Mac Compatibility

LividSugars

This is going to be a pretty lengthy post discussing problems with Apple's silicon macs on the Elder Scrolls Online. I appreciate anybody who reads this. Let's continue: Compatibility of M1+ Macs is dreadful, and I'm mainly not talking about FPS and loading times, at least for me. I'm talking about constant crashing and the advertisement of Mac compatibility. This game is advertised as Mac compatible, but unless you physically search it up or visit the form page and know what you're looking for (which most ESO players don't even know exist), nowhere does it tell you that it isn't supported on Apple silicon macs. This not only applies for their official website, where you can buy the game, but also for Steam, where nowhere does it state it's not compatible easily. Matter of fact, the advertisement almost makes it seem like it is completely compatible, almost like no man's sky. For example, in the "PC/Mac megaserver," they flaunt that Apple logo everywhere, and in the forms, they even say PC/Mac patch notes. Nowhere unless very specific circumstances is it stated that it's not supported on Apple silicon Macs. That is scummy and shady. This hardware has been out for nearly half a decade, and for the amount of people complaining not only on the forms but also on Steam, there is obviously a player base there. I would be willing to bet the majority of players who play this game on Mac are not Intel-based Mac users. If they are, they're using boot camp. Here's a beautiful quote made by somebody on the forms a little bit ago that goes by the name of Blaze13."I think the most insulting bit of all this is that there's no warning when you are about to buy the game or spend more money going forward. The most prominent thing is the "Mac Compatibility" stamp on the advertisements, which is truly misleading with all the fine print and well-hidden details."Here's that form post that the quote was taken from. Definitely a worthwhile read. https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/651371/have-zos-announced-they-will-support-apple-silicon-mac For the developers potentially reading this, a lot of this is your fault but not all of it. Apple doesn't really know what they're doing when it comes down to gaming on Mac. They have a game mode, and they do have the processing power to run games pretty well. For the steam issue, I don't know if that's your guys's fault. You may want to talk to Steam about that. But still, some of it is your fault, and you either need to drop compatibility altogether or make it actually Mac compatible. Nobody likes being lied to or misled. As for the troubleshooting steps, it doesn't seem like they work. Nobody wants to play window mode because it decreases FPS and makes the game feel like you're in Cyrodiil at peak hours. That's on top of the already poo poo performance. Turning on virtual sync does not resolve the issue. The M1+ Macs have plenty of processing power, but decreasing graphics doesn't solve the problem. Removing add-ons and following those troubleshooting steps don't work. Etc., etc., but even if they did work, that still wouldn't make it right. Something should not be Mac compatible, and in the latest generation of hardware you have to do workarounds. That's ridiculous. Also, I don't know if this is completely true as I have not tried it, but I do recall reading a couple of posts about parallels/crossover, and it used to be able to work. But since Necrom it doesn't. Like I stated, I've not tried this, but if you're willing to or have recently, please let me know down below. But I'm sure virtualizing the game would not be an enjoyable experience.I really do enjoy ESO. For the developers, if you're reading this, I'm not trying to completely hate you or the game. This game has a lot of flaws, and some of the choices you guys make are downright stupid. Really should have hired skinny cheeks, lol. Despite this game's flaws, I'm still subscribed to ESO Plus, and I have been playing it since 2015, originally on Xbox. I play tons of MMOs, and there's a reason I always stick to this one, and that's why I'm so passionate about this issue at hand. I hope you take this as majority subjective criticism. With a hint of being extremely serious and upset.
** As of recently I can't even boot up ESO without it crashing. Yet it is labeled Mac compatible. This is happening with the troubleshooting step using display menu. I have try to use better display and it still doesn't work.

Here's that infamous post that all Mac users dread. https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/59187

keto3000

I agree with this! I've subbed & played ESO on my mac ( orig an Intel based, now M1) since beta 2014.

I went through all the iterations and the ups and downs of the updates & finally, once ESO mac client went fr 32 to 64 bit, most issues felt resolved. At least, the issues that exsted were on par with PC users.

I love playing ESO. I only own a MAC.

On my M1 mini, the game has been smooth UP UNTIL the latest Gold Road updates. Now the game regularly crashes a few minutes into game play, even in windowed mode & taking all the steps ( all addons off/on, etc.)

I really encourage ZOS to reconsider and renew comitment to full & officia support for us dedicated Mac OS customers.

I love this game and its community. Hope devs reconsider!

LividSugars

keto3000 wrote: »

I agree with this! I've subbed & played ESO on my mac ( orig an Intel based, now M1) since beta 2014.

I went through all the iterations and the ups and downs of the updates & finally, once ESO mac client went fr 32 to 64 bit, most issues felt resolved. At least, the issues that exsted were on par with PC users.

I love playing ESO. I only own a MAC.

On my M1 mini, the game has been smooth UP UNTIL the latest Gold Road updates. Now the game regularly crashes a few minutes into game play, even in windowed mode & taking all the steps ( all addons off/on, etc.)

I really encourage ZOS to reconsider and renew comitment to full & officia support for us dedicated Mac OS customers.

I love this game and its community. Hope devs reconsider!

I highly doubt they're going to reconsider. I'm on the verge of completely unsubbing and uninstalling the game. It's just been getting worse and worse over the past months, and I don't like being lied to. It's pretty much unplayable for me now. Tragedy, as this is one of my most played games of all time, so it is what it is. World of Warcraft works amazingly on Mac, so if you have never played that or been a while, I definitely recommend giving that a go! Been loving it so far after not playing for many years. I really hope ZOS reconsiders this issue because I'm really on the verge of just completely uninstalling and unsubbing like I mentioned. If I don't get a response back from a dev on this forum possibly confirming actual Mac compatibility without being lied to in a week, I'm unsubing and uninstalling. I know it probably means nothing, but yeah. 

CrushDepth

That is interesting. For the most part, my experience on a mini M2 has been just the opposite. I have had crashes to desktop, but not that often. Therefore, I left WoW behind and canceled that subscription. Now, I have had to repair the software twice in the past 6 months.
Today there appears to be a complete megaserver issue, therefore, I can't say that is a Mac concern.

RomanRex

i started using steam on my mac to run ESO and it really worked so much better.

keto3000

RomanRex wrote: »

i started using steam on my mac to run ESO and it really worked so much better.

Can you tell me more about the Steam performance? I'm on a Mac M1 mini & all runs fine except i notice aot more lagging and rubberbanding since Gold Road 43/44.

I have Steam but have alwasy had my ESO account direct, not through Steam. If it runs better, how can I move my cureent characters, etc to the Steam one?

Past few weeks, when my desktop shifts if i open anonther app, my ESO game just unexpecetedly crashes.