Do you think things have gotten too Loud and Flashy?

Cooperharley · November 4

Yes

A toggle option in the menus allowing for more realism would be huge. Like a number of default horses, guars, etc to replace radiant apex mounts, more realistic fast travels, etc

SilverBride · November 4

Yes

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin

All the cartoony and flashy mounts and effects are having a negative effect on many players that feel things have gotten too over the top, especially with this new Symphony Charger mount.

Please bring us back to the more realistic Tamriel that many of us fell in love with.

Cooperharley · November 4

Yes

^

Wuduwasa13 · November 7

No

I like a bit of fantasy in my video games. If I want realism, I turn the game off and go outside. It’s quite remarkable 🙂

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

When I play ESO I am in Tamriel, which is the real world for the game setting, and I want it to feel real.

spartaxoxo · November 7

No

Wuduwasa13 wrote: »

I like a bit of fantasy in my video games. If I want realism, I turn the game off and go outside. It’s quite remarkable 🙂

Yeah. It's like werewolves and vampires are okay but a mount with sparkle flowers in its hair is too much? LOL 😂

It's a fantasy game. The Elder Scrolls is a series with magic and I'm tired of watching it get watered down into Camelot. I like the magical mounts as a general rule.

I don't like the dumb newest mount because it's doing too much though.

Tamriel has always been fantasy. It's always been magical. It is not a realistic game and doesn't need to be.

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

The mounts and player actions were once much more realistic than they are now, and I for one miss that Tamriel.

spartaxoxo · November 7

No

I want to ride a unicorn and magic my way into a painting and fight a paint troll.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/c/c4/Unicorn.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170325220235

Elder Scrolls did have more muted colors (except Dibella and Sheo, and some people want them muted too) but it was always pretty wacky in what it had us do. Skyrim really nerfed the magical aspects of Tamriel and I'm happy to see things feel more magical again in ESO.

It would make me unhappy if that was taken away from me to suit someone else's tastes. I like that Tamriel is a magical place. The new mount is too much though.

They just need a performance mode for those that don't want to see flashy mounts. It would help way more than that issue. It would help with gameplay in Cyrodiil and Trials too.

Ilumia · November 7

Yes

I don't enjoy the loud flashy fortnite theme they've been using for too many mounts and recall effects.
I'm also not a fan of the arcanists effects, they're too bright for me.
More than all of this being immersion breaking for me, the game just gives me a headache. I'll regularly have to stop playing, even though I wasn't planning on that, but I'd risk getting a migraine and being knackered for the day, if I went on. This problem gets much worse when there are too many mount and scribing bangs (that I find are mostly obnoxiously loud compared to other effects, making sound balancing difficult, and also many are mostly unnecessary), and when there are too many bright light effects, especially from mount-ups and recall animations. It's also distracting when it's not a health issue. I never used to get headaches frequently for playing eso, but it's almost guaranteed if I play for a while these days. Vivec isn't a great place, and I feel more and more pushed out of the game. And there are almost always people in other decent crafting cities, so I'm never safe from those disturbing recalls and flash-bang mounts (who thought it would be brilliant if a mount-up was followed by a loud bang?)
It does not seem like the best business decision to annoy so many players. Please at least give us a toggle that takes effects away, or turns other people's mounts into a sorrel horse or something.

Syldras · November 7

Yes

I think it is a narrow idea of "fantasy" and "magic" if one thinks it has to be loud, flashy and extremely colourful. It can be, but if it's not that doesn't mean it's not fantasy or magic anymore.

It is also strange to make that a discussion here since not a single person in this thread complained about magic existing in the game (that's a strawman), but the main criticism is that the execution of that, the effects themselves, don't look like they fit ESO's original art style (and also might be obnoxious, and even medically harmful for people who have, for example, migraines or eye issues).

For me, also the quality of the effects is a problem; many of these mounts don't look like magical beings, but like children's toys (no matter if He-Man or My Little Pony): clunky, plastic-like, some designs also look very "cliche" (no matter if evil or heroic), somehow just over the topic and too "obvious" and overloaded in their theme. I know very well that ESO has limitations in graphics, but I still think that mounts could be designed to look less like clunky toys.

