Uncheck "Allow out of date addons" to stop crashes

ElCapitanAmericano · November 2020

There have been a lot of people posting about crashing within the game since the Markarth update. I have experienced crashing in some dungeons and have had the frustrating experience of missing out on a required boss kill to complete a pledge. I've also seen a very noticeable increase in group members crashing during certain dungeon and trial encounters. No, this was not happening before the Markarth update. Thankfully, I've found a fix.

Stop checking "Allow out of date addons"!

I am fortunate that two of my children enthusiastically play ESO with me. Their gaming PC's are compiled of old hardware from my old personal builds. Still, even with older hardware, they NEVER crash. Not even since Markarth. The difference between their games and mine? Addons. I have their ESO set up completely Vanilla and they do not crash or have the wide array of issues that I experience with my 30+ addons installed.

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

nqvarihs · November 2020

thats entirely wrong but ok

all you have to do to make an addon not appear 'out of date' is to change the ##API: line in the addon .txt manifest to add the current api version. this has exactly nothing to do with the addon's age or optimization. please check the addons you use that appear as not out of date, a good 90%, if not more, have only been updated for api bump. fyi old does not imply outdated or unoptimized.

yes, addons can cause performance loss in heavy load situations, but they do not and can not cause crashes in the same very specific situations as the crashes a lot of people have been experiencing, regardless of whether they use addons.

[snip]

[Edited to remove Bashing]

etchedpixels · November 2020

Doesn't work for me - first thing I did was turn off add ons. First thing you are supposed to do is turn off add ons. First thing support tell you to do is turn off add ons. Still a total bugfest. Add ons can't make you fall through floors, can't bounce you out of dungeons, can't crash to desktop etc. They are sandboxed scripts.

Wouldn't be surprised though if things like graphic card versions, CPU versions and the like all make a difference as to whether you see some crashes though - different optimization paths, different render paths, different driver bugs etc

karekiz · November 2020

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

siddique · November 2020

karekiz wrote: »

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

😄 I was just gonna say my "vanilla" console ESO crashes pretty frequently post markarth, what should I uncheck?

Malkiv · November 2020

Yeah, I've already tried the whole disabling addons thing.

I disabled them all at first, and solo'd Wayrest2 to Garron; Crashed on Garron. Okay, so I decided to move the addon folder to my backup drive, just in case there was something borked with addons even being detected by the game; Crashed on Garron. I read that someone fixed some of their crashes by updating drivers - my video drivers are up-to-date, as well as my soundcard (I have a discrete sound card, with onboard sound disabled in BIOS) and LAN drivers, as I check those weekly. But what about the BIOS its self, and the rest of the drivers? I have an Asus Prime X570 Pro, so it's definitely still getting updates - well, I had a BIOS update, and chipset update. Installed the chipset, flashed my BIOS over, and went to play ESO without any addons. Crashed on Garron.

But Garron wasn't the only issue, it was the easiest to test with clear results. I was also having LA weaving issues with any character that used a staff or bow. I was also getting really weird desyncs with animations, leading to my character's animations spazzing out sometimes, even though damage was applying normally - I think. Bosses were freezing me in place (forcing relogs) with abilities that simply don't have the mechanics to do that, and I was also just experiencing really strange behaviours in mechanics that simply did not exist before the Markarth update. (Looking at you, Stonekeeper, and your sudden flailing flame arms of insta-death, snapping 90 degrees for half a second then vanishing.)

Imagine my surprise when I find out that not only did an overwhelming majority of people experience these bugs on PC, but also console. But - console doesn't have addons. How can they be experiencing almost all of the issues that I am if it's only addons?

Aznarb · November 2020

siddique wrote: »

karekiz wrote: »

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

😄 I was just gonna say my "vanilla" console ESO crashes pretty frequently post markarth, what should I uncheck?

Eso sub

siddique · November 2020

Aznarb wrote: »

siddique wrote: »

karekiz wrote: »

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

😄 I was just gonna say my "vanilla" console ESO crashes pretty frequently post markarth, what should I uncheck?

Eso sub

Hell yeah! 😅

FlopsyPrince · November 2020

I can't find that switch, yet I am still crashing all the time on the PS4. Can you tell me where it is?

barney2525 · November 2020

siddique wrote: »

karekiz wrote: »

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

😄 I was just gonna say my "vanilla" console ESO crashes pretty frequently post markarth, what should I uncheck?

the ESO+ subscription ?

barney2525 · November 2020

Malkiv wrote: »

Yeah, I've already tried the whole disabling addons thing.

I disabled them all at first, and solo'd Wayrest2 to Garron; Crashed on Garron. Okay, so I decided to move the addon folder to my backup drive, just in case there was something borked with addons even being detected by the game; Crashed on Garron. I read that someone fixed some of their crashes by updating drivers - my video drivers are up-to-date, as well as my soundcard (I have a discrete sound card, with onboard sound disabled in BIOS) and LAN drivers, as I check those weekly. But what about the BIOS its self, and the rest of the drivers? I have an Asus Prime X570 Pro, so it's definitely still getting updates - well, I had a BIOS update, and chipset update. Installed the chipset, flashed my BIOS over, and went to play ESO without any addons. Crashed on Garron.

