[PS4] NA - Ferocious game lag - Any way to fix?

Deedleqwerty · October 2022

*Usual disclaimer:* I've played the game for 7+ years on an unmodified PS4. I have a direct connection to my router, and Google as my nameserver. Fiber optic with 570 mbps dl and 215 mbps ul at prime time. It's faster in the mornings.

*The issue:* Over the last few months, my connection (in the afternoon) has been steadily getting worse. I sign into the game at about 6 a.m. EST everyday, where I enjoy a good connection for about 4 hours. Dungeons, delves, trial, Tamriel, or Cyrodiil: It's all smooth. A few glitches, but the same ones we've had for years. After about 10 a.m. - as more and more people sign on - performance degrades by a huge amount. NPCs are invisible, but still do damage. Riding up to a keep in Cyrodiil is awful: I can't change bars, can't go through the door, can't mount the horse, and most skills don't function. Enemy players can hit me, but can't respond. I can move, but nothing else for anything from 20 seconds to 2 minutes. In Kynes Aegis, one boss is invisible (after 10 a.m.) for 30 seconds into the fight. And the lag spikes - good lord, the in-game lag spikes are 10 to 20 seconds long whenever a friend signs on to PSN. No lag spike, however, when a friend signs in if I'm not playing ESO.

We've always dealt with lag. It's a part of any online game. But this lag is monstrous, and I'm not the only person having this issue. BUT - Lag is less severe on the PS5. Still there (invisible NPCs, etc.), but response is quicker. But the lag for PS5 is consistent throughout the day - that is, it's as bad at 6 a.m. as it is at noon. Primet ime is tough even on the 5, but for the most part, they can enter a keep.

I haven't been lucky enough to score a 5 yet. I hope that will help, but I'm not sure. This bad lag has only developed over the last couple of months. Prior to this, it was fine.

Any ideas?

~Deedle

Dr_Con · October 2022

I would rule out:
Throttled connection from the internet company (they won't tell you, you have to catch them in the act)
PS being able to handle that bandwidth- some access points can only process so much, maybe yours is fried or faulty
Troubleshoot PS support as you have an issue that is when one of your friends logs in
Check for any ancillary options you may have enabled
Take inventory of certain proc sets, as well as how many pets you group has and what type of AOEs are going out.
See if it's a faulty instance or if any base zones are faulty as well
Most people just jump to blaming ZOS's servers, not realizing it's a shared resource and we need to be careful of what we put into it- trying to stack more heals and saying "it can handle it otherwise ZOS would disable it!" while it smokes and busts from the seams from all the data people force it to process, but as a last resort, just do the blaming ZOS meme.

if all else fails, check if you have a Nightblade in the group casting that infernal lag/crash-causing twisted path/refreshing path ability, which also lasts the amount of time your lag appears to be lasting (10 seconds). Some abilities like refreshing path and the fighter's guild Ring of Preservation/Circle of Protection/Turn Evil (as well as others that don't come to mind right now) perform visual effects along with buffs which compound the lag issues and It's especially bad with pets around, and last anywhere between 10 and 20 seconds depending on the morph, which seems to coincide with your lag spike duration.

virtus753 · October 2022

Path is actually genuinely bugged and is getting fixed next update. It can knock down fps by over 30. (It was causing my game to fluctuate between 25 and 60 last night.) Circle of Protection has not been shown to cause the same issues.

Dr_Con · October 2022

virtus753 wrote: »

Path is actually genuinely bugged and is getting fixed next update. It can knock down fps by over 30. (It was causing my game to fluctuate between 25 and 60 last night.) Circle of Protection has not been shown to cause the same issues.

It's an additive graphical effect. When I kept telling NBs in my group to stop using it and they didn't listen, I stopped using circle and noticed that I could see z'maja's portals again despite the horror story lag that was being caused by refreshing path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOT4fR4m-dQ&t=97s

it's legitimately a broken ability right now and needs to be disabled from the game until it's fixed. I don't want to see this spell, I don't want to benefit from its effects, I don't want to know it's on other people (they can benefit from the speed boost idc), i don't want my pet to get hit by this spell, and I don't want the visual effect of major expedition being applied every quarter second until it's fixed.

Necrotech_Master · October 2022

console server upgrade sometime in 2023 might help lol

Deedleqwerty · October 2022

Dr_Con wrote: »

I would rule out:
Throttled connection from the internet company (they won't tell you, you have to catch them in the act)
PS being able to handle that bandwidth- some access points can only process so much, maybe yours is fried or faulty
Troubleshoot PS support as you have an issue that is when one of your friends logs in
Check for any ancillary options you may have enabled
Take inventory of certain proc sets, as well as how many pets you group has and what type of AOEs are going out.
See if it's a faulty instance or if any base zones are faulty as well
Most people just jump to blaming ZOS's servers, not realizing it's a shared resource and we need to be careful of what we put into it- trying to stack more heals and saying "it can handle it otherwise ZOS would disable it!" while it smokes and busts from the seams from all the data people force it to process, but as a last resort, just do the blaming ZOS meme.

if all else fails, check if you have a Nightblade in the group casting that infernal lag/crash-causing twisted path/refreshing path ability, which also lasts the amount of time your lag appears to be lasting (10 seconds). Some abilities like refreshing path and the fighter's guild Ring of Preservation/Circle of Protection/Turn Evil (as well as others that don't come to mind right now) perform visual effects along with buffs which compound the lag issues and It's especially bad with pets around, and last anywhere between 10 and 20 seconds depending on the morph, which seems to coincide with your lag spike duration.

There is something here I hadn't considered: Perhaps my PS is just worn out. Like I said, the issue has been developing over the last few months. Up until then - other than some known issues and ZOS challenges - the game has been fine. Since it's happening to all 16 of my characters, I can rule out proc sets. And, since I'm typically solo, NB group members aren't a problem.The lag spikes happen only in ESO, not any other game, so, likely a ZOS issue instead of PS.

But it is possible that my PS is just plain ole fried. It may be struggling under the load. I'll try reinstalling the game and see if that works. Thanks!

Jaraal · October 2022

Turning off grass in Cyrodiil helps a lot.

deano469 · October 2022

Could be a memory leak. After 4 hours of play re-log and see if that helps.

katanagirl1 · October 2022

I don’t think it is you or your PS4. It was that bad on my PS4 and when I got a PS5 it was greatly improved, though still an issue. Cyrodiil can get hard to bar swap or cast skills but that is generally only in the midst of a large battle.

Haven’t had invisible enemies on PS5 but sometimes the damage aoes from them cannot be seen in trials, or other animation effects like hoarfrost in nCR is not visible on your character.

DragonRacer · October 2022

Jaraal wrote: »

Turning off grass in Cyrodiil helps a lot.

Console cannot do that. OP is on PS4.

MEBengalsFan2001 · October 2022

Hey Deedle! If you want to improve performance for the older generation of console I highly recommend buying a sold state drive. It greatly improves load screens and reduces some of the lag issues that you are seeing. Ask Philly about his solid state drive as his performance lines up closely to what I see as PS5 players.

ZOS_Icy · October 2022

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding.