Will patch size continue to be an issue?

emeraldbay

This latest patch is outrageous. 9 GB, and for what? Pretty lights, a new dungeon, annoying sounds on the death recap, and a plethora of bug fixes (that could've been introduced over time instead of all at once)? Sure, it looks like a lot when you write it out, but should it really be so massive? That's almost 30% of the entire game in one patch. Not to mention that the size when unpacked exceeds 25 GB in size, just for the first half of the patch. These aren't patches, these are full-blown replacements. It feels like you're taking the game files and, instead of legitimately patching the parts that need it, just replacing them. That's not smart- that's shoddy programming, and it's an issue for your customers.

Take people like me. I have no choice but to use a capped data service because that's all I'm capable of having. Do you know how fast 15 GB per month goes by when 2/3 of it is spent all in one day...just for a patch that breaks more than it fixes? It's almost not worth downloading. If I didn't really love this game, I wouldn't bother, but Zenimax, you have my (and plenty of others') full support. Don't waste it like this.

On the other hand, even at average speeds with no data caps, these things can't be downloaded instantly. I don't know what fantasy world you guys are living in, but out here, it could take hours for the patch to fully download and install. Spending all of that time waiting, expecting something great, only to find out that a bunch of stuff is now broken...it's disheartening, to say the least. Don't even get me started on the number of people who can't download these patches without having to repair their launcher completely.

So, take this, not as a complaint, but as a formal request from many fans: Fix this. Change it. Repack your patches and rework your code so that we don't have to download a 9 GB file the next time you decide to make the grass greener. You're slowly losing the faith of your most loyal customers. Don't let it go that far.

Fuzzylumpkins

To get that answer you will have to ask and answer this one first:

Will the game continue to be such a broken heap that it continually requires 9g worth of hotfixes and patches that in and of themselves present new breaks and memory leaks every few weeks?

If the answer is yes, then yes, cpu souls sucking patches will continue.

RazielSR

I fear that because of your comment, some people areund here will tell you are crying like a baby, you are a wow child,etc, etc and ZOS will release the next patch having 20 gbs download.

Spiritreaver_ESO

You make a fair point OP and one i hadn't even considered. Personally, i was looking at it from the opposite side(huge file size and being limited on how fast i could pull it down), but got to the same spot as you-file size was an issue this last update and it really shouldn't be.

AlexDougherty

I agree with the OP, the file size was too big.

Now I'm not sure how much of it was irreducable, ie had to be sent as one patch, but I'm sure a sizeable chunk could have been spread out over multiple patches.

I know people want the fixes immediately, and there was a lot to be fixed, but downloading a 9gb patch was a two hour chore, and with some people it broke the client, which had to be repaired, and the patch redownloaded.

Xozah

It's like they don't know which files to patch out so they instead tell the client to download the whole game once again..

fromtesonlineb16_ESO

For me this is a non-issue, 10Gb is nothing on an uncapped 40Mb connection, but I can see how seriously it impacts those without that luxury.

I was astounded at the size of the patch given the stuff it contained .. clearly even adding a new dungeon for the elite hardcores (they're the only ones able to access CoH) creates a massive download for everyone.

This can't come the 'norm'.

mad.ferretb16_ESO

<p>I've got an 80Mb connection and it's unlimited but my brother on the other hand has 2Mb and a cap (not sure how much) for me I can play in around an hour or so, his will take about 3 days with a risk of being either charged or banned entirely by his provider.</p><p>This was supposed to be a major patch but I still wonder it could be done better either by data compression or some other means.</p><p>I actually get about 26-30Mb speed from their servers which is the best I've had from any online game server, even at peak times.</p><p><br></p>

crislevin

I complained about the size of the first patch and people accusing me being absurd.

And guess what, they made s even bigger one this time for little to no new content.

These devs need to sit down and optimize the freaking game.

Audigy

Patches at MMO´s are always big, this isn't a tiny shooter where you only fix a weapon bug Just look at the list, its a lot and files need to be patched to be compatible with the changes.
Its not a simple exchange of files, it requires a lot more coding than you might be aware of.

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB

While its a lot and for someone on capped internet access, its not any different in other MMO´s, especially if they patch content.

