Dear ZOS - Take Down The Servers

Horace-Wimp

PC NA here.

Hey ZOS. I'm not sure if you noticed or not but the game has started to have all sort of persistent issues this year, ESPECICALLY since Update 49 went live. I and others have been experiencing increased instances of the game locking up and crashing resulting in Errors that prevent being able to log back into the game for an hour or more, rubberbanding, game freezes that last 30 seconds or more and when the game unfreezes our characters are either dead or nowhere near the location where we froze - sometimes both. Plus, there are a few new spots where we are getting dismounted where we were never dismounted before Update 49. I also noticed that when Update 49 went live ALL of my characters each lost one full (200) stack of lockpicks AND after the patch the beginning of April they also each lost a full (200) stack of Soul Gems.

So it is clear to me at least that the game needs some serious attention to fix all of these problems, especially if you expect me to ever spend money on this game again, ex. ESO+.

I suggest that since Season Zero ends in July - the height of Summer (in the Northern Hemisphere) when most people are OUTSIDE away from their electronic toys - that you take down the servers for a full one (168 hours) week or even two full (336 hours) weeks if necessary to fix ALL of these issues. I think it will show that you are serious about retaining players and that you understand that good stewardship of your property is necessary to keeping your business sound.

So, PLEASE, take down the servers and FIX these problems ALL AT ONCE instead of piecemeal like you're been. Clear the board of problems and start over with a new clean slate. July is the BEST time of year to do this as I expect that is the one time of year with the least number of players so the least number affected.

Think about it ZOS. You've got two and half months to make it happen which aught to be plenty of time.

Thank you.

ESO_player123

I'm all for fixing problems, but you are going to have a revolt on your hands if they shut the servers down for 1 week (not even going to touch the 2 week offer). And I will lead that revolt.

heimdall14_9

this is something they should be doing every 5-10 updates taking a week off to clean up the game is a good reason for down time and a needed one too

xR3ACTORx

PvE Vengeance is needed to solve the PvE performance issues.

The Uninvited

Not having that experience on PC/EU.

Renato90085

it strange,I had same problem at 2024-2025, but I haven't had any this year.

Hapexamendios

People with ESO+ will be demanding compensation

Danikat

My understanding is they don't need the servers offline to work on fixing problems, only to upload fixes they've already created.

The way some games do it, which I think ESO does as well is to have several copies of the game. They develop bug fixes or new stuff and load it into an internal test version (which is identical to the actual game, except we don't have access to it) to make sure it's working and correct any problems, then it goes to the public test server for wider bug testing and feedback, and while that's happening they build up a new version of the game with all the updates and bug fixes that are working and are scheduled to go live. Which means the only part that happens during the maintenence downtime is overwriting the previous version with the new one.

So keeping the game offline for longer wouldn't help at all. It might actually delay future bug fixes because during that time they would only have their internal QA to find bugs, not all the players on live.

Umbracat449

Not your lockpicks!

colossalvoids

Tough luck as each and every update has this sort of issue on certain hardware users, was going through that 3-5 times already for the whole duration of updates until it's fixed for my spec next quarter, just to break again next year or so until another update comes after breaking it for some other subset of players.

HatchetHaro

So I've been logging into and playing on PCNA from overseas with no issues whatsoever. What you're describing could be any number of issues that do not stem from ESO's network infrastructure, however pernickety about packets it may be.

Based on your descriptions, I think it would be best for you to try out a gaming VPN so you can at least rule out network routing issues; WTFast, Exitlag, and Mudfish (my favourite) all have free trials.

After that, if the issues persist, we can then be sure that any network issues originate closer to your geographical location, anywhere between you and your local ISP. That includes your own modem, router, and network interface.

If we are talking about crashes (not disconnects), then we can for sure narrow things down to your very own PC. At that point, if disabling your addons and reinstalling your game don't work, you should look into reinstalling drivers, repairing your system files, and perhaps even considering the possibility of having hardware issues.

twisttop138

Oh my sweet summer child. ESO is actually pretty decent. Go play fallout 76 and you'll kiss the dirt of the shores of Tamriel when you return.

Also, it just will not happen and doesn't need to. The game doesn't need to be offline to be fixed. The game is on their internal servers and then when they fix it, those fixes are pushed to us in an update.

PoveusRonin

Why would they take hardware offline to fix a software problem?

Hypnotica713

At least you haven't renewed your ESO+ since then to find that you paid your money, but have gotten zero benefits and nothing has been fixed for some people going on about a month. This has been happening to players on PS and no real answers have been given. Trust me when I say, I am sure they wish they just had some missing lockpicks instead🙄

Did not receive ESO Plus benefits — Elder Scrolls Online

twisttop138

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

At least you haven't renewed your ESO+ since then to find that you paid your money, but have gotten zero benefits and nothing has been fixed for some people going on about a month. This has been happening to players on PS and no real answers have been given. Trust me when I say, I am sure they wish they just had some missing lockpicks instead🙄

Did not receive ESO Plus benefits — Elder Scrolls Online

This happened to a guild mate yesterday. She paid for ESO plus, the first time ever. On PSNA. No crowns. I wonder what on earth could be happening.

