Zos, can you please explain these forced Ultra High settings?

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/26225

I don't understand this. Xbox has known frame rate, memory, load time, etc issues and now we are being forced into default settings that I can barely maintain on a top of the line PC unless I'm literally just standing still or picking flowers. Forget trials, PvP, or the like. Will we be able to turn these settings down?

I, and many people I play with, have been forcing ourselves to play the last patch in hopes this new Xbox may be the change we were looking for to reduce the horrible game play Xbox has. But I'm very concerned with this latest new update.

Look at this. this is a fresh pull, it actually becomes worse if we wipe/take longer to get there. Making this happen with outrageous system requirements is very worrisome.
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/DjMuscleboy02/video/37283514

Just because it CAN run with ultra settings, doesn't mean it SHOULD.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

wilddavid · November 2017

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

I would also be interested in hearing what you’re planning to do about this. Guaranteed most of the competitive end game players have sunk more $’s into this game than anyone else... seems like a customer base you would seek to protect not alienate...

Feanor · November 2017

Well...the announcement is true. Play ESO like never before.

coop500 · November 2017

Why don't they just let you guys lower it in the options? Sorry I only play on PC but I assumed console folks could adjust their in-game settings.

Defilted · November 2017

Based on what the Xbox One X will be able to do. It seems these settings will be fine. However no one has tested ESO with the Xbox One X so we shall see. So far the XB1X has been down played by every PC gamer out their and the bench marks so far have been pretty good.

I guess we will know a lot more starting tomorrow.

coop500 · November 2017

Defilted wrote: »

Based on what the Xbox One X will be able to do. It seems these settings will be fine. However no one has tested ESO with the Xbox One X so we shall see. So far the XB1X has been down played by every PC gamer out their and the bench marks so far have been pretty good.

I guess we will know a lot more starting tomorrow.

Not every PC gamer, I didn't know there was another Xbox One, but frankly I don't meddle with console people, I more believe in you leave me alone I'll leave you alone, people deserve to play how they want with what they want without grief.

NewBlacksmurf · November 2017

Perhaps we should try it out before criticizing the unknown.

I'm gonna try and see before I criticize anything.

Defilted · November 2017

Agree

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

coop500 wrote: »

Why don't they just let you guys lower it in the options? Sorry I only play on PC but I assumed console folks could adjust their in-game settings.

I don't know for sure but I seem to have read somewhere that Xbox doesn't allow you to lower settings like PC does. I could be wrong though.

Defilted wrote: »

Based on what the Xbox One X will be able to do. It seems these settings will be fine. However no one has tested ESO with the Xbox One X so we shall see. So far the XB1X has been down played by every PC gamer out their and the bench marks so far have been pretty good.

I guess we will know a lot more starting tomorrow.

That's not true. My PC is less than a month old and is extremely powerful, I sit around 15-20 FPS in raid/pvp with similar settings. You are correct that an Xbox may be able to run the settings standing still or walking around by yourself. But that's not the kind of gameplay mmo's are built for.

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Perhaps we should try it out before criticizing the unknown.

I'm gonna try and see before I criticize anything.

You're right, and I'm hoping I'm wrong. But I'm pretty hesitant to spend 600$ on a new system and 300$ on a new SSD only to have the exact same issues I currently have.

Dr_Ganknstein · November 2017

I agree. One of the biggest issues playing ESO on Xbox is frame rate drops. I'll say the FPS issue and Eye of Easymode are my two biggest causes of pvp failure in this game. I'll watch other peoples PVP videos and I'm amazed at how smooth they run even during large scale fights. Not on Xbox though. Hopefully that changes with the One X but they should give us a way to scale the graphics down especially since zergs of people using Eye of Easymode put my Xbox into cardiac arrest.

LittlePinkDot · November 2017

I havent noticed any problems on PS4. Is this an xbox only problem? And how much does ones internet speed affect this? I have a fiberoptic connection, although the PS4 connects wirelessly.

NewBlacksmurf · November 2017

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Perhaps we should try it out before criticizing the unknown.

I'm gonna try and see before I criticize anything.

You're right, and I'm hoping I'm wrong. But I'm pretty hesitant to spend 600$ on a new system and 300$ on a new SSD only to have the exact same issues I currently have.

@DjMuscleboy02
It was no question for me. The Xbox one x has already proved more than expected on every game and considering its not the Xbox one or Xbox one s hardware at all if any issues arise it’s not going to be what we experience today.

New hardware, new problems for sure but I️ can’t forsee delaying better gaming for fear of developer specific issues.

Also the ssd external applies to both so for many that’s not a new investment. I️ assume it’ll improve on the Xbox one x too but I’m going to try the internal Hd first

tjbhunter · November 2017

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

That's not true. My PC is less than a month old and is extremely powerful, I sit around 15-20 FPS in raid/pvp with similar settings. You are correct that an Xbox may be able to run the settings standing still or walking around by yourself. But that's not the kind of gameplay mmo's are built for.

