Cyrodiil Population Cap Testing

Zabagad · December 2023

So my feedback for the test on PC/EU GH @ZOS_Kevin:

Wednesday around 17:00-18:00 CET we had for 1 hour so much lag (not only for me - chat was full with complains - there was a mega fight at Chal), that I left the game and was thinking: Please end the test immediately.

On Friday I had already heard that later on Wed the lag was not so bad and I tried it again.
From Friday until Monday I was enjoying Cyro much more then I ever did.
Sometimes the lag was like Wednesday - just one polarizing keyword: ballgroups (I could explain that in deeper details, but I don't want to derail this thread) - but without these outliers there was no lag or the lag was ok to handle.
But compared to normal Cyro, there were so many great big fights - there was always awesome action - it was a pleasure to play.
So I enjoyed Cyro for more then 20 hours so much, that yesterday (the normal cyro) was so boring in comparison.

Please activate this test-pop-lock-value as soon as possible again for PC/EU/GH
(And then maybe look into the reasons for the periods when the lag is too big to handle - then open a new thread for it pls)

Quackery · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far and for taking the time to participate. We know the Population Cap test is coming to an end, tomorrow, but we are sharing this information with the combat team for them to review along with the data gained from this test. We'll follow up a little after the test ends and after the team has looked over your feedback and data gained.

Please be sure to emphasize that the increase in population brought new life into Cyrodiil, made it much more fun with massive fights. If there is a way to get the pop increase, please consider doing whatever it takes, for our sakes.

ValarMorghulis1896 · December 2023

Yes, please increase the population permanently. It was fun to fight epic battles again!

adirondack · December 2023

I will take increased lag with increased population. Fewer people is less fun. The correlation is simple. I hope the testing yielded valuable results. Let’s do this again!

Aerenthir · December 2023

Lag was reltively bareable for me. Now with the population decreased once more it feels like a ghost town.

TechMaybeHic · December 2023

Big, slow, queue tonight... Not fun

Rhaegar75 · December 2023

I really really hope that 2024 will be the PVP year...or at least the year PvPers gat something

CrazyKitty · December 2023

Any chance ZOS will ever tell us what they were testing and what the results were?

Can ZOS please tell us what, if any, changes are being made as a result of these tests?

The higher populations sure made Cyrodiil a lot more fun, that's for sure. There were some times of pretty bad performance, for me in the form of disconnecting and rubberbanding near large fights, but overall Cyrodiil was notably more enjoyable with the higher population caps.

Inucham · December 2023

played with guildmates while the test was on, very few lag and problems al day/night long, but prime time became troublesome:

i m recalling it ; for me prime time is end afternoon until 11-12p.m (west europe) and all weekeend that sceshual was hard to play.

The meta for some months has been going to the Z vs ballg or ball g vs ball g withsome pugs left and rigth.

while on test week, the weekend prime time trough some old time issues (from the old server times) ;

_ skills lag trigger 3-5seconds,
_ ults not going on when asked to
_No VISUAL ZONES FOR SIEGE DMG ZONES
_crashing (not me but3 of my mates did) and saw many tomatoes and bananas kind of afk in fields so =same issue?
_perma fighting mode( tried reloadui,tried quitting group, the only thing that worked was the tp IC tp Cyro) i feel like been shot in the knee each time im in perma fighting bug.

Bsides all that

nice things:
_been always in movement and fighting going on everywhere (NICE)
_ seeing people comunicate + inchatzone (strat or trolls or chill) thats NICE
_ Doing bananasplit and fried tomatoes in more numbers that ever (thats actually VERY nice)

Personally i feel some things should be worked on, some bugs need to die for good this next year, but i feel y guys are trying to handel the power of y new tools , so go again if y need to test more, keep communication goin.
The goal is not a 100% of server utility,or pvp to go 100% witout issues, the goal now is to make it the better you can, so this get fresh air and the game gains + years of living.

good pvp, good fights, and merry c happy new year guys,

"whatever happ, keep buyaking"

Rhaegar75 · December 2023

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far and for taking the time to participate. We know the Population Cap test is coming to an end, tomorrow, but we are sharing this information with the combat team for them to review along with the data gained from this test. We'll follow up a little after the test ends and after the team has looked over your feedback and data gained.

