/reloadmail

obscure7

A very simple command for a very annoying problem.

Who hates logging off and/or re-zoning just so you can have that item you just bought? I know I do, especially now with the long loading screens. So, if I can /reloadui very quickly when something gets glitchy, let me /reloadmail very quickly and claim that shiny new item i just purchased.

Thank you.

Legedric

Oh I can't tell you how much a working mail system is s o long overdue...

Relogging/Zoning to get my mail is annoying the crap out of me, especially with those ridiculously long loading screen since IC release...

/Edit:
I never understood why player mail in ESO is instant and the NPC mail like guild store requires a [snip] zone change/relog...

[Moderator Note: Edited per our rules on Cursing & Profanity]

PinoZino

A reload button is not the best solution.

Better is to 'reload' automatically the mailbox just when you enter the menu.

As an alternative (or combined with the above) some service could check every minute if you have new mail or not. In that case, the game could visualize a ‘You Got Mail’ while playing.

Legedric

They already reload the mail you get on a frequent basis obviously so the reload somehows does not seem to be the issue.

You can test it. Send mails between players and they pop up instant without opening a window, changing the zone or relogging.

It is only the NPC mail that somehow works different and is blocked or whatever until you zone or relog. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to develop the mail system this way but he definitely deserves a kick to the nuts every morning after he woke up for doing this.

PinoZino

Legedric wrote: »

They already reload the mail you get on a frequent basis obviously so the reload somehows does not seem to be the issue.

You can test it. Send mails between players and they pop up instant without opening a window, changing the zone or relogging.

It is only the NPC mail that somehow works different and is blocked or whatever until you zone or relog. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to develop the mail system this way but he definitely deserves a kick to the nuts every morning after he woke up for doing this.

I didn't know that one. Nice workaround.

It's just another usability bug. Probably they are aware about this one, but it's not a showstopper and they have so many more 'important' bugs.

If you are limited in your resources and workforce, then you really have to choose.

Most project managers are aware of this habit and focus from time to time to these kind of issues.

It are quick wins, don't cost a lot to fix and are tested fast and easy. I guess they underestimate a bit the reward from us: I can assure them, it would be pretty high.

ADarklore

Perhaps because mail between players is infrequent while purchasing items is much much more common and would put a strain on an already strained server system by increasing the mail polling rate. Imagine if every player, hundreds of thousands, had their characters polling the mail server every minute... you think lag is bad now. However, when a character relogs or wayshrines, the server has to reload your information anyway, so it makes more sense to also poll mail at that same time. Is it convenient? NO... but I've learned to use it.

PinoZino

ADarklore wrote: »

Perhaps because mail between players is infrequent while purchasing items is much much more common and would put a strain on an already strained server system by increasing the mail polling rate. Imagine if every player, hundreds of thousands, had their characters polling the mail server every minute... you think lag is bad now. However, when a character relogs or wayshrines, the server has to reload your information anyway, so it makes more sense to also poll mail at that same time. Is it convenient? NO... but I've learned to use it.

True. But you don't have to poll. The client (the PC or console) can 'listen' too.

Legedric

Just trigger the mail refresh everytime you buy something from a guild trader, not time based. Can't be that hard and shouldn't have a noticable impact at all.

obscure7

ADarklore wrote: »

Perhaps because mail between players is infrequent while purchasing items is much much more common and would put a strain on an already strained server system by increasing the mail polling rate. Imagine if every player, hundreds of thousands, had their characters polling the mail server every minute... you think lag is bad now. However, when a character relogs or wayshrines, the server has to reload your information anyway, so it makes more sense to also poll mail at that same time. Is it convenient? NO... but I've learned to use it.

I don't think that sending queries is going to over-stress the server. In fact, it might even alleviate some server load by decreasing the amount of re-zoning and re-logging people are doing to get their mail faster.

AlnilamE

Legedric wrote: »

They already reload the mail you get on a frequent basis obviously so the reload somehows does not seem to be the issue.

You can test it. Send mails between players and they pop up instant without opening a window, changing the zone or relogging.

