Arcanist abilities too flashy

Sotha_Sil · June 2023

Dreaders123 wrote: »

But you don't think it's the Arcanist.

How do you know it's the arcanist ? How do you know it's not because of playing too long without rest ? How do you know it's not because of any eye issue ? The cause can have multiple sources, like any health issue. Are you a doctor ? Do you have a medical opinion on that ?

Did you make a survey about these "health issues" ?

kumenit_taeynav · June 2023

Sotha_Sil wrote: »

Dreaders123 wrote: »

But you don't think it's the Arcanist.

How do you know it's the arcanist ? How do you know it's not because of playing too long without rest ? How do you know it's not because of any eye issue ? The cause can have multiple sources, like any health issue. Are you a doctor ? Do you have a medical opinion on that ?

Did you made a survey about all "health issues" ?

unless youre a doctor you shouldnt go around prescribing people to stop doing the things they love. i dont see any of your credentials

Dreaders123 · June 2023

Sotha_Sil wrote: »

Dreaders123 wrote: »

But you don't think it's the Arcanist.

How do you know it's the arcanist ? How do you know it's not because of playing too long without rest ? How do you know it's not because of any eye issue ? The cause can have multiple sources, like any health issue. Are you a doctor ? Do you have a medical opinion on that ?

Did you made a survey about all "health issues" ?

How do you know it's the Arcanist?

Because it only happens to people playing, or playing with, the Arcanist.

How do you know it's not because of playing too long without rest?

Because it can happen minutes in to gaming.

How do you know it's not because of an eye issue?

Because the chances of so many people getting the same eye issue at the same time, that only becomes symptomatic when playing, or with, an Arcanist seems a long shot to end all long shots.

Are you a doctor?

No. I'm one of many people suffering migraines and nausea because of the Arcanist.

Do you have a medical opinion on that?

I have an opinion on the logical reasoning being shown here, but I'll leave that. I checked my companies design requirements and it speaks to this issue - this Arcanist design would never have been allowed. I know that the eye is more receptive to green light than any other colour.

Did you make a survey about all "health issues"?

No, why would I do that? The volumes of people reporting it is enough. ZoS even commented to say they are aware of multiple reports and have fed back to the devs. What's missing is any further comment and plan of action.

You do realise you aren't talking to me as an individual right? You've seen just how many people are reporting migraines and nausea right? It's in these threads. And it's in other threads. And it's in the PTS feedback. And its in the Dev Tracker.

Lugaldu · June 2023

BalticBlues wrote: »

Kendaric wrote: »

I feel reminded of Star Trek (Romulan or Klingon disruptors)

Green beams, laser sounds - in the medieval setting of ESO now UFOs have landed:

Kendaric wrote: »

The effects are definitely sci-fi [...] look totally out of place in ESO.

I actually would like this stuff - in a game like Overwatch or Destiny.
But in good old ESO? For our family, the Arcanist in ESO also feels like sci-fi and misplaced.

It gives me a vibe like reading "Asterix and the Falling Sky" where UFOs land in the Gaulish Village...

shadyjane62 · June 2023

Elsonso wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

It makes me wonder if it's the COLOR 'green' that makes it worse for people. As others have said, Templar skills are also quite flashy and also use a beam, and nobody has complained about them.

I have considered this, too. The shade of green that they used is not a warm and welcoming one. The fact that it is not a calming shade of green, and is a more "toxic" color of green, might be putting people on edge.

Definitely that shade of green is awful. I was at Alik'r Dolmens and lasted thru ONE there was so many green beams you couldn't see the mobs.

Jarl_Ironheart · June 2023

I'm on Xbox so I haven't gotten to encounter or use one on screen but seeing videos of them in groups in dungeons/cyrodiil or overworld those effects are crazy in your face specifically fatecarver. That ability is crazy on how distracting it is. Definitely should have toggle for class abilities seen by others

Syldras · June 2023

BalticBlues wrote: »

My daughter, who loves classic fantasy and fantasy games, tells me:
"ESO does not look like CLASSIC FANTASY anymore. It looks more like STEAMPUNK."

Clockwork City? Dwemer ruins?

Kendaric wrote: »

Green beams, laser sounds - in the medieval setting of ESO now UFOs have landed

The Colour Out Of Space.

Ragnarok0130 · June 2023

barney2525 wrote: »

Hey, they changed the Templar spear, so anything is possible.