But Garron wasn't the only issue, it was the easiest to test with clear results. I was also having LA weaving issues with any character that used a staff or bow. I was also getting really weird desyncs with animations, leading to my character's animations spazzing out sometimes, even though damage was applying normally - I think. Bosses were freezing me in place (forcing relogs) with abilities that simply don't have the mechanics to do that, and I was also just experiencing really strange behaviours in mechanics that simply did not exist before the Markarth update. (Looking at you, Stonekeeper, and your sudden flailing flame arms of insta-death, snapping 90 degrees for half a second then vanishing.)

Imagine my surprise when I find out that not only did an overwhelming majority of people experience these bugs on PC, but also console. But - console doesn't have addons. How can they be experiencing almost all of the issues that I am if it's only addons?

well, obviously the crashes on console are sympathetic psycho-symatic crashes. Since PC crashes, they think they have to crash too.

Ackwalan · November 2020

If add-ons are causing the problem it is still ZOS to blame. It's their game and code that allow add-ons, and ZOS needs to make sure the tools for them work. If ZOS needs to implement a certification process so that the add-on don't conflict, then that is what they need to do. They can't leave the door open and let any animal just roam right into their game and just shrug it off as not their problem. Fix the process or close the door.

FlopsyPrince · November 2020

It is a sign something is deeply wrong when I can blue screen crash on my PS4 running up stairs in Alinor during a time of a low load, as I just did.

Some core things have serious problems.

It almost makes me wonder how the game is going to make it for the near/longer term.

ElCapitanAmericano · November 2020

I feel like this post might have gone over some your heads.

Anytime there is a problem with this game and you submit a ticket to support, their #1 response is for you to:

Uninstall all add-ons
Make you wait for 5 days for a response
Accuse you of not uninstalling all add-ons after you actually have
Make you wait for 5 days for a response
Tell you to uninstall and reinstall the game
Make you wait for 5 days for a response
Tell you to wait up to 7 days for the problem to resolve
Make you wait for 5 days for a response
Tell you to uninstall all add-ons

Raideen · November 2020

I defer to the console problem (who do not have addons) argument.

Girl_Number8 · November 2020

Raideen wrote: »

I defer to the console problem (who do not have addons) argument.

I defer to the issue that the current state of the games unacceptable performance is ZOS’ fault and responsibility alone. It is certainly not the players (their paying clients fault).

Constructive feedback - They need to finally have better communication with their player base. More importantly stop the content quotas and fix the broken game. It is time.

The constant crashing is costing them players everyday. People are rightfully frustrated because it is on every platform with and without add-ons.

Support Tickets submitted with Screenshots and clips have not amounted to anything. The fix in store has been delayed.

Vexen · November 2020

I'm glad that this may have worked for you, but it does not work for everyone. It happened to me and the entire group i was with at different times in fang lair during one of the bosses. They all tried unchecking the box. To be honest making it sound like an add on problem doesn't give this issue justice when it's obviously happening across multiple platforms and setups. They did update the notes above to say that they would release a fix in later patches, so there's definitely something else wrong.

Grandma · November 2020

played vanilla since launch and i still crash just as much as everyone else. ZOS themselves said it was cos of covid and the higher playerbase. they literally just don't have the servers to maintain the game anymore.

anitajoneb17_ESO · November 2020

It's always advisable to look at oneself before blaming others, but sometimes, it's simply not our fault, but others'. The latter seems to apply here.

Raideen · November 2020

Girl_Number8 wrote: »

Raideen wrote: »

I defer to the console problem (who do not have addons) argument.

I defer to the issue that the current state of the games unacceptable performance is ZOS’ fault and responsibility alone. It is certainly not the players (their paying clients fault).

Constructive feedback - They need to finally have better communication with their player base. More importantly stop the content quotas and fix the broken game. It is time.

The constant crashing is costing them players everyday. People are rightfully frustrated because it is on every platform with and without add-ons.

Support Tickets submitted with Screenshots and clips have not amounted to anything. The fix in store has been delayed.

I agree. My post was directed at the person who posted above me. Meaning consoles (without addons) are having the same issues as PC (with addons) meaning its highly unlikely the number of bugs in game are caused by addons.

Dunning_Kruger · November 2020

I got a new pc last week so was forced to reinstall the game. I only installed a few essential addons but not nearly the amount I had before.

0 crashes in the past 5 days.
So there is something there just not sure what it is.

Prior to that I was crashing 3 plus times a day. I’m not too big on coincidences.

anitajoneb17_ESO · November 2020

Dunning_Kruger wrote: »

I got a new pc last week so was forced to reinstall the game. I only installed a few essential addons but not nearly the amount I had before.

0 crashes in the past 5 days.
So there is something there just not sure what it is.

Prior to that I was crashing 3 plus times a day. I’m not too big on coincidences.

