Console Quality of Life Improvement

Lexxypwns · August 2018

Disclaimer: ZoS obviously cares about console QoL as evidenced by them making incremental improvements to it, so let’s skip the negativity about that and help them out.

Updated with all suggestions from the first page of the thread

Since pre-launch ESO has been developed with the idea of moving to consoles in mind, you can go back and read all about it if you disagree but its documented and there's clear in game evidence of it as well. Console platforms make up 2/3 of the server space in the game, I don't know what that means as far as overall population, but I think its safe to assume consoles make up at least half of the player base. However, as a player who was formerly on PC and now plays on console the experiences are vastly different and the QoL of PC is miles ahead. I'm going to outline a few of these issues and I'd ask other console players to contribute to this list, I'll update the OP with everything so that we can have a clear list for the Devs. I'm doing this because there are no console class reps and that's an egregious oversight and I'm hoping that some of the reps will bring these things up in meetings. Console players make up a large portion of the player base and its simply not ok that our gameplay experience is treated with such disregard. The ideal option would be to allow add-ons/mods for console(Many console players are nervous about this)but I'm going to operate under the assumption that won't happen.

No in game option to customize controller layout
There are a few presets and on PS4 you can remap your controls using system settings. However, on Xbox there's no method to customize your controller layout and on PS4 you have to change the layout for all games and then adjust it every time you switch games or play with your buttons rearranged. This is a huge issue because some of the button mappings are horrible, particularly dodge rolling. In order to dodge roll I have to press the block input plus the jump/activate input which can sometimes cause you to get stuck in a block animation post roll which can prevent your stamina regeneration and stop you from moving at your desired speed.

Camera Pan Speed
Watch a PC stream, watch a Console stream. The camera simply doesn't have the same level of sensitivity, which is likely because we can't alter the input sensitivity on a controller like we can a mouse. It would be great if we could increased in game camera sensitivity a bit more. At present the low camera speed can make it hard to use single target melee skills properly, particularly when dealing with players with high movement speed, you can see a lot of Stamblades have been running DB over Incap for ages because you can't always get incap to go off properly during 1vX.

Lack of Combat Metrics
We finally have buff trackers(which need more customization options), we have in game damage scrolling, but we have no way to analyze damage contributions, buff/debuff uptimes, etc. All testing pretty much has to be done in real time/recorded and analyzed. This makes it significantly harder to analyze sets using real math. For example, I can't duel someone and then check my BS uptime unless I record the whole fight and watch my buff tracker, same for any other buffs/debuffs.

Master Merchant
On PC there are several add-ons that track sales and allow you to get a reasonable idea of pricing on items. On console we have to go trader to trader and try to find an aggregate ourselves. I know the Master Merchant add-on isn't perfect, but its certainly better than guessing.

Quickly changing skill/gear loadouts
On PC we have the ability to save multiple presets, various skill and gear combinations and swap them with a single input. On console you have to change every single thing every time you want to change from build to build. We have an outfit system that changes appearance so it seems like the functionality exists to do the same with skills/gear. Could start with one or two presets available and monetize the rest of them, but we need some sort of option for this.

Guild Trader UI
On PC there are mods that improve the guild trader interface, on consoles we can't search very well at all and its a frustrating experience searching some of the bigger trading guilds stock. Allow us to quickly search for keywords perhaps.

Inventory
Allow the option to choose grid or list style inventory as well as search for key words.

Sorc Pet controls
They're basically non-existent, this is an extension of the controller remapping problem and could easily be solved by adding pet controls in and allowing us to map them ourselves.
HDR is broken

More interactive map
There are a ton of Map add-ons for PC that allow you to toggle all sorts of things on and off, Iorebooks and skyshards are popular options and we could very easily add an in game item AND a crown store option to allow these to be viewed on the map. Having the ability to mark specific locations on the map with a few different potential markers would be great as well, all these things will need to have the option to be toggled on in the Compass. We should also have an optional Mini Map

Batch Crafting
We can already purchase in bulk. PC players use add-ons to automate monotonous tasks like crafting bulk potions, at present you have to mash whatever button hundreds of times to do large batches of items.

There are plenty more that I'll be adding as I've got time and I'll also update with everyone else's contributions.

