Feedback On Console Environmental Sustainability Features

MoonPile · July 1

If this change came from Microsoft, YSK:

As Microsoft ramps up efforts to conquer the artificial intelligence industry, its latest sustainability report shows that its water use and carbon emissions have shot up dramatically. The software giant increased its water use from 6.4 million cubic meters in 2022 to 7.8 million cubic meters in 2023.
May 17, 2024, Futurism [just one source of many]

I'm glad that on PC at least, we have an option in the user settings file. I hope console players with nausea etc. will be given solutions also.

As someone whose livelihood is also being affected by what's quoted above, I have nothing at all nice to say about this, so I'll stop here.

aruggie2 · July 1

This forced FPS update has had such a negative impact on my experience, that I canceled my ESO+ sub and haven't touched the game since it updated. If it isn't fixed by the July 10th update I'll probably drop the game for good. The constant shift back and forth causes to much strain on my eyes.

D4rk · July 2

I think they changed it back in this maintenance, but maybe not, and i just got used to the 30fps menus. Anyone noticed any difference?

Edit: i think it was just me.

SkaiFaith · July 3

UPDATE: I turned back on everything in performance mode - I turned back on 120Hz, Dolby Vision, VRR, FreeSync, ALLM, aaaaaaand it works so much better than before, almost perfectly!
The only issue that is still persisting is the strobo light of the screen BUT it only happens when I open the menù or I open the map or I open the chat or during loading screens: everything else, like Bank, Armory, Chests, Guild Traders... They are all fine. No more fps issues.

TLDR: strobing light still present in map, menù, chat, loading screens. Everything else seems fixed now, to me.

Edit: it would be nice to know if things are getting fixed/worked on with hotfixes... And if we can expect an announcement here soon that everything will be working smoothly again, @ZOS_Kevin

D4rk · July 6

SkaiFaith wrote: »

UPDATE: I turned back on everything in performance mode - I turned back on 120Hz, Dolby Vision, VRR, FreeSync, ALLM, aaaaaaand it works so much better than before, almost perfectly!
The only issue that is still persisting is the strobo light of the screen BUT it only happens when I open the menù or I open the map or I open the chat or during loading screens: everything else, like Bank, Armory, Chests, Guild Traders... They are all fine. No more fps issues.

TLDR: strobing light still present in map, menù, chat, loading screens. Everything else seems fixed now, to me.

Edit: it would be nice to know if things are getting fixed/worked on with hotfixes... And if we can expect an announcement here soon that everything will be working smoothly again, @ZOS_Kevin

Probably going to be fixed on the coming patch maintenace, day 10.

Also, they didn't changed anything yet. You probably got used to it like i did. Spent a long time with the 30fps menus that sometimes i just feel that it's smoother, but nothing changed.

SkaiFaith · July 6

D4rk wrote: »

SkaiFaith wrote: »

UPDATE: I turned back on everything in performance mode - I turned back on 120Hz, Dolby Vision, VRR, FreeSync, ALLM, aaaaaaand it works so much better than before, almost perfectly!
The only issue that is still persisting is the strobo light of the screen BUT it only happens when I open the menù or I open the map or I open the chat or during loading screens: everything else, like Bank, Armory, Chests, Guild Traders... They are all fine. No more fps issues.

TLDR: strobing light still present in map, menù, chat, loading screens. Everything else seems fixed now, to me.

Edit: it would be nice to know if things are getting fixed/worked on with hotfixes... And if we can expect an announcement here soon that everything will be working smoothly again, @ZOS_Kevin

Probably going to be fixed on the coming patch maintenace, day 10.

Also, they didn't changed anything yet. You probably got used to it like i did. Spent a long time with the 30fps menus that sometimes i just feel that it's smoother, but nothing changed.

No way - it was stuttering really badly and now it's gone. Something has been changed, but nothing has changed in my setup...

Leivendil · July 8

Thank you very much for gathering feedback! I want to say that the update was mostly great and I loved it. The post messages are much more convenient now, and I was happy to buy the Gold Road dlc to support ESO. However, the 30 fps change in menu and map is not a good thing in my opinion. I am sure that many people are frustrated with this, and some may even leave the game. Personally, I feel it ruining the immersion and gaming experience when it goes from 60 to 30 fps. Map and menu is used a lot in this game, and it should be smooth as well. 30fps for afk players is a good change, but please return 60 fps in menu and map for performance mode. I don't want the ESO community to become smaller because of this, and want to have full pleasure in my favorite game. And if to speak about energy consumption, if people leave the game and go to other games which consume even more energy it won't help to fix the issue. Thank you for your consideration!

goboltz · July 9

Also Pls Fix Map Centering, It's WAY off since update, Should Always center on ME, the Player, not the Whole Zone ! As well as "Show on Map" feature NOT going strait to location like it used to, Now is all over the place.

D4rk · July 10

They really didn't changed it with this patch maintenace?

aruggie2 · July 10

D4rk wrote: »

They really didn't changed it with this patch maintenace?

They really didn't. I unsubbed after the patch and this set it in stone. Done with the game.

Hrolthar · July 10

No, performance mode still doesn't work properly, unlike every other game which has a performance/60 FPS mode. All the menus and the map are still a mess, it looks really unprofessional. 😢

DreadKnight · July 11

choose how you play...

D4rk · July 11

aruggie2 wrote: »

D4rk wrote: »

They really didn't changed it with this patch maintenace?

They really didn't. I unsubbed after the patch and this set it in stone. Done with the game.

I took a break from the game for 2 months and when i came back it was already entertaining me like before. Maybe you should do it too.

But actually I think you could try to hold on a little longer. These 30fps menus are very annoying and kill any mood at the moment, but the menus themselves are working as usual. The game is not centered around menu gameplay, and the real gameplay takes place outside of them. So, any progress you have will not be affected, and using the menus would only be for managing your character.

ThisCrookedVulture · July 11

Whew, after an arduous process to be given access to the forums, I'm finally here.

I made a forums account just to comment on this change. Like essentially everyone here, I think these changes negatively impact the game experience to a significant degree. I don't need to harp on about it, but we use the menus a lot each time we play, and it is quite a jarring experience whenever I manage inventory, look at the map, etc.

A great middle ground—as many have suggested—would be to keep this as default but allow players to decide whether they want it on or off.

That these changes don't apply to crafting menus serves to reinforce how dramatically they impact the experience. Each time I craft, it's like a breath of fresh air.

Thank you for a great game - please make it better by introducing a toggle option for this feature.

kmufc77b16_ESO · July 11

This is horrendous and needs changing menus are important in ESO, ridiculous decision.

EDIT: And may i also add, performance and fidelity is also shocking.

Personofsecrets · July 12

I'm posting to give a positive feedback to the sustainability feature.

My experience may not be the average use case, but there have been some good effects for me personally.

The sustainability feature that I notice is the screen dimming.

Historically, I've had some issues with leaving my game idle. For the longest time, the login screen would cause my graphics card to emit a coil whine. Over the past year, I've noticed my fans having to constantly rev up while the game was idle.

Since sustainability feature, I haven't noticed my fans needing to rev up. I often leave the game on when walking away to do other things, so it could be that there is some marginally good return on the environmental impact from my computer use. If there is such return, then that's a-okay by me.

I also sometimes am reminded to complete dailies when the screen dims after I've started to do something else on the computer. This is sort of a nice side-effect to the sustainability feature.

I don't play at a high-graphics setting, so again, I may not be as impacted by the feature as other users. I could play at higher graphical settings, but am just not that interested in doing so. Hope this all helps.

katanagirl1 · July 14

It seems like the inventory frame rate may have been restored, but the frame rate drop while harvesting nodes is just as bad. I didn’t notice that until the patch this week though, so it seems new.

Please revert this change. As I mentioned in my own thread about this, it’s one thing to throttle the fps when someone is afk, but we deserve full performance when playing the game.

WolfieVZ · July 14

Personofsecrets wrote: »

I'm posting to give a positive feedback to the sustainability feature.

My experience may not be the average use case, but there have been some good effects for me personally.

The sustainability feature that I notice is the screen dimming.

Historically, I've had some issues with leaving my game idle. For the longest time, the login screen would cause my graphics card to emit a coil whine. Over the past year, I've noticed my fans having to constantly rev up while the game was idle.

Since sustainability feature, I haven't noticed my fans needing to rev up. I often leave the game on when walking away to do other things, so it could be that there is some marginally good return on the environmental impact from my computer use. If there is such return, then that's a-okay by me.

I also sometimes am reminded to complete dailies when the screen dims after I've started to do something else on the computer. This is sort of a nice side-effect to the sustainability feature.

I don't play at a high-graphics setting, so again, I may not be as impacted by the feature as other users. I could play at higher graphical settings, but am just not that interested in doing so. Hope this all helps.

This has nothing to do with the problem, screen dimming for afk is not what people have been complaining about, it's mostly about the fact that the menus and map are causing migraines and nausea.

D4rk · July 15

katanagirl1 wrote: »

It seems like the inventory frame rate may have been restored, but the frame rate drop while harvesting nodes is just as bad. I didn’t notice that until the patch this week though, so it seems new.

Please revert this change. As I mentioned in my own thread about this, it’s one thing to throttle the fps when someone is afk, but we deserve full performance when playing the game.

Hm, frame rate drop when harvesting nodes? Didn't noticed that. Will pay attention to it.

WolfieVZ · July 15

D4rk wrote: »

aruggie2 wrote: »

D4rk wrote: »

They really didn't changed it with this patch maintenace?

They really didn't. I unsubbed after the patch and this set it in stone. Done with the game.

