on the next elder scrolls?

I don't see a reason why console players shouldn't get access to console commands. The next gen systems are pretty powerful compared to the current ones, and that way, players can finally gain access to items that were inaccessible before, like the conjure dragon priest spell tome or the ancient falmer crown from dawnguard dlc.

Are you going to be making content or testing something that you need the console?

The command line console is not some cheat device. It is meant for debugging, for testing. It can seriously FUBAR the game if mis-handled.

Will Sony and Microsoft allow it?

I do remember seeing that its the console makers who don't want to allow game input from keyboards. If the console makers don't allow it for whatever reason, it isn't going to happen.

This.

Beth develops its games with computers, obviously. Console commands are thus on PC by default. The reason why PC has console commands is just that Bethesda didn't remove them, in contrast to consoles where they would have to implement it, and it would probably require some extra coding to make it function on consoles.

And of course then there's the thing Talaran said.

this,

using the command line console without knowing exactly what you are doing and how it will affect everything in game can be seriously hazardous to your save file, and on rare occasions I have heard of people that had to re-install their game because of it...

the Console is not some cheating device, it is a command line input method used for testing and debugging certain game mechanics....

I know, but its a helpful tool at times.

Its up to the responsibility of the player on how to use it.

Or do publishers believe that the general populace is stupid in that they would try to spawn 500 dragons, causing the game to crash, then complain at the game makers?

Obviously Bethesda doesn't have that view, since the command line exists on PC.

Use of the command console is modding of the game (it provides direct access to the game's scripting language.) It's a violation of the game consoles' user licenses to modify the games, so that's the obvious reason that it isn't included on those platforms.

If its limited to specific commands I doubt it would be a problem. The console command's changes are only saved in a save file rather than changing the actual files it reads from the disc. They modify the game similar to way the options menu does or as you interact with the game world. Once the platform is off the changes are reset to their defaults unless the save game, where you changed them, is loaded (aside from a few commands that directly edit and save ini files but those could be left out).

The console commands are great for when the game glitches on you. Next best thing to mods that may fix lingering game issues.

They should specify what "modify" means.

When you buy a console you are buying an inexpensive and easy-to-use platform. The trade-off is that you won't have all the features that come with a more expensive and complicated platform. By the same token a computer does not have the ease-of us that a console can boast.

We can't have everything. There are always trade-offs. Simplicity versus complexity, lower cost versus higher cost. This is just how the world works.

Have you seen some of the stupid stuff I use it for? Like http://i.imgur.com/cSAerhc.jpg or http://i.imgur.com/qP1Br4P.jpg or how about http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/578991472894201691/9D79DF7549CD0780FA02DEC47A0336FDB9A9B86A/ My game works fine. I simply make a new save when testing a command or attempting to fix a bug.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to create a new separate save before testing.

Yes, add that plenty of game has commands like godmode. Adding tcl to getting unstuck and advance current quest one stage would be an good way of dealing with bugs in the game.

No, but it is surprising how many people don't. And yes, they blame the devs when they mess up their game. "Why do the devs let me use these things if the commands mess up the game?" [And although I'm curious, I think I'm far safer to *not* ask why there is a giant horker in Riverwood....]

There have been people posting here who have, in the attempt to fix a glitch, or skip quests they don't want to do, managed to mess up their game past redemption. They hadn't made a save far enough back, or they didn't want to lose the time they played with a "sort of" messed up game.

There has been at least one person who blamed the devs for not coding the vanilla game [Morrowind] to suit his playing style. He came to the forums complaining that there were no quests, and the ones he did find were broken. After a lot of back and forth questions, we figured out what happened. He made a custom class; Murderer. If he saw an npc that had armor or a weapon he wanted, he killed them for it. If an npc dissed [in his opinion] his character, he killed them. He couldn't do any quests because he killed the quest givers. He had a instant death penalty bounty, and there were no ordinators left in Vivec. He was pissed at Bethesda, because he was supposed to be able to play the game his way, and he couldn't. People will blame the devs for just about anything, really. Imagine what someone like that would have done with console commands... [I actually have a completely separate game for Morrowind instead of making saves. My normal game, and my uber game. I love playing around with uber alchemy, and that can fubar the game far more than console commands.]

So what you are in effect saying is leave it to the PC experts because they know what they are doing whereas console users haven't got a clue? i find that condascending, inaccurate and one of the things that causes flame wars between platforms.

Pcs get console commands and we get to legally add mods. That's not belittling the consoles or trying to start a flame war. It just is. Just like xbox will always get content and patches before anyone else.

All boils down to this. The reason why consoles do not get conaole commands is that microsoft and sony do not want you to access to them on their platform. And any console player who has played the game has already seen that if they have read the thing they have to agree to and hy clicking u agree means that u agree to not have access to it. It isn't bethesda because theybhave stated they would love to give console players that option and to be able to use console commands so that they can also fix their games or ruin them and blame whoever but themselves like we do on pc, but unfortuantly microsoft and sony do not want u to have access to them and unfortuantly they have the final say.

Its nothing condensing or trying to start a flame war, its just how it is.

You are also going to need to sacrifice a button so you can bring up the console.

Or you can use those usb ports to plug in a keyboard. The ps2 had games that allowed the use of one. A hold key combo press could also do the job or a specific input menu for it that brings up the on screen keyboard.

I gotta ask about the Horker. That thing cannot be.

I don't get why you want a console command if you aren't programming. It's nice to get past something, I've done it in MW, but godmode isn't worth a bricked lvl 35 battlemage, or ruining the experience of playing the game by being able to cut past to see the ending before you ever get there legitamately.

On PC, we often use the command console for non-cheating purposes. For instance, I use it to reset the game's timescale to a slower pace, since I find the game's "day length" to be a bit short. It can be used to get past glitched quests, of which there are quite a few. And it allows one to do "named saves," which is very convenient. You can toggle the grass display off, when something has been dropped and cant be located, and you can toggle the game's collision detection if your character (or an NPC) is stuck in the scenery.

In addition to the things glargg listed, the console is also extremely handy for taking screenshots. Using the console we can toggle clipping in order to "levitate" to get a beautiful panoramic view or to freeze combat, Matrix-style.

Never mind quests, screenshots are the most important part of the game for some of us.

So the people who play the game properly have to suffer because of those who don't?

I think some people in this discussion are complaining in the wrong direction. It is not Bethesda's fault that the game console manufacturers don't allow user access to the game's scripting language (which is what the command line console is.)