“Show additional ally effects” option should be turned ON by default!

xtni

It's fine to have to option to turn it off, but it should be turned ON by default!

Sorry for this long post but this is my first post and I think it's very important for the game. And btw I am not a native English speaker, sorry if there are mistakes, but I am doing my best.

I'm playing on PC.

Some say that hardcore Elder Scrolls fans don't enjoy Elder Scrolls Online... but that is wrong!
I love this game so much – and I am a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series overall and my girlfriend also enjoys the games so much she even has a Elder Scrolls tattoo. I did not enjoy ESO when it launched but after some very good changes the game grew into that amazing MMO we all hoped it would be! And I believe it is your (the companies) ability to not be afraid to make changes that makes your game so successful.

Now to the topic:
It's not that fun to play in group if people don't know what the others are doing.
So many players don't even know this option is there and they don't turn it on because they think it will make the game lag or they assume they can see everything already.

Why Show additional ally effect option should be turned ON by default!
Concerning – Group/Team-play/coordination
When people play as tank they want to see what team mates are doing, where to move, where not to move etc.
When they play as a sorcerer they're getting yelled at for not doing anything – but on their screen it's raining with fire and thunder... but nobody can see that. Too often an ultima is wasted because they can't see what the other player is doing since they can't see certain effects. Often a special ability is used and the tank is running away from the effect... because it's not shown on his screen. If it is too much for some tanks they can simply turn it off.
But being able to see all that happens in a battle is vital for the strategy and group coordination and placement. It also helps timing, when to use your ultima ability since you can easily see when others have used theirs etc.

Why Show additional ally effect option should be turned ON by default! Concerning new players
So sad... many new players don't really know this option is there and they don't know really what it's doing. To put it short they don't know that there is something they can't see. I think this would spark even more interest in other classes and special gear if others could see the ally special effect. To be honest many classes look so boring and dull when this effect is turned off... I know that there are some who like to have it visually clean – but I think most gamers deep down love noise and chaos! Yesterday I played with a new player and I did the same ability again and again... but after some time when I told him to turn the show ally effect on… (because he was running away from the effects) he suddenly out of the blue wanted to play a sorcerer because he saw the cool looking effects – do you see...? He was not interested in that class before… he thought it was dull at first... but then he saw all the effect.

Why Show additional ally effect option should be turned ON by default!
Concerning show off!
It's not really that awesome to finally get the right undaunted gear set – when only you can see the effect. So many of them are so cool and by being able to see the effect people would maybe strive more after it. So many classes seems a bit dull... but after I turned the effect on... good lord so many awesome things... My girlfriend jumped right out and started a new class because she saw a cool looking ability. That class was a good part of the game, she would have otherwise missed out on.

Too often have I heard something like - “Did you see that? Did you see that firestorm?” “What fire storm? I saw nothing...” You know that moment when you feel really epic… it's pretty lame that nobody really experience that same moment when you summoned that amazing awesome badass effect... I could be wrong but for me the roleplay element is also the abilities your character has.
It all comes down to this… It's not really a shared experience of epicness... it's more a separate experience of epicness...

Why Show additional ally effect option should be turned ON by default!
Concerning identity and personal feel
I can only speak for myself. I play video games to feel epic and I think many want it to be a shared experience… if most can't see your effect... why even make a unique character? for me it's like spending time on a characters hair cut and you think it looks good but on the other screen it's a total different hair... it's a bit the same with the effect... it should be a shared experience.
Many people like to have a unique character, a character they have made, formed, grown to know and understand in their own head – it might be an MMO, but it still is an Elder Scrolls game – and a big part of that personal feeling and touch is also the abilities a character uses. It is a big difference to me if people see me as a fire mage or a frost mage, and also my general fighting style – when I do things, how I do them.