It is only the NPC mail that somehow works different and is blocked or whatever until you zone or relog. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to develop the mail system this way but he definitely deserves a kick to the nuts every morning after he woke up for doing this.

Nope. I've had people send me mail and it take forever (ie, someone hopped on an alt to make potions while we were running a dungeon, send them to me for me to hand them over when they logged back on the character that was in our group).

And many times I've gotten mail from stores instantly, before I was even done shopping.

nine9six

Regardless, mail needs to be fixed. It's an irritating issue that should be a "thing" in 2015.

Still love the game, though.

ADarklore

obscure7 wrote: »

I don't think that sending queries is going to over-stress the server. In fact, it might even alleviate some server load by decreasing the amount of re-zoning and re-logging people are doing to get their mail faster.

I still think that thousands (and I'm talking tens of thousands) of queries being sent every minute could cause server lag, especially since that would mean attachments are also all transferred at the exact same time. At least with rezoning, it's spread out, whereas mail queries would all happen at the same exact time.

obscure7

@ADarklore The mail traffic will flow regardless whether it is right after you finish shopping or later during zone loading. I think it's better to see a query happen than an entire reloading of a zone. Reloading an entire zone just to claim mail is like using a cargo freighter to deliver one package.

Let's cut down on reloading entire zones and just reload the mail.

ADarklore

obscure7 wrote: »

The mail traffic will flow regardless whether it is right after you finish shopping or later during zone loading. I think it's better to see a query happen than an entire reloading of a zone. Reloading an entire zone just to claim mail is like using a cargo freighter to deliver one package.

Let's cut down on reloading entire zones and just reload the mail.

Again, my point is, there is a difference between mail being queried all at the same time, and mail being staggered when players rezone. Players are not rezoning all at the same time, however, there is no way for them to set each individual character to check mail at different times- so this would mean that hundreds of thousands of players would be querying and receiving mail at the same exact time and this would be happening every minute... yet the quantity of players rezoning just to get mail is way, way less. So what is more strain on a server, a thousand players rezoning at the same time, or hundreds of thousands of players having their mail queried every single minute?

nimander99

obscure7 wrote: »

A very simple command for a very annoying problem.

Who hates logging off and/or re-zoning just so you can have that item you just bought? I know I do, especially now with the long loading screens. So, if I can /reloadui very quickly when something gets glitchy, let me /reloadmail very quickly and claim that shiny new item i just purchased.

Thank you.

WTF! I'm testing this when I get home form work! And TYVM in advance!

!!!!!!!

!!!

!

Just playin T'would be nice.

Kuroinu

When I first bought a few things from a Guild Store I almost submitted a bug report because I couldn't find the items I bought lol. I had no idea they had to be mailed to you instead of being immediately placed in your inventory. No problems with it now of course, but the initial experience was weirdy, weirdy, weird wierds.

I agree with your concept of /reloadmail, but I'd rather it was more automatic.

SirAndy

ADarklore wrote: »

Perhaps because mail between players is infrequent while purchasing items is much much more common and would put a strain on an already strained server system by increasing the mail polling rate. Imagine if every player, hundreds of thousands, had their characters polling the mail server every minute... you think lag is bad now.

Or you could simply offload all mail related tasks to their own server cluster.

Distributed load and all that. It's really not that hard ...

ADarklore

SirAndy wrote: »

Or you could simply offload all mail related tasks to their own server cluster.

Distributed load and all that. It's really not that hard ...

^THIS I do agree with... but... I doubt they consider it a priority in the overall scheme of things. Besides, TESO already has run WAY overbudget, so I'm sure adding more equipment and configuring it into the game is probably out of the question.

obscure7

One thing I really hate doing is re-zoning while doing crafting writs. I'm already in the zone I need to be in to turn in the writ, all I need is for my mail to arrive so I can craft what I need to and turn it in, I don't want to re-log or re-zone or have to play another character to turn in this writ.

Regarding the mail server system: It's already on its own server isn't it? Just like the guild chat system?