- Sony doesn't allow using elsewhere-created account for PS4 client;
- Sony doesn't allow real-money purchases to be done anywhere but PS Store.

While both aren't really nice, it's still acceptable for most of the players. Developers also mentioned about other restrictions from Sony, like displayed technical information regulations (no ping/fps info) etc, but that wasn't official (support forums), so I can't say if true.

Now, having said that, I wonder what other things MS can require.

Neither of these points are true for ffxiv. Besides, the dev said ages ago it was Microsoft restrictions that prevented the game from coming to that platform. Not to mention the numerous other Devs who've spoken out on the issue and I'm shaking my head wondering why people are still 'speculating' as to the reason we don't have cross platform games on Microsoft consoles.

 

[deadscreensky]

What are you talking about? Nobody's "knocking" anybody by saying "the ball's in their court". Sony has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Microsoft has supported cross-platform play with the PC, yes. Now Microsoft is open to cross-platform play with the PS4. If Sony is as well, they should be able to figure it out.

Of course there are rules, every part of the development process has rules. You don't just say "here's our network, go nuts" unless you don't like having a network much. The goal should be to accomplish true cross-platform play, not making sure the other team doesn't get a "point" against your team.

Great post.

The idea that you'd have no regulations at all for something like this is absolutely insane. Every party involved is going to have regulations. The real question is if they are too restrictive or not, and that's really hard for outsiders like ourselves to guess at.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Looks at thread creator.

Looks at last paragraph.

Good too see you wanted to start a decent discussion OP.

 

[madmackem]

Looks at thread creator.

Looks at last paragraph.

Good too see you wanted to start a decent discussion OP.

I'm pointing out what many were saying at the time and how silly it was.

 

[onanie]

Ball's in your court now, Sony.

 

[tuna_love]

it would be nice if the ball was in everyones court