Hypnotica713

twisttop138 wrote: »

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

At least you haven't renewed your ESO+ since then to find that you paid your money, but have gotten zero benefits and nothing has been fixed for some people going on about a month. This has been happening to players on PS and no real answers have been given. Trust me when I say, I am sure they wish they just had some missing lockpicks instead🙄

Did not receive ESO Plus benefits — Elder Scrolls Online

This happened to a guild mate yesterday. She paid for ESO plus, the first time ever. On PSNA. No crowns. I wonder what on earth could be happening.

It's not just no crowns...there are people that have ZERO benefits..including no craft bag, furniture vault, double bank and housing space, etc. It's pretty messed up. My sub ended yesterday. I turned off auto renew...1st time I've not bought a yearly ESO+ sub in 9 years. I have zero desire to pay for something that will not work with no way to get a refund or any answers like these other people.

AzuraFan

I'm not experiencing any of the OP's problems. The only issue I have is the one that's been around for a while - the launcher taking a long time to re-enable the Play button after quitting, and sometimes getting the "the game didn't launch properly...corrupt files" message, even though the game launched fine and there are no corrupt files. But in-game, I'm not having any issues.

I didn't know about the ESO+ problem. That's wild.

BXR_Lonestar

Its clear to me that they need a new engine. They need to take a look at upgrading their engine, especially if they want this to be a 30 year game like WoW...

Rogue_Coyote

The entire game needs to be re-written from the ground up.

Gabriel_H

Horace-Wimp wrote: »

PC NA here.

Hey ZOS. I'm not sure if you noticed or not but the game has started to have all sort of persistent issues this year, ESPECICALLY since Update 49 went live. I and others have been experiencing increased instances of the game locking up and crashing resulting in Errors that prevent being able to log back into the game for an hour or more, rubberbanding, game freezes that last 30 seconds or more and when the game unfreezes our characters are either dead or nowhere near the location where we froze - sometimes both.

Incomplete premise. You are presuming the all the problems are internal. See: DDoS

valenwood_vegan

I'm really curious to know what OP thinks zos would be doing for that 1-2 weeks that they aren't doing already?

Patches and updates are constantly being worked on while the server is up. Is the plan to force the server engineers to work on bug fixes for 2 weeks? The community managers? Maybe they should shut down the employee cafeteria and have the cook pitch in too. [This comment is not at all intended as disrespect toward the work that that these employees do, but to illustrate the absurdity of assuming that shutting off the server would magically produce extra staff with the correct skillset to fix software bugs].

Unfortunately what's actually needed is more likely a lot more resources and hiring to completely revamp the ancient code / engine that the game was built on over a decade ago. Unfortunately this is unlikely in the current reality, where gaming giants are demanding ever higher profit margins while laying employees off and cutting back or outright cancelling games.

twisttop138

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

At least you haven't renewed your ESO+ since then to find that you paid your money, but have gotten zero benefits and nothing has been fixed for some people going on about a month. This has been happening to players on PS and no real answers have been given. Trust me when I say, I am sure they wish they just had some missing lockpicks instead🙄

Did not receive ESO Plus benefits — Elder Scrolls Online

This happened to a guild mate yesterday. She paid for ESO plus, the first time ever. On PSNA. No crowns. I wonder what on earth could be happening.

It's not just no crowns...there are people that have ZERO benefits..including no craft bag, furniture vault, double bank and housing space, etc. It's pretty messed up. My sub ended yesterday. I turned off auto renew...1st time I've not bought a yearly ESO+ sub in 9 years. I have zero desire to pay for something that will not work with no way to get a refund or any answers like these other people.

I didn't know until I read that thread. Crazy. Also crazy it took a week to get a response in this new era of communication and transparency. I asked my member for the ticket number so I can post in that thread for them and asked what other issues they're having. She is new and it can be...not easy to get a forum account.

Hypnotica713

twisttop138 wrote: »

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

Hypnotica713 wrote: »

At least you haven't renewed your ESO+ since then to find that you paid your money, but have gotten zero benefits and nothing has been fixed for some people going on about a month. This has been happening to players on PS and no real answers have been given. Trust me when I say, I am sure they wish they just had some missing lockpicks instead🙄

Did not receive ESO Plus benefits — Elder Scrolls Online

This happened to a guild mate yesterday. She paid for ESO plus, the first time ever. On PSNA. No crowns. I wonder what on earth could be happening.

It's not just no crowns...there are people that have ZERO benefits..including no craft bag, furniture vault, double bank and housing space, etc. It's pretty messed up. My sub ended yesterday. I turned off auto renew...1st time I've not bought a yearly ESO+ sub in 9 years. I have zero desire to pay for something that will not work with no way to get a refund or any answers like these other people.

I didn't know until I read that thread. Crazy. Also crazy it took a week to get a response in this new era of communication and transparency. I asked my member for the ticket number so I can post in that thread for them and asked what other issues they're having. She is new and it can be...not easy to get a forum account.

It's crazy that they're not warning people that this could be a thing or even saying ANYTHING at all about it. So many people are clueless. It shouldn't be like this.

DarkStrifeYT

No.

Vonnegut2506

I haven't had problems playing quite a lot since U49. Why would they take down an entire server affecting thousands of people for a handful having problems?

Displaced_Salad

ESO_player123 wrote: »

I'm all for fixing problems, but you are going to have a revolt on your hands if they shut the servers down for 1 week (not even going to touch the 2 week offer). And I will lead that revolt.

I've always championed a good concentrated downtime but between financial concerns and the above statement being 110% accurate, we know it isn't happening. People would rather take a pittance of what they're promised than do without for even half a second.