You only don't notice it, because most MMO´s let you DL stuff while you play so that you already have the Data required when the patch is released and you only grab a few MB upon log in.

In my opinion ZO should add a background downloader, Blizzard has a good system there and it keeps the hassle with downloading at an absolute minimum. That however wont change the fact, that patching can be a few GB this is pretty standard for MMO´s and should be considered if someone decides to play an MMO on a capped connection.

crislevin

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB

i don't know, maybe they made one special for you!...

AlexDougherty

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

Pele

I agree. The recent patch size was utterly ridiculous. I'm amongst those who have issues downloading these gigantic patches. As much as I enjoy the game, I do not think I'll be able to play ESO if this is how all future patches will be released.

wrlifeboil

Expect more of the same sized patches if/when they get around to fixing all of the bugs.

Blooddancer

I agree with the OP, I was surprised at the size and duration of the update and pretty much lost and evening of play.

But what you going to do? They are not going to change their release and deployment process.

crislevin

wrlifeboil wrote: »

Expect more of the same sized patches if/when they get around to fixing all of the bugs.

then they need to devise a mechanism to stream that patch over several days before turn on the toggle on server.

Right now they are doing 10hr server patch plus 2-5 hr download and patch. Its basically one complete day if people actually have a normal life.

Heishi

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

crislevin

Heishi wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

that begs the question, if 5GB of the download can be done before the patch day, why not let everybody do it?

Audigy

Heishi wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

I believe it does.

Its not the first time that I hear people talking about a huge file size, while I didn't experience that and based on other peoples reviews the size does vary a lot.

crislevin

Audigy wrote: »

Heishi wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

I believe it does.

Its not the first time that I hear people talking about a huge file size, while I didn't experience that and based on other peoples reviews the size does vary a lot.

No it doesn't "vary a blot", its 9GB flat for most people, people with 4GB download are exceptions.

Even ZOS rep stated the download is 8GB (understandably understated a bit).

richiestyles

Do they give notice? And I dont mean "the server will be down", I mean this is a 5G or whatever patch.

I never get one...Then give the option for auto update after maintenance..or would that over load the servers?

I totally agree with the patch over a week instead of all at once though.

Heishi

I don't want a carbon copy of GW1/2 but the patching system it had is very nice. You d/l the patch in the background while playing. For minor stuff, it applies next log in.

For major stuff it pops up with "a new build is available" and you relog and d/l a small patch since most of it was already done and are back in within a minute if that. Sometimes when there was a new build you didn't have to d/l anything more.

crislevin

richiestyles wrote: »

Do they give notice? And I dont mean "the server will be down", I mean this is a 5G or whatever patch.

I never get one...Then give the option for auto update after maintenance..or would that over load the servers?

I totally agree with the patch over a week instead of all at once though.

they don't, we had to ask here and a rep came in and posted a response.

Audigy

crislevin wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

Heishi wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

I believe it does.

Its not the first time that I hear people talking about a huge file size, while I didn't experience that and based on other peoples reviews the size does vary a lot.

No it doesn't "vary a blot", its 9GB flat for most people, people with 4GB download are exceptions.

Even ZOS rep stated the download is 8GB (understandably understated a bit).

The ZOS representatives are from the EU and US team, so that there might be different sizes and they only talk for their customers who are either US or EU.

It doesn't make any sense that as you say "a few" download 4 GB, while everyone else 9 GB. There must be a reason for it as its not the first time that this happened.

Heishi wrote: »

I don't want a carbon copy of GW1/2 but the patching system it had is very nice. You d/l the patch in the background while playing. For minor stuff, it applies next log in.

For major stuff it pops up with "a new build is available" and you relog and d/l a small patch since most of it was already done and are back in within a minute if that. Sometimes when there was a new build you didn't have to d/l anything more.

Yap, it would fix a lot of whining here. I am sure most people that play WOW, GW etc. don't even know that the patches are 5GB in size or more. They always only see those few MB of download at patch day and then assume its like that in every game.

crislevin

Audigy wrote: »

crislevin wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

Heishi wrote: »

AlexDougherty wrote: »

Audigy wrote: »

I did download 4GB and that's it, not sure where you found those 9 GB.

