Is Reshade OK to use?

Xinihp

I am just trying to get a direct answer to stave off some serious anxiety I have been having over this question.

Technically, Reshade does not alter the game client .exe or read/write memory addresses so it should be OK as per the 3rd Party TOS.

This was seemingly confirmed on this thread:



However since there has still been no official position on these forums (that was a statement on an ESOUI dev channel) after several threads asking about it, and those have mostly been locked as necro threads since they are now a year+ old, I would like to pose this question once more to hopefully put my mind at ease once and for all:

Is it OK to use Reshade to enhance color vibrancy etc. in ESO without worrying about account bans?

I have a LOT of time and money invested in my account, but my eyes aren't so great anymore and I really appreciate the visual enhancement Reshade offers.

@ZOS_GinaBruno thanks in advance!

proprio.meb16_ESO

If it messes with the client (i.e. the game .exe) its not allowed.

Anything that ask you to download an executable and replace it in the game installation folder is not allowed.
Saw an "addon" which was even listed on esoui asking you to do such a thing. Those should immediately be removed from esoui as well as they violate tos (and also theyre not addons at all).

Reading what reshade does i'd immediately remove it, as it technically violate tos.

crysis992

Should be okay to use, it's basically a similar thing nvidia cards can do by default in their overlay/game filters(freestyle) or whatever its called.

SeaGtGruff

proprio.meb16_ESO wrote: »

If it messes with the client (i.e. the game .exe) its not allowed.

Anything that ask you to download an executable and replace it in the game installation folder is not allowed.
Saw an "addon" which was even listed on esoui asking you to do such a thing. Those should immediately be removed from esoui as well as they violate tos (and also theyre not addons at all).

If it messes with any of the game's data files, such as the Daybreak addon apparently does, then it's against TOS. It doesn't need to mess with the .EXE file in particular to be against TOS.

I don't use any addons and have never looked into any of them (aside from looking up Daybreak this morning to see what the heck it is after it was mentioned in another thread), so I don't know whether Reshade alters any of the game's data files.

I also don't know whether modifying any non-ESO .DLLs that the game happens to use might trigger the detection algorithms.

Ilythia

Would love to have an official answer on this and daybreak.
As I said in the deleted thread, even though reshade and daybreak are technically not allowed they seem to be in grey area when it comes to ZOS anti-cheat detection.
I've never heard of anyone getting banned over this and both have been around for many years.

meekmiko

ReShade is absolutely fine to use.

NeuroticPixels

ReShade is fine to use.
Daybreak is too good to give up, and I only use the fog adjuster txts.

Xinihp

I am currently very anxious about logging in due to lack of information about whether graphical enhancements like Reshade are "approved" or will result in bans.

According to Dan Batson on the ESOUI.com dev forums, Reshade should be OK since it does not modify game files and only uses video drivers to add post processing effects to graphics.

HOWEVER, with the recent wave of bans and no official response to numerous threads over the past 3 years asking if Reshade is OK, I am really having some panic attacks about my account which I have invested 8+ years and probably thousands of dollars in getting banned because I use Reshade to improve colors/contrast.

Can someone at ZOS please give a statement on whether Reshade is OK? I just don't know how we are supposed to make an informed decision on what is "approved" when something like this is in a grey area.

No, it doesn't modify game files. But the wording of the ban notification thread is so vague (" any unapproved third-party applications, programs, scripts, or any other game modifying mechanic used to change the game play experience") that a lot of people are confused.

No, graphics being prettier doesn't modify gameplay. But without an official statement, especially considering ZOS's history of heavy-handed moderation, one person's interpretation of "modified gameplay" may not match another.

Please, we need some clarification on this! It is a major issue for people with a lot invested in their accounts!

virtus753

NeuroticPixels wrote: »

ReShade is fine to use.
Daybreak is too good to give up, and I only use the fog adjuster txts.

Even with Daybreak being explicitly against the CoC? I am not sure when they changed this, or if they have always considered it such:

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55351/~/application-terminated---error-code---the-elder-scrolls-online

danno8

Reshade doesn't do anything more than Nvidias own Freestyle injector does. It just takes whatever the game spits out and adds more to it or alters how it looks. It doesn't change any game code at all.

Daybreak on the other hand does actually replace the games own shader files with its own custom shader files in order to (primarily) reduce the distant fog that plagues all the games locals.

As the link in the post above shows, Daybreak is technically against Tos,even if it offers nothing but prettier graphics.

LashanW

Reshade should be fine, I used one for a long time and had no issues.