I understand that some people like things like they are, though, so a toggle would be fine with me. Everyone can use whatever they want, I just don't want to see the flashy stuff because it causes me migraines.

spartaxoxo · November 7

No

Syldras wrote: »

I think it is a narrow idea of "fantasy" and "magic" if one thinks it has to be loud, flashy and extremely colourful. It can be, but if it's not that doesn't mean it's not fantasy or magic anymore.

I never stated otherwise. Nevertheless, those mounts do inject some much needed magic into the world, IMO. Skyrim, which a lot of people experienced before ESO, had a significantly less magical feel to it than some other entries. So, seeing these mounts bring that vibe back into the franchise makes me happy.

I never stated that someone complained that magic exists. I specifically addressed my own feelings about the realism of the Elder Scrolls games because I think that the mounts address one of my issues with that.

Syldras · November 7

Yes

Thanks for clarifying, this earlier post of you sounded different:

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Yeah. It's like werewolves and vampires are okay but a mount with sparkle flowers in its hair is too much? LOL 😂
It's a fantasy game. The Elder Scrolls is a series with magic and I'm tired of watching it get watered down into Camelot. I like the magical mounts as a general rule.
I don't like the dumb newest mount because it's doing too much though.
Tamriel has always been fantasy. It's always been magical. It is not a realistic game and doesn't need to be.

For me personally, a more muted colorscheme isn't less fantasy-like. My individual feeling is that magic is about things defying our real world's laws of nature happening, and it doesn't matter if it's dark or colourful. I was absolutely fine with Skyrim's darker atmosphere and color scheme, it fit the overall theme.

Most of all I would prefer a depiction that makes sense for the fictional world and an actually rather measured approach to effects, since if everything glows, sparkles and explodes, things like special rare creatures or artifacts that should look unusual and draw attention in the world, stand out less and look less special.

Or to take a recent example from the game: Dolmens were supposed to look and sound scary. How scary are they if there's 10 in every town now because people use them as a fast-travel effect? It waters down the original impact and significance of the dolmens.

spartaxoxo · November 7

No

Syldras wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying, this earlier post of you sounded different

I don't think it does sound different. There's been a lot of backlash against things like sparkle flowers in mounts hair for a push for realism. We also have people calling for an end to those types of mounts. We also have one the people who work on the franchise saying if magic were removed then nobody would notice. And Skyrim very notably toned down the magic elements of the world a lot. All for the sake of realism. There's a pretty big difference between noting people want less magic and people don't want magic to exist at all. Nothing in my post implies zero magic.

Syldras wrote: »

Most of all I would prefer a depiction that makes sense for the fictional world and an actually rather measured approach to effects, since if everything glows, sparkles and explodes, things like special rare creatures or artifacts that should look unusual and draw attention in the world, stand out less and look less special.

I think a world with Daedric princes running around constantly does make sense to be more colorful. I don't think muted makes any more or less sense than the one they have now. And things aren't going to be as rare in a multiplayer game.

Elsonso · November 7

Yes

SilverBride wrote: »

disky wrote: »

The key phrase in that sentence being "people will buy it".

But will they? Even players that like flashy aren't excited by this mess.

Yes, they will. The question is whether enough will buy it to offset the cost. As I noted elsewhere, this does not look like a knockoff recolor. It is a premium offering, and that may be why it sells for gems and endeavors. Those are the premium currencies. If the player does not have them at hand, it is too late to spend time on endeavors, so mass crown crate purchases are required to get gems.

Wuduwasa13 · November 7

No

SilverBride wrote: »

The mounts and player actions were once much more realistic than they are now, and I for one miss that Tamriel.

I miss when people came into MMO’s with reasonable expectations that not everything they encounter has to cater to their preferences.

Plenty I dislike in the game, but it’s an MMO. If it gets to a point where it bothers me beyond tolerance, I’ll simply quit the game.

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

Wuduwasa13 wrote: »

Plenty I dislike in the game, but it’s an MMO. If it gets to a point where it bothers me beyond tolerance, I’ll simply quit the game.

I prefer to address issues and find a resolution.

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

Sparkles flying from mounts and bright flashes of light and loud player effects are not magical... they are cartoony. These are the things we see in children's tv shows.

Mounts and player models that look realistic do not take anything away from the fantasy. They actually enhance it for me because my characters and the world then feel more real, and the magic feels more real.

