(Flapping Minion thread)

Dr_Con

Such implementation deserves praise. The devs of that other game appear to understand the frustration that ESO players are familiar with.



I don't think we're asking for much in ESO, just the ability to make them less distracting or summoned only when needed. Of course that other game is balanced differently, but this small touch to address an annoyance makes it lessened by a simple implementation of an invisibility feature. There are countless threads of people asking for matriarchs to be smaller, be able to walk, be invisible (like BG3 implemented), but they shouldn't be as annoying as they are. ESO needs to have flapping minions on their radar as it's been a top complaint of sorc players and the people they play with for years. Something like this CAN be implemented and keep the class balanced at the same time, it just seems like the devs seem to think flapping minions out of combat are a non issue, when they approach the annoyance level of the pre-nerf spinning arcanist cruxes that people complained about in PTS that wound up causing health issues for many people.

wilykcat

The flapping wings don't bother me. It's actually satisfying to watch.

Marcus684

Dr_Con wrote: »

Such implementation deserves praise. The devs of that other game appear to understand the frustration that ESO players are familiar with.



I don't think we're asking for much in ESO, just the ability to make them less distracting or summoned only when needed. Of course that other game is balanced differently, but this small touch to address an annoyance makes it lessened by a simple implementation of an invisibility feature. There are countless threads of people asking for matriarchs to be smaller, be able to walk, be invisible (like BG3 implemented), but they shouldn't be as annoying as they are. ESO needs to have flapping minions on their radar as it's been a top complaint of sorc players and the people they play with for years. Something like this CAN be implemented and keep the class balanced at the same time, it just seems like the devs seem to think flapping minions out of combat are a non issue, when they approach the annoyance level of the pre-nerf spinning arcanist cruxes that people complained about in PTS that wound up causing health issues for many people.

100%. What's weird is that I've been playing since beta and I don't recall ever having a problem with it before, but over the past year it's gotten so bad for me that I find myself logging off early sometimes due to rising annoyance from flapping matriarchs, and to a lesser extent the flapping non-combat pets like the fire moth and little fire dragon. Maybe it's an age-related thing.

cyclonus11

I flinch with every wing flap. I hate it.

Arizona_Steve

I dropped my Necropotence pieces and removed my winged twilight from my skill bar, simply because I couldn't stand the flapping in my field of view whenever I talked to another NPC.

I also play in first person exclusively, which is probably part of the problem.

robpr

Why they do not land when stationary and out of combat is beyond me. The animation is already in the game (the one on the left, the right one is dancing for some reason)

phaneub17_ESO

Free unbound ones don't worry about constant interactions with mortals, maybe being bound to you puts them on edge so they stay alert by keeping airborne.

BretonMage

robpr wrote: »

Why they do not land when stationary and out of combat is beyond me. The animation is already in the game (the one on the left, the right one is dancing for some reason)

That actually looks a bit odd to me.

My ideal solution would be for them to implement the "hide pets" option differently, and extend it to entire towns (instead of just crafting tables), unless in combat.

vsrs_au

BretonMage wrote: »

robpr wrote: »

Why they do not land when stationary and out of combat is beyond me. The animation is already in the game (the one on the left, the right one is dancing for some reason)

That actually looks a bit odd to me.

My ideal solution would be for them to implement the "hide pets" option differently, and extend it to entire towns (instead of just crafting tables), unless in combat.

One solution I proposed, in another thread some time ago, is to extend the hide pets option to hide them within set distance(s) from
- wayshrine
- merchant (including banker)
- indoors (unless the indoor area contains any quest-related combat)

BretonMage

vsrs_au wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

robpr wrote: »

Why they do not land when stationary and out of combat is beyond me. The animation is already in the game (the one on the left, the right one is dancing for some reason)

That actually looks a bit odd to me.

My ideal solution would be for them to implement the "hide pets" option differently, and extend it to entire towns (instead of just crafting tables), unless in combat.

One solution I proposed, in another thread some time ago, is to extend the hide pets option to hide them within set distance(s) from
- wayshrine
- merchant (including banker)
- indoors (unless the indoor area contains any quest-related combat)

Yes, that would work too. I think it would be good if it was extended to the entire crafting area, if possible. But yes, additionally hiding them indoors and at banks at the very least.

vsrs_au

BretonMage wrote: »

vsrs_au wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

robpr wrote: »

Why they do not land when stationary and out of combat is beyond me. The animation is already in the game (the one on the left, the right one is dancing for some reason)

That actually looks a bit odd to me.

My ideal solution would be for them to implement the "hide pets" option differently, and extend it to entire towns (instead of just crafting tables), unless in combat.

One solution I proposed, in another thread some time ago, is to extend the hide pets option to hide them within set distance(s) from
- wayshrine
- merchant (including banker)
- indoors (unless the indoor area contains any quest-related combat)

Yes, that would work too. I think it would be good if it was extended to the entire crafting area, if possible. But yes, additionally hiding them indoors and at banks at the very least.

Yes, good point, I included crafting stations in the list when I proposed it before, but forgot to mention it this time. Plus all these locations are fixed, so it's basically the same as the existing feature, but just covering more locations.

Jaraal

Devs aren't subjected to the constant flapping, as they can modify their in-house game surroundings at will. So it's probably not a pressing issue for them.

vsrs_au

Jaraal wrote: »

Devs aren't subjected to the constant flapping, as they can modify their in-house game surroundings at will. So it's probably not a pressing issue for them.

Well, I certainly hope that when the devs run the game, they're using similar settings to us, otherwise they can't really evaluate the effect of their updates.

Jaraal

vsrs_au wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

Devs aren't subjected to the constant flapping, as they can modify their in-house game surroundings at will. So it's probably not a pressing issue for them.