NeuroticPixels

virtus753 wrote: »

NeuroticPixels wrote: »

ReShade is fine to use.
Daybreak is too good to give up, and I only use the fog adjuster txts.

Even with Daybreak being explicitly against the CoC? I am not sure when they changed this, or if they have always considered it such:

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55351/~/application-terminated---error-code---the-elder-scrolls-online

Page says it was updated on April 14th. That’s around the time Daybreak was causing people’s games to crash and they couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Once it was finally figured out and people started shouting from the rooftops about Daybreak breaking the game, ZOS must’ve gotten fed up with all the bug reports, since it wasn’t their bug to fix.

I never had a problem because I don’t use everything Daybreak has to offer. I’ve never used what broke for other people. I just use one little txt file that pushes back the fog so the game doesn’t look so freaking hideous. ZOS could implement fog adjustments in their video settings, but they don’t.

virtus753

NeuroticPixels wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

NeuroticPixels wrote: »

ReShade is fine to use.
Daybreak is too good to give up, and I only use the fog adjuster txts.

Even with Daybreak being explicitly against the CoC? I am not sure when they changed this, or if they have always considered it such:

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55351/~/application-terminated---error-code---the-elder-scrolls-online

Page says it was updated on April 14th. That’s around the time Daybreak was causing people’s games to crash and they couldn’t figure out what was causing it. Once it was finally figured out and people started shouting from the rooftops about Daybreak breaking the game, ZOS must’ve gotten fed up with all the bug reports, since it wasn’t their bug to fix.

I never had a problem because I don’t use everything Daybreak has to offer. I’ve never used what broke for other people. I just use one little txt file that pushes back the fog so the game doesn’t look so freaking hideous. ZOS could implement fog adjustments in their video settings, but they don’t.

Daybreak broke for me about a month before that, I want to say. Part of the problem with the update date is that I see that date for many pages which clearly haven't been updated since the VR system was a thing (some help pages still refer to that as if it were current, even when they say they've been updated this year), and it doesn't say what changes were made. The Wayback Machine doesn't have records, so I don't know of any way to check what that page said when. Moreover, ZOS did have the option to say Daybreak was "unsupported," or to list particular pieces of it as against CoC, but they went for citing it explicitly and without qualification as against the CoC, meaning not just that we use it at our own risk but that it is a violation to do so and subject to disciplinary action. They also say "such as Daybreak," which leaves a lot of other things not covered specifically.

Since fog never seems to interfere with view distance (in the sense that view distance seems to end well before fog ever begins), I agree with previous posts that I struggle to see why changing that alone would provide an advantage, but the fact remains that it is ZOS' game and if they deem it against CoC, that's what it is.

This is a big part of why I also wish they would be more specific, because there are many of us out there who want to know what we can use without running afoul of ZOS' rules. It's part of their responsibility to clarify.

xgoku1

From what I remember, core Daybreak (i.e Daybreak 4.3 in the Nexus download page) has been broken for a long while because the modder does not work on it anymore. Extended View Fixed Fixed Fixed seems to work, as it just fixes the fog and does none of the lighting changes.

SeaGtGruff

What about that "corrected map" project that someone is working on? Is there some kind of addon for it that replaces the game's map files with the "corrected map"? Because if there is, I'd imagine that it might be against the TOS and COC, too.

Ilythia

xgoku1 wrote: »

From what I remember, core Daybreak (i.e Daybreak 4.3 in the Nexus download page) has been broken for a long while because the modder does not work on it anymore. Extended View Fixed Fixed Fixed seems to work, as it just fixes the fog and does none of the lighting changes.

The author has been working on it again, they even updated the color correction. I believe it's only available on the discord though.

M0R_Gaming

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

What about that "corrected map" project that someone is working on? Is there some kind of addon for it that replaces the game's map files with the "corrected map"? Because if there is, I'd imagine that it might be against the TOS and COC, too.

There is an addon for it, however it wont be against tos since it does not modify the actual game files. What it does instead is load a custom image (loaded from the documents folder, not the game install folder) and uses the built in UI tools to replace the UI for the map with the new UI.

Tldr: it isn't against tos as it does not replace any files, or modify anything in the game install directory.

xgoku1

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

What about that "corrected map" project that someone is working on? Is there some kind of addon for it that replaces the game's map files with the "corrected map"? Because if there is, I'd imagine that it might be against the TOS and COC, too.

Accurate World Map is an addon (i.e. uses code and API that ZOS allows) to replace the map "on the fly", the original assets still remain.