And a large number of us Templar mains are still extremely angry about the spear change and the animation change.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · June 2023

ADarklore wrote: »

It makes me wonder if it's the COLOR 'green' that makes it worse for people. As others have said, Templar skills are also quite flashy and also use a beam, and nobody has complained about them. Albeit, Templars only use the beam when enemies are below 50% health... whereas Arcanist is using the beam all the time. But I guess even Puncturing Strikes has a constant flash to it as well, although the yellow tones are more subtle than bright neon green, so perhaps doesn't cause the motion sickness like Arcanist skills do.

I doubt the colour has anything to do with it. It's the amount of harsh saturation and brightness, which causes high contrast that is more the cause of it. Templars have light and beam, but it's milder in all those points.

Twig_Garlicshine · June 2023

Did a quick search to see if any addon writers had ever made a simple eso addon to adjust colour intensity down.
Brightness/saturation levels etc of others' spell effects.

Found the following link from January 2022,
I can only guess that Eso forum users asking for a way to turn settings down gave the Devs the idea that:
"Hey they want MOAR flashy, neon, fluorescent, strobey migraine, nausea, epilepsy inducing effects."

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/596890/turning-down-ability-visual-effects

Yellows, reds, they didn't bother me as much, this green very much does.
(I could see how other colours could bother some though.)
I think my Eso pvp days have ended.
Losing to another in a game is one thing, getting a 3 day migraine from someone in pvp is ...."Yea I'll pass."
Without an ingame toggle or at least sliders to tone down the colours, intensity, and saturation of others spells and effects, I'm done.

kumenit_taeynav · June 2023

if i were the one in charge of fixing the issue heres how id go about doing it.

break down all problematic vfx (all classes, skill lines, mounts, etc.) in broad categories. ive come up with a few myself today.
-Flashing Lights: this would include all lights that have a high flash frequency such as lightning staff and sorc abilities.
-Intensity: this is for vfx that command a lot of screen space and your attention such as the arcanist green beam
-Colour Palette: the devs could create different colour palettes for effects or allow players to create their own. i think this could help folks who are bothered by the bright greens of the arcanist abilities. i think this could also be expanded into colour blind accessibility.
-Movement: vfx that move constantly or frequently such as arcanist crux or sorc twilight flapping would fit in here
-Obstruction of Targets: this for stuff that get in your way of interacting with the world and should be applied to combat pets and companions

after creating these categories and sorting out problematic vfx id create sliders for each of these categories.
Flashing Lights would have a slider to decrease the flash rate
Intensity would either shrink or make transparent the vfx that fall under that category
Colour palettes could perhaps have a colour wheel like what you see when picking a colour for text in chat.
Movement would change the speed at which vfx move
Obstructive vfx could be made transparent so you can still see if youre in a crowd of sorcs.

following the sliders i would put in toggles based on who around you that you want to effect. you could apply these sliders to variois players depending on stuff like if theyre in your group or not.
-Self
-Group Members
-Alliance Members
-Other Players

i think with this system zos would be giving players tools to customize how they want to see the game without one persons preferences getting in the way of how others see their own game. i get that people really enjoy their flashy abilities but asking people to stop playing isnt an option here in my own opinion.

Braffin · June 2023

kumenit_taeynav wrote: »

if i were the one in charge of fixing the issue heres how id go about doing it.

break down all problematic vfx (all classes, skill lines, mounts, etc.) in broad categories. ive come up with a few myself today.
-Flashing Lights: this would include all lights that have a high flash frequency such as lightning staff and sorc abilities.
-Intensity: this is for vfx that command a lot of screen space and your attention such as the arcanist green beam
-Colour Palette: the devs could create different colour palettes for effects or allow players to create their own. i think this could help folks who are bothered by the bright greens of the arcanist abilities. i think this could also be expanded into colour blind accessibility.
-Movement: vfx that move constantly or frequently such as arcanist crux or sorc twilight flapping would fit in here
-Obstruction of Targets: this for stuff that get in your way of interacting with the world and should be applied to combat pets and companions

after creating these categories and sorting out problematic vfx id create sliders for each of these categories.
Flashing Lights would have a slider to decrease the flash rate
Intensity would either shrink or make transparent the vfx that fall under that category
Colour palettes could perhaps have a colour wheel like what you see when picking a colour for text in chat.
Movement would change the speed at which vfx move
Obstructive vfx could be made transparent so you can still see if youre in a crowd of sorcs.

following the sliders i would put in toggles based on who around you that you want to effect. you could apply these sliders to variois players depending on stuff like if theyre in your group or not.
-Self
-Group Members
-Alliance Members
-Other Players

i think with this system zos would be giving players tools to customize how they want to see the game without one persons preferences getting in the way of how others see their own game. i get that people really enjoy their flashy abilities but asking people to stop playing isnt an option here in my own opinion.

