Disco/Rave Graphics - TURN IT OFF

Vampryss · November 26

I’m finding the combat graphics more and more ridiculous. It’s to the point that group events are almost unplayable. I CANT SEE what’s going on. All I can do is stand there, throw down an AOE and hope for the best.

It was disappointing enough when you introduced the Voriplasm with that cartoonish fluorescent green that clashes with everything. Now there is nothing but those horrible blinding colors everywhere. This is Elder Scrolls. Not a rave or a disco dance party.

I want the ability to turn them all off or mute the fluorescent flashy colors and get back to playing in old world style. Vibrant is fine. The disco rave party, not so much.

Gabriel_H · November 26

Not so long ago I posted something similar, pointing out that the over-abundance of effects cause me actual pain and ZOS' contribution to that thread ... zero.

For reference: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/682014/request-turning-off-visual-effects-an-accessibility-issue

liliub17_ESO · November 26

Vampryss wrote: »

I’m finding the combat graphics more and more ridiculous. It’s to the point that group events are almost unplayable. I CANT SEE what’s going on. All I can do is stand there, throw down an AOE and hope for the best.

It was disappointing enough when you introduced the Voriplasm with that cartoonish fluorescent green that clashes with everything. Now there is nothing but those horrible blinding colors everywhere. This is Elder Scrolls. Not a rave or a disco dance party.

I want the ability to turn them all off or mute the fluorescent flashy colors and get back to playing in old world style. Vibrant is fine. The disco rave party, not so much.

One of the WB fights - of course, I can't remember which one at the moment! but it's in one of three lands currently being "celebrated" - has so many player light effect skills going on that I honestly cannot see the boss itself for several seconds (half life bar). The *only* way I know it's there is the life bar at the top of the screen. The Imperfect in Clockwork is another which attracts folks who like to compare the size of their sparklies, and it's in a very contained dark space which makes it all worse.

My video card may not be the bestest possible, but it's decent, so it no longer lags out completely as it once did with all the fireworks. But on occasion the lightshow triggers a migraine, and that's not great for being a productive member of society in real life.

@ZOS_Kevin - do the devs realize this level of bright animation effect causes some people very real pain? Can be physically, medically, episode triggering? Devs figured out a toggle for overall number of pets/mounts in towns and a toggle for the amount of companion chatter - why can't they also implement a toggle or slider for animation effects in group areas?

Toanis · November 26

Meanwhile over at GW2:

AcadianPaladin · November 26

That GW2 pic looks quite a bit like the Imperfect WB on any given day during this event.

SnakeDodger · November 26

It is definitely a matter of accessibility at this point, and i do wonder how much performance they could gain by reducing the visible effects of other players.

But yes, i agree,there are so many issues like this that just don't get the time of day from ZOS, idc if it's characteristic of an mmo, there's not many effects on others that you would want to be able to identify quickly more than youd want a cleaner, less polluted screen. I remember how my eyes literally hurt after my first harrowstorm, it is utterly ridiculous.

SilverBride · November 26

This is one reason I don't understand how players get any useful information from watching streamers. When I watch boss fights all I see is a big blur of flashing lights. It's impossible to tell what is being cast, etc .

Gabriel_H · November 26

SnakeDodger wrote: »

It is definitely a matter of accessibility at this point, and i do wonder how much performance they could gain by reducing the visible effects of other players.

Little to none. Animations and effects are client-side.

SilverBride · November 26

If animations and effects are client-side I would think they could give us more individual control over them. I would love to be able to turn down all the effects for my own personal comfort.

whitecrow · November 26

Gabriel_H wrote: »

SnakeDodger wrote: »

It is definitely a matter of accessibility at this point, and i do wonder how much performance they could gain by reducing the visible effects of other players.

Little to none. Animations and effects are client-side.

Then why are they ruining all the animations to improve "performance?"

tomofhyrule · November 26

whitecrow wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

SnakeDodger wrote: »

It is definitely a matter of accessibility at this point, and i do wonder how much performance they could gain by reducing the visible effects of other players.

Little to none. Animations and effects are client-side.

Then why are they ruining all the animations to improve "performance?"

