The Performance Vote - The ONLY vote that MATTERS

Sindrik8x · May 2020

Yes

Because I only become active when I see the foundation crumbling. When things are good, I'm tied to my guild and being an active voice in game within the community. Where my time should be.

When I can't be doing that, I'm here getting the backing and support from like minded/affected players. Have I been negative and critical? Yes. Because I care and because how can you be positive when your characters break, and the lag makes your game unplayable? It's not my specs or machine, it's not my internet. Just like the OVERWHELMING populations in these threads show.

I'm passionate. I will take breaks when it looks like there is nothing that can be done. I'll step away. I'll try and find other games to occupy my time. But, this is my home and I have poured my heart and soul into my characters. You can't just walk away fully from something like that, especially when it's impacted your life for 5+ years.

Blackwolfe5 · May 2020

Yes

I'm lagging more often after the update than I did prior to the update. I started playing the game 4 weeks ago and didn't have any issues prior to the update. Today it's been absolutely awful on PC-EU.

I might be a bit biased though since I still have a ton of content ahead of me so them halting development of content wouldn't matter to me for some time.

eKsDee · May 2020

Yes

The funny thing is, to properly profile, nothing changes. You don't want anything to change, you want the numbers to accurately reflect what you'd expect during actual operation. So they'd just push the profiling changes one patch, let them sit in there over the next month or so, collecting data, and then in a month's time, come back, copy the logs, and start looking through them.

As for why they aren't doing something like this, something like this is quite complicated to set up if you want to be able to actually look at how data changes, not just what the data says. Not only that, but then you have to actually sit there and sift through it all, looking at how the data changes, to make sense of the chaos and come to a conclusion.

There's a reason applications and development environments have entire tools dedicated to profiling, because to do it properly from scratch takes a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately, something like this really requires a from-scratch profiler.

TwiceBornStar · May 2020

Yes

Ankaridan wrote: »

I didn't even bother reading all the replies up until this point because the pitch-fork mob is a little too blatant for my tastes.

Why is supporting the idea of optimization bad? I mean, you can see for yourself what the game is like right now for a lot of people. I don't think this poll and the result is pulled out of thin air, regardless of what the OP has said or not in the past. The intention of this poll is perfectly supportive and constructive. And why do I have to have a pitch-fork all of a sudden? I don't have a pitch-fork!

Do stores even sell pitch-forks anymore?

eKsDee · May 2020

Yes

Profiling, or the lack thereof, isn't really the main thing that worries me. What really worries me is how players are able to pick out potential culprits, and have been for years, while the devs are still shooting blindly.

AoE's would be the main thing I'd look at regarding performance issues in high population areas (such as Cyrodiil), because, when you look at it, most of the performance issues happen when players clump up -- which is when AoE performance plummets.

The fact that the devs haven't figured that out yet, and how it hasn't been looked at yet, is what really worries me. And this isn't even the only thing I can think of.

Jaraal · May 2020

Yes

VoidCommander wrote: »

I’m having issues where half my ground textures now suddenly turn to rubbish. These performance issues seem to just keep piling up faster than they are getting shoveled out.

This.

Riding through Western Skyrim and the roads are nothing but puddles of gray goo. Cast a spell, wait three seconds for the animation, then three seconds after that comes the sound.

How can they even release stuff like this?

eKsDee · May 2020

Yes

Ankaridan wrote: »

I didn't even bother reading all the replies up until this point because the pitch-fork mob is a little too blatant for my tastes.

I find it amusing to read the OP's post history, where every thread is a complaint / 'who's with me?' rant, or quitting threads.

If you've been posting for years about how much you detest Zenimax, why are you still here?

Because we still care about the game, we still remember when it was actually responsive (I still remember when I got 180-220 ping on my Aussie connection, was a bloody miracle), and we want to see the game get back to that point.

Don't worry when people are complaining, because it shows they care. Worry when people stop complaining, because it shows they no longer care and have simply moved on.

mayasunrising · May 2020

No

It's two totally different departments. Plus no MMORPG is going to survive long unless they keep releasing new content.

Firstmep · May 2020

Yes

Wont happen, they are in the business to make money.

Berek_Bloodfang · May 2020

Yes

Sindrik8x wrote: »

Would you gladly see new ESO content come to a complete halt in order to get an entire chapter release be DEVOTED to performance upgrades and server stability?

I'm actually surprised to see anyone voting "No".

Dovahkiin02191973 · May 2020

Folks the game has performance issues that are just going to continue. Doesn't matter how good your PC is because the source of the game's power is coming from old outdated equipment. My computer is garbage I admit. I have the minimum requirements to run the game and somehow am still able to play on Intel Integrated Graphics. That doesn't mean I can run at full steam. I have put the game up to that and I get a frame rate of 5 or less. Therefore I turn the settings down to a level that is playable on my equipment which is minimum. Note that said playable. I get 40 to 50 frame rate at minimum settings. Playable yes. Visual appealing no. Textures fade in and out. 3D Models like staircases seem to flatten out until I get close to them. All of these issues are due to the poor quality of the entire game. No other game I have that I run at minimal settings is this bad. So there you go. That is the only and final complaint I have about performance. No need to go any further. It's just a game.