ArchangelIsraphel · November 7

No

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, though, I like seeing the flashy, glowy, sparkly things. I just enjoy them, largely because I find them humorous. A lot of them are absurd and I openly acknowledge that, but I don't want them to stop making them. The free spicy-buffalo-wing flaming camel we just received is one of my favorite mounts I've gotten in a while, honestly, because it makes me laugh.

Quoting myself because I ended up eating my own words after seeing the most recent, errr...additions to the cash shop.

The dark brotherhood mounts aren't particularly flashy, but the arms on the saddlery? Did we really have to go there?

And yes I know this is fantasy, we're all zooming around on animals whose skeletal structure couldn't even support human weight, and not batting an eye at it. Rule of cool, and all that. But the designs aren't just flashy now, they are becoming increasingly awkward looking? I'm really not trying to insult anyone here, or personally attack anyone, that's not the intent. But as a customer, I'm looking at these things and going "Why would I buy this? There are so many design flaws here."

And I LIKE flashy mounts, but I'm starting to...not like them. At all. Not because I see them in game, I could care less what someone else is riding. But because I don't actually want to spend any money on the game any more.

(I joked in another thread that I'd buy the thing, but I'm not.)

The mount designs just aren't cohesive any more. The body markings aren't cohesive any more (Everything, everywhere, all over, all the time. Can we please get some more understated stuff?)

Meanwhile almost every motif that gets released looks like a slightly different re-hash of the last motif, very flat, with a leathery texture that's getting reaaaally tiresome after 3+ expansions of similar looking stuff (why does my metal armor have a pitted leathery texture? >_>) But hey, at least my mount has 700 arms.

I saw the dark brotherhood mounts, and I was all "Well, that's disappointing, but at least it's only one type of mount! They probably wont ever do that again! I'll refrain from making a big deal about it."

Then here comes King Narilmor riding up to Garlas Malatar on his 215765276278 armed rolls royce, and I just can't any more.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I want to ride a unicorn and magic my way into a painting and fight a paint troll..

Me too! I like the unicorn we have, in game, but I want more. I realize that lore wise, unicorns are incredibly rare, but I can't help but want something like this (spoiler tag because giant unicorn pictures):

I want the fluffy legs, cloven feet, the whole nine yards. If our character has the power to save nirn...surely I can hire a mage to magic my regular white horse into a unicorn-looking beast.

spartaxoxo wrote: »

It would make me unhappy if that was taken away from me to suit someone else's tastes. I like that Tamriel is a magical place. The new mount is too much though.

They just need a performance mode for those that don't want to see flashy mounts. It would help way more than that issue. It would help with gameplay in Cyrodiil and Trials too.

I agree with this. I enjoy colorful, magical things because I think they're pretty. In some cases I find some of the mounts quite humorous, but I like that about them as well.

I just want the designs to be better, more cohesive and elegant/powerful looking. And without human limbs attached.

Malyore · November 7

Yes

I always wonder how the big flashy stuff sells so well. That's just not what the games themself even look like, despite their fantasy elements. Because of how startlingly players stand out, whenever I'm in towns I'm always feeling inclined to judge their designs by asking myself if I think that could be used for an NPC character. I don't think a glowing nebulous purple skinned character with diamond eyes, a hot pink feathered hat, and a metallic green mini skirt, riding atop a camel made of blue meteors will ever be a design choice for elder scrolls itself (at least I hope it doesn't). And yet it's offered for sale and people just eat it up.
Is it just out of some desperation to stand out amongst a crowd? Is it to showcase how many purchases the person can make? Is it because they really think elder scrolls design is unappealing and they want it to look like some other game?

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

Malyore wrote: »

Is it just out of some desperation to stand out amongst a crowd?

A few times now the idea of a toggle to not show these effects was disagreed with because the whole point of the flashy things was for the player "to show off". And if we toggle these off then we aren't paying attention to them.

Melivar · November 7

Other

While a toggle would be a great option for those who don't like to see such things, would also help with people who have graphically challenged machines when running around heavy traffic areas, I personally don't mind.

There are many things I see running around and shake my head and chuckle at thinking "really people" But to each their own really spend your money on whatever you like and makes you happy.

