ZOS, Please Make Game Performance a Priority

Aurielle

I got to thinking this morning about all of the reasons why I returned to ESO two years ago after disliking the game during beta, and re-read an old forum post I made in LOTRO's forums about ESO: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?637480-Some-advice-for-VIPs-who-feel-like-they-re-not-getting-their-money-s-worth

Some of the grievances I mentioned in that thread about LOTRO versus ESO have been true here for a while now. Over the past year or so (especially on console), game performance has been steadily declining with each rushed update. We once endured week after week of long loading screens, which forced us to bypass transit shrines and cross our fingers that we would not die. We're now entering our fourth week of frequent freezing and crashing in Cyrodiil, along with massive FPS drops there and almost everywhere else in the game. When Crown Store issues crop up (see: the two new motifs), they are addressed very quickly by comparison.

Please, ZOS: make game performance a priority across all platforms. When we're paying you our hard-earned in subscription fees and Crown Store fluff, we should not have to put up with game-breaking performance issues for a month and counting. I appreciate the fact that you likely make more money off whales purchasing crates and Crown-exclusive housing than you do from those of us who just play the game, but please don't underestimate our willingness to un-sub and seek greener pastures when performance issues are neglected.

I love playing ESO, and I want to keep playing it for a while yet. Please give me a reason to keep subscribing to this game, and fix these game-breaking performance issues in a timely manner. If freezing in Cyrodiil is not fixed by the time Midyear Mayhem rolls around, I will un-sub.

Thestephenmcraeub17_ESO

Aurielle wrote: »

I love playing ESO, and I want to keep playing it for a while yet. Please give me a reason to keep subscribing to this game, and fix these game-breaking performance issues in a timely manner. If freezing in Cyrodiil is not fixed by the time Midyear Mayhem rolls around, I will un-sub.

I really wouldn't hold my breath on a fix happening so soon. And even on the off-chance it does happen within a month, the rush of players to Cyro would pretty much create the same problems, even if only for the duration of the event. They've been struggling with performance in Cyro for literally as long as I can remember, I don't think we'll ever see a patch that remedies everything overnight.

Aurielle

Thestephenmcraeub17_ESO wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

I love playing ESO, and I want to keep playing it for a while yet. Please give me a reason to keep subscribing to this game, and fix these game-breaking performance issues in a timely manner. If freezing in Cyrodiil is not fixed by the time Midyear Mayhem rolls around, I will un-sub.

I really wouldn't hold my breath on a fix happening so soon. And even on the off-chance it does happen within a month, the rush of players to Cyro would pretty much create the same problems, even if only for the duration of the event. They've been struggling with performance in Cyro for literally as long as I can remember, I don't think we'll ever see a patch that remedies everything overnight.

That is simply not good enough. Midyear Mayhem begins at the end of July, yes? Summerset launched on console a month ago. If the team cannot fix the performance issues that were introduced with Summerset within two months, then there's a problem. Also, I would hope that the team learned something from last year's Midyear Mayhem, and will open multiple new campaigns on day one of the event to handle the influx of players.

Mahabahabtha

Aurielle wrote: »

If freezing in Cyrodiil is not fixed by the time Midyear Mayhem rolls around, I will un-sub.

Done allready because of Steam Issues. German Com-Manager announced a statement, who has to be re-read in legal-terms i think, but no Answer to it until now.

Aurielle

Just doing a cursory glance of the first three pages in general discussion:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/419134/fix-the-dcing-in-cyrodiil-already#latest

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422992/more-and-longer-loading-screens-now-on-pc-too#latest

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422830/long-load-screens-xbox-na

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422853/xbox-characters-not-loading-in-or-loading-in-after-a-3-4-minutes-wait

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422913/eso-is-sooo-broken-quickly-becoming-a-failure-in-gaming-world

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422905/maintenance-broke-eso-on-xbox

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422892/lonnnnnggggggg-load-screens

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/422889/ps4-na-pvp

That's a lot of unhappy customers who are getting increasingly fed up over performance. As we all know, only a fraction of the game's population visits the forum...

Meanwhile, those two previously-bugged motifs will be up on the Crown Store today!

Elsonso

Aurielle wrote: »

Please, ZOS: make game performance a priority across all platforms. When we're paying you our hard-earned in subscription fees and Crown Store fluff, we should not have to put up with game-breaking performance issues for a month and counting. I appreciate the fact that you likely make more money off whales purchasing crates and Crown-exclusive housing than you do from those of us who just play the game, but please don't underestimate our willingness to un-sub and seek greener pastures when performance issues are neglected.