If you’re a console player let’s try to keep posting here and keep it on the first few pages of forums so it’s got a high level of visibility.

madchuska83 · August 2018

Lol! You naive if you think they care about us. We're just cash cows for milking.

Beardimus · August 2018

Amen to that console brother @Lexxypwns. Excellent post. I think you just became the defacto Console Rep!!

I differ in opinion on a couple of points personallt, i'm happy to not open the flood gate to add ons totally - as I do like the level playing field, and i'd hate all the daft ones 'block now' etc etc. However all the regularly used QOL ones should just be adopted as base game 100%

I also am OK with traders as is. I'm not keen on AH, and I would worry master merchant leads us that way. but otherwise you have my vote!

Few points -
- on loadouts. I didnt know PC had that!!! i'd even be happy for a 5k crown manequin in house for CP / Skills / Gear quick swap. In house to stop misuse on the fly.
- Xbox you can alter controller buttons but for ALL games you play as well. i.e. I have bar swap on d pad and crouch on right thumb but agreed to in game custom changes needed
- Batch cooking of items (potions / food / enchants), again I know addon's do this, its madness not to have this bass game, code is there for batch purchases wall repairs etc.
- SORT options in inventory. correct me if i'm wrong but I think PC can sort things so you see all set items together for example. Again might be an Add on i've seen, hard to tell!
- sort / search for Guild Traders (sets / motifs)
- Pet controls - think PC get more than we do for the pesky critters
- Buff tracker customisation - increased size too of important ones
- HDR IS BROKEN (sorry banging the drum for us X1X guys wherever I can!)

got to fly but i'm sure i'll think of more!

flacidstone · August 2018

Agree with just about all of this. Add ons I am a bit skeptical on as @Beardimus said. But other than that it all is much needed quality of life improvements.

Jjitsuboy98 · August 2018

I just really really really want to be able to search for a certain set at the guild traders without going through list after list after list. It takes several hours sometime to find what I want.

Violynne · August 2018

madchuska83 wrote: »

Lol! You naive if you think they care about us. We're just cash cows for milking.

Mooooooooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo

[translation: yep, 4 years and our QoL is scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll...]

Feric51 · August 2018

I would like an interactive map with toggle-able layers that can be turned on/off.

Think harvest map-esque. You run up to a node/treasure chest/skyshard, and have the option to drop a "marker" on that spot that you can have visible on your map for future reference. A layer for skyshards, treasure maps, and nodes would ideally be able to be toggled off individually so the map doesn't get too cluttered. Other layers could be added as needed by individual players based on their preferences.

CGPsaint · August 2018

There is an add-on over on PC that lets you slot Rapid Maneuver whilst mounted, and remove it after dismounting, which must be absolutely amazing to use in Cyrodiil.

Load Out Swapping/Skill Bar Swapping - I would love to be able to go in and select a load out for BGs, Cyrodiil, Trials, 4-man content, or vMA, without having to actually go in and adjust all of my gear, skills, morphs of said skills, and CP allocations. Select proper load out, and boom, you're done.

Batch Crafting/Refining - Let me cook 100 servings of Pasty Longfin, or filet 200 fish. I just sold almost 50 stacks of fish because I wasn't even remotely interested in sitting there and mindlessly hitting a button 10,000 times, just to clear those fish from my inventory, and hopefully being blessed by RNGeesus.

Buff/Debuff Trackers - Let us pick which buffs/debuffs that we actually want to track!

Beardimus · August 2018

^ sounds cool.

- mini map added to the list too! Espech for PvP

TheCaptainJosh · August 2018

I would appreciate no random loading screens in cyrodiil, or being kicked out of the game during a siege, only to miss the tick. Bringing hdr back would be nice too

Jolipinator · August 2018

As much as I want to be cynical and say ZOS like to ignore us and we'll never get anything nice, we did recently get some good changes, some of which I posted here.

Today I also noticed we can now quickly zoom in and out of the map with R1 and L1 (on PS4) which saves a lot of time. How long has that been around? I only ever remember being able to do it in Elden Root.

As for new changes the one I have always wanted was a search function in guild traders. Add that and I can be happy for a while.

