ZOS, Massive Spike in Ping/LAG in Recent Days - What Gives?

TX12001rwb17_ESO · January 3

If I log in at around 10pm my game will be playable, but any other time and it crashes within seconds of log-in.

Could the amount of people being online have an effect on it, could something or even someone be absent during that time?

dk_dunkirk · January 3

lpoki wrote: »

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edward_frigidhands wrote: »

dk_dunkirk wrote: »

I'm letting my ESO+ lapse on Friday. I'll check back in on this in a few months.

Its been almost 8 months already since these issues began in April.

They are happening outside of Cyrodill in situations where there isn't a lot of player to player activity involved such as finishing writs or doing infinite archives. Sometimes this happens while just standing still doing nothing.

This situation has existed in cyrodiil for many years.It's obviously a server performance issue.

The performance problem due to the continual addition of skills and sets is a separate issue. This ADDITIONAL issue started very specifically after patch 9.3.9 in May, the last point patch before Gold Road.

BasP · January 3

I just had another long lang spike/ freeze in Infinite Archive again about half an hour ago, leading to yet another needless death, after which I was disconnected (and the same thing happened in vMA yesterday and vVH countless of times last week).

I sometimes report these things in-game immediately after they happen, but I'm not sure if that's even remotely helpful. It feels kind of futile.

silky_soft · January 3

Just had a another laggy bg. Press skills and breakfree multiple times to no avail. Constant 250ms. Certain players on the other team seem to be unaffected.

edward_frigidhands · January 4

It's bad tonight...

blktauna · January 4

I had some lovely load screeds in Blackreach then stalls while doing new life silliness. This was @8pm est.

dcrush · January 5

Was doing some questing, had terrible lag spikes and then got disconnected.

Tried to log back in - error 201.
Tried again - error 334

This has been my experience for months and it’s caused me to play less and less.
I guess ZOS just doesn’t want people to play the game anymore 🤷🏻‍♂️

DragonRacer · January 5

I’m not even getting to experience lag much anymore because I get disconnected to main title screen about 3-4 times a day, even when playing for only 2-3 hours or less. It is oftentimes random and without warning, so there’s no real way to pinpoint when/why or reliably reproduce.

Nothing has changed on my end hardware or Internet service-wise. PS5 NA. No other Internet connection issues. I work from home, so if it was my Internet overall, there would be much larger issues.

Yet this is now an ESO constant ever since their data center crisis…

blktauna · January 5

I lagged out soloing Tempest Island first then Fungal Grotto and Banished Cells.
Stall to rubberbanding @8PM EST

silky_soft · January 5

Lagged in bg again, stuck or cancelled animations. It's like the server doesn't care about the data my client has been sent and when it goes to server check when i return something. It's just too bad so sad. Then sends me back nothing or a cancel and I get stuck in animations.

dcrush · January 5

Error 334
Error 200
Error 201

Even the error codes in this game are RNG.

BasP · January 5

I just experienced yet another long freeze/ lag spike in the first round of vMA, leading to a needless death, after which I was immediately thrown back to the lobby with the following (very helpful) error message:

I guess I'll just play ToT against NPCs or something instead, as doing anything else seems impossible lately.

Coo_PnT · January 5

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

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LadyGP wrote: »

Coo_PnT wrote: »

So this problem is currently not fixed? When will it be fixed? Why should we, the users, be the ones to track down the cause?

ZoS-san Please reply constructively.

I'd expect most people to return to the office/WFH on Jan 6th. I'd expect some kind of update that week.

Just want to set some timing expectation. You are correct, some folks are back now, but most will be back next week. However, folks have been gone for 2 weeks and we had an update right before that. There more likely will not be an update next week or the week after as folks are jumping back into things and resuming investigations. We do have some player feedback received over the break regarding additional things to check out. But that will also take some time.

If anything comes up before then, we will certainly follow up sooner rather than later, but just making sure we are communicating next steps here.

You told us in October or November that we should trust me. (I won't quote you because it would be too much trouble.) Nothing has changed, it is true that you added two more engineers around August, right?

After all what is going to happen now with this issue? Nothing has changed from a year ago.

I can't give my honest opinion because I will be banned from this Forum if I express some negative opinion. What are your thoughts on this?
CMs again, ZoS people?