Please keep us posted!

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · December 2023

@ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_BrianWheeler
Hi Guys,

Can we expect any feedback on this prior to the Christmas break or should we look out for something early next year / after the Global Reveal Show?

Thanks

ZOS_Kevin · December 2023

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_BrianWheeler
Hi Guys,

Can we expect any feedback on this prior to the Christmas break or should we look out for something early next year / after the Global Reveal Show?

Thanks

We should have an update next week.

Aerenthir · December 2023

@ZOS_Kevin

Thanks for the update. Is there any chance we'll get a population cap permanent increase? It was laggy at moments, but it felt certainly better than a half dead Cyrodiil ...

Marronsuisse · December 2023

Bit late but maybe this feedback will be useful is some way.

I had no problems throughout the test. I did miss the first couple days though when I hear it was rough.

Fri Dec 8th, roughly 10pm EST Blackreach PCNA, all factions pop locked - No problems on my end but I noticed quite a few other people seemed to be freezing and rubber banding.

Sat Dec 9th-Mon 11th, roughly 10pm EST Blackreach PCNA, all factions pop locked - Again no problems on my end, didn't notice other people having issues.

Dec 13th - Cyrodiil seemed so sad and empty. Maybe you guys need to to more testing soon, eh? Eh? Honestly even just some double AP events here and there between Whitestrakes to fill the campaigns up to the usual population cap would be nice.

Overall I was really pleasantly surprised since prior to the hardware updates I had an awful time in Cyrodiil with lag, huge 10s skill delays and rubber banding everywhere. I was expecting something similar but really didn't have any problems on my end.

Darethran · December 2023

Just as I am finally about to get internet, and been hankering to play ESO...Turns out I missed the best thing to happen in the game in years. Gah.

How much more active was the map? When I last did a bit of Cyrodiil, it felt like maybe a hundred players on each side tops when pop locked, no-CP EU.

ZOS_BrianWheeler · December 2023

Hi gang! We wanted to follow up now that the Cyrodiil population cap stress test has concluded. First off, thanks to everyone who participated and provided feedback. We hope you got a bunch of AP, took control of many Keeps and Resources, and had a blast with Volendrung! Your participation greatly helped in stress testing the new server hardware, which was replaced earlier this year, and stressing the server architecture overall. We are reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period.

We have set the population cap numbers back to what they were prior to this test to ensure the best balance between server response and client inputs. Thanks again for stress testing the servers with us! See you on the battlefield and have a safe and fun holiday season!

React · December 2023

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Hi gang! We wanted to follow up now that the Cyrodiil population cap stress test has concluded. First off, thanks to everyone who participated and provided feedback. We hope you got a bunch of AP, took control of many Keeps and Resources, and had a blast with Volendrung! Your participation greatly helped in stress testing the new server hardware, which was replaced earlier this year, and stressing the server architecture overall. We are reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period.

We have set the population cap numbers back to what they were prior to this test to ensure the best balance between server response and client inputs. Thanks again for stress testing the servers with us! See you on the battlefield and have a safe and fun holiday season!

Any chance you'd be willing to share with us what exactly those population cap numbers are?

SaffronCitrusflower · December 2023

React wrote: »

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Hi gang! We wanted to follow up now that the Cyrodiil population cap stress test has concluded. First off, thanks to everyone who participated and provided feedback. We hope you got a bunch of AP, took control of many Keeps and Resources, and had a blast with Volendrung! Your participation greatly helped in stress testing the new server hardware, which was replaced earlier this year, and stressing the server architecture overall. We are reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period.