Even the newest horse with the swords while ridiculous to me is likely going to sell considerably more copies than the limited amount of people who voted in this poll. I'll chuckle as they run by and continue on with my day.

SilverBride · November 7

Yes

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

The dark brotherhood mounts aren't particularly flashy, but the arms on the saddlery? Did we really have to go there?

I almost bought the Dark Brotherhood mount with seals for my Dark Brotherhood character. Then I took a really close look and saw the arms on the armor, and that was a deal breaker.

I don't know what arms on a horse's armor has to do with the Dark Brotherhood but it's really a shame that it was ruined this way.

ArchangelIsraphel · November 7

No

SilverBride wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

The dark brotherhood mounts aren't particularly flashy, but the arms on the saddlery? Did we really have to go there?

I almost bought the Dark Brotherhood mount with seals for my Dark Brotherhood character. Then I took a really close look and saw the arms on the armor, and that was a deal breaker.

I don't know what arms on a horse's armor has to do with the Dark Brotherhood but it's really a shame that it was ruined this way.

I did the same thing. I almost bought it and I was like, hold up, what are these...growths coming out of it? >_<;

I think the arms are supposed to be symbolic of Sithis (they look a lot like those on the statuary) but that doesn't really excuse the poor design choices made. I'm getting just a little bit tired of the lore being used to justify poor designs (and that's coming from someone who was ready and willing to drive around a 4 horse chariot with glimmering bling, lol)

Malyore · November 7

Yes

SilverBride wrote: »

Malyore wrote: »

Is it just out of some desperation to stand out amongst a crowd?

A few times now the idea of a toggle to not show these effects was disagreed with because the whole point of the flashy things was for the player "to show off". And if we toggle these off then we aren't paying attention to them.

I will admit, sometimes when I'm in a town I'm also wondering if people are taking a gander at my character too. I can understand feeling proud of your design choice and wanting others attention on it in some degree. I mean that's why we have the huge fashion megathread here on the forum. And also why zos decided to bring housing tours to console versions. Customization is part of the fun of elder scrolls. So I can understand some of the general vanity. I just don't understand vanity behind some of their... let's say "particular senses of fashion".

It's kinda sad too though if some people really feel a toggle shouldn't be considered because they can't show off hard enough (to the point where it troddens on other players experience).
If they wanted a toggle that turns my character into a glowing disco ball knight on their screen because they think that's what an MMO should look like, go ahead. If that makes them feel inadequate though and they instead want a toggle that makes me look like a sad mudcrab wearing rags because they want the game to look more like a single player game and stand out as the sole hero, go ahead. It's not as if I'll know who is even looking at me in the first place, let alone what setting a person has toggled for their own display.
Must just be a different mindset then, needing to be seen. Not the same type of pride I feel in my own eso fashion sense.

SilverBride · November 8

Yes

Malyore wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Malyore wrote: »

Is it just out of some desperation to stand out amongst a crowd?

A few times now the idea of a toggle to not show these effects was disagreed with because the whole point of the flashy things was for the player "to show off". And if we toggle these off then we aren't paying attention to them.

I will admit, sometimes when I'm in a town I'm also wondering if people are taking a gander at my character too. I can understand feeling proud of your design choice and wanting others attention on it in some degree. I mean that's why we have the huge fashion megathread here on the forum. And also why zos decided to bring housing tours to console versions. Customization is part of the fun of elder scrolls. So I can understand some of the general vanity. I just don't understand vanity behind some of their... let's say "particular senses of fashion".

It's kinda sad too though if some people really feel a toggle shouldn't be considered because they can't show off hard enough (to the point where it troddens on other players experience).
If they wanted a toggle that turns my character into a glowing disco ball knight on their screen because they think that's what an MMO should look like, go ahead. If that makes them feel inadequate though and they instead want a toggle that makes me look like a sad mudcrab wearing rags because they want the game to look more like a single player game and stand out as the sole hero, go ahead. It's not as if I'll know who is even looking at me in the first place, let alone what setting a person has toggled for their own display.
Must just be a different mindset then, needing to be seen. Not the same type of pride I feel in my own eso fashion sense.

I never care if others are looking at me or not. I have gotten whispers complimenting me on a couple of my character's outfits, but I don't dress for others. I dress for me and what I like.

The bright flashy mounts and glowing skins, etc. do leave an impression on me, but it's not the impression I think they were going for.

