Status on Hardware Refresh & Whitestrake’s Mayhem Event [January 2023]

virtus753

GooGa592 wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

Lebkuchen wrote: »

Don't forget when this "code rewrite" project was announced. It was in January 2022, shortly after a faux pas on twitch.

If you missed it, you can read what happened in articles like this one: https://www.mmorpg.com/news/esos-matt-firor-addresses-pvp-concerns-after-negative-stream-clip-upsets-players-2000124076

And here is the link to the announcement: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/595442/eso-pvp-update-updated-june-2022/p1

Performance problems (and bugs) have always been a trigger for ZOS employees (and their families and friends i guess). There have been countless questionable incidents over the years, but no real communication. I mean, i would be angry too if my creative work would be overshadowed by technical problems all the time. But we never get to see the people responsible for the problems, and we still don't know what's really going on.

We don't even know why the server hardware refresh made performance so much better (at least for a while). Especially after they told us multiple times that it's not a hardware issue, and it can't be fixed by throwing money at it.

When there is no real information, people will speculate wildly. And protest. Or just leave. Would be interesting to know why ZOS doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

After Update 35 and all the other major problems in 2022 (block bug...) they announced to do better (again). The new server hardware was a great start. Not perfectly executed, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Let's just hope they can fix their game before it's too late.

Yes it's interesting that they went from 'The new servers won't help performance' to 'The server upgrades have done more to help performance than multithreading'.

Typically new hardware equates to better performance. Otherwise, why invest in the new hardware? With servers, more servers typically equates to better performance as the calculations are spread out over more processors. These are just general truisms with computer technology.

Their official reasoning was that their hardware was at end of life after 9+ years and that’s why they needed to replace it. Several users on this forum said that was well past the time for replacing it on that basis actually, even accounting for the delays due to Covid.

They explicitly said in the past when addressing questions about performance that if it were just a matter of replacing or adding hardware, they’d do it, but that that wasn’t going to help performance without lots of work on the code. They talked about how there wasn’t a “silver bullet” but many things that needed to be changed in order to improve performance. That’s one of the reasons they gave for taking so long to replace the hardware - that it was only a question of preventing end-of-life failure and not one of improved performance.

laniakea_0

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

ZOS used to deliver a nearly bug free PvP experience with four times the population cap and double the group size.

What happened? Why can't they just do what they used to do with apparent ease?

I think there's something a lot of you guys seem to be forgetting here. since then, the game has not only significantly increased in size, but so has the amount of game systems and their interconnectivity. furthermore, what has increased most significantly since then is the size of the player base. it's also not like every activity has it's own server. so while the hardware upgrade may provide additional resources and improves performance, it doesn't solve the underlying issue. the game wasn't designed for these kind of conditions. when it was designed, there was a lot less going with far fewer people at a time. they also probably had to wait for the hardware upgrade to be completed before being able to continue working on some of the code changes. and they still want to add even more content in the years to come, so they'll have to plan for that as well. some of you really underestimate how much work goes into getting it to the point where it works best.

Knockmaker

Lebkuchen wrote: »

Don't forget when this "code rewrite" project was announced. It was in January 2022, shortly after a faux pas on twitch.

If you missed it, you can read what happened in articles like this one: https://www.mmorpg.com/news/esos-matt-firor-addresses-pvp-concerns-after-negative-stream-clip-upsets-players-2000124076

And here is the link to the announcement: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/595442/eso-pvp-update-updated-june-2022/p1

Performance problems (and bugs) have always been a trigger for ZOS employees (and their families and friends i guess). There have been countless questionable incidents over the years, but no real communication. I mean, i would be angry too if my creative work would be overshadowed by technical problems all the time. But we never get to see the people responsible for the problems, and we still don't know what's really going on.

We don't even know why the server hardware refresh made performance so much better (at least for a while). Especially after they told us multiple times that it's not a hardware issue, and it can't be fixed by throwing money at it.

When there is no real information, people will speculate wildly. And protest. Or just leave. Would be interesting to know why ZOS doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

After Update 35 and all the other major problems in 2022 (block bug...) they announced to do better (again). The new server hardware was a great start. Not perfectly executed, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Let's just hope they can fix their game before it's too late.

Interesting. Why have we not received a clarification I wonder...

Andeh_s

Hi @ZOS_Kevin, are you in a position to share an update on the progress of the server hardware upgrade for the Xbox EU server?

I’m sure you’ve seen the noise on the forums and the population is almost at the point of no return.

Equally, if ZOS have made the (somewhat understandable) decision that the server is not worth the investment, would we be made aware?

Cheers in advance.

Andeh_s

Hi @ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_GinaBruno, would you kindly provide an update on the below?

Andeh_s wrote: »

Hi @ZOS_Kevin, are you in a position to share an update on the progress of the server hardware upgrade for the Xbox EU server?

I’m sure you’ve seen the noise on the forums and the population is almost at the point of no return.

Equally, if ZOS have made the (somewhat understandable) decision that the server is not worth the investment, would we be made aware?

Cheers in advance.

Coolstuff99

ZOS like: "Ignore them, its just xbox."

eternalshockcable

The hardware refresh worked great. Now you should take these measures to make ping exploiting bannable.

Andeh_s

Hi @ZOS_GinaBruno, @ZOS_Kevin, the Xbox EU server is still facing a host of issues. I've included a video below showing a small handful of instances, yet this can be replicated 24/7.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=e6WlNcv6GLI

To note:
- Observe the skill bar, how often skills are "cast" indicated by the glow on the icon, compared to how often they are "triggered" indicated by an updated timer and the buff appearing in the buff UI.
- These clips were taken in Gray Host at prime time, with no greater than 3/9 bars or 33% population. The same issues occur at 0/9 bars.
- A combination of clips both near/in combat and clips at the alliance gate, showcasing that this occurs in and away from combat and other players.
- This is absolutely NOT a connection issue or an isolated incident, all players are experiencing the same, more feedback can be found on the threads below.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/634064/cyrodiil-xbox-eu-completely-unplayable#latest
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/640055/xbox-eu-is-dyeing#latest

Replication steps:
- Log on to Xbox EU server
- Enter Gray Host Campaign
- Cast skills sequentially

Impact:
- Significant population decrease
- Undoubtedly loss of revenue from ESO+ and crown purchases


It's worth pointing out that these issues began during the first MYM. The issue was then resolved in the middle of the second MYM after an unscheduled maintenance on a Thursday during the event where we assume there was a server reboot. The game ran smoothly for a short period, the issues began again following the scheduled maintenance after the second MYM ended.

Are you in a position to share an update on the progress of the hardware upgrade for the Xbox EU server or whether the reboot mentioned above would be possible once more?

Cheers

Andeh_s wrote: »

Hi @ZOS_Kevin, are you in a position to share an update on the progress of the server hardware upgrade for the Xbox EU server?

I’m sure you’ve seen the noise on the forums and the population is almost at the point of no return.

Equally, if ZOS have made the (somewhat understandable) decision that the server is not worth the investment, would we be made aware?

Cheers in advance.