Well for the rest of us it was about 4 GB followed by a small 50 MB followed by about 5GB. Not sure how you missed half the patch.

It was about 4 GB or so for me as well. I got the 50-70 MB one before the big one though.

Maybe it has something to do with if people are downloading for the PTS and normal server? Or maybe d/ling US and EU patch.

I believe it does.

Its not the first time that I hear people talking about a huge file size, while I didn't experience that and based on other peoples reviews the size does vary a lot.

No it doesn't "vary a blot", its 9GB flat for most people, people with 4GB download are exceptions.

Even ZOS rep stated the download is 8GB (understandably understated a bit).

The ZOS representatives are from the EU and US team, so that there might be different sizes and they only talk for their customers who are either US or EU.

It doesn't make any sense that as you say "a few" download 4 GB, while everyone else 9 GB. There must be a reason for it as its not the first time that this happened.

Heishi wrote: »

I don't want a carbon copy of GW1/2 but the patching system it had is very nice. You d/l the patch in the background while playing. For minor stuff, it applies next log in.

For major stuff it pops up with "a new build is available" and you relog and d/l a small patch since most of it was already done and are back in within a minute if that. Sometimes when there was a new build you didn't have to d/l anything more.

Yap, it would fix a lot of whining here. I am sure most people that play WOW, GW etc. don't even know that the patches are 5GB in size or more. They always only see those few MB of download at patch day and then assume its like that in every game.

well, if EU patch is half the size of US patch, they royally ***** us.

Spiritreaver_ESO

Heishi wrote: »

I don't want a carbon copy of GW1/2 but the patching system it had is very nice. You d/l the patch in the background while playing. For minor stuff, it applies next log in.

For major stuff it pops up with "a new build is available" and you relog and d/l a small patch since most of it was already done and are back in within a minute if that. Sometimes when there was a new build you didn't have to d/l anything more.

That actually sounds pretty nice. But i feel anything like that is going to be a long time coming for TESO. Not trying to be overly flippant, but they couldn't even get the Patch Notes for 1.2.3 gathered up and ready to release properly for goodness' sake.

elderscrollsb16_ESO109

I agree it's not logical

Let say for example ZOS modify a few lines in a 100MB file
standard solution : you download the entire file
smart solution : you download only the blocks that changed in that file.

The second one is widely used, for example in incremental backup solution, but it looks like ZOS still use the first one. (only a guess tough, but I cannot see better explanation for this amount of download)

As for the code change, I'm not developer, but I now well enough that code is not so much space consuming,
The entire code for ESO client surely fits in a few hundred MB (if not less)

This is graphics and sounds that are huge.

In short, there's solution to avoid this behavior, I hope it will be improved in the futur.

Jade1986

I just came back to this game after a month hiatus and I had to download a fracking 20+ gb update, im sorry, but that is outrageous.

richiestyles

crislevin wrote: »

richiestyles wrote: »

Do they give notice? And I dont mean "the server will be down", I mean this is a 5G or whatever patch.

I never get one...Then give the option for auto update after maintenance..or would that over load the servers?

I totally agree with the patch over a week instead of all at once though.

they don't, we had to ask here and a rep came in and posted a response.

Thats BS at least give us that, they announce it anyway and its not like they dont know the size.

Im sorry I dont usually complain but the useless content could have been avoided, I mean light ect., and I was really disappointed when I found out the items you pick up are completely useless, unless your level 3 and skipped the intro.

Matchurin

I am so frustrated with this game. It took me two full days to download this freaking "patch". I was one of the unfortunates who needed a "repair" for whatever reason. I wound up downloading almost 30gb. I have a 5Mb connection, luckily it's unlimited, but still slow as molasses. Now of course when it's done and I'm ready to play it's time again for regular maintenance, after which I'll most likely need to download another patch. Can't wait for Warlords to come out so I can go back to WoW.

claudosan

IMO I really can't complain. I would've downloaded a 50gb patch if it meant they were gonna fix many issues.

It would help though if they divided the patch up into even smaller pieces than 4gb and had the choice of downloading "All" or "Selected Parts."

Being able to download a packaged update from a different server through a browser on an official ESO page would help immensely as well.

Also, there is a download speed selection option in the launcher (just fyi).