Sindrik8x · May 2020

Yes

Lunch update. My son was able to run Labyrinthian with one of our guildies during early afternoon 12pm - 1pm with a ping of 75 - 120. Acceptable for sure.

Only saw about 4 - 5 other players in there as they ran. Off peak. As it should be. Let's see how tonight goes after work. Hopefully more of the same, but not counting on it yet as I'm still hearing reports from like-minded folks today that overworld is a mess in Greymoor.

Tandor · May 2020

No

Berek_Bloodfang wrote: »

Sindrik8x wrote: »

Would you gladly see new ESO content come to a complete halt in order to get an entire chapter release be DEVOTED to performance upgrades and server stability?

I'm actually surprised to see anyone voting "No".

There are lots of reasons for people voting "No", ranging from them not having any problems (other than on launch day which is almost to be expected with any MMO), to them recognising that nothing would be achieved by closing down the staff working on new content while the staff who are already working on performance continue to do so.

kargen27 · May 2020

No

You are assuming they don't h ave teams working on both. It takes a different skill set in developing content and in troubleshooting code. Not like they would just tell everyone hey quit working on the story line for a month and fix the still in combat glitch in Cyrodiil. That doesn't make any sense at all.

kichwas · May 2020

No

No because these are unrelated types of engineers.

If we ask them to lay off / fire 90% of their developers in order to just hire 2-3 more network engineers to fix a temporary problem...

Then once the problem is fixed, the people they laid off will likely already be working somewhere else.

Knowing how to:
1. Do animation work
2. Do model rigging
3. Design graphics
4. Write stories
5. Plot overarching story themes
6. Design game fights
7. Test game fights
8. Code game fights
9. Design layouts of dungeons / towns / buildings / etc...

What on earth makes any of you people think these skills translate to:

1. Knowing network protocols
2. Knowing IT
3. Having Access to Network Backbone managers to get throttling removed or have people investigate bandwidth issues
4. Coding Optimization of network resources
5. Coding 3d Model optimization

- the last one is the only one that someone in the first list might have taken a class on back in college...

I'm a web engineer. Actually a Silicon Valley Engineering Solution Architect.

Our various skillsets in tech are highly specialized. It so happens that among my friends I have one who architects payment solutions for online services and another who... handles building 3D faces for ideal rigging in movie special effects.
- Note how specific those titles are. The last guy talks about work a lot... Consider that he gets specialists to do the actual face rigging, to do hair, to do textures, and so on... You see a Henry Clavel's lips in a superhero movie... that's a team of maybe 10 people who messed up, all of whom are skilled in different areas... NONE of them could be told to make the movie stream better on Netflix... which is basically what all of you are asking for...

(and no my friend was NOT on that team. He's worked on some other big titles but nothing with DC).

You want this fixed... you get additional resources... you don't misuse the ones you have.

Problems like this look dramatic but they do get worked on and either resolved or improved.

Do note however that they situation we see today is based on code work done yesterday which addressed at best problems that were known the day before yesterday... And that's in a crunch. There's a time delay... The problems I saw yesterday with things like Harrowstorms - at best the network folks they have are working on how to fix those right now as I type this... unless there's another even bigger issue they're working on first...

Sindrik8x · May 2020

Yes

So... As a supervisor of a community college testing center (and someone who has been in management for 8 years), let me outline why it would be beneficial.

Zeni undoubtedly has other projects they are working on where there can shift people over to spend more time and efforts there. That is a known fact. They have job postings, they always work on multiple games at a time and it never hurts to have more eyes and ears to the ground in departments such as the ones you mention NOT tied to troubleshooting and patch work/engineering.

As a supervisor, when you have, "escalations" or unhappy customers, you work with them. You do a needs analysis if you will. You ask them, how they can help you have a better experience. I don't care how big, how small your company is. If you're Amazon or the Mom and Pop tackle shop down the road. You work with your customer to provide options, scenarios and possibilities/compromises where you can. We are getting neither the guidance/support in ticket times and issues we submit, nor fixes to bugs that have been commonplace for years. These higher ups that can go sit in a chair to collect info from their respective teams heading these issues, to ask who they can bring in to help, where the money should go to alleviate issues/dictate budget and move money around to purchase hardware even need be, AREN"T doing their job of oversight. They haven't been in a long time. They sit with the sales team. They sit with the beautification team. They check in randomly on bugs and problems and paint a picture of, "we're doing the best we can". Let me ask you HOW they have done that. Have you seen Rich's last interview and the commentary or DELUSIONAL conversation he had thinking that things are BETTER than they have been? Shrugging off ideas, suggestions. I'm sorry, but that guy needs to fall on the damn sword and take one for the team already. Let someone else who CARES handle and navigate this mess and do it CORRECTLY. This is a CULTURE problem top down. And it starts with management.

