Will this be the new norm for ESO?

Heartrage

@Grizzbeorn
Hasn’t the deal closed in march 2021?
Sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/09/microsoft-closes-bethesda-acquisition-aiming-to-take-on-sony.html
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/9/22319124/microsoft-bethesda-acquisition-complete-finalized

BloodyStigmata

But sunflowers tho.

richieh99

I have played on PTS a little bit and personally I think the zone looks great. The screenshots you shared focus on very small areas of the zone, comparing it to small sections of Summerset. When you look at the zone as a whole, I think it looks amazing. Here are some from the main island, I can't get any of the other as it is raining there at the moment, making it foggy and difficult to screenshot.


These are all from around the starting area:





These are some more of the general landscape around High Isle. I'll post some of the smaller island once the weather is better.





Edit: for context, this is 4k Ultra settings

Grizzbeorn

Heartrage wrote: »

@Grizzbeorn
Hasn’t the deal closed in march 2021?
Sources: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/09/microsoft-closes-bethesda-acquisition-aiming-to-take-on-sony.html
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/9/22319124/microsoft-bethesda-acquisition-complete-finalized

AWJEEZ.

My bad. I got the Microsoft/Bethesda deal confused with the Microsoft/Blizzard deal.
It's the Blizzard acquisition that won't close until 2023.

Sorry, sorry. I'll show myself out.

xclassgaming

Iselin wrote: »

Good job sharing your very objective screen shot comparisons. Some people would cherry pick according to their agenda but not you sir/mam. Well done!

/s

Thank you for commenting this for me lol, OP has a agenda and it shows.

Ragnarok0130

I'm sure this expansion was being worked on before the Microsoft acquisition so I'm not sure MS has a lot to do with this.

Faulgor

Summerset was already boring and disappointing, so maybe not the best point of reference. I made similar posts back then comparing it to the far superior Hew's Bane. I call it green Craglorn.

Vvardenfell and Elsweyr were the high points as far as chapter landscapes go, imo.

vivisectvib16_ESO

The "new architecture" screenshot is extremely misleading. You're essentially pointing at the ground and not the buildings.

francesinhalover

I don't care about how it looks, has long has it's better than base zones.
All i want is things to do. collectibles etc.

I want that 100% on the zones to feel good.

Marginis

Problems:

1 - There's nothing to say Microsoft purchasing Zenimax Media which owns Bethesda Softworks which owns Zenimax Online Studios which makes Elder Scrolls Online in which the new DLC is in, a single facet of which is graphical fidelity... has anything to do with how nice the graphics look. Microsoft is so far removed, and game development takes so much time, with so many people involved, one cannot draw a simple line and say one thing directly caused the other. If you're reaching for answers as to why the DLC looks that way, may I suggest the worldwide pandemic as a more realistic cause.

2 - Your graphics comparisons are a bit biased. It seems you are deliberately finding the most flattering existing shots to compare to the least flattering new shots. That is to say, that hardly seems a fair comparison.

3 - Different styles does not equal better or worse. You may prefer the colorful flamboyant Summerset look, but I personally prefer the "everything is bluish gray" hills of Western Skyrim, and I know some people love the featureless sands of Elsweyr.

4 - One of the big concerns I have (and I'm sure ZoS shares) with any new DLC is performance. A lot of players had trouble loading into new zones when older DLCs first came out, because the game just couldn't handle a certain amount of detail in an MMO. Seems like a good thing, exploring a style less performance intensive.

I hate to come across as someone white-knighting for ZoS, but this is a pretty bad faith criticism.

Heartrage

Personally, I’ll wait for the release of the chapter before making an opinion. A handful of screenshots just isn’t convincing for me.

AcadianPaladin

How good the zone looks seems to be in question. I look forward to the zone going live so I can judge for myself.

IF the zone does not look good, linking the cause to Mircrosoft is a very large leap in logic.

Molydeus

Imagine taking such obviously biased screenshots and then passing them off as legitimate examples.

Belegnole

I don't see any reason why two different locals should have the same look. How one culture builds their homes will be different from the next. How crowded the landscape is will also vary.

