The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, Turn that crown upside down

Zenimax’s plans to take Tamriel to consoles alongside a microtransaction-fuelled, subscription-free business model. Hopefully feverish fans of the freeform role-player franchise those who have yet to sample TESO’s stable of online delights have recovered their nerves suitably enough since then for us to go into a little bit more detail as to what that actually means…

Straight off the bat the game’s director, Matt Firor, emphasises that the base experience will remain unchanged by the transition. The aim is to ensure that levelling pace, the user interface, and general progression through the world will remain as it has been for the last year. If you do opt to pick up some of the virtual currency, here dubbed crowns, and head to the in-game store you’ll find it packed with ‘customisation and convenience’ items.

Chat And Mouse
“An item in the Crown Store serves one of two purposes,” says Firor. “It either provides a visual upgrade or distinction for your character, or it provides a way to save time at the expense of spending crowns. When it comes to this second category of items, we generally will make in-game variants of similar items available either as drops or as player-craftable items, as well.” Tamriel Unlimited, and the Crown Store, is already alive and kicking on PC, though console owners will have to wait until 9 June to get their fix. Why the long wait? Well, this version will take advantage of voice chat systems on each console, as each has entirely new control schemes. Firor explains that the team wanted “to make sure the console version didn't feel like a port, but like a game designed specifically for them.”