I wish they would do this, too. However, the realist in me sees this only getting worse. As ZOS Game #2 expands production, I expect it to pull critical resources from ESO, with no benefit to ESO. Eventually, they will be able to get the whole team in a single selfie.

Reverb

Can't sell it in the crown store = not a priority.

Gythral

Reverb wrote: »

Can't sell it in the crown store = not a priority.

Aint this the truth

Aurielle

lordrichter wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

Please, ZOS: make game performance a priority across all platforms. When we're paying you our hard-earned in subscription fees and Crown Store fluff, we should not have to put up with game-breaking performance issues for a month and counting. I appreciate the fact that you likely make more money off whales purchasing crates and Crown-exclusive housing than you do from those of us who just play the game, but please don't underestimate our willingness to un-sub and seek greener pastures when performance issues are neglected.

I wish they would do this, too. However, the realist in me sees this only getting worse. As ZOS Game #2 expands production, I expect it to pull critical resources from ESO, with no benefit to ESO. Eventually, they will be able to get the whole team in a single selfie.

It's pretty sad. This might be the last MMO I ever play, if ZOS continues to prioritize the store over bigger problems; they all go through a golden period where the game is fun and performs well, and then inevitably decline into a poorly optimized cash grab.

The_Brosteen

Game performance wont become a priority until they can link it to lost revenues. They are, after all, a business.

Really you can't blame zos. You only have yourselves and your desire for that apex mount to blame.

Jameliel

I hope there is no midyear mayhem. As terrible as Cyrodiil performance already is, the ques, lag, and disconnects are going to be even worse with people trying to hoard ap. Instead of dealing with that in overland Cyro, I'll probably start ganking with my NB in the sewers and Imperial City while it lasts.

reiverx

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

Arrodisia

I was a little disturbed to not see anything related to server/game performance in the patch notes today. Especially since so many people in the game are reporting higher lag and more dcs. I have a fast, stable connection and a good PC. I shouldn't experience so much lag.

Acknowledging the issue and letting us know they are working on it would be nice.

Well I'll do my best to stay positive and keep hope alive. Maybe they'll fix it soon, maybe even in the next patch/maintenance.

Aurielle

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

Aurielle

juttaa77b16_ESO wrote: »

I was a little disturbed to not see anything related to server/game performance in the patch notes today. Especially since so many people in the game are reporting higher lag and more dcs. I have a fast, stable connection and a good PC. I shouldn't experience so much lag.

Acknowledging the issue and letting us know they are working on it would be nice.

Well I'll do my best to stay positive and keep hope alive. Maybe they'll fix it soon, maybe even in the next patch/maintenance.

I'm trying to stay positive as well, as I've invested a lot of time and money into this game and truly do love playing it when it's working well. I've lost a lot of hope that performance issues will be fixed, however, and am feeling like I did when I decided to ditch LOTRO after eight years.

reiverx

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

Aurielle

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

reiverx

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

At the end of the day, nothing was going to stop them releasing Summerset as is.

Aurielle

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

At the end of the day, nothing was going to stop them releasing Summerset as is.

This is true. However, we could have started the ball rolling on a fix a bit sooner.

reiverx

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

At the end of the day, nothing was going to stop them releasing Summerset as is.

This is true. However, we could have started the ball rolling on a fix a bit sooner.

I would like to point out though, that I don't blame the developers or testers in any way. In my 30+ years in software development I have never ever came across another developer who did not care about the quality of their code. There is something very satisfying about producing the best and most stable code possible.

I honestly think the release schedule that ZOS have imposed on themselves is too aggressive and the people who make the decisions -- the big big decisions -- are too involved in monetization to care.

Skoomah

Why would anyone recommend a game that doesn’t work to their friends?

Aurielle

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

At the end of the day, nothing was going to stop them releasing Summerset as is.

This is true. However, we could have started the ball rolling on a fix a bit sooner.

I would like to point out though, that I don't blame the developers or testers in any way. In my 30+ years in software development I have never ever came across another developer who did not care about the quality of their code. There is something very satisfying about producing the best and most stable code possible.

I honestly think the release schedule that ZOS have imposed on themselves is too aggressive and the people who make the decisions -- the big big decisions -- are too involved in monetization to care.

