ENB, SweetFX, SMAA injector and other tweak mods tolerance

soulf666 · September 2014

So, rumors are spreading across the internet. Someones granny filled a ticket and GM told her it gets you banned, someones using it "for entire life" and didn't get banned once, rest are confused or unsure. I'm making this thread to end all these speculations once and for all.

Dear Zenimax, this question is addressed towards you and you only: what is your policy towards such things as ENB (http://enbdev.com/), SweetFX (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=381912), SMAA injector (http://mrhaandi.blogspot.ru/p/injectsmaa.html) and other similar "tweak" mods which look very appealing to some of us.
- Will these 3 named mods be tolerated?
- Will similar addons be tolerated?

I hope to get a definitive answer, which will be used in future for justifying using or not using such mods.

Approvals/disapprovals so far:
- Unnamed FOV mod (tell me if you know the name and dl link) - permitted

starkerealm · September 2014

Hooked .dlls are a serious security risk for PvP. If they're allowed, I'd be very surprised.

Attorneyatlawl · September 2014

starkerealm wrote: »

Hooked .dlls are a serious security risk for PvP. If they're allowed, I'd be very surprised.

soulf666 wrote: »

So, rumors are spreading across the internet. Someones granny filled a ticket and GM told her it gets you banned, someones using it "for entire life" and didn't get banned once, rest are confused or unsure. I'm making this thread to end all these speculations once and for all.

Dear Zenimax, this question is addressed towards you and you only: what is your policy towards such things as ENB (http://enbdev.com/), SweetFX (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=381912), SMAA injector (http://mrhaandi.blogspot.ru/p/injectsmaa.html) and other similar "tweak" mods which look very appealing to some of us.
- Will these 3 named mods be tolerated?
- Will similar addons be tolerated?

I hope to get a definitive answer, which will be used in future for justifying using or not using such mods.

They aren't to my knowledge, and neither are others such as camera tweaks with like third-person FOV or distance for live play such as esoMOD (http://www.raptorfactor.com/eso-mod) as far as I have been told. I won't post a letter or quote anything, but they explicitly said upon clarification that you may not use any third-party tool, injection, edit or otherwise to alter the game client during play, even aesthetically.

Hence why further in-game options allowing for the same tweaks to third-person camera that first person has like FOV, as well as appropriate other ones like zoom distance, camera centering slider and height slider, etc. are essential for people both for comfort/gameplay purposes, and in some cases I have heard of (and have a relative who has issues with) motion sickness when playing for awhile due to the far off-center camera and zoomed-in view with how close it limits you to currently.

As @starkerealm mentions they are a huge security risk to the integrity of the gameplay, even if one is innocuous it allows for others that aren't to be used and much harder to act against.

This is why I support further graphical options that people are requesting often, in addition to other often-asked-for options such as third-person camera settings, preference options like nameplates, etc. so much on the forums and in other venues. They let people enjoy the game how they want in a safe fashion both for their computer's security as well as the game's integrity. Please add all of the above optional settings for the client and let people play how they want, gameplay and control-wise

.

soulf666 · September 2014

Attorneyatlawl wrote: »

starkerealm wrote: »

Hooked .dlls are a serious security risk for PvP. If they're allowed, I'd be very surprised.

soulf666 wrote: »

So, rumors are spreading across the internet. Someones granny filled a ticket and GM told her it gets you banned, someones using it "for entire life" and didn't get banned once, rest are confused or unsure. I'm making this thread to end all these speculations once and for all.

Dear Zenimax, this question is addressed towards you and you only: what is your policy towards such things as ENB (http://enbdev.com/), SweetFX (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=381912), SMAA injector (http://mrhaandi.blogspot.ru/p/injectsmaa.html) and other similar "tweak" mods which look very appealing to some of us.
- Will these 3 named mods be tolerated?
- Will similar addons be tolerated?

I hope to get a definitive answer, which will be used in future for justifying using or not using such mods.

They aren't to my knowledge, and neither are others such as camera tweaks with like third-person FOV or distance for live play such as esoMOD (http://www.raptorfactor.com/eso-mod) as far as I have been told. I won't post a letter or quote anything, but they explicitly said upon clarification that you may not use any third-party tool, injection, edit or otherwise to alter the game client during play, even aesthetically.

Hence why further in-game options allowing for the same tweaks to third-person camera that first person has like FOV, as well as appropriate other ones like zoom distance, camera centering slider and height slider, etc. are essential for people both for comfort/gameplay purposes, and in some cases I have heard of (and have a relative who has issues with) motion sickness when playing for awhile due to the far off-center camera and zoomed-in view with how close it limits you to currently.

As @starkerealm mentions they are a huge security risk to the integrity of the gameplay, even if one is innocuous it allows for others that aren't to be used and much harder to act against.