Ilythia wrote: »

The author has been working on it again, they even updated the color correction. I believe it's only available on the discord though.

Yeah, their latest build aren't updated on the Nexus so people just download the broken ones.



Most likely as @NeuroticPixels said, customer service updated the support article because they got a lot of complaints from people whose games broke because they ran Daybreak 4.3, 4.2 or older (which is broken and no longer updated since FoO) and they figured out Daybreak was the culprit

proprio.meb16_ESO

You cannot alter the game, both reshade and daybreak (and anything using reshade there are a few more such mods) alter the game files. That is not allowed. Point. Its not a single player game you can mess with. The only part of the game youre allowed to mess with is the addon folder (which is usually well separated from the game files and in which you can place anything you want - but ofc only lua scripts using zos api will be executed by the game client).

Differently from an addon (and i cannot stress enough these things are not) author could introduce anything in the patched files, comprising things that breaks the game, cheats, and any kind of not allowed material, as the author is no more restrained in the strict usage of zos api. Reshade and daybreak does nothing wrong? Probably not... it's not these mods per se... it's the fact that if they're allowed they open a door that is meant to be kept closed. This is true in pretty any mmo.

Keep it if you want, but youre in a pretty borderline situation

perfiction

proprio.meb16_ESO wrote: »

You cannot alter the game, both reshade and daybreak alter the game files. That is not allowed. Point. Its not a single player game you can mess with. The only part of the game youre allowed to mess with is the addon folder (which is usually well separated from the game files)

Differently from an addon (and i cannot stress enough these things are not) author could introduce anything in the patched files, comprising things that breaks the game, cheats, and any kind of not allowed material... as the author is no more restrained in the strict usage of zos api. Reshade and daybreak does nothing wrong? Its not these mods per se... its the fact that if theyre allowed they open a door that is meant to be kept closed. This is true in pretty any mmo.

You say? Then Discord, nVidia Experience, hell, even MSI Afterburner (or anything else that uses RTSS) and every other app that draws an overlay on top of the game window should be banned. To display overlay you have to inject .dll file into the game so in your language it's "altering game files" - it's exactly the same thing that ReShade, ENB, SweetFX or Daybreak do, inject .dll to extend/alter DirectX draw calls (to be able to do some post processing on the frame).

Inb4 ZOS banning all Discord users

proprio.meb16_ESO

perfiction wrote: »

proprio.meb16_ESO wrote: »

You cannot alter the game, both reshade and daybreak alter the game files. That is not allowed. Point. Its not a single player game you can mess with. The only part of the game youre allowed to mess with is the addon folder (which is usually well separated from the game files)

Differently from an addon (and i cannot stress enough these things are not) author could introduce anything in the patched files, comprising things that breaks the game, cheats, and any kind of not allowed material... as the author is no more restrained in the strict usage of zos api. Reshade and daybreak does nothing wrong? Its not these mods per se... its the fact that if theyre allowed they open a door that is meant to be kept closed. This is true in pretty any mmo.

You say? Then Discord, nVidia Experience, hell, even MSI Afterburner (or anything else that uses RTSS) and every other app that draws an overlay on top of the game window should be banned. To display overlay you have to inject .dll file into the game so in your language it's "altering game files" - it's exactly the same thing that ReShade, ENB, SweetFX or Daybreak do, inject .dll to extend/alter DirectX draw calls (to be able to do some post processing on the frame).

Inb4 ZOS banning all Discord users

No mate, youre wrong, dobule check... Discord (or any other serious overlay displaying app) does not put anything at all in your game client folder. They interact with screen when they see a known executable in the list of active processes and add an overlay the game is often not even aware of.
Nvidia experience tweaks game settings in the game config file, which is usually modifiable by yourself as well, it does not change anything else.
Some games could integrate discord and/or allow nvidia experience and other to interact more deeply. That would require an agreement between game owner and discord or nvidia (or whatever else).

They normally does not mess with dll or executable files in the game folder... that's what a (nexus) mod does.
In the installation instructions it is stated "copy these files in your game folder" (the uninstall instructions are "remove the files you added from your game folder")... reshade and daybreak makes you put just a couple patched dlls in there but it's enough to technically break TOS. Another "addon" of this kind could ask you to copy a modified executable there.