Well-said (especially your final sentence). This is why my post is directed vaguely at ZOS the company, and not the developers who work at ZOS. I realize our concerns likely fall on deaf ears, but if there are any ZOS employees who are able to forward on our concerns to those who can actually make a difference, then it's worth it in the end.

I'd take a well-functioning game over a new DLC or new Crown Store item any day, and I know many of us here feel the same way.

TequilaFire

I think the biggest problem is they release too many changes at once instead of smaller incremental patches that could be rolled back if there are problems instead of releasing everything in one update which would lose too much of everyone's progress if it were to be rolled back.

Bergzorn

There has to be a point-of-break-even somewhere in the sense that the performance issues and all the unfixed bugs drive away more paying customers than the new content attracts.

We may well be far over that point already, but only ZOS can know for sure and take appropriate actions.

I could care less about new DLCs and chapters if they invest their manpower to resolve some longstanding issues first, but the games development history does not indicate that this might happen.

Elsonso

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

Aurielle wrote: »

reiverx wrote: »

In the last update on consoles we had the perma-load screen if you died. This was 100% unavoidable.

In this update we have the perma-freezes. This is 100% unavoidable.

So either ZOS does not properly test on consoles -- at all -- or they simply ignore the bugs and give us what they think we deserve.

It says a lot about how the company views its customers. But I also blame Sony for allowing broken code on PSN.

ZOS can't properly test on consoles without a PTS. It appears they are unwilling to pay for the rapid patch certification that both Sony and Microsoft offer to game developers in order to make a console PTS happen.

These issues are so in-your-face that I find it hard to believe they somehow got past testing unnoticed. I sincerely hope that testing isn't solely reliant on a PTS.

There's a reason why developers of online games often hold stress tests on their test servers before launching major updates. If your internal testing is done on a small scale, significant issues that only occur with greater server strain don't always make themselves apparent. It's quite possible that the freezing issue did not occur during their internal tests. The fact that it's still not fixed after four weeks suggests one of three things (or possibly a combination): (1) they don't know what's going on; (2) they have an idea of what's going on, but are limited by slow patch certification because they cannot for some reason avail of rapid patch certification; or (3) performance is secondary to the Crown Store

At the end of the day, nothing was going to stop them releasing Summerset as is.

This is true. However, we could have started the ball rolling on a fix a bit sooner.

I would like to point out though, that I don't blame the developers or testers in any way. In my 30+ years in software development I have never ever came across another developer who did not care about the quality of their code. There is something very satisfying about producing the best and most stable code possible.

I honestly think the release schedule that ZOS have imposed on themselves is too aggressive and the people who make the decisions -- the big big decisions -- are too involved in monetization to care.

Well-said (especially your final sentence). This is why my post is directed vaguely at ZOS the company, and not the developers who work at ZOS. I realize our concerns likely fall on deaf ears, but if there are any ZOS employees who are able to forward on our concerns to those who can actually make a difference, then it's worth it in the end.

I'd take a well-functioning game over a new DLC or new Crown Store item any day, and I know many of us here feel the same way.

Smart money says that they will be dropping back to 1 Chapter and 2 DLC per year, anyway. That should give them a little more breathing room for the DLC content.

Rohamad_Ali

People are unsubscribing and frustrated . It has come down to lack of communication once again .

Mahabahabtha

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

People are unsubscribing and frustrated . It has come down to lack of communication once again .

Tis Sentence, every day, in this post...until they react !!!

Tetrafy

Mahabahabtha wrote: »

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

People are unsubscribing and frustrated . It has come down to lack of communication once again .

Tis Sentence, every day, in this post...until they react !!!

Sektion67

Bergzorn wrote: »

I could care less about new DLCs and chapters if they invest their manpower to resolve some longstanding issues first, but the games development history does not indicate that this might happen.

I've stated this before, but I think the very strict quarterly release schedule ZOS implemented has hurt this game in many ways. They're churning out content at a fast pace, sure, but what is the quality of that content? Yeeeeeaaaaaaah.

So many games have fallen victim to an unrealistic release schedule. Hell, this very game still holds the stigma of a terrible lackluster launch.

Gythral

Please, if nothing else undo all the recent 'fixes' that have done nothing but break even more things in game, like this weeks PC patch that fixed textures and in fact made things several orders worse then before

Then hire an independent QA company to actually test patches, rather than the current "does is break the server" - no then it goes live

Malmai

Performance is great... &€#@!?