Tired of playing eso with sunglasses

Reyleigh · December 2019

Please give us an option to disable weather lightning, I have light sensitive eyes and i can't take it it's everywhere all the time
Played cyrodiil all week, constant lightning, for hours, no stop to it
Malabal Tor ? Constant lightning
Vvardenfell ? Constant lightning
I always have to take refuge in alik'r desert
Even in BG there's lightning

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP !!

SickleCider · December 2019

I've been on them for years about this. I really sympathize. I also have medical photo sensitivity, and there are entire maps I have to avoid during parts of the game's day cycle, because the entire ground plane gets bleached out. I have also played this game with sunglasses on.

What I've been trying to get them to do is give us more menu options. I'm playing on console, so I'm not sure what PC has, but I've been suggesting they gave us more robust brightness, contrast, gamma, and color bias options. If I could tune down the contrast and filter out some of the intense, bright blue light that happens in this game, it might be more comfortable for me. Maybe it'd help you, too?

I've also been asking them to stop inserting moments into quests where the screen suddenly, without warning, flashes white. That can't be good for people with epilepsy, either. I think the reason they do that is to obscure moments where they have to awkwardly pop an asset in or out of the scene. There has to be a less intrusive solution.

Reyleigh · December 2019

I am already playing with very low brightness and night light and whenever it happens it hurts me hard in the back of my head so I just want them to give us an option to disable it altogether
The lightning itself is just unrealistic, why does the whole screen have to flash ? Why not limit the lightning in the sky or something

SickleCider · December 2019

Yeah, I'm really not a fan of the way the lightning is handled, either. Something tells me the screen flashes like that because it was the easiest way to achieve the effect. Again, things that aren't good for photo sensitive people and probably aren't good for people with epilepsy.

I've got my brightness turned almost all the way down, too. I've got a couple of Himalayan salt lamps on my desk, and I also bought some of those smart LED bulbs, placed them in hanging lamps over the desk, and set them to a soft amber color. It's a game changer.

AgaTheGreat · December 2019

It's not just weather lightning. I don't have any sensitivity (at least I don't think so) yet trialing for two hours somewhere where there are a lot of flashing lightning effects makes everyone tired.

SickleCider · December 2019

For sure, it's not even just the people with sensitivity! One night I was watching my friend careening into obstacles on her mount, so I asked her what was going on. She'd developed serious eye fatigue. I told her to go to bed. Something about the way lighting is rendered in this game. . . .

SanguineMyBrother · December 2019

I wish there was a toggle to keep it night time all the time in this game. Sometimes the brightness of certain areas in the daytime even with the brightness turned down is unbearable. I'm looking at you, Alik'r.

SeaGtGruff · December 2019

Does gamma adjustment help at all? If I ever adjust it, it's to turn it up, but it sounds like you should turn it down.

If there aren't enough adjustments in the game options, what about on the computer or monitor?

Reyleigh · December 2019

Adjusting gamma or brightness is not gonna change a thing, a flash is a flash and for photosensitive people even a toned down flash is still harmful

Raudgrani · December 2019

100% user end issue. Adjust your monitor or TV.

dcam86b14_ESO · December 2019

Trying playing with vertigo

at least you can cover your eyes with sunglasses, I have to have a trash can next to me to throw up every few mins.

Katahdin · December 2019

Maybe a toggle to turn weather effects off would be good for those that are sensitive

Nyladreas · December 2019

Reyleigh wrote: »

Please give us an option to disable weather lightning, I have light sensitive eyes and i can't take it it's everywhere all the time
Played cyrodiil all week, constant lightning, for hours, no stop to it
Malabal Tor ? Constant lightning
Vvardenfell ? Constant lightning
I always have to take refuge in alik'r desert
Even in BG there's lightning

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP !!

There are a few things that can help you a lot to reduce the stress on your photosensitivity or photosensitive epilepsy.

When playing games makes sure you combine all these if possible:

1) Reduce brightness and contrast.
2) Try to adjust and balance colors so that your eyes do not have to adjust to drastic changes as often.
3) Get a glare guard/foil for your screen
4) Get good quality gaming glasses and blue light filter / shield
5) Always try to be in a well lit room
6) If your computer has Nvidia GPU, get GeForce experience app and turn on experimental features. You can then use lots of different filters that help extremely reduce risk factors and strain on your photoreceptors and eyes in general, if properly set up and combined.
7) Make sure that you stay away recommended distance from the computer.
8) Often take small breaks, while playing, making sure to let your eyes rest (eg. Do not switch to another source of strain)

All this helped my cousin, who is also photosensitive, nearly every remove all issues while gaming. It does require a lot of very careful playing around with the filters, if you can get them.