This is why I support further graphical options that people are requesting often, in addition to other often-asked-for options such as third-person camera settings, preference options like nameplates, etc. so much on the forums and in other venues. They let people enjoy the game how they want in a safe fashion both for their computer's security as well as the game's integrity. Please add all of the above optional settings for the client and let people play how they want, gameplay and control-wise .

Agreed. I'd prefer not having to use any of the mods I named, but not because I'm not permitted, rather because game graphics rock and provide same or better quality built-in. It's always provides better experience if it's built in by devs, and not hooked or injected by side devs. But still, I want to get public clarification from Zenimax on this matter, as it is important (I'd use 2/3 named mods if it is permitted).

jrgray93 · September 2014

I'm also curious about the fog removing launcher. It causes my game to crash every now and then so I stopped using it. The author says it is confirmed allowed but I'd like to hear it straight from Zenimax.

Wolfshade · September 2014

SweetFX did nothing to the game itself, it just screwed dx in its own setting. It`s not a third party programm an it is allowed, you can read in many threads if you use the search function.

ers101284b14_ESO · September 2014

I use Sweet FX and the game looks even better with it. It's an amazing difference. It's doesn't help, its not a cheat, it doesn't do anything to put me on a better footing than anyone else. So it should be fine. There is also a guy on the Facebook page who keeps advertising it and they seem fine with it. So I would say Sweet FX that **** up.

Wolfshade · September 2014

https://pay.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/1zsxmk/my_sweetfx_preset/cfx24s1

soulf666 · September 2014

I know that there were cases where XXX contacted ZOS about YYY and they said it was ok, but there also were cases where ZZZ contacted ZOS about same YYY and different GM said it's not ok.

This thread's ultimate purpose is not to collect more rumors or "I mailed ZOS and they said it was fine" (which can't be really trusted, as said person will not take any responsibility in case _you_ get banned for using it).

Ultimate purpose here is to get public and clear answer from ZOS representative regarding these things, on official ESO resource. Call me paranoid, but I'd rather have said clarification. It will be something everyone can trust, and everyone can use in case of misunderstanding.

Arsenic_Touch · September 2014

It would be extremely daft for them to ban for this. Overlays use the same file as sweetfx which is why you can't run the overlay with sweetfx unless you run sweetfx through radeon pro. Are they going to ban people for mumble,teamspeak or vent overlays now too? this has been discussed many times, they said it's fine as long as it doesn't give you an advantage over other players. they just don't support them. Besides you can essentially do the same thing with GPU programs.

soulf666 · September 2014

And yes, I'd rather use enb+sweetfx combo for ESO, as it still does have a number of graphical issues, and what is more important it allows you to customize your experience in the game to your personal tastes. It's very flexible and win-win for almost everyone.

Also, speaking of game tweaking: anyone got any link for a good compilation of ESO graphics minmaxing? And no, I don't mean "fixing glitchy shadows/laggy stuff", I mean more of "increasing detail level, raising AA/AO, more detailed char models for other than player character, etc.".

So far only tweak I'm aware of is this:
Improves other character's detalisation (and somewhat works), though last 2 lines keep getting removed from ini by the game >_>

SET MIP_LOAD_SKIP_LEVELS "-3"
SET SimultaneousCharacterLoadLimit.2 "10"
SET SimultaneousCharacterDestroyLimit "10"

Wolfshade · September 2014

forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/656932#Comment_656932

ZOS_GinaBrunoZOS_GinaBruno admin
April 17 edited April 17 Staff Post
Apologies, everyone. We'll check on the status of this now.

Edit: Looks like the team took a close look, and we see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use this mod. Thanks for your patience while we looked into this, and enjoy!
Post edited by ZOS_GinaBruno on April 17

starkerealm · September 2014

Arsenic_Touch wrote: »

It would be extremely daft for them to ban for this. Overlays use the same file as sweetfx which is why you can't run the overlay with sweetfx unless you run sweetfx through radeon pro. Are they going to ban people for mumble,teamspeak or vent overlays now too? this has been discussed many times, they said it's fine as long as it doesn't give you an advantage over other players. they just don't support them. Besides you can essentially do the same thing with GPU programs.

The problem is, ENB (at least) works by hooking the DirectX .dll, which allows for all kinds of funky things... including wall hacks. From the server side there's no practical way to distinguish between them. Meaning, I'd be very surprised if ENB is acceptable.

soulf666 · September 2014

Wolfshade wrote: »

forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/656932#Comment_656932

ZOS_GinaBrunoZOS_GinaBruno admin
April 17 edited April 17 Staff Post
Apologies, everyone. We'll check on the status of this now.

Edit: Looks like the team took a close look, and we see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use this mod. Thanks for your patience while we looked into this, and enjoy!
Post edited by ZOS_GinaBruno on April 17

Adding to the top with link

Post if you find more on other stuff.