Also each of us will enjoy a certain style, and what I like you may not.

Now, if the image quality itself is lower or something else of that nature is going on I would understand people being upset.

Mythgard1967

I think SUmmerset is beautiful but to be honest....I am not a fan. I agree with @Kesstryl that it was SUPPOSED to be a kind of otherworldly pretty. I find the sameness of the prettiness to be...well....boring. I literally run about Summerset and think "oh look another pretty pink tree". I actually don't go to Summerset unless I have to. To me Summerset is jarring in its brightness and prettiness. I can appreciate what was created but it doesn't feel like the same game to me so I tend to avoid it.

I prefer The Reach to Summerset; though it might be more dismal than I like.

NettleCarrier

We just need someone to play devil's advocate and post the same comparisons OP did but to try to make High Isle look better - I bet it would be easy.

StabbityDoom

they either need to extend new content deadlines (Honestly, do we really need new content every quarter?) or they need to hire more people, which from their webpage they are trying to do. Maybe be less picky about art people, hmm art department? :P

Lady_Galadhiel

I went back to PTS to ride around a bit and made few screenshots.
I will repeat myself, yes Summerset is nicer but High Isle is nice too on its own way.

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo

Looks a bit like the gold coast from the images.
Towns are built up, but not much else around I suppose.

We'll see when it hits live and then I'll make my decision.

blue_peaceful_Manticore

all i need from update34: Mundus in Armory

geonsocal

maybe the bretons would prefer to spend their digital asset resources elsewyr...

kargen27

A couple of things to consider.

This content was developed partially during quarantines and lockdowns. ZoS tried to keep their rigorous schedule and maybe quality suffered a bit?

Microsoft bought the company because they are interested in future projects not because they want to meddle with existing content.

joseayalac

Looks as if you deactivated grass in the graphic settings.

shadyjane62

Not sure what I can say keeping the NDA in mind I will simply say I finished it way too fast even though I had to make a new char to defeat an existing bug.

Jaimeh wrote: »

I agree with OP, because since the pandemic and the understandable lower quality of Greymoor, I was expecting Blackwood to be a lot better, but I was really disappointed with the map: empty spaces, with no detail, bland landscapes, just felt like an extended murkmire zone. Seeing these screencaps just reinforces my idea, that quality has now a lower benchmark, with no sign of improving (or prices getting lower to match it).

Edit to add: Part of it could be that the biomes are not very interesting themselves, not every place can be as unique as Elsweyr or Summerset but even so, world builders should be able to find ways to make them visually impressive--Fargrave is just a dessert but with the architecture, and the sky, they manage to make it look otherwordly, unique and interesting. It's just that for a whole chapter zone, a field of sunflowers is not gonna cut it.

Totally agree here. I forced myself to go thru Greybore because I had paid money for it. And though I made the same mistake buying Blackwood I could not force myself to endure Stibbons or Mirri or Bastion and there is nothing else in Blackwoord except some sort of Oblivion thing that no on ever goes in. I think they were supposed to be equivalent to a dolmen buy failed.

This time I went on the PTS to see what was happening. I will simply say I will not be buying the chapter.

NettleCarrier

EnKor wrote: »

all i need from update34: Mundus in Armory

Right? Best news since the announcement of the armory itself.

Xinihp

Grizzbeorn wrote: »

Nice cherry-picked display.

Really, you think so huh? Take a look at the very first comparison of the coastlines. Both were taken at an area near the starter wayshrine of the zone. Both were taken at the same angle (mirror image due to cost being on opposite compass direction but still), and both show the same ratio of sky/horizon to ground.

That isn't cherry picking, there is just an order of magnitude less detail and texture quality in the new content.

The modern media proves anyone can accuse anyone of anything. Heck some people in Hollywood build their entire career doing just that. But if you are going to accuse me of cherry picking to cover for a clear drop in quality, I think maybe your frustrations are misplaced.