Sounds like an optimal solution imo, would definitely support that change.

katanagirl1 · June 2023

ADarklore wrote: »

It makes me wonder if it's the COLOR 'green' that makes it worse for people. As others have said, Templar skills are also quite flashy and also use a beam, and nobody has complained about them. Albeit, Templars only use the beam when enemies are below 50% health... whereas Arcanist is using the beam all the time. But I guess even Puncturing Strikes has a constant flash to it as well, although the yellow tones are more subtle than bright neon green, so perhaps doesn't cause the motion sickness like Arcanist skills do.

Trying to catch up here, not sure if anyone has mentioned this already.

The human eye is most sensitive to the color green, probably why it is so bothersome.

Also the spinning circles that sound like they are causing the motion sickness are also bright green and are probably very hard to look away from because they constantly compete for your attention.

ADarklore · June 2023

katanagirl1 wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

It makes me wonder if it's the COLOR 'green' that makes it worse for people. As others have said, Templar skills are also quite flashy and also use a beam, and nobody has complained about them. Albeit, Templars only use the beam when enemies are below 50% health... whereas Arcanist is using the beam all the time. But I guess even Puncturing Strikes has a constant flash to it as well, although the yellow tones are more subtle than bright neon green, so perhaps doesn't cause the motion sickness like Arcanist skills do.

Trying to catch up here, not sure if anyone has mentioned this already.

The human eye is most sensitive to the color green, probably why it is so bothersome.

Also the spinning circles that sound like they are causing the motion sickness are also bright green and are probably very hard to look away from because they constantly compete for your attention.

Thanks for that information, I was just wondering if it was specific to the color, since the game has a lot of flashing skills and beams and nobody has mentioned having a problem with that. Yet, this seems to be the first 'green-based' class and vibrant neon green at that, made me curious.

Mackinsar · June 2023

Personally I think the effects are just perfect. Your mileage may vary.

kumenit_taeynav · June 2023

@Mackinsar thats why people such as myself are advocating for personal toggles/sliders. i dont think theres gonna be a one size fits all fix bc people such as yourself dont even have issues with it

ADarklore · June 2023

kumenit_taeynav wrote: »

@Mackinsar thats why people such as myself are advocating for personal toggles/sliders. i dont think theres gonna be a one size fits all fix bc people such as yourself dont even have issues with it

Nor do I. In fact, I've gotten quite good at ignoring the crux spinning around me.

I actually like the color green; Green Lantern was one of my favorite DC characters, and I played Hard Light in DCUO for awhile... so yeah, green glow is cool.

ljl227 · June 2023

[/quote]
Thanks for that information, I was just wondering if it was specific to the color, since the game has a lot of flashing skills and beams and nobody has mentioned having a problem with that. Yet, this seems to be the first 'green-based' class and vibrant neon green at that, made me curious.[/quote]

On that note, for myself at least, the flashing skills are an issue. I have always avoided dolmens in Alik'r and don't do trials. They are disorientating and therefore irritating. I enjoy the matriarch but when and if I use her, she is always toggled on during battle only. The wings flashing across my screen out of combat are intolerable for me.

Out of combat, players gathered in groups throwing their buffs and effects at me do affect me but it's easy enough to move out of the area and so is of no consequence. People love it, why would I complain, It's up to me to make the game work for me. I mostly play solo and avoid large groups. I have a friend that tends to get migraines from certain skills flashing so her and her partner make a good team for me.

Necrom is a game changer for me however, I'm finding most open world group content and dailies are now on my to be avoided list, that takes away a big chunk of content I'm able to play.

I tried waiting for quiet times when no one is around but you can't stop others from joining you, nor should you, once you start, and I'm rendered useless by the flashes and have to leave in the middle of a fight, I don't like it and feel it's not fair to the others either. So I'm trying to find new ways to play, I've just been playing group dungeons I can solo mostly. Still have lots of side quests I haven't done.

Oh, and incidentally, I do love the colors and effects, they look great in a still picture, I just can't interact with them, it just becomes a blur.

SpacemanSpiff1 · June 2023

too flashy? or not flashy enough?

BalticBlues wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

The arcanist animations totally change the visual impact of the entire game.
I find all the animations to be overbearing and obnoxious.

My daughter, who loves classic fantasy and fantasy games, tells me:
"ESO does not look like CLASSIC FANTASY anymore. It looks more like STEAMPUNK."

Kendaric wrote: »

I feel reminded of Star Trek (Romulan or Klingon disruptors)

Green beams, laser sounds - in the medieval setting of ESO now UFOs have landed:

Kendaric wrote: »

The effects are definitely sci-fi [...] look totally out of place in ESO.