Well, I certainly hope that when the devs run the game, they're using similar settings to us, otherwise they can't really evaluate the effect of their updates.

Maybe I'm just uninformed, but I can't picture 30 devs being paid to stand their characters around an in-house Vivec City crafting area or the Belkarth wayshrine for 30 minutes to test flapping exposure annoyance. But I could be wrong.

spartaxoxo

Some of the devs play the game. It's not a lack of awareness. Prior to the change in development schedule, they simply didn't revisit old content as a general rule to clear out annoyances because it would mean something new would have to be scrapped. Eventually they decided to permanently scrap the new Q4 dlc so they could dedicate a patch to fixing old things and QOL changes.

Perhaps next year they'll fix this. One can hope.

wilykcat

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with the wings flapping animation?

Tazzy

I hate them indoors and in crafting areas. You certainly know all those dead NPCs that sometimes lying around somewhere in large numbers? I wish I could see killed Flappys instead of killed NPCs. Would be a great endeavor: Kill 20 Flappys in cities, or crafting areas.

Alphawolf01A

wilykcat wrote: »

Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with the wings flapping animation?

Probably. LOL, just kidding. Judging from the often large amount of them flapping around in game, probably not.

They are a visual nuisance to me and I have 3 or 4 sorcs but I don't even use them. The way I see it, if I'm not grouped with someone, I don't need to see their pets. These are just more things the game has to draw that have no bearing on gameplay from "my" in game perspective at the time. I understand that they kind of need to be seen in PVP for various reasons, but in PVE they don't provide any synergies as far as I know, so there is little to no reason they need to be seen by everyone. I vaguely remember a few years back, that ZOS started "hiding "some ability animations from other players view if they didn't have a synergy. This was done to reduce graphical stain, especially in places like dolmens. Now, it just needs to be extended to the "flappies" (or all pets, combat and non) as a QoL option.

wilykcat

I and possibly others have no problem with the flapping animations in the game and some other players do.

The game cant disable animations for everyone so its better off as an optional in-game graphics setting because everyone has their own preferences. There needs to be more graphics settings in the game for animations such as disable/enable certain ones, reduce/increase animation speed, particle amount increase/decrease, color boldness, lighting effects increase/decrease, enable/disable eye candy effects/animation, flapping speed decreased/increased, disable/enable flapping animation, and other setting toggles/sliders. Options are always good.

Dr_Con

wilykcat wrote: »

I and possibly others have no problem with the flapping animations in the game and some other players do.

The game cant disable animations for everyone so its better off as an optional in-game graphics setting because everyone has their own preferences. There needs to be more graphics settings in the game for animations such as disable/enable certain ones, reduce/increase animation speed, particle amount increase/decrease, color boldness, lighting effects increase/decrease, enable/disable eye candy effects/animation, flapping speed decreased/increased, disable/enable flapping animation, and other setting toggles/sliders. Options are always good.

You did make 3 posts about them not being annoying to you, but I would assume you are in the minority opinion here, at least on the forums. I would estimate that if a poll were to be made then it would be about 80% of people wanting a change in this pet, and a combined 20% of people either not caring or wanting no change (similar to "should companions have the option to wear helmets" polls).

In my experience, many players in-game who never touch these forums also complain about the matriarchs. We also see that people report silently protesting even wanting to group with other sorcs in this topic due to flapping animation- someone is quoted to have left a dungeon group with 2 sorcs in it because of the flapping animation. You may be arguing that this is a cosmetic feature that has no impact on your game play, but if the animation you describe as soothing is causing your tank, healers, or any group member to leave groups in silence, then it is indirectly impacting your gameplay.

TaSheen

Well, I don't mind the flappies myself but I would certainly be fine with whatever changes could happen to make them less obnoxious to those who ARE bothered by them.

Mesite

They don't bother me. A month ago my twilight was getting in the way but since then I've not noticed.

One solution is to make daedra illegal in towns. People would have to put them away. And it makes sense that scary beasts should raise some sort of fear in the non-adventurous NPC's.

fizl101

My own annoys me in trials, flapping in front of the camera all the time. I need them to be smaller and almost invisible pls

Kirawolfe

The only time they annoy me is when they obstruct the view of someone I'm talking to. I dismiss them usually when I'm not in combat.

But I love the idea of them landing and just hanging out, stationary while you chat up somebody and aren't moving. I think that would work great

exoib

I really don't like the flapping, it's very annoying, but in my opinion all the sorc pets need an animation/look overhaul, on my 2k screen these pets look horrible and the constant sounds are also irritating, but I can still live with that if the animations were not so much distracting.

Four_Fingers

I just suffered through not being able to see a quest giver because of flappy wings blocking my view.
I don't think age has anything to do with not being able to see through stuff. lmao
They should only be out in combat situations or at least land when idle.

Fenris_Arainai

I'd want a toggle that could turn them off also in combat.

LalMirchi

Add me to the disliking flappies crowd.

The prime contender for dislike was the Twilight summons that slowly got on my nerves with its constant flapping. The flappy pets are also a nuisance IMO.

I went over to the lil gollum but as the main reason for me having a sorcerer in my stable was originally envisioned to be a healer this was a dead end. I switched sorceress to a stam build using Power Surge for group buffs and still take the character out for questing now and then.

Mesite

Is mine the only magsorc who uses a twilight tormentor and a clannfear?

ZOS_Volpe

Greetings,

We have recently removed some unnecessary back and forth from this thread. This is a reminder to keep the discussion civil and constructive. Please keep our Community Rules in mind moving forward.

Thank you for your understanding.

Syldras

Mesite wrote: »

Is mine the only magsorc who uses a twilight tormentor and a clannfear?

No. Still annoyed by the flapping, though.