Make sure that you get the glasses too. They're amazing and helpful to EVERYBODY and they're not "just" for blocking the blue light. Aka the difference is huge and you honestly should wear them at all times while at the computer, on phone or watching TV etc.

Do not actually wear sunglasses too much like this. They can eventually make things worse.

Hope this helps.

delta_mystic · December 2019

I've had daily migraines since 2001. OP and other photophobics I feel your pain man. Here are things I do:

if you've already adjusted game and monitor setings, then start changing type and placement of fixtures around the room(s). Adding soft backlights and overhead lights to my computer room makes monitor glare and flashing images far less painful. Blackout curtains and blinds allow me to adjust light streaming in from windows. I use lowest possible wattage light bulbs in lamps and fixtures. I only use one bulb on fixtures with multiple bulbs.

something that's helped tremendously is putting this type of lamp TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp behind my monitor. I put it on low brightness with soft amber color. The best part is I can angle the light away from my face. Traditional bulb-exposed lamps make me wince when I walk by especially if they're on a table below eye level.

I wear wrap-around sunglasses that fit over my prescription glasses. Trying to keep them both off the end of my nose gets uncomfortable and annoying after awhile. It's not ideal but it's worth it. I also wear this type of hat Sun Wide Visor Golf Hat. When something onscreen gets too bright or flashy, I just tuck my head down into my chest and the visor will block the light. Obviously, looking away affects my ability as a player so I avoid progression content in all of my games.

another option is to only play during the day, but I don't have that kind of self-discipline

Cirantille · December 2019

You might wanna see a doctor
I am using special glasses which reflect lights away from my eyes since I am sensitive to light.
It was such a relief to get those glasses!

delta_mystic · December 2019

Raudgrani wrote: »

100% user end issue. Adjust your monitor or TV.

no.

please learn more about photosensitivity before hand-waving people with life-altering conditions such as migraine, epilepsy. etc.

edit: typo

ArchMikem · December 2019

Apparently there's some stupid Lore about how whenever it rains it's a Thunder Storm because of Sheogorath. I view Lore like scripture but even that is kinda unbearable.

Y'know weather effects are client side, not server. I'm surprised there hasn't been a weather Addon made yet.

SickleCider · December 2019

delta_mystic wrote: »

Raudgrani wrote: »

100% user end issue. Adjust your monitor or TV.

no.

please learn more about photosensitivity before hand-waving people with life-altering conditions such as migraine, epilepsy. etc.

edit: typo

@delta_mystic Gosh, thank you. I thought about saying something, because it seemed like such a needlessly contrarian and ableist thing to say, as if it never occurred to someone to adjust their screen, but then I chose not to. You did it much more succinctly than I would have.

Gaggin · December 2019

If the game is making u sick and nothing else works, maybe dont play it?

xenowarrior92eb17_ESO · December 2019

I dont understand...so the OP is complaining about the sunlight?... ok.

Ryath_Waylander · December 2019

ArchMikem wrote: »

Apparently there's some stupid Lore about how whenever it rains it's a Thunder Storm because of Sheogorath. I view Lore like scripture but even that is kinda unbearable.

Y'know weather effects are client side, not server. I'm surprised there hasn't been a weather Addon made yet.

Yes, this my husband and I noticed one day while we were running together. I heard lightning from his PC and asked him about it. He said, "it's the storm" I'm like "What? It's sunny here" If it's client side, there should be a realism toggle where you can just turn it off. Cyrodiil never really has proper night, it just goes into a dim phase. If I can toggle grass off in graphics, one should be able to do the same for weather.

delta_mystic · December 2019

Versispellis wrote: »

@delta_mystic Gosh, thank you. I thought about saying something, because it seemed like such a needlessly contrarian and ableist thing to say, as if it never occurred to someone to adjust their screen, but then I chose not to. You did it much more succinctly than I would have.

aww thanks for the feedback! One more suggestion: if you use Chrome browser you can get extensions like TLV Night Mode to create a color theme you can apply to almost all web pages. I used to avoid some of my now fave ESO forums and fansites because their themes were too bright. Now I can browse pretty much everything! I'm sure other browsers have stuff like that too.

LoneStar2911 · December 2019

I don't have any photosensitivity issues that I'm aware of, but I would definitely appreciate a setting that allowed me to turn off storms, rain, and lightning flashes. I hate them!! I hate them in most games.
(Cloudy weather is fine. But I prefer sunny.)

