Cyrodiil Population Cap Testing

Ixilduur · December 2023

The current cap is way too low. It needs to increase, the waiting times are just a joke high. That and the fact that ppl keep abusing quick teleport from imperial city in and out to fast travel.

Sluggy · December 2023

StackonClown wrote: »

10 hours to implement:

pop_cap = pop_cap * 0.50

It's only 10 hours because they forgot the semicolon and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't compile.

Einar_Hrafnarsson · December 2023

Could we fix the Combat bug first please? Its the worst bug currently in the Game.

FayJolyn · December 2023

I am hopeful this could be an indication that the devs are making time again to look at pvp performance again and hopefully have the endgoal of introducing some much needed love for the pvp'ers out there. Apart from new sets, they didin't get anything new in literal years.

I'm only a casual pvp'er but I'll try to hop into Ravenwatch and Blackreach a couple of times this week.

xDeusEJRx · December 2023

I'm all in support of this update, I think being willing to change Cyrodiil is well and good, but I don't understand why Zos is so secretive about the numbers.
For a company that loves collecting "data" they very rarely share these numbers with us. Why is the official pop cap being kept a secret? The last official number they've posted on the ESO website was from launch claiming to have a total of 1800 players maximum across all factions, but no one genuinely believes that's the current pop cap in the game.

For all we know ZOS could be increasing it by a measly 5 players per faction and we would never know because the numbers need to be kept a secret from the players, even in this "update" thread. It's very odd to me why for the longest time why the Devs choose to not give an update as to the current player numbers, especially considering we're increasing it again, it would be nice to know.

ZOS_Kevin · December 2023

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:

If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.
In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

Destai · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

Can we get a bird's eye view of why they're doing this? Like I get what they're testing, but why are they testing it? When people talked about roadmaps, this is what we mean.

Photosniper89 · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

I mean zero disrespect in the question I am about to ask...

PvP during primetime has been horrendous for many years. Stuttering (4090 here w/ latest gen cpu so it's not a potato machine issue). We have documented this thousands of times with thousands of video clips.

You're asking for feedback/bug reporting on issues as you're increasing the cap - reading between the lines there is that to say we could expect the lag that has been there for many years to no longer be there because of some backend stuff you all have been working on?

I just don't want to keep posting the same clips that I have been for 5+ years that have fallen on deaf ears, that is all.

Photosniper89 · December 2023

Destai wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

Can we get a bird's eye view of why they're doing this? Like I get what they're testing, but why are they testing it? When people talked about roadmaps, this is what we mean.

2024 the year of PvP? Me's a think so.

Photosniper89 · December 2023

fripplethorn wrote: »

While I appreciate even a glance at PvP from the devs these days, the population is the least of the issues with the state of PvP. First, address heal-over-time stacking. Put an end to the exploit of stacking 15+ HoTs and then just running around stomping people who actually play the game. This is easily done by capping the number of active HoTs a player can have... preferably at 2. Second, put an end to the silly "in combat" nonsense. If you're not actively in combat, you shouldn't be "in combat".

Start there, and you'll make a huge percentage of your player base actually turn population into a thing...

My 90 person queue on a Wednesdays night tells me population is a thing in it's current state - for what it's worth.

Frip!!!! You'll never get me to stop balling out my guy. Even if they got rid of the heal stacks we would still figure out a way to stomp pugs

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

@ZOS_Kevin do you want us to assume the team doesn't know any of the current bugs when areas are at high population when we report issues or are the current bugs 'known' and we should only focus on new things?

Examples of known issues by the playerbase include: permanent debuffs 49000days, crashing approaching large keep fights due to network traffic trying to load all the players, npcs and terrain at the same time, movement slowed without cause ('slow bug'), desynchronization issues where players get trapped in stuns and rolled back in position, cyrodiil queue getting stuck for players randomly and no longer progressing and players being stuck in delves unable to enter the main cyrodiil map again because the area is full.

Also it would help if there was some direction to the testing, for example do you want to test just the queues, the performance in cyrodiil etc..

Some dialog between players and devs would be really helpful including feedback to us after the tests please

this has been lacking a lot during the past testing events.

React · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

I do hope that there will at least be an in game announcement on login regarding this test.

This test being performed without giving clear communication in the numbers being tested is a bit concerning. Additionally, without a clear idea of exactly what it is you want us to be recording, you're going to be inundated with videos of the same exact issues we've been experiencing for years, as well as issues caused by the new combat bugs myself and others have been reporting - which will result in a mountain of content that I'm sure will be a nightmare to sort through.

All in all, it's great to see something being done - but if the studio doesn't communicate clearly, it's just going to feel like another pointless endeavor to string us along.

fred4 · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

PC EU Gray Host here. Predictably the lag is right back. I don't know what you possibly expect to see from video. Lag is something you feel. Your skills stop responding in a timely fashion. If you can SEE the lag, then it's WAY past acceptable levels, not that I find any server lag acceptable for my playstyle. I've also gotten "stuck in combat", even though I've been crouched quite outside the battle area as I write this. When will THAT ever be fixed? For reference:

Continuous ping to zos.de running in the background: ~60ms
In-game ping: ~120ms (from Ireland)
Player population: Only 3 bars
Location: Chalman Keep, Gray Host, PC EU (battle)
PC: Ryzen 5800x3d, nVidia RTX3070, 32GB RAM, NVME SSD, Windows 10

Photosniper89 · December 2023

fred4 wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

PC EU Gray Host here. Predictably the lag is right back. I don't know what you possibly expect to see from video. Lag is something you feel. Your skills stop responding in a timely fashion. If you can SEE the lag, then it's WAY past acceptable levels, not that I find any server lag acceptable for my playstyle. I've also gotten "stuck in combat", even though I've been crouched quite outside the battle area as I write this. When will THAT ever be fixed? For reference:

Continuous ping to zos.de running in the background: ~60ms
In-game ping: ~120ms (from Ireland)
Player population: Only 3 bars
Location: Chalman Keep, Gray Host, PC EU (battle)
PC: Ryzen 5800x3d, nVidia RTX3070, 32GB RAM, NVME SSD, Windows 10

Oh, you can see the lag in videos. Been that way for 5+ years. My favorite is the slideshow bug when you can feel the server processing information and your fps counter is 100+ but everything else is moving at 1fps for about 10 seconds lol.

Mogli · December 2023

I would love a general road map of the game in general. I absolutely love ESO, but not having a road map of content planned while it's a standard for other MMORPGs is concerning. I get wanting to keep new ideas a secret for a big reveal, but especially for those of us who are ESO+ subscribers, it's nice to see what is planned for the game that we are actively supporting.

jaws343 · December 2023

Destai wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

Can we get a bird's eye view of why they're doing this? Like I get what they're testing, but why are they testing it? When people talked about roadmaps, this is what we mean.

I expect they won't say the why because it would skew the data they receive.

If players know the why, they won't act or function in the content in a normal way and would instead act towards the attempted testing outcome rather than provide a true blind test.

fred4 · December 2023

And by this time the game has ceased to function. Still only 3 bars. Oh, it still renders, and people still play regardless, but skills have become totally unreliable. I hope you're getting good server statistics out of this.

Stamicka · December 2023

fred4 wrote: »

And by this time the game has ceased to function. Still only 3 bars. Oh, it still renders, and people still play regardless, but skills have become totally unreliable. I hope you're getting good server statistics out of this.

I'm on NA and I don't have an EU account. You're saying the lag is really noticeable? Can you tell that there's more fights on the map and stuff? I'm wondering just how much they increased the caps for this test, because surely modern ESO can't handle what 2015 ESO did population wise. How busy does Cyrodiil seem compared to before?

Einar_Hrafnarsson · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Hi All! As you may have seen, the Population Cap Testing is now underway. We are starting in PC EU for now, with PC NA and consoles being added later in the week. In the event you run into any issues (bugs, lag, etc.) we ask in addition to describing the issue you are experiencing, that you provide the following information:
If possible, please record the issue occurring in-game during the Population Cap Test. Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues.

In your post, please list what campaign you are participating in when the noted issue occurs.