Tomorrow there will be a live stream of a panel talking about Murkmire. Hopefully they might give us some info about new features in update 20.

Beardimus · August 2018

How's bar swap on PC @Lexxypwns ?

As I feel its laggy / unreliable on Xbox.

Overload transition is ugly too but think that's everywhere.

bloodthirstyvampire · August 2018

Master merchant is stupid and unnecessary, plus prices for anything will plummet, the undercuting will be horrible. just a search bar and I'll be fine.

Combat metrics yes, dressing room yes, other then that,I hate these cookie-cutter addons, practically holding everybodies hands because the simple task at hand is just oh so difficult for you to do all of a sudden.

Onefrkncrzypope · August 2018

Violynne wrote: »

madchuska83 wrote: »

Lol! You naive if you think they care about us. We're just cash cows for milking.

Mooooooooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo...ooo

[translation: yep, 4 years and our QoL is scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll... scroll...]

Hmm... Erm uh it's called elder scrolls soooo it's imersive lol

Swomp23 · August 2018

Yes! Thx for this post. I'm coming back to the game after almost 2 years, and while some things got better, not always in a good way. I agrre with most of what OP said, but here are my main gripes :

- Buff trackers. I left 2 years ago because I was starting to dip my toes in end-game content and didn't see the point of pushing through because of the lack of any metrics for personal improvements. The dummies are a HUGE improvement, thx for that. I wished really ard also for buff trackers, but what we have in the current version is so confusing, I can't track important buffs/DOTs correctly. I just came back, so it might be a question of habit, but some buffs/DOTs pop 2 squares at once, they get added to the tracking bar in what appears to be a completly random order, and we finish with what looks to be a huge bar of tiny squares that pop on and off at random. If we could choose what buffs/DOTS we want to get tracked, choose the size of the square and give each individual one a fixed position on the screen, it would be so much better.

- Controller layout. I bought an Xbox elite controller just yesterday because of that. Would have saved me a couple bucks if the game allowed that.

- Master Merchant. I never bothered to get involved in trading because it looks too messy / time consuming. I understand that the market would be more prone to manipulation if the system was streamlined, but I still think it would be worth it.

- Skill/gear loadouts : Would be a very nice QOL change.

I saw a post last week from the new Lead Gameplay Designer @ZOS_RobGarrett , saying he switched from PC to console to get a better understanding of that experience. I think this is a very encouraging start. I just hope they follow with some actual changes.

Waffennacht · August 2018

Very well done

Kalik_Gold · August 2018

• Basic Search function to Guild Shops
• Able to sort Characters on login screen
• Savable Skill sets (respect cost on switch), as well as Gear sets (similar to outfits, but free)
• Mini-map (off or on toggle)

blunned · August 2018

I agree with this post and posted something similar on the reddit forum a couple months ago. I have been playing ESO for about 5 months now and I’ve reached a point where the lack of many of these things (build switching, search bar in guild trader, MINI-MAP, combat metrics or at the very least being able to more intricately customize what buffs/debuffs show on the bar) is starting to weigh on me significantly. The tedium of the UI decisions and the inability to efficiently do certain tasks to enjoy my time in tamriel is starting to make me consider moving to another game. I love PVE and PVP both and have just started just using my pve builds in pvp because switching every single time between skills, gear, CP, is just too much. I would be happy to spend 3,000 gold + whatever the gold skill change cost is every time I switch but I don’t want to have to do that plus take 30 extra minutes out of my playtime rearranging everything. I don’t have a lot of time to play and when I do I definitely don’t want to spend my time playing UI explorer. I still haven’t mustered up the energy to stare at a map on my phone for hours to collect all the lorebooks for the mages guild skill line. I also think that the argument about a mini-map breaking immersion is absolutely ridiculous. You know what breaks my immersion? Having to pull up a map that takes up my full screen, stop running, randomly calculate how far I think I might have to run before I hit the next branch point in the road, starting to run again, missing the turn, and then having to do this over and over and over again. Having a tiny map in the corner of the screen would help improve my immersion significantly because I could actually focus on the environment as opposed to having to stop every 10 seconds and open a full sized map. The only thing on your list I could do without would be master merchant but definitely think a search function is necessary (and should have been included from the beginning). The decision to not have a search function or minimap absolutely baffles me. All I ask for is 1/100th of the time and money put into making a new little non-combat pet for the crown store every 5 minutes dedicated toward improving the console exerpeience with these basic quality of life things. I really didn’t think I’d ever say this but ZOS is losing me. I really thought I’d play this game until the population died but I don’t know if I can put up with the tedium and barriers to enjoying the game too much longer.