I took a break from the game for 2 months and when i came back it was already entertaining me like before. Maybe you should do it too.

But actually I think you could try to hold on a little longer. These 30fps menus are very annoying and kill any mood at the moment, but the menus themselves are working as usual. The game is not centered around menu gameplay, and the real gameplay takes place outside of them. So, any progress you have will not be affected, and using the menus would only be for managing your character.

Unfortunately, managing inventory is quite a bit of the game, so if the menus are intentionally broken to make it so people suffer for using it, then it isn't worth hanging on for.

Suuuree I'm just gonna keep looking at a thing that causes my migraines because I should "hold on a little longer"

kiheikat · July 18

I wasn't a fan when this change first dropped. After a month of playing, I'm still not a fan. Makes managing inventory and using maps clunky.

This really should be a feature that console players can toggle on/off.

no1care · July 18

In my opinion, this new "feature" and ones driven with similar goals only makes the user experience worse and potentially even harm people while pretending to be doing something good. It's not going to make any real world difference other than that.

Lately it feels as if the servers are also using some "ECO mode" because the performance of the servers has been terrible as well, causing a lot of people to complain already in other threads and/or even quit the game. So essentially, you're killing the game by focusing on the wrong things.

Stafford197 · July 18

At the end of the day it’s just really weird. The reputation of a business is more important these days than ever before. Why would you maliciously implement something like this against the wishes of your consumers? In my own line of work I couldn’t even fathom making such poor decisions.

Whatever your next AAA title is, if you keep this up, you’ll need an absolute banger of a game to not have it go under within a year. You won’t have the TES franchise name to save you (as was the case with ESO) or a loyal playerbase to support you from the get go.

Bammlschwamml · July 18

Stafford197 wrote: »

The reputation of a business is more important these days than ever before.

Really? Doesn't feel like it matters for most companies anymore.

Stafford197 · July 18

Bammlschwamml wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

The reputation of a business is more important these days than ever before.

Really? Doesn't feel like it matters for most companies anymore.

It matters greatly in most cases, and is likewise still prevalent in the gaming industry.

You have a game like Elden Ring, created by FromSoft. The expectation was that the game would be amazing because that company had proved themselves to be a great game studio. And this allowed the game to garner insane player numbers. Had the game been created by EA, the expectation would be for a mediocre game filled with microtransactions, and purchased by a fraction of the players.

You have Cyberpunk 2077. A disastrous launch that tainted the reputation of CD Projekt RED. A massive amount of people were super hyped and bought the game since this was created by a trusted company. Cyberpunk is now fixed but as you can see, a bad game can gain enormous following based on company name alone.

You also have Redfall. A lot of people saw Arkane Studios as the developers of Dishonored, and so they trusted Redfall to be a good game. Well…. The game was awful. Arkane is finished because of that.

ESO has also left a legacy. ZOS was not a big name company but it had a super popular franchise name to develop a game for - The Elder Scrolls. ESO was a bad game and practically died after a few months because it was awful, but it managed to survive until the Crown Store launched thanks to ofc the Elder Scrolls franchise name. And to this day, a large portion of its playerbase are strictly here due to Elder Scrolls lore. What does this say about ZOS? Are $1000+ mounts a good look? Are adding environmental sustainability features to purposely reduce game performance against the player’s will a good idea?

Some people don’t care. A lot of people do care.
You will always have supporters of ESO, but you’ll also have many people who unhappily quit this game.
Make of that what you will.

WolfieVZ · July 19

Really disgusting that you guys haven't fixed this in a month for consoles, wayyy longer for pc.

TaSheen · July 19

My opinion: this isn't on ZOS. It's on Microsoft. I'm not really convinced ZOS can decide to "undo" this for consoles without big brother yes-stamping.

Stafford197 · July 19

TaSheen wrote: »

My opinion: this isn't on ZOS. It's on Microsoft. I'm not really convinced ZOS can decide to "undo" this for consoles without big brother yes-stamping.

The only reason I can’t agree with you is because the existence of this thread itself proves that line of thinking to be wrong. ZOS is asking for our feedback to help them determine parts of the game are affected in different ways.

In other words, Microsoft might be responsible for the concept of environmental sustainability features (we have no proof whether true or not). However, it is a fact that the method these features are implemented right now are at the sole discretion of ZOS.

My opinion is that they have an energy consumption reduction “standard” they need to reach, and they decided to take the easy way out by capping FPS in menus, but will likely change this when they find other areas in the game to reduce performance.

WolfieVZ · July 22

Still no word on this?
[snip]
[edited for conspiracy theory]

La_Croft · July 22

WolfieVZ wrote: »

Still no word on this?
[snip]

Seriously [snip]...I just wanna be able to play the game, but since the expansion I can't play more than 10-15 minutes without feeling sick.

[edited for profanity bypass & to remove quote]