Same goes for the "floating lava" spots. That jarring blotch of "lava for the sake of it" that would never appear under older attention to detail. No cracks, no seismic vents or context. Just "here's some lava" just jutting out of nowhere, with literal GRASS and GREEN TREES growing around it. I don't know if you realize this, but that is NOT how lava works.

But cherry picking? Literally EVERY SINGLE LAVA CRACK is the same. Pick any of them.

Iselin wrote: »

Good job sharing your very objective screen shot comparisons. Some people would cherry pick according to their agenda but not you sir/mam. Well done!

/s

People sure are quick to hurl accusations and derision at me simple for taking some screenshots. These are the same resolution, the same graphic settings, the same everything. I tried to grab 1 to 1 examples of features as best as possible. I think maybe people that are hurling insults are just frustrated, because they see the drop in quality to, but they are shooting the messenger rather than accepting the implication.

I don't know why people insist on believing I have some agenda. I am just a person who loves ESO since beta, who pays a lot of money for ESO, who doesn't want to see the game shoehorned into early maintenance mode with diminishing quality of content.

Not sure how that makes me the badd guy here.

Xinihp

Marginis wrote: »

Problems:

1 - There's nothing to say Microsoft purchasing Zenimax Media which owns Bethesda Softworks which owns Zenimax Online Studios which makes Elder Scrolls Online in which the new DLC is in, a single facet of which is graphical fidelity... has anything to do with how nice the graphics look. Microsoft is so far removed, and game development takes so much time, with so many people involved, one cannot draw a simple line and say one thing directly caused the other. If you're reaching for answers as to why the DLC looks that way, may I suggest the worldwide pandemic as a more realistic cause.

2 - Your graphics comparisons are a bit biased. It seems you are deliberately finding the most flattering existing shots to compare to the least flattering new shots. That is to say, that hardly seems a fair comparison.

3 - Different styles does not equal better or worse. You may prefer the colorful flamboyant Summerset look, but I personally prefer the "everything is bluish gray" hills of Western Skyrim, and I know some people love the featureless sands of Elsweyr.

4 - One of the big concerns I have (and I'm sure ZoS shares) with any new DLC is performance. A lot of players had trouble loading into new zones when older DLCs first came out, because the game just couldn't handle a certain amount of detail in an MMO. Seems like a good thing, exploring a style less performance intensive.

I hate to come across as someone white-knighting for ZoS, but this is a pretty bad faith criticism.

1) The owner/board/investors set the financial agenda. The financial agenda determines the budget to different departments and the roadmap for achieving it. It also determines the overall goal for the game. The budget and roadmap goals determine the quality of what is produced.

2) Find me a single example in Summerset of a bland, featureless mass of zone with no trees, no grass, no rocks or small details, and no living environment. I dare you. I tried.

3) Actually it does. If my "style" is to not add rocks along paths, or plants around trees, or DETAILS to the scene, that is objectively a LESS DETAILED SCENE. In terms of graphical fidelity that is universally recognized as "worse graphics." We're not talking about WoW's cartoon art style vs. realism. This is the literal ABSENCE OF DETAILS.

4) No one was complaining about graphics performance in PVE zones. This is specious. The complaints have ALWAYS been about SERVER performance in PVP. Something that still has not been fixed. Cutting back details in PVE content does nothing to address performance. If someone had such a potato they can't run ESO, then they couldn't run Summerset or content from 3+ years ago either. Should they be making the game worse for lower end hardware as time moves forward? Because that is literally the opposite of every other gaming company on the planet Earth. Quite an anomaly.

EozZoe1989

people like different things this is what makes humans different ,. and its cool--
i think the best thing is if there is bare things form my point of view i think i like to have more objects in the game like bushes statues and more..
but to others maybe not..
i think if anything pole could be made..

ArchMikem

Lady_Galadhiel wrote: »

I went back to PTS to ride around a bit and made few screenshots.
I will repeat myself, yes Summerset is nicer but High Isle is nice too on its own way.

Needs a lot more vegetation and brush, though.

Jaraal

Xinihp wrote: »

That's a shame. Looks like Half Life 2 quality graphics.