As i said it's not these mods themselves, it's the concept that can be exploited to introduce cheats... in a single player game who cares? In a mmo it's not that easy.

danno8

proprio.meb16_ESO wrote: »

perfiction wrote: »

proprio.meb16_ESO wrote: »

You cannot alter the game, both reshade and daybreak alter the game files. That is not allowed. Point. Its not a single player game you can mess with. The only part of the game youre allowed to mess with is the addon folder (which is usually well separated from the game files)

Differently from an addon (and i cannot stress enough these things are not) author could introduce anything in the patched files, comprising things that breaks the game, cheats, and any kind of not allowed material... as the author is no more restrained in the strict usage of zos api. Reshade and daybreak does nothing wrong? Its not these mods per se... its the fact that if theyre allowed they open a door that is meant to be kept closed. This is true in pretty any mmo.

You say? Then Discord, nVidia Experience, hell, even MSI Afterburner (or anything else that uses RTSS) and every other app that draws an overlay on top of the game window should be banned. To display overlay you have to inject .dll file into the game so in your language it's "altering game files" - it's exactly the same thing that ReShade, ENB, SweetFX or Daybreak do, inject .dll to extend/alter DirectX draw calls (to be able to do some post processing on the frame).

Inb4 ZOS banning all Discord users

No mate, youre wrong, dobule check... Discord (or any other serious overlay displaying app) does not put anything at all in your game client folder. They interact with screen when they see a known executable in the list of active processes and add an overlay the game is often not even aware of.
Nvidia experience tweaks game settings in the game config file, which is usually modifiable by yourself as well, it does not change anything else.
Some games could integrate discord and/or allow nvidia experience and other to interact more deeply. That would require an agreement between game owner and discord or nvidia (or whatever else).

They normally does not mess with dll or executable files in the game folder... that's what a (nexus) mod does.
In the installation instructions it is stated "copy these files in your game folder" (the uninstall instructions are "remove the files you added from your game folder")... reshade and daybreak makes you put just a couple patched dlls in there but it's enough to technically break TOS. Another "addon" of this kind could ask you to copy a modified executable there.

As i said it's not these mods themselves, it's the concept that can be exploited to introduce cheats... in a single player game who cares? In a mmo it's not that easy.

Reshade just places a different dll in the game folder so the game uses that one instead of the one in your system32 folder.

Neither of these dll files belong to ZoS so you are not altering any ZoS code. Otherwise anytime you update your drivers you could get banned for altering ZoS code, lol.

Daybreak definitely alters ZoS code as I stated earlier.

Placing files in a folder is not the same thing as changing file code. If ZoS changes the Coc to say "altering game files, folders or code" then you woulbe correct but it does not say that. It would be easy for them to add it if they wanted to. Right now all it says is "modifying the gameplay experience" which is way too broad since that easily applies to using things like discord or heck even using Chrome to look up maps could fall into that "third party program".

Xinihp

I'm really holding out hope that ZOS just hasn't seen this thread yet and will let people know if Reshade is OK at some point.

The silence on 3 years of previous threads though is disconcerting. I agree with a previous post, it is their responsibility to help people understand if something like Reshade (which does not modify their files) is allowed, as it is in every other MMO including FFXIV which is VERY strict about addons. Just leaving the relatively nebulous TOS up to the user to interpret even when asked (on the forums AND in a support ticket now) causes a lot of stress and anxiety for their users when people are getting banned.

If Reshade is not allowed, what about built in video driver software like NVIDIA experience that does basically the same thing?

@ZOS_GinaBruno

FeedbackOnly

Xinihp wrote: »

I'm really holding out hope that ZOS just hasn't seen this thread yet and will let people know if Reshade is OK at some point.

The silence on 3 years of previous threads though is disconcerting. I agree with a previous post, it is their responsibility to help people understand if something like Reshade (which does not modify their files) is allowed, as it is in every other MMO including FFXIV which is VERY strict about addons. Just leaving the relatively nebulous TOS up to the user to interpret even when asked (on the forums AND in a support ticket now) causes a lot of stress and anxiety for their users when people are getting banned.

If Reshade is not allowed, what about built in video driver software like NVIDIA experience that does basically the same thing?

@ZOS_GinaBruno

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Vanthras79 wrote: »

Hmm, will you guys post an article showing of the winners? That would also be interesting.

Yes, definitely.

ShadowHvo wrote: »

Is it allowed to make minor graphical edits in photoshop to the screenshots in question?

Also, are ENB's allowed, or must the screenshot be fresh from ESO without any graphical modification?

In general, the screenshot shouldn't be edited unless you're just removing your name, or something. What did you have in mind, though?

Using graphical modifications from addons is fine.

took me a bit but they have been allowed in official contest.

