Karius_Imalthar wrote: »

The login times are getting longer and longer. I am watching the "Requesting login. " and "Requesting character load." and it is taking what feels like minutes to get into the game now. I don't know if other people are experiencing this but it seems to be getting worse over time.

Slowly but nonetheless surely, the performance problems which have become manifest in the NA megaserver are getting worse. ZOS claims that it is the fault of the ISPs and other firms which manage and control traffic on the Internet. They may be right.

At least they're right with regard to the problems Launcher has with updating the game client. Because they do not occur when the player connects their computer to a VPN (service), which, in turn connects to the megaserver and network operated and maintained by Bethesda. ZOS provides the game software, Bethesda provides the online access to it.

There are plenty of flaws in the design, and known errors in the implementation ("bugs"), in the software. They are reported in this section of the forum. Whether ZOS ever does anything about any particular issue is their perogative. If you don't like their bugware, then play some other game instead.

Performance issues, such as the amount of time required to acquire data from the megaserver, should be reported in the Customer Support section of this forum according to the platform on which you play TESO. (Links to them are posted below, but please keep reading.)

The first thing that they will tell you is to be sure that your computer meets or exceeds the Minimum System Requirements. Note that a "broadband" Internet connection is recommended (not DSL, cellular, or satellite). It seems to me that ZOS and/or Bethesda tend to change the minimum requirements and recommended hardware every time that ZOS releases a new "chapter" for the game. So what they are today is not what they were before, and they are likely to change in the future.

Not that all performance issues are caused by the lack of sufficient capability of the player's computer, LAN router, and, perhaps, the player's ISP. But the Minimum System Requirements give the Support staff a "reason" to dismiss reports of performance problems, when the player's computer does not meet them.

The next thing they will advise you is to open a set of ports in your router's built-in SPI firewall. If your router has Port Triggering as a feature, then it is safer to use instead of Port Forwarding. In my experience, there has not been any difference in performance regardless of which congfiguration I choose.

You also need to open those ports for incoming traffic by configuring the Windows firewall, if that is the one your computer runs. (I don't know whether configuring them is required for any other firewall, but it seems likely.)

Also be sure that the Launcher and the game client (eso64.exe) are permitted to run unhindered, and to access the Internet, by your anti-virus software. If your computer operates with Windows, then configure those two programs to launch and run with Adminstrative Privileges, too.

So, check some Support Guides and FAQs, and configure your computer and network accordingly. Then, if performance does not improve, post a report in the appropriate section of the forum:

PC Technical Support | Mac Technical Support | XBoxOne Technical Support | PlayStation 4 Technical Support

For what it is worth, I hope you have better luck than I do. After doing all of the work to which I referred above, it really does boil down to having a greedy ISP which, unfortunately, is actually the better of the two alternatives available to me. Another would be to change my residence to an area which is served by another ISP that provides better service. But maybe those are becoming hard to find nowadays. .....

Free Play event doesn't help.