Coo_PnT · January 5

It's not likely that you would stretch out a serious problem with a business partner until a year from now without an explanation. Either they don't consider it critical or they can't deal with it due to budgetary or technical issues.

This is just a game. I understand. I just don't want this game to go away and I am paying for it.
I also probably have friends of my own. Probably. Or maybe not.

I'd like a concrete prospective argument for the future.

DragonRacer · January 5

I have DC’d to main screen twice in 1.5 hours. Once while previewing furnishings I can craft, trying to select which one looked right for a build I am working on. And again in the middle of trying to decorate said house. Which, mind you, is Kragenhome and not filled with any particle effect crazy animation furnishings nor is it anywhere close to max furnishing limit.

I would like to think the above is a relatively mild activity. Yet if I can no longer have a reliable server connection simply crafting furnishings and decorating a small home, how can I have any hope running in trials again won’t be anything more than an exercise in futility? Our trial group went on break for the holidays, so we haven’t tried to run ever since the servers basically melted down even worse this past month, but now I’m wondering if we should even bother to try.

DragonRacer · January 5

Just disconnected two more times trying to put up guild trader listings in the span of about 10-15 minutes. Again, such intense and heavy activity.

It is NOT my Internet because my husband is in the living room playing GTA online just fine. While he hears me back here asking [snip] is happening.

I don’t wanna go touch grass when it’s this cold, guys LOL

[edited for profanity bypass]

Onomog · January 5

I feel you; snowing here today. I end up going to touch grass in another game, unfortunately.

Meanwhile here the thread gets longer, the silence deepens, and peoples patience wears even thinner.

blktauna · January 5

Today on PCNA it seem you aren't allowed to travel to summerset without getting bounced.
Lost connection to server x2
Unable to contact server
quiet crash to launcher

TX12001rwb17_ESO · January 6

Why am I crashing while in the middle of furnishing my house? that should not be happening.

Then I cannot log back in to finish what I was doing.

Just_Attivi · January 6

I likely wont be at my computer tomorrow, so... *ahem* ...

HAPPY 8 MONTHS FORUM GOERS!
This thread started on May 7th 2024, highlighting the absolutely abysmal performance we still encounter routinely throughout all activities, from RP to Casual to prog PVE to PVP. Even the flowers have become increasingly difficult to pick, and mudcrabs have become mighty foes capable of destroying you without you knowing! realistically, there were issues prior to this date, but they were not as widespread nor consistent.

Normally Id make a cute little comparison to what a baby would do at X months old, but its tiresome at this point. The fact that we basically still just have a 'yea we had a guy look at it, but he said it was fine, so like, its fine' is disheartening (I know more comms regarding the issue have been mentioned, but ZOS has a terrible track record with things they say Vs things they do)

---
to paraphrase 100 pages:

Yup, theres server issues. Lag /teleporting/timewarping/slow downs and speed ups are *likely* not your end, if you have done your due diligence and did basic troubleshooting. If you are watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, then the time warp is in fact on your end.

Yup, many others feel it too, though it does not seem to hit everyone at once (though, today, all of cyrodiil had a ~5 second freeze, PC NA GH, around 9pm EST i think). Some called it a truce... most just assumed they were going to get put in queue again.

No, turning your computer off and on probably isnt gonna fix it, no matter how many times that help article is linked.

Your PC specs are probably fine. Your internet is probably fine. but always do your due diligence and verify. clean out your tower while youre at it, you know its overdo for it.

Best guess as to the cause of these problems? Technical mumbo jumbo, but we will just call it 'Zevil Omni Spells' or Z.O.S. for short.

---

Happy 2025 Y'all! Don't forget to wear your jacket when you go touch grass instead of deal with this, its a bit chilly out!

ISCOLDSOUL · January 6

I can't be bothered with the lag anymore, going to find a new game that doesn't involve ZOS

LadyGP · January 6

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

show previous quotes

LadyGP wrote: »

Coo_PnT wrote: »

So this problem is currently not fixed? When will it be fixed? Why should we, the users, be the ones to track down the cause?

ZoS-san Please reply constructively.

I'd expect most people to return to the office/WFH on Jan 6th. I'd expect some kind of update that week.

Just want to set some timing expectation. You are correct, some folks are back now, but most will be back next week. However, folks have been gone for 2 weeks and we had an update right before that. There more likely will not be an update next week or the week after as folks are jumping back into things and resuming investigations. We do have some player feedback received over the break regarding additional things to check out. But that will also take some time.