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I know some people might not care, and I know it is easy to say “Well, just turn it on”, but how should I (as a new player) know it is even there? I played for two years before I found out about this, because when I read about it in settings, I did not understand what it did. I thought I could see everything already and “additional” effects was just that – additional – not the core elements of my teammates' play style.
Many people don't know this, and I don't know how they should find out, if someone does not tell them. The only reason I found out was because I played with my girlfriend and suddenly I could see on her screen that there was nothing on there, and she had never seen any of my cool abilities.


I know people who have left the game due to this small detail. It really comes down to this... is it a mmorpg? Yes – we play it to meet people, to experience something epic, to go on adventures – and to delve into our characters... but what is the fun if only I can see that?

We want noise!
I know the argument has been made that to have it on would make too much visual noise but those people can simply turn it off...
It makes sense to have in turned on by default!
Many tanks want it to be.
Many new players will enjoy the game even more.
It's more fun to play with others.
Team play is easier.
The game is more interesting and an epic shared experience.

Of course there should be an option to turn it off, but it should be turned ON by default!

Watchdog

I disagree.

I don't need the additional strain on my PC. I am happy I don't have to turn that option off manually on my army of alts.

Unij

I disagree too. However I can't even remember if it was by default on, when I started to play. But I turned this option off after I as a Tank were in a group with 3 sorcs and my screen was freezed for the entire bossfight while they nuked the boss.

Darkenarlol

so... you can post 3 walls of text

but unable to click on one option to turn it on?

if YOU want to feel *epic* turn in on for YOURSELF


we had all effects shown with no option

to turn it off before ( if i remember correctly)

now we have what we have


and i bet that most players prefer higher and

more stable FPS than some *epic* lag and freeze

show where you can't even see your own character'

actions cluttered under ultimates and AOE's

mairwen85

It used to be on by default. Think it was a performance improvement fix to change it.

Edit

Didn't see previous post. But yeah, that's why it is how it is.

sp_korshun

1. All these ally effects drops fps significantly.
2. You see all effects you need, e.g all that give you sinergy.
3. Tank don't need to see where he need to take boss, cause dd need to drop their ults just on tank and boss, as other abilities.
4. You always see the beginning of destro ulti, so you have info, that it's here, boss needs to be here in nearest 8 seconds etc.
5. All who don't like these effects off can always turn them on.
6. If people don't know that there's such option - they're lazy and it's their problem.

DBZVelena

i'm glad its off, i don't need to see your sparkly butt.
and btw, it doesn't cover skill effects. It does however cover things i have no need to see.

idk

Zos added the element that reduced our view of effects from skills allies used to reduce the load on our machine. Mostly because Zos had added more skills to the game that increased the number of effects plus more was going on with boss mechanics such as in vHoF.

All of that created a load on our machine and made it hard to see specific effects we needed to see. Again, case in point is vHoF where the tank needs to see a less than obvious mechanic in the second fight of that trial and it would get obscured by some graphical effects from player skills.

Since most players will not take the time to figure out every setting available to them and this setting can greatly improve both their experience and enjoyment of the game due to better FPS this setting should remain defaulted to hide the effects

So if you want to change the settings on your machine to show the effects then do so. That is your prerogative but it is in the best interest of the player base to have not have the default changed.

vesselwiththepestle

There are already too many effects. I can barely see what is important with all this visual noise. I am glad additional ally effects are turned off by default.

I've had to fight bosses where I literally couldn't see my character and its animations because everything was white and blinding. ("Bloom" is the first thing I turn off in every computer game, too.)

thorwyn

I hope your girlfriend will never ask you what kind of marmelade you want on your toast for breakfast.

Uryel

I do agree with OP, it should be on. Or, at the very least, the position of allied AoE damage should be visible without it. Maybe it doesn't matter in 12-man content, but when playing duo, not seing the wall of elements and the like your ally casts is annoying. How to use proper strategic positionning without it ?

At the very least, the description should be updated, it's rather unclear. But that wouldn't fix the issue in most cases, as 95+% of the population never opens options. You can tell by the massive number of idiots modifying their spelling to circumvent a progfanity filter that they could have shut down in the first place and only affects them.