That one they have mentioned - the animations for pretty well every skill in the game need to be loaded into RAM while the game is running.

Their goal is to still be accessible to older hardware that doesn't have much RAM.
(Of course, the other answer would be that it's 2025 and players should upgrade their hardware so that they have more than 8GB of RAM, part of which is still supporting the OS, but that's a different issue)

Last'One · November 26

tomofhyrule wrote: »

whitecrow wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

SnakeDodger wrote: »

It is definitely a matter of accessibility at this point, and i do wonder how much performance they could gain by reducing the visible effects of other players.

Little to none. Animations and effects are client-side.

Then why are they ruining all the animations to improve "performance?"

That one they have mentioned - the animations for pretty well every skill in the game need to be loaded into RAM while the game is running.

Their goal is to still be accessible to older hardware that doesn't have much RAM.
(Of course, the other answer would be that it's 2025 and players should upgrade their hardware so that they have more than 8GB of RAM, part of which is still supporting the OS, but that's a different issue)

You know what? Why doesn’t ZOS just disable all these skill effects? That would definitely reduce FPS drops and CPU usage and probably save some memory too!
ZOS says their goal is to keep the game accessible for older hardware? Sure. But doing something players are actually asking for would help with that… right?
Ah, of course not. If players want it, then the game probably "doesn’t need" it!

And what’s the real reason behind "their goal is to still be accessible to older hardware"? To bring back players from the old TES games? Does ZOS really think people will dust off their Intel486 and return to ESO for a dramatic "Return of the Hero," while the Pentium 7 generation is walking away from the game?

Let me give you an example:

Imagine I’m a new player who just bought the basic ESO game, just to test it out. I’ve only been playing for 4 or 5 days. I hear there’s an event going on and of course, everyone loves events, right?

So tell me… or better yet, make me a clear, step-by-step guide showing how in the world I’m supposed to participate in this event and earn 2 event tickets. It’s an event, right? Shouldn’t it be available to everyone?
It’s free… isn’t it?

Please, make me a very detailed, step-by-step, explaining how I participate in the event. But remember: I’m a new player, someone who just arrived.

Tell me… why should I stay in this game?

Meanwhile, ZOS is worried about "their goal is to still be accessible to older hardware."Come on…

I honestly wonder why they’re leaving.

Gabriel_H · November 26

Last'One wrote: »

And what’s the real reason behind "their goal is to still be accessible to older hardware"? To bring back players from the old TES games? Does ZOS really think people will dust off their Intel486 and return to ESO for a dramatic "Return of the Hero," while the Pentium 7 generation is walking away from the game?

PS users are roughly 50% PS4 and 50% PS5, and it's only been in the last couple of months that PS5 usage has surpassed PS4 usage - it's take 5 years.

XBox Series X vs XBox One are roughly the same numbers - and again it's taken 5 years to get there.

AlienatedGoat · November 26

SilverBride wrote: »

If animations and effects are client-side I would think they could give us more individual control over them. I would love to be able to turn down all the effects for my own personal comfort.

What's weird is that they already have most of what they need already. There's a setting in-game called "Show Additional Ally Effects" to toggle on/off certain ally skill effects like AoE. It would take trivial dev time to work from that and add an additional setting for other bright/distracting effects.

Dojohoda · 4:20AM

WTB AGREES. I cannot agree enough. I haven't been able to see what's going on either. It's exactly like that, "throw down an AOE and hope for the best"

thedocbwarren · 5:46AM

Half the time Dolmens are like the screenshot. None of this even resembles an elder scrolls game. All the stupid costumes and silliness is annoying as well. I miss the single player games honestly.

mdjessup4906 · 6:17AM

If effects are all client side they ought to be able to implement their own version of Hide Group addon. Or better yet hire that addon maker to do it for them. That way you know it will be done right.

AcadianPaladin · 12:20PM

I agree on the excessive graphics in big fights. Though since I generally avoid big fights by soloing dungeons, I actually find the exploding neon cartoon mount graphics more obtrusive because they are harder to select content that avoids them. The best I can do is to try and process loot in my home instead of in town. Still, I need to turn in quests. . . . I would love for a settings option that changes what I see to being every player on a mount riding a plain sorrel horse.