PS NA Server - What happened with the upgrade?

Brahma_Br · May 2023

Hey all!

After the PS NA server hardware upgrade, during the pvp event, i could have a very good experience. Playing without the “normal” lag and freeze. Was fantastic!!
However, after yesterday maintenance it looks like the old server. Skills failing, lagging, freezing. What happened?
Did we had a real server hardware upgrade or it was just a “rent” server for the event?
I am very disappointed with that. And I hope some Dev can explain that..
We need more transparency

alternatelder · May 2023

Maybe it was that anti-lag switch everyone rumored Zos had in previous MYMs where lag was mysteriously gone only when the event happened. Not saying it exists, but now that's 3 or 4 years in a row where this is being experienced.

virtus753 · May 2023

alternatelder wrote: »

Maybe it was that anti-lag switch everyone rumored Zos had in previous MYMs where lag was mysteriously gone only when the event happened. Not saying it exists, but now that's 3 or 4 years in a row where this is being experienced.

That’s not so much a switch as a redistribution of resources. They’re willing to do it temporarily for an event focused on PvP but not full time.

Vrienda · May 2023

EU's pretty rough today too. I was thinking the US stuff was due to my Steam Deck but after getting back to my PC and trying the EU server, nope. It's just bad performance today.

React · May 2023

Sounds like they removed the additional resources they allocated to cyrodiil for the event. They'll never come out and acknowledge it, but anyone who has played the game 5+ years can confirm they definitely do this.

I'm pretty sure this is what happened on PC NA following the server upgrade a year ago. We had flawless performance for 2 or 3 months, then after a maintenance one day it was as if someone had flicked a switch and sent us back to the old hardware.

Imagine being a PVP main and being told for years they're "working on" the totally unplayable performance, and knowing that if zenimax was simply willing to foot the bill for the additional hardware resources necessary for a functional cyrodiil we would never have performance issues again.

"Wah wah wah, if you don't like it go pvp somewhere else. They're working on it."

ebix_ · May 2023

they removed extra resource from cryo and from NA experience it's obvious they won't add it back but I hope at least they make cyrodiil smaller.
after they reduced player cap in cyrodiil, 70% of the map looks dead most of the time even in pop lock.
I rather play in a smaller pvp zone without lag and more accessible action than a big map with out of reach and laggy action.

ApoAlaia · May 2023

For some reason the other thread was closed:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/634475/what-is-up-with-the-current-lag#latest

For the record this is happening across various megaservers, not just in PS/NA.

Maybe @OP or @ZOS_Phoenix could edit the title?

This morning for instance, PC/EU, this issue could be observed in some instances of Vivec City but not others.

jtm1018 · May 2023

So during pvp event they rent additional server space to avoid lag, well I am thankful for that. At least it was good for the event.
I'll take what I can.
And just enjoy the game.
Even though I died more that a dozen times on every bg match I joined but at least killed 1 or 2 players trying so hard, its better than dying a dozem times and getting no kill at all.

Einar_Hrafnarsson · May 2023

100 Ping in a City doing nothing and 300 Ping in PvP. Maybe they removed TO MUCH resources this time. No idea.

Mrtoobyy · May 2023

PC EU is unplayable at the moment during BGS. 100-999+ ping jumps
How is this even possible after a supposed hardware refresh? A game that is 9 years old? I mean wouldn't things be more stable by now?

virtus753 · May 2023

Mrtoobyy wrote: »

PC EU is unplayable at the moment during BGS. 100-999+ ping jumps
How is this even possible after a supposed hardware refresh? A game that is 9 years old? I mean wouldn't things be more stable by now?

Not when the problem is in the code rather than the hardware. They even said they expected no performance gains from the new hardware. It was to prevent end-of-life issues.

They have acknowledged they have to work on the code. They’ve given various timelines for when they’ll be working on this. In one interview Rich Lambert supposedly said that some parts of the rework have been incorporated already with good results, but to the best of my knowledge none of that was formally said on the forums here, and we’re still missing the update Matt Firor promised in this quarter’s patch notes. Perhaps it will come with the live notes, or perhaps it’s been delayed for some reason.

Brahma_Br · May 2023

I don’t think it’s a code problem.
How it was running perfect in the event?
They already have the solution. Why don’t apply?
Why don’t give us a good game experience?

Mrtoobyy · May 2023

Kommer ni någonsin fixa detta spel?

RicAlmighty · May 2023

The lag in PCNA is making the game unplayable. I have decided to not purchase Necrom until this is corrected.

Having your action not fire for 1-2 seconds after it is triggered is simply untenable for this game. This should be the single number one priority for ZoS right now.

markulrich1966 · May 2023

Brahma_Br wrote: »

I don’t think it’s a code problem.
How it was running perfect in the event?
They already have the solution. Why don’t apply?
Why don’t give us a good game experience?

Because the playerbase in Cyro (where the issues are worst) is just too small to justify the investment.
We just had a 2 week event, and on steam the average number of players dropped by 17% in the last 30 days.
We already had a small drop before and after the event, still it is quite unusual for an event, where playernumbers usually INcrease.
I personally believe, they keep cyro mainly to have a huge "portfolio" for the marketing.
A RPG that has PVP included certainly attracts more people than a RPG only title. And even if the PVP part then does not work as expected, many of the attracted new players will stay anyway, either for the PVE part or because they have no better alternative (on console less than on PC).

I LOVED the great performance on xbox NA during midyear mayhem (on EU it was a desaster), so I hope you don't misunderstand me and think I "whiteknight" them seeking excuses, it is just pretty obvious for me from observation of the events. Even the increased queues do not change it, as even if you take the queuing players in account, they are still only a few compared to for example 23.000 average daily players on steam.

Four_Fingers · May 2023

Catch 22 - Not enough players in PvP to increase server resources because bad performance drives away players.

geonsocal · May 2023

Four_Fingers wrote: »

Catch 22 - Not enough players in PvP to increase server resources because bad performance drives away players.

not a chicken and the egg thing though...one clearly preceeded the other...

years of bad game performance has driven away players...

I've been "stuck in combat" now for years...

Brahma_Br · May 2023

Some Dev can explain why we had a very good server performance in event and we don’t have it anymore? plz?
have some prevision to have a permanent server good performance?
@Moderator @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Phoenix @ZOS_Kevin

p.s: I really love Eso, and I just wanna play it… the way it is now, it’s unplayable, not fun at all.

Thecompton73 · May 2023

Dang, y'all had good performance during the last MYM? For me it was way worse than usual. During any reasonably large fight everyone started teleporting from one place to another like there was a strobe light on even though my FPS counter stayed above 60. And I was seeing skill delays of 3-4 seconds and sometimes skills just wouldn't fire no matter how many times I hit the button. It actually caused me to play very little during the event.

Elsonso · May 2023

Brahma_Br wrote: »

I don’t think it’s a code problem.
How it was running perfect in the event?
They already have the solution. Why don’t apply?
Why don’t give us a good game experience?

People think they add hardware for the event, but I think they just change settings in how the server works. Maybe some check that they normally do but turn off just for the event. I doubt they will ever clear this up, but one thing does seem clear... whatever they do isn't something they want to do at all times.

They have said it is a code problem, so that is pretty much that.