Lexxypwns · August 2018

Hey, thanks for the thoughts, I’m going to be updating the OP once I get home, I’ll change the initial post to reflect the skepticism about full on add-ons and add the other suggestions in.

I think as console players we need to support and push for improvements and show how lacking our QoL is we can try to force some more changes. It’s frustrating that we make up such a large percentage of the population and aren’t really being spoken for. I know some console players turned down the class rep program, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to make ourselves heard as a group.

CatchMeTrolling · August 2018

The ability to search for things by name in guild stores and ayou should be able to search the average price for something in the guild stores.

Lore books and skyshards need to be on the map.

Need to be able to select a certain amount of poisons or potions to craft for alchemy.

Lasinagol · August 2018

Any QoL they do for console would be awesome...ZoS started a trend with the fishing improvement...having multiple outfits without having to pay would be cool.
First and foremost, I think something like Combat Metrics would divide the console community even further and create more elitists. Even though it would improve players like me with dps parses and knowing what benefitted the fight.

yurimodin · August 2018

Beardimus wrote: »

How's bar swap on PC @Lexxypwns ?

As I feel its laggy / unreliable on Xbox.

Overload transition is ugly too but think that's everywhere.

barswap absolutely SUCKS on PC.....I play with an Xbox1 controller and barswap only works about 40% of the time during combat on the 1st press and I do PVE 99.9% of the time.

Specs:
i7-8700
GTX1080 Ti
game installed on NVMe SSD

Feric51 · August 2018

Jolipinator wrote: »

Today I also noticed we can now quickly zoom in and out of the map with R1 and L1 (on PS4) which saves a lot of time. How long has that been around? I only ever remember being able to do it in Elden Root.

This has been around on Xbox for at least 2+ years. I've been doing it ever since I started playing in 2016. That said, it apparently is an easy one to miss because I had a guildmate shocked to discover it for himself just a month or so ago.

Beruge · August 2018

The two things we need the most is search bar in trade and mark object as trash. PC literally have the mark as trash in the base client...

acw37162 · August 2018

Controller mapping is already coded into the game. Why it hasn’t tbewn enabled for console is beyond frustrating and why developers and world designers put bugs, moths, or other intertable insects almost every place you want to jump on your mount and why the interact and jump button are the same is ridiculous.

LadyLethalla · August 2018

For PS4 users I can't recommend the Razer Raiju controller highly enough. I used to use controller layout C because barswapping was a total pain on layout A. The Raiju can be remapped and has additional buttons, so it's now easier to sprint, barswap and use my quickslot wheel.

brandonv516 · August 2018

Beruge wrote: »

The two things we need the most is search bar in trade and mark object as trash. PC literally have the mark as trash in the base client...

I could have sworn there was something already on console that allows you to "mark as junk".

Willard · August 2018

Could not agree more.

I switched from PC to Console--PS4. I felt all the add-ons were ruining the game and wanted an even playing field.

I love playing on PS4 and do not miss the add-ons at all; however, myself and most people I play with would like a search function and or Tabs added to the inventory system. The bag and bank storage in the current state is cumbersome and next to impossible to efficiently find anything. An Inventory Management Tool is a quality of life addition for consoles that is desperately needed!!

Qwazzy · August 2018

Dressing room would be such a nice QoL change. One can hope!

Sevn · August 2018

The two most wanted improvements I'd like to see added, firstly a freakin minimap and secondly a search function for traders. If you're not going to allow us to search every trader with a click of a button at least lessen the time it takes to find what we are looking for.

Tired of players lambasting Zos for being greedy all the while being excessively greedy themselves with their overpriced items because they know how much of a hassle it is to bounce around looking for the best deal. It's tedious and way too time consuming.

MilwaukeeScott · August 2018

Shut up or they'll make us pay $30 a month!!

Mooo0000oooo