I actually would like this stuff - in a game like Overwatch or Destiny.
But in good old ESO? For our family, the Arcanist in ESO also feels like sci-fi and misplaced.

i think it's great. i made my arcanist a little astronaut suit.

SilverBride · June 2023

Now that I've had a chance to play an Arcanist I've gotten used to some of the effects but most of them are still way too bright to the point that I just can't use them because of it. I've even had to remove some of them from Azandar's bar, especially the heal that encloses my character in bright green rings.

I'd love to be able to enjoy this new class to it's fullest but the over the top effects make it very difficult.

Sarannah · June 2023

Not having an issue with the arcanist VFX at all, the only time I noticed a problem was when another player directly aimed their beam at my viewcamera and I couldn't see a thing anymore. We were both on opposite sides of the boss. Sidestepping fixed this, as it does with any ability aimed at the viewcamera.

Reading this thread I find it odd those with issues about the arcanist VFX do not mention what screenresolution and screensize they are using. Because on 28" 4k, the crux is tiny, and the animation for the bigger VFX from the arcanist aren't too much. But I can see how on a smaller resolution the effects could be too much.

Alinhbo_Tyaka · June 2023

I'm a bit late but ran my first dungeons tonight where there were Arcanists in the group. Those green swirling circles hide mob and boss AOEs and make it near impossible to stay out of the bad stuff. I set Show Additional Ally Effects off to no avail. There is no reason I should not be able to turn off other players effects in my display. Final Fantasy XIV allows me to do this and it cleans up the screen immensely. Since it already exists it should not be that much work to extend the existing Show Additional Ally Effects to include a setting for showing no ally effects. Not only would it clean up the screen for players who want that but I suspect will also speed things up due to less video processing.

Malprave · June 2023

I don’t think the arcanist is any more flashy than the necromancer. I remember when that launched the other classes visuals seemed downright dull by comparison.

Gargath · June 2023

A green laser beam is very annoying. Almost reaching to the point where a matriarch with flapping wings currently is.

Even more bad feeling when someone approches and starts flashing this beam at night or dark areas, scanning the place around like it was some super advanced gun from another galaxy. It breaks immersion and fun, in my opinion it doesn't fit well to magical world of wizards and such.

Reminds me of a powerful plasma lance in Syndicate Wars which could one-shot enemy agents with a similar beaming effect.

Sadly it seems these new effects will be avoidable only by avoiding players who use it in game.

Kendaric · June 2023

Gargath wrote: »

A green laser beam is very annoying. Almost reaching to the point where a matriarch with flapping wings currently is.

Even more bad feeling when someone approches and starts flashing this beam at night or dark areas, scanning the place around like it was some super advanced gun from another galaxy. It breaks immersion and fun, in my opinion it doesn't fit well to magical world of wizards and such.

Sadly it seems these new effects will be avoidable only by avoiding players who use it in game.

To be blunt, I consider it more annoying than the flapping matriarch.

Avoiding players using that stuff is what I do for the most part. But it becomes increasingly harder to do as more arcanists crawl out of Apocrypha/Telvanni Peninsula and enter other zones.

tenryuta · June 2023

arc skills are the right kind of flashy, it means you need to know when to use bfg1000 vs trishot and fire to win the addon dps meter war

shadyjane62 · June 2023

I won't play with them. The green is way too annoying. I try hard not yell at them "Get out of my space".

Sly80 · June 2023

NoxiousBlight wrote: »

I love the arcanist and I agree.

I am the rare person who likes to quest in first person - it is actually impossible with the arcanist. Between the buffs making everything neon green and the crux swirling around it makes me feel ill. So first person questing is dead with them.

I think everything looks cool but it needs to be toned down. I notice when another arcanist shoots their beam it is duller and thinner - can we just make that one the default beam?

I like the green theme but a little less brightness would be welcome.

I also use first person and have Azandar as a companion. When he puts up a ward around me, I'm surrounded by an electric fence of hallucinogenic fluorescent green, which makes it almost impossible to see what is happening.

Hurbster · June 2023

So, to sum up, personal toggles in the graphics options seem to be the way to go. Let us adjust the effects ourselves without affecting anyone else.

Sound about right?

kumenit_taeynav · June 2023

@Hurbster seems p good to me. everyone who bought the class and enjoys it has been really defensive about the aesthetic and how its fine for them but its clearly not fine for everybody whether its simply getting in the way or actually causing issues like motion sickness and migraines. i think my toggle/slider system i proposed earlier is a great middle ground between keeping it the way it is for people who like it but allowing people who dont to change how they experience it