Plus, lightning sounds freak my cat out. Even with the sound very low. So I'd love to be able to turn off the stormy sounds as well, so I don't have to keep turning off my speakers or putting on my headphones when there's a storm in-game.

SickleCider · December 2019

delta_mystic wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

@delta_mystic Gosh, thank you. I thought about saying something, because it seemed like such a needlessly contrarian and ableist thing to say, as if it never occurred to someone to adjust their screen, but then I chose not to. You did it much more succinctly than I would have.

aww thanks for the feedback! One more suggestion: if you use Chrome browser you can get extensions like TLV Night Mode to create a color theme you can apply to almost all web pages. I used to avoid some of my now fave ESO forums and fansites because their themes were too bright. Now I can browse pretty much everything! I'm sure other browsers have stuff like that too.

Extensions like that are awesome! I never use them because I find the light text on dark actually harder to look at, but I'm glad that those extensions exist for the people they help. I use Windows "night light", and I have an app on my phone called "Night Shift" that simulates the same effect. (I think some more recent phones have a "night light" feature built into the OS, but I'm still stubbornly using my Droid Turbo 2.)

delta_mystic · December 2019

Versispellis wrote: »

Extensions like that are awesome! I never use them because I find the light text on dark actually harder to look at, but I'm glad that those extensions exist for the people they help.

I have the same prob with almost all authored pre-set themes. TLV let's me set my own colors by clicking on a Color Picker and/or typing in hex codes. It then automatically applies my theme to any page I visit. I can turn it on/off with a single 'Exclude' checkbox click.

SickleCider · December 2019

delta_mystic wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

Extensions like that are awesome! I never use them because I find the light text on dark actually harder to look at, but I'm glad that those extensions exist for the people they help.

I have the same prob with almost all authored pre-set themes. TLV let's me set my own colors by clicking on a Color Picker and/or typing in hex codes. It then automatically applies my theme to any page I visit. I can turn it on/off with a single 'Exclude' checkbox click.

Oh, nice! I'll have to give this one a shot. That sounds a lot more user-friendly.

EDIT: This is a different issue altogether, but it made me think to link it, since everyone's sharing tips here. Idk if you also have "old person eye" syndrome like I do, but there's an extension called "Mercury Reader" I really like. It converts article pages into simple, large text. I wonder how compatible the two extensions are.

Gnatrak · December 2019

My medication causes photosensitivity but the weather effects don't seem to bother me, just the overall brightness in some locations / sky / water reflections.

It would be nice to have a toggle for weather effects though - not only for those who are sensitive to light but also those who have other medical problems that would like to play the game. It will also help with game performance.

Have you turned off your Water Reflections, Bloom and Sunlight Rays in your video settings? I haven't tested it, but having the Bloom turned off might tone down the lightning effects - some. It does help with the sky and other things that glow.

This is with Bloom and Sunlight Rays turned on.

This is with Bloom and Sunlight Rays turned off.

Not a huge difference, but every little bit helps.

GoodFella146 · December 2019

Wow I had no idea this was a thing. Hopefully the devs hear about it and can add a setting or two to help assist you guys!

doomette · December 2019

Amber322 wrote: »

Plus, lightning sounds freak my cat out. Even with the sound very low. So I'd love to be able to turn off the stormy sounds as well, so I don't have to keep turning off my speakers or putting on my headphones when there's a storm in-game.

My poor old dog was afraid of the thunder too. Heck, the really loud claps startle the hell out of me, especially if I’m PVPing (so more jumpy).
And my complaints are teeny tiny compared to what the OP and others have to deal with. I hope it gets sorted, either through creative display configs or, even better, the devs doing something to make it more bearable for you guys 😕

nafensoriel · December 2019

Reyleigh wrote: »

Please give us an option to disable weather lightning, I have light sensitive eyes and i can't take it it's everywhere all the time
Played cyrodiil all week, constant lightning, for hours, no stop to it
Malabal Tor ? Constant lightning
Vvardenfell ? Constant lightning
I always have to take refuge in alik'r desert
Even in BG there's lightning

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP !!

Use Reshade.
Most people use it to enhance effects but you can very easily use it to reduce brightness and glow effects.
I know there have been a few discussions in the reshade community about it so if you want go to their forums and use the search function to see if it's possible to solve your issue or not.

To people who think this is PEBCAK it is actually a very real issue faced by some people. Computer monitors can be bright enough locally to trigger all kinds of issues to various conditions. Bright localized spotlights are a well-known trigger to some migraine sufferers.

Neoealth · December 2019

How do you cope with like almost the rest of the entire game if you can't abide any flashing? The game is full of flashing effects.