Maybe the team is, "adequate". Maybe they don't have the SUPPORT. Maybe they don't have the ADVOCACY. Maybe they don't have the eyes and ears of the upper elite in the corporation. They just play the crowd and promise all these fancy things, hoping the servers hold up just long enough for them all to be set for their retirement in the coming years. Management DOES NOT CARE. That is the problem. If they cared about playerbase, they would do what NEEDS to be done.

Period.

Elsonso · May 2020

No

That isn't how any of this works. Even if ZOS said they were doing this, they would not be doing this.

Dr_Sinister · May 2020

No

I've been playing for about 5 hours and it's be running great. Good job team. Keep up the good work

Sindrik8x · May 2020

Yes

But it CAN work that way if they care. Doesn't have to fit a model or paradigm. Corporations are all changing right now as a result of COVID and remote capabilities. What better time for a shift in philosophy or approach. Just because something HASN'T been done in a certain way in the past, or seems to big for it's britches, doesn't mean IT CAN'T operate that way moving ahead, at least temporarily.

There is a will and a way. But, the people up top have to see it and understand it's time to make the necessary steps to achieve what is needed. This MMO could EASILY be the best on the market, bar none if these issues were corrected. No question.

It's all those that say, "but you can't do that", or, "they won't", that are the reason why stuff like this never does come to take place. We can push support. That's something we can do. Whether it falls on deaf ears or not.

vesselwiththepestle · May 2020

No

No.

ZOS should upgrade performance AND release a new chapter. I can't imagine a person which designs landscapes and delves would be helpful in increasing performance. However, ZOS should put more effort into increasing performance, aka invest more money to solve the issues. (Hire more people, get better servers, whatever.)

valeriiya · May 2020

Yes

It's not going to happen.

At an Elsweyr press event in London Rob Garrett and Rich Lambert said the following to Turelus:

"Slowing Down Content Releases and the Great Fix Patch
I spoke with Rob about the fast release of updates and if ZOS had considered doing a “Great Fix Patch” for one of their updates. He said it’s a question they get a lot and whilst it’s not off the table they as a company do need to produce for everyone and a majority of the bugs and issues faced are not ones everyone encounters or are drastically halting gameplay, as such they need to continue creating content for people who want new content to play and and don’t play at the higher level to notice if a skill or mechanic works a little wonky."

Source: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/465498/eso-zos-q-a-information-london-elsweyr-press-event-info/p1

cheifsoap · May 2020

Yes

I only log on to do trials I'm committed to right now, nothing else until performance is fixed on PS4. It's a meme that an Ubisoft game (AC Odyssey) has better performance than ESO lol

TwiceBornStar · May 2020

Yes

Dr_Sinister wrote: »

I've been playing for about 5 hours and it's be running great. Good job team. Keep up the good work

Me and my friends are experiencing lag, especially in the overland zones. We're talking 300+ latency here, with spikes up to 999+, so for me that's pretty much unplayable. In Dungeons and Delves the latency seems to be reasonable, hovering between 95 and 120, but I've seen better days.

So far every Torchbug I came across can't be taken and in the upper West corner of the Midnight Barrow Delve I've bumped into unkillable Draugr who shoot arrows throw multiple walls. I'm sure you've seen multiple threads in the last few days where people are showing off this abysmal lag and other bugs, no?

Computer says no..

BRogueNZ · May 2020

Yes

I need to sticky note on my monitor with 'HATE BLAME THE GAME, NOT THE PLAYERS.' written on it.

TwiceBornStar · May 2020

Yes

kichwas wrote: »

If we ask them to lay off / fire 90% of their developers in order to just hire 2-3 more network engineers to fix a temporary problem...

For the third time already, nobody is asking Zenimax Online to lay off 90% of their developers. This poll is about wether or not the customers/fans/supporters would be willing to wait a bit longer on the next DLC or Chapter, in exchange for better performance.

In a nutshell: Don't lay off anyone. Keep teams working on whatever they were working on, but shift the focus for as long as necessary. That way, you'll also give your creative teams a bit more time to finish the next DLC or Chapter. That's what this Poll is about.

But thanks for replying anyway.

Eedat · May 2020

No

No because it makes absolutely zero sense. Do you actually think someone who writes lore or a graphic designer can just suddenly morph into a server engineer?

TwiceBornStar · May 2020

Yes

Eedat wrote: »

No because it makes absolutely zero sense. Do you actually think someone who writes lore or a graphic designer can just suddenly morph into a server engineer?

They don't have to morph into anything. You give the creative teams more time to finish a DLC or a Chapter and you give your engineers and developers some leeway to really have a crack at it.

How does that equal laying off people? How does that stop development?

TwiceBornStar · May 2020

Yes

Yeah, I'm passionate about it now. Sorry. 999+ latency just isn't my thing. And no, it's not my PC or my connection. This one's more than enough to handle a game like ESO.

Sorry, but something has to happen.

Hal_Moore · May 2020

No

I voted no because I understand how things work. That's not how things work.

Palidon · May 2020

Yes

I voted to hold new content. However, ZOS will never do that. Their game is all about making money not spending it fixing their performance issues and servers.