LOL - Somethings wrong than! I sit at 60 FPS Ultra High Settings even in trial boss fights and my machine is 2 years old (granted very high end - when I built it)

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

tjbhunter wrote: »

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

That's not true. My PC is less than a month old and is extremely powerful, I sit around 15-20 FPS in raid/pvp with similar settings. You are correct that an Xbox may be able to run the settings standing still or walking around by yourself. But that's not the kind of gameplay mmo's are built for.

LOL - Somethings wrong than! I sit at 60 FPS Ultra High Settings even in trial boss fights and my machine is 2 years old (granted very high end - when I built it)

No, you don't. Unless you're running a setup that next to no one can afford, you aren't running those settings anywhere near 60FPS.

RandomName123 · November 2017

Give us better FPS & stability on xbox one x, not better graphics.

br0steen · November 2017

RandomName123 wrote: »

Give us better FPS & stability on xbox one x, not better graphics.

I believe the fps is capped at 30 still for all xbox games. Am I right?

NewBlacksmurf · November 2017

br0steen wrote: »

RandomName123 wrote: »

Give us better FPS & stability on xbox one x, not better graphics.

I believe the fps is capped at 30 still for all xbox games. Am I right?

You are.....I guess I'm going to upgrade, turn it on and be like O M G!!!!!!

and then FPS wont matter because best I can tell, FPS only matter in PvP or VMSA but we are all locked at 30 FPS or get the same dips so its not like its just me or them....shrug...gonna enjoy the new console and new upgrade from ZOS.

I have other gripes but this isn't one

ZOS_Mika · November 2017

We have recently removed a few non-constructive comments. Please keep the discussion civil and respectful.

ZOS_AlexTardif · November 2017

Great question! In almost every case on Xbox, the limiting factor is the CPU, not the GPU, as ESO tends to be more on the CPU-intensive side of things, especially in trials. The changes made on the Xbox One X are mostly just GPU-side improvements so that we can make use of all the extra horsepower, which Microsoft gave us a lot of.

For the CPU side of things, we made a big change to our scene graph this patch which is expected to improve CPU performance across the board on all platforms, something that PC players have already noticed when Clockwork City launched. We're continuing efforts on the CPU, which are focused mostly on moving CPU work to the GPU.

For memory, that's something we're constantly trying to improve, because we're well aware that running out of memory is by far the most common issue on Xbox. Something that all platforms are getting with the Clockwork City update is an update to our animation loading system, which on average saves several hundreds of MB of memory compared to pre-Clockwork City, which means that Xbox players especially should see improvements in stability. On the Xbox One X, they give games an extra 4 GB of memory to use, so even with the graphical changes we're making, we have more than enough memory left over that these situations should be greatly improved.

Samadhi · November 2017

ZOS_AlexTardif wrote: »

...
For the CPU side of things, we made a big change to our scene graph this patch which is expected to improve CPU performance across the board on all platforms, something that PC players have already noticed when Clockwork City launched. We're continuing efforts on the CPU, which are focused mostly on moving CPU work to the GPU.
...

From a PC user, thanks for a heads up on this
and, yes, Clockwork City has given me up to 20-30 fps increase in some instances
it is nice to see the counter north of 80

Moloch1514 · November 2017

Will sound work in battles with more than 10 people in Cyrodiil? On PC, which has these "improvements" already, the sound drops out for everyone during these battles now.

Fallewarrior · November 2017

Yes, we have the "improvements" that after 1 wipe everyone is playing with half the fps they started the instance with.

ArchMikem · November 2017

Theyre upping the graphic settings because its the ONE X, not the One. I dont understand the problem here. Do you actually want to play ESO set to potato settings on the brand new powerful console?

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

ZOS_AlexTardif wrote: »

Great question! In almost every case on Xbox, the limiting factor is the CPU, not the GPU, as ESO tends to be more on the CPU-intensive side of things, especially in trials. The changes made on the Xbox One X are mostly just GPU-side improvements so that we can make use of all the extra horsepower, which Microsoft gave us a lot of.

For the CPU side of things, we made a big change to our scene graph this patch which is expected to improve CPU performance across the board on all platforms, something that PC players have already noticed when Clockwork City launched. We're continuing efforts on the CPU, which are focused mostly on moving CPU work to the GPU.

For memory, that's something we're constantly trying to improve, because we're well aware that running out of memory is by far the most common issue on Xbox. Something that all platforms are getting with the Clockwork City update is an update to our animation loading system, which on average saves several hundreds of MB of memory compared to pre-Clockwork City, which means that Xbox players especially should see improvements in stability. On the Xbox One X, they give games an extra 4 GB of memory to use, so even with the graphical changes we're making, we have more than enough memory left over that these situations should be greatly improved.