FeedbackOnly

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/399608/official-discussion-thread-for-get-creative-with-the-eso-daedric-dress-up-contest/p1

Is where I found this. Definitely some reshading from what I saw.

KitsuneShoujo

When they mention graphical modifications are not allowed they mean things that would allow you to cheat in pvp. Such as making enemy players much larger, or removing landscape clutter. Reshade is not a modification, it's just a bunch of overlays and enhancers no different than the stuff Nvidia can do.

I even looked at Daybreak, not sure where these folks get the idea that it's installing exe's in the game folder.

As for FF14 mods being "officially banned" that's not quite true. They only ban you if you post screenshots in their forums while you have the mods activated. No talking about them in game, on the forums, and no screenshots allowed. And again Reshade doesn't fall under the category of "mod" so it's allowed, they even have an officially recognized Gshade community.
There's only one utility that ff14 doesn't like and it's a gpose tool that lets you do far more than the vanilla photoshoot tool allows for.

M0R_Gaming

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Vanthras79 wrote: »

Hmm, will you guys post an article showing of the winners? That would also be interesting.

Yes, definitely.

ShadowHvo wrote: »

Is it allowed to make minor graphical edits in photoshop to the screenshots in question?

Also, are ENB's allowed, or must the screenshot be fresh from ESO without any graphical modification?

In general, the screenshot shouldn't be edited unless you're just removing your name, or something. What did you have in mind, though?

Using graphical modifications from addons is fine.

took me a bit but they have been allowed in official contest.

I am unsure what Gina's quote has to do with graphical modifications via addons has to do with reshade.
A reshade is not an addon, addons are very specifically allowed by the in-game user interface and do not modify any files whatsoever, and in addition, they are limited to your documents folder.

The top part of gina's quote is also completely irrelevant to this conversation, as it is in response to someone asking her to make a eso news article about the results. In addition, this quote as a whole is extremely out of date by 4 years, making any information provided in the quote not accurate.

FeedbackOnly

M0R_Gaming wrote: »

FeedbackOnly wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Vanthras79 wrote: »

Hmm, will you guys post an article showing of the winners? That would also be interesting.

Yes, definitely.

ShadowHvo wrote: »

Is it allowed to make minor graphical edits in photoshop to the screenshots in question?

Also, are ENB's allowed, or must the screenshot be fresh from ESO without any graphical modification?

In general, the screenshot shouldn't be edited unless you're just removing your name, or something. What did you have in mind, though?

Using graphical modifications from addons is fine.

took me a bit but they have been allowed in official contest.

I am unsure what Gina's quote has to do with graphical modifications via addons has to do with reshade.
A reshade is not an addon, addons are very specifically allowed by the in-game user interface and do not modify any files whatsoever, and in addition, they are limited to your documents folder.

The top part of gina's quote is also completely irrelevant to this conversation, as it is in response to someone asking her to make a eso news article about the results. In addition, this quote as a whole is extremely out of date by 4 years, making any information provided in the quote not accurate.

My point was they allow reshading in the official contest.

FeedbackOnly

Reshading

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/26383

Thevampirenight

Here is the thing if your worried that using it will get you banned, then just don't use it, you don't need it to play the game. If you want to use it then go ahead, the stances here seems to suggest its okay. It doesn't modify files in a way that breaks TOS, if it did Zenimax would have officially said something about it. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

Xinihp

Thevampirenight wrote: »

Here is the thing if your worried that using it will get you banned, then just don't use it...

Of course that is an option. But I use it to give the game higher contrast so I can see things better as my eyes don't pick out details in the washed out default palette so well. All I am looking for is a simple confirmation it is OK from ZOS. I don't know what the issue is honestly.

Look at Geforce Freestyle which ships with your video card drivers. It officially supports ESO. This is an OVERLAY app which allows you to do Fake HDR, brightness/contrast, Depth of Field, and more. Basically, exactly the same as Reshade. In fact, newer NVIDIA cards even ship with Pascal's RTGI "fake" ray tracing post process reshade filter built into the drivers!

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-improve-pc-graphics-and-add-filters-with-nvidia-freestyle

Banning for Reshade would require banning for using your own video drivers as what NVIDIA Freestyle does (again ESO is officially supported by NVIDIA) is identical to what Reshade does.

Knowing this I am simply asking ZOS to put our minds at ease and confirm Reshade is OK to not worry about getting banned for. I think it would also go a long way to instill confidence in people's minds with all the "I was banned for no reason" threads floating around, that they are actually in fact doing these bans for GOOD reason, which obviously Reshade would not be.