Feel free to post issues either in this thread or in the Bug Report section of the forum.This information will assist our teams during this test in better identifying issues experienced during the Population Cap Test. Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

It is sadly unplayable now. Skills sometimes take 4 seconds to fire, Heavy attacks become invisible. Combat Bug gets even worse. It is like before the Hardware refresh.

Doors often do not work, Healthdesyncs, skills not firing at all. Vamp invisibillity wich was bugged for 2 patches now is now even less working cause you just get randomly visible mid run.

Asmelia · December 2023

i think zenimax dont care about the bug people got during all those years since in their mind was because of the eta of the server but since they have hardware they think the bug will be different

Asmelia · December 2023

bugs doesnt disappear by themselve, it need to be handle and corrected

reazea · December 2023

Stamicka wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

And by this time the game has ceased to function. Still only 3 bars. Oh, it still renders, and people still play regardless, but skills have become totally unreliable. I hope you're getting good server statistics out of this.

I'm on NA and I don't have an EU account. You're saying the lag is really noticeable? Can you tell that there's more fights on the map and stuff? I'm wondering just how much they increased the caps for this test, because surely modern ESO can't handle what 2015 ESO did population wise. How busy does Cyrodiil seem compared to before?

How do we know that they increased the population caps or that raising the population caps is the goal? How do we know that all they've done is further reduce server resources to see if Cyro will still function with the already super low pop caps? It's super cynical, but I fear the latter is more likely the "test" being run. I've been a primarily PvP player since 2015, so my cynicism is backed by years of experience and evidence. I'm not just being a doomsayer on this topic.

Adamus · December 2023

@ZOS_BrianWheeler get this man a Bourbon! Other than showing up, anything organized and large groups can do to help with this test and goals?

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Heyo All!

Next week, we will be running some tests in Cyrodiil where we’ll be periodically adjusting the population caps. The first realm being tested is PC EU on Wednesday, December 6. During this time, we will increase population caps and monitor throughout the day through prime-time hours; if all goes well, we will do the same on PC NA and consoles later in the week.

We encourage everyone willing to fight for their Alliance to hop into their respective Campaigns because throughout the testing period until December 12, everyone in Cyrodiil will earn Double AP!

Thanks in advance for joining this population test for Cyrodiil and enjoy the double AP while the test is active. See you on the field!

Freilauftomate · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

... Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues...

They hired a PvP team? And they will look at videos and bug reports? Omg i am so happy!

EF321 · December 2023

I wish I was exaggerating, but it literally took me 20 second to cast skill once.

EmilyElizabethESO · December 2023

Freilauftomate wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

... Providing the video or link to the video will assist the PvP team in identifying any issues...

They hired a PvP team? And they will look at videos and bug reports? Omg i am so happy!

Is there seriously a PVP team now? That's amazing, we've never had a full team before

MedicInTheWild · December 2023

Is everyone else getting horrible PVP performance, way more than usual on PCNA??? Skill not going off, people floating, stuttering of other when they are moving just crap performance?? I thought PCNA wasnt having any testing until later??

TechMaybeHic · December 2023

MedicInTheWild wrote: »

Is everyone else getting horrible PVP performance, way more than usual on PCNA??? Skill not going off, people floating, stuttering of other when they are moving just crap performance?? I thought PCNA wasnt having any testing until later??

We were just talking about that. Only soft locked DC so far (lock but no queue) and yet it feels rough

MedicInTheWild · December 2023

TechMaybeHic wrote: »

MedicInTheWild wrote: »

Is everyone else getting horrible PVP performance, way more than usual on PCNA??? Skill not going off, people floating, stuttering of other when they are moving just crap performance?? I thought PCNA wasnt having any testing until later??

We were just talking about that. Only soft locked DC so far (lock but no queue) and yet it feels rough

I just logged out, the only time Im not lagging is when I am dead. I cant imagine what it will be like if they raise cap

ZOS_Kevin · December 2023

Hi All, just wanted to provide a quick update. We've seen some confusion regarding if the test is only on PC EU right now. We have expanded the test to PC NA as well. As noted before, if you are hitting lag or having other issues, please record the footage and pass that along here or in the Bug Reports section. This will help with the tests our teams are conducting. Thank you.