LalMirchi · November 8

Yes

Unfortunately I've had to turn off the audio slider for effects.

I sometimes have access to our family cottage in the wilderness. No neighbours for miles, good WiFi and a very hefty sound (relatively invisible) sound system (installed by yours truly). Unfortunately I have to use a portable projector screen with laptop as the place is a designated cultural site but playing my favorite game with extreme loudness still has this little drawback:

- The trivial but overly loud mounts and recall effects are diminishing my my enjoyment as I would like loud sound effects to only include "important" game events, ie boss fights etc.

What to do? Well I have unwillingly turned off some the audio sliders in-game. I'm not happy with that butI still have bone-skaking volume for my enjoyment.

Reducing the overly loud sound effects of some of these cash-cows would go a long way in some users satisfaction IMHO. Just saying...

AtriaKhorist · November 8

Yes

Yes. I dislike primarily:
- Permanent effects. I can tune out others for the largest part and most are opt-out for myself... but then there's the Grim Focus Permaglow. Ree!
- Effect saturation in group content. This could be solved by UI improvements though.
- Some abilities really don't need magic glows, like most non-staff weapon abilities. I don't need Carve to have a coloured sweep and a shiny bubble, for instance.
- Less too flashy, but too comedy. Like necromancer abilities. Jumping exploding skeletons, flying skulls? I want a necromancer, not a halloween clown!

spartaxoxo · November 8

No

Malyore wrote: »

It's kinda sad too though if some people really feel a toggle shouldn't be considered because they can't show off hard enough (to the point where it troddens on other players experience).

The last time I saw a thread that had a toggle, it also contained a lot of insults towards the people who like flashy mounts. "Selfish, beneath them, childish, jerks, self-important, etc." So, I'd take the disagreement with a grain of salt, personally. Some people might end up wanting a refund on a recently purchased item but that would probably be the extent of any pushback if a performance mode actually got implemented. And I think it needs to happen regardless because some people actually get physical ailments from flashy things.

It's the exact same type of thing as an arachnophobia mode, which exists in many games. A toggle to help with a health issue. I think accessibility is a good thing and I think it's good when developers can create things that makes games more accessible.

Erickson9610 · November 8

I wouldn't mind a "performance/immersion mode" that replaced/disabled all of the Skins/Body & Face Markings/Polymorphs/Skill Styles/Mounts/Personalities/Mementos/Emotes/Outfits and so on. Essentially a clientside toggle to force other players to look generic like NPCs.

I can name one competitive game in particular which had a clientside setting for "minimum models", which collapsed the selection of 4 skins per team down to just 1 skin per team. That setting also worked on servers and maps which replaced your model to add new ones — it became almost mandatory for competitive play to use the minimum models setting because the visual appearance of some custom models didn't line up with the proper hitbox, and it was easier to just keep track of 1 possible enemy appearance instead of 4.

I can see such a setting being useful for both immersion and competitive play. I'd prefer this setting to disable player outfits and any form of customization they might have. That would mean they couldn't hide factors like their character's race or Vampire stage, and they wouldn't have dyes or motifs so they couldn't hide their armor weight or weapon type, either. The end result should be that their character looks like a more natural fit in the world of The Elder Scrolls, without all of the customization offered to us in ESO.

Of course, that should only be a clientside toggle. I don't want to actually remove from the game the cosmetics that I or other players have. There's actually a number of cosmetics I'd like to see added to the game that I'd use in a heartbeat, but I can understand why other players wouldn't want to see them.

Frankly, it doesn't make sense to me why someone would pay money specifically to show off to other people. I'd rather have the clientside option to hide their cosmetics, for performance, immersion, and competitive reasons.

robpr · November 8

Yes

Since devs refuse/cannot add anymore new mount skeletons, the new reskins had to recompensate by adding some visual effects. But the Spellscar Quasigriff is so obnoxious I get blinded every time I play with lights off.
Then the Lucent Citadel aoe effects and new scribing skills. They look very cool and thematic when you play solo, but in group there is so much visual clutter you barely see what is going on. It's not asian MMO clutter level yet where half of your screen is covered by your dmg numbers, but its hard to focus what is going on in the content.

Unfortunately, the visuals are bringing new people into the game so its inevitable.