Dropped from the server for reaching maximum number of messages

Rishikesa108 · April 29

I was simply playing by myself, gathering some resources for challenges, I wasn't messaging with anyone or in no chat... suddenly I was disconnected and a message appeared "You have been dropped from the server because you hit the message rate limit. Please avoid excessive messaging (i.e. spamming)" What does that mean???

SilverBride · April 29

This has happened to me a few times, usually when I've been spending a long time leveling Alchemy on a new character. I think it's just so much information on the server at once that it overwhelms it and it needs to catch up.

Rishikesa108 · April 29

Things like this shouldn't happen, or they should be fixed as a priority. A player shouldn't be playing happily and suddenly be unfairly accused of something they didn't do, like spamming.
If I unfairly accuse ZOS, I'll get banned... why should I accept being accused of something I didn't do and everything should be normal?

Necrotech_Master · April 29

its not always chat related, there could have been a lag spike and then a truckload of packets were sent from your system to the servers all at once as it was trying to re-establish connection

the servers have protection measures against stuff like this, usually to protect against a DDOS, but can sometimes affect someone on an individual level too

there are some cases where addons could be causing the excessive messaging in the background that you might not be aware of either which can also trigger the rate limit issues

in most cases its usually just a one off thing likely caused by either a lag spike sending a large amount of network traffic at once, or an addon (or combination of multiple addons) that are excessively pinging the the server

katanagirl1 · April 29

I agree that the message you get should be more informative and less accusatory.

Renato90085 · April 29

the message happen at ping problem/some map bug place/high api mouse too

Rishikesa108 · April 29

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I agree that the message you get should be more informative and less accusatory.

THIS is the point

@ZOS_GinaBruno

SilverBride · April 29

I never found it accusatory and I've had this happen every time I've spent a lot of time at the Alchemy table leveling up my skill. The first time it happened I just Googled it and discovered what it was about. The player isn't being reported or actioned for anything. It's just informing them why they were disconnected and how to prevent it.

virtus753 · April 29

SilverBride wrote: »

I never found it accusatory and I've had this happen every time I've spent a lot of time at the Alchemy table leveling up my skill. The first time it happened I just Googled it and discovered what it was about. The player isn't being reported or actioned for anything. It's just informing them why they were disconnected and how to prevent it.

While it seems to me that it’s meant to be informative, this use of the term “messaging” is very technical. The message assumes that players will know that technical meaning, which many do not.

Explanatory text must be clear to be successful. When it results in confusion, especially when that means people have to resort to searching online or asking others, that signals the messaging should be clarified.

Since they include an example (“e.g. spamming”), they could expand on that to clarify that add-ons or lag may also be the source of the “messaging.” Listing only one player-sourced culprit implies the blame is on the player, and saying “please avoid” further implies the cause is within the player’s control.

A message such as “You have been dropped for excessive messaging. This may be due to spamming chat, add-on errors, or high latency.” would be more informative and clearer.

valenwood_vegan · April 29

The error message could probably be re-written and made more informative, but as others have said it's not necessarily even related to chat and can result from lag spikes and/or from other interactions or addon(s) that are sending an excessive number of messages to the server in a short period of time.

I doubt the intent of the error message is to throw "blame" at the player - many times error messages are written by software developers who may not have the interest / skillset for the sort of communication that is provided in other areas of the game written by actual writers.

ESO has a number of cryptic error messages like this that could be cleaned up and made more user-friendly. But I doubt it's going to be fixed as a "priority", as there are many other actual issues with the game. Hopefully it's something the have on their list to be addressed at some point.

[EDIT for typo].

Rishikesa108 · April 30

virtus753 wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I never found it accusatory and I've had this happen every time I've spent a lot of time at the Alchemy table leveling up my skill. The first time it happened I just Googled it and discovered what it was about. The player isn't being reported or actioned for anything. It's just informing them why they were disconnected and how to prevent it.

While it seems to me that it’s meant to be informative, this use of the term “messaging” is very technical. The message assumes that players will know that technical meaning, which many do not.

Explanatory text must be clear to be successful. When it results in confusion, especially when that means people have to resort to searching online or asking others, that signals the messaging should be clarified.

Since they include an example (“e.g. spamming”), they could expand on that to clarify that add-ons or lag may also be the source of the “messaging.” Listing only one player-sourced culprit implies the blame is on the player, and saying “please avoid” further implies the cause is within the player’s control.

A message such as “You have been dropped for excessive messaging. This may be due to spamming chat, add-on errors, or high latency.” would be more informative and clearer.

Even more difficult is the technical meaning of the word "messaging" to understand if the reader isn't a native English speaker. And there are many ESO players like that. I'm one of them...

Displaced_Salad · April 30

Agreed, the chosen method of communication can seem rather hostile at times. In regards to priority, if user feedback was made a priority when it was expressed (within reason, yes,) perhaps that list of issues might not be quite so overwhelming at this point.

I have a friend that kept having issues on PC NA with mail/messaging. They had to contact customer service a number of times to fix the identical issue, and each time customer service fixed it with no comment other than gathering the necessary relevant information. The last time it happened, they told them that this entire time, over a year of repeated instances, the cause has been "spamming of similar symbols/letters/words." How much time and effort could have been saved if this had been communicated initially, if accurate?