That's great to hear. One of the biggest issues we face are the constant memory issues and game crashes. Poor frames can be dealt with and, though annoying, aren't too difficult to navigate around. Sure damage drops slightly and it does cause some dumb deaths, but it's not killing score runs entirely or causing people to be unable to compete. We ran VAA for nearly 3 hours Saturday and had someone crash on the first boss and were forced to reset every time. That is what's really worrying me.

Can't wait to see what changes the new system brings, thanks for the response!

danno8 · November 2017

Moloch1514 wrote: »

Will sound work in battles with more than 10 people in Cyrodiil? On PC, which has these "improvements" already, the sound drops out for everyone during these battles now.

Unrelated bug.

Why do people try to conflate issues like this?

"Great, since you changed my oil, I have a flat tire! Great oil change!"

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

ArchMikem wrote: »

Theyre upping the graphic settings because its the ONE X, not the One. I dont understand the problem here. Do you actually want to play ESO set to potato settings on the brand new powerful console?

If it means clear frames, no incessant game crashes, and I can press abilities and they actually fire off then yes. I would love to play ESO on potato settings on the brand new powerful console. In fact, I would prefer it.

The problem here is that we already have huge memory and lag issues stemming from poor system performance. We upgraded the system, thus those problems should see improvement, yes? But then we massively upgrade GPU requirements as well, now do you see where my concern comes from?

RandomName123 · November 2017

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

Theyre upping the graphic settings because its the ONE X, not the One. I dont understand the problem here. Do you actually want to play ESO set to potato settings on the brand new powerful console?

If it means clear frames, no incessant game crashes, and I can press abilities and they actually fire off then yes. I would love to play ESO on potato settings on the brand new powerful console. In fact, I would prefer it.

The problem here is that we already have huge memory and lag issues stemming from poor system performance. We upgraded the system, thus those problems should see improvement, yes? But then we massively upgrade GPU requirements as well, now do you see where my concern comes from?

This guy gets it

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

I want to add that I actually have my Xbox turned to 720p, I have all combat numbers turned off, I play with absolutely no sound whatsoever, and I completely reset my game and clear my saved data every time I leave a trial instance. I have to do this just to be able to play the game with decent frames and lag.

danno8 · November 2017

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

Theyre upping the graphic settings because its the ONE X, not the One. I dont understand the problem here. Do you actually want to play ESO set to potato settings on the brand new powerful console?

If it means clear frames, no incessant game crashes, and I can press abilities and they actually fire off then yes. I would love to play ESO on potato settings on the brand new powerful console. In fact, I would prefer it.

The problem here is that we already have huge memory and lag issues stemming from poor system performance. We upgraded the system, thus those problems should see improvement, yes? But then we massively upgrade GPU requirements as well, now do you see where my concern comes from?

On my PC I always played at Ultra settings, using an i54670k and a GTX 1060.

I decided to monitor my FPS and GPU and CPU usage about 2 months ago and was surprised to see the GPU was only at 50% usage at my normal 1080p resolution.

I went ahead and bumped it up to 2160p (4K) and only my GPU went up to around 90% use, with no change to frame rates at all.

My point is that ZoS can upgrade the visuals for the XB1X with no effect on FPS, because the GPU simply has the overhead to spare in all situations. This is a good thing.

If there was a way to use that extra overhead to help out the poor overworked CPU's that would be great (and it sounds like they are trying to do just that) but for now the CPU is still the limiting factor.

The extra 4GB of memory should help a lot with crashes.

DjMuscleboy02 · November 2017

danno8 wrote: »

DjMuscleboy02 wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

Theyre upping the graphic settings because its the ONE X, not the One. I dont understand the problem here. Do you actually want to play ESO set to potato settings on the brand new powerful console?

If it means clear frames, no incessant game crashes, and I can press abilities and they actually fire off then yes. I would love to play ESO on potato settings on the brand new powerful console. In fact, I would prefer it.

The problem here is that we already have huge memory and lag issues stemming from poor system performance. We upgraded the system, thus those problems should see improvement, yes? But then we massively upgrade GPU requirements as well, now do you see where my concern comes from?

On my PC I always played at Ultra settings, using an i54670k and a GTX 1060.

I decided to monitor my FPS and GPU and CPU usage about 2 months ago and was surprised to see the GPU was only at 50% usage at my normal 1080p resolution.

I went ahead and bumped it up to 2160p (4K) and only my GPU went up to around 90% use, with no change to frame rates at all.

My point is that ZoS can upgrade the visuals for the XB1X with no effect on FPS, because the GPU simply has the overhead to spare in all situations. This is a good thing.

If there was a way to use that extra overhead to help out the poor overworked CPU's that would be great (and it sounds like they are trying to do just that) but for now the CPU is still the limiting factor.

The extra 4GB of memory should help a lot with crashes.

That's great, unfortunately I can't check those kinds of things on Xbox, so I have no way of knowing how much GPU is actually being used. Fingers crossed that this does apply to Xbox and things get a little bit better. Tough to see such a great game struggle to perform as it should due to system limitations.