It has nothing to do with it being coincidental or not.
It's just that crashes have multiple factors causing them (and interfering with each other), some of them are game-related, some others are addon-related.
Of course the more addons you use, the more chances you have to get into troubles and crashes, but it can also happen without any addons. It's just not the same crashes with the sames causes.
It's not an "all or nothing" situation.

idk · November 2020

nqvarihs wrote: »

thats entirely wrong but ok

all you have to do to make an addon not appear 'out of date' is to change the ##API: line in the addon .txt manifest to add the current api version. this has exactly nothing to do with the addon's age or optimization. please check the addons you use that appear as not out of date, a good 90%, if not more, have only been updated for api bump. fyi old does not imply outdated or unoptimized.

yes, addons can cause performance loss in heavy load situations, but they do not and can not cause crashes in the same very specific situations as the crashes a lot of people have been experiencing, regardless of whether they use addons.

This is correct. While there are add-ons that some of us may have that do conflict with the game's operation such as the old Multicraft add-on most that are listed as out of date did not require changes to continue to work properly and the authors tend to not update just to change the API version.

freespirit · November 2020

Firstly I had a conversation in one of my guilds the other night where I boldly stated I wasn't seeing these crashes that everyone else was!! PC-EU btw

Less than a couple of hours later I ended up in Wayrest 2 helping some guildmates....... they were stuck on...... you guessed it Garron, they kept crashing.

We tried for over 30mins to find a way we could get the guy down without ALL of us crashing ..... we had no luck.... the closest we got was by staying well away from him and lowering his health slowly but still we all crashed before he died.

So to any player who has posted here that the crashes aren't affecting them can you go try kill Garron the Lich Boss in Wayrest 2, I am really interested to see if anyone can do it. I am planning to have a go on my own shortly to see if I can get him down on my own by staying ranged because that was by far the closest we got the other night!!

SickDuck · November 2020

Addons can cause performance and other annoying issues if not written properly or just abused. I guess it is not impossible for them to cause crashes but that means the framework is faulty - which is something ZOS is responsible for. But it is more likely the crashes are caused by genuine bugs in the actual client rather than addons.

Also playing without addons for many of us would be the day we stopped playing at all. That includes a few critical addons that may be outdated (for a while) but generally not causing any trouble to continue using them. The main issue with outdated addon that they could be affected by recent API change which can result in massive Lua Error spam in game, but again it takes more than that to crash the game (especially without any initial signs).

regime211 · November 2020

Some add ons actually are causing you to crash. I disable some and it fixed the problem I have to go through one by one and get rid of one's I don't normally use.

BoraxFlux · November 2020

Experienced a lot of crashing after the new patch (PC-EU) eventually couldn't even get past character-select screen.
Removed all addons, just to start to find a point where the game would work normally again.
It worked for me, slowly introducing add-ons again, to see which one could cause troubles.

If it hadn't worked I'd probably re-installed the game. Sofar so good.

lolo_01b16_ESO · November 2020

Dunning_Kruger wrote: »

I got a new pc last week so was forced to reinstall the game. I only installed a few essential addons but not nearly the amount I had before.

0 crashes in the past 5 days.
So there is something there just not sure what it is.

Prior to that I was crashing 3 plus times a day. I’m not too big on coincidences.

Just curious, how many times have you run wayrest 2 and fang lair since you got the new pc?
I mean sure, if all I do is questing, housing and crafting, I don't crash either.

TQSkull · November 2020

Dunning_Kruger wrote: »

I got a new pc last week so was forced to reinstall the game. I only installed a few essential addons but not nearly the amount I had before.

0 crashes in the past 5 days.
So there is something there just not sure what it is.

Prior to that I was crashing 3 plus times a day. I’m not too big on coincidences.

Your new PC is there, just in case you didn't notice.

Mythreindeer · November 2020

siddique wrote: »

karekiz wrote: »

ElCapitanAmericano wrote: »

ZOS is not to blame for old outdated addons messing with their game and honestly I would not blame them if they chose to disable all addons to improve the stability of the game. Before you come to these forums blaming ZOS for the problems YOU are experiencing, first uncheck that "Allow out of date addons" box for a couple days and see the difference. It's simply not fair to blame the hard working folks at ZOS on all these issues created by old, unoptimized and outdated addons.

Its great to know that Console players weren't crashing at all!

😄 I was just gonna say my "vanilla" console ESO crashes pretty frequently post markarth, what should I uncheck?

The launcher

Idinuse · November 2020

nqvarihs wrote: »

thats entirely wrong but ok

all you have to do to make an addon not appear 'out of date' is to change the ##API: line in the addon .txt manifest to add the current api version. this has exactly nothing to do with the addon's age or optimization. please check the addons you use that appear as not out of date, a good 90%, if not more, have only been updated for api bump. fyi old does not imply outdated or unoptimized.

yes, addons can cause performance loss in heavy load situations, but they do not and can not cause crashes in the same very specific situations as the crashes a lot of people have been experiencing, regardless of whether they use addons.

[snip]

[Edited to remove Bashing]

Well. This is taken directly from the RdK ESOUI page: "Note that the AddOn is using Map Pins and isn’t compatible with other AddOns which are using Map Pins. Using multiple such AddOns may kick you from the server."

I don't really care if the above is or is not true, I just think it's something to bear in mind.