If anything comes up before then, we will certainly follow up sooner rather than later, but just making sure we are communicating next steps here.

Thanks for jumping in and managing expectations - all valid points so I myself am playing catchup at work so pumping out any updates would be difficult.

Appreciate the coms!

edward_frigidhands · January 7

Did we ever get a definitive answer regarding the use of Bandits UI?

Have people experimented with disabling it or add-ons in general to see if that helps with the issue in it's current state?

manukartofanu · January 7

edward_frigidhands wrote: »

Did we ever get a definitive answer regarding the use of Bandits UI?

Have people experimented with disabling it or add-ons in general to see if that helps with the issue in it's current state?

The addon developer has removed all pings from it. There's nothing to look for or respond to anymore.
If you don't believe me, you can find all the lines with PingMap in the addon; they are all commented out.

As for other addons, yes, it has been mentioned hundreds of times here that disabling them doesn't make any difference. The same issue occurs on consoles, which rules out even the theoretical possibility of addons having any impact.

LadyGP · January 7

edward_frigidhands wrote: »

Did we ever get a definitive answer regarding the use of Bandits UI?

Have people experimented with disabling it or add-ons in general to see if that helps with the issue in it's current state?

It really depends... a lot of people who have issues generally could be chucked upto a pc issue or add-on conflict.

However, the overwhelming majority of people who come to this thread (and remain active) are not in that bucket.

Can add-ons cause issues - of course.

Are add-ons causing the very specific issue being referenced over and over in this thread - no.

Necrotech_Master · January 7

yesterday was doing an archive run (only went to arc 2 clear), and was getting a lot of unusual rubberbanding lag spikes

my ping was sitting between 69-84 most of the run, but for no clear reason the game would look like it was hanging and then everything would lightspeed to where it was supposed to be and i would briefly see my ping number at 999+

this kind of behavior is very unusual occurrence for me, but it is very annoying when it happens

edward_frigidhands · January 8

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

yesterday was doing an archive run (only went to arc 2 clear), and was getting a lot of unusual rubberbanding lag spikes

my ping was sitting between 69-84 most of the run, but for no clear reason the game would look like it was hanging and then everything would lightspeed to where it was supposed to be and i would briefly see my ping number at 999+

this kind of behavior is very unusual occurrence for me, but it is very annoying when it happens

This is another thing I have noticed. A lot of times the ping you see does not fully reflect the play experience you're having at the moment.

Especially when there is poor performance.

silky_soft · January 8

Just had worst lag right now in bg since the christmas/ny break period. Lag speed up, not skilling, heavy attack being stuck.

LadyGP · January 8

edward_frigidhands wrote: »

show previous quotes

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

yesterday was doing an archive run (only went to arc 2 clear), and was getting a lot of unusual rubberbanding lag spikes

my ping was sitting between 69-84 most of the run, but for no clear reason the game would look like it was hanging and then everything would lightspeed to where it was supposed to be and i would briefly see my ping number at 999+

this kind of behavior is very unusual occurrence for me, but it is very annoying when it happens

This is another thing I have noticed. A lot of times the ping you see does not fully reflect the play experience you're having at the moment.

Especially when there is poor performance.

The is an explination by rich many pages back basically saying it isn't true ping and more a server fps metric. They are working on fixing it so it shows true ping.

Sluggy · January 8

manukartofanu wrote: »

show previous quotes

edward_frigidhands wrote: »

Did we ever get a definitive answer regarding the use of Bandits UI?

Have people experimented with disabling it or add-ons in general to see if that helps with the issue in it's current state?

The addon developer has removed all pings from it. There's nothing to look for or respond to anymore.
If you don't believe me, you can find all the lines with PingMap in the addon; they are all commented out.

As for other addons, yes, it has been mentioned hundreds of times here that disabling them doesn't make any difference. The same issue occurs on consoles, which rules out even the theoretical possibility of addons having any impact.

To further hammer that second point home - if this is an actual issue with the API then it doesn't matter if BanditsUI disabled it or not. Some bad actor(s) will inevitably create their own addons to specifically abuse this loophole. I would hope that ZoS would be aware of such issues and immediately take action if they really did exist.