We have set the population cap numbers back to what they were prior to this test to ensure the best balance between server response and client inputs. Thanks again for stress testing the servers with us! See you on the battlefield and have a safe and fun holiday season!

Any chance you'd be willing to share with us what exactly those population cap numbers are?

Prior to the test pop caps were 80/faction give or take maybe 10 players.

So if I read Mr. Wheeler's post correctly, they did the test, and they're changing nothing. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why can't we please just get back the populations and group sizes we used to have 3 years ago?

Jaraal · December 2023

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Hi gang! We wanted to follow up now that the Cyrodiil population cap stress test has concluded. First off, thanks to everyone who participated and provided feedback. We hope you got a bunch of AP, took control of many Keeps and Resources, and had a blast with Volendrung! Your participation greatly helped in stress testing the new server hardware, which was replaced earlier this year, and stressing the server architecture overall. We are reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period.

We have set the population cap numbers back to what they were prior to this test to ensure the best balance between server response and client inputs. Thanks again for stress testing the servers with us! See you on the battlefield and have a safe and fun holiday season!

*sad trombone*

Considering that the data could have been analyzed during the test, or reviewed immediately after the test.... I guess the answer is no pop cap increase. Bummer, as Cyro was actually fun again for a while. But thank you for taking the time to respond.

TechMaybeHic · December 2023

Probably leaving things alone through the holidays is the best choice. I know I do that at work, as I don't want to be called throughout my time off.

Hopefully something is shaken up after, though. Things are stale and longer queues for less fighting doesn't encourage me to login.

Aerenthir · December 2023

ZOS_BrianWheeler wrote: »

Hi gang! We wanted to follow up now that the Cyrodiil population cap stress test has concluded. First off, thanks to everyone who participated and provided feedback. We hope you got a bunch of AP, took control of many Keeps and Resources, and had a blast with Volendrung! Your participation greatly helped in stress testing the new server hardware, which was replaced earlier this year, and stressing the server architecture overall. We are reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period.

We have set the population cap numbers back to what they were prior to this test to ensure the best balance between server response and client inputs. Thanks again for stress testing the servers with us! See you on the battlefield and have a safe and fun holiday season!

I sincerely hope this is not the update @ZOS_Kevin mentioned ... It's just a thank you letter with confirmation that the caps have been readjusted, which we already knew.

I think people were hoping to get updated based on the actual numbers and performance stress and some kind of an statement regarding the future population cap.

As it is now, the performance is there, and there isn't much of a lag, but Cyrodiil feels like a ghost town. It's natural, if there are no users, there will be no performance problems ...

Erissime · December 2023

It was nice while it lasted. The lag was not a problem, and overall the general feel of the game was as smooth as on any other day - except that just like throughout the test as well as out of it - there are spikes of lag, usually noticed around ball groups ( as someone else has mentioned) - but I have had and a few encounters with solo or 2/3 players in remote places (no big fights around, no other possibilities of lag being created by masses of people... ) in which the lag would get me frozen in place for several seconds. And this has nothing to do with the test. It just exists - and for someone as ignorant as me of all things tech - it downright looks like there are players who create it rather than the game itself having any issues whatsoever. I still cannot help but think an anti-cheat engine and some cleanse for the pvp area will be very welcome. Meanwhile in epic fights even with factions stack I would never actually freeze, at most, I may need to press a skill more than once to trigger, and such minor things.

I would also like to add that not all ball-groups bring lag. There are certain ones though ( few) around which it is impossible to move. So neither the "clean" ball groups are an issue. There's something else going on in the back and it feels like brought by players.

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO · December 2023

Thanks for the response. Like many others it wasn't really what I was expecting when an update on the testing results was mentioned.

I've made a graph which might be useful for the next update. Feel free to reuse it if it is.

Darethran · December 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

*sad trombone*

Considering that the data could have been analyzed during the test, or reviewed immediately after the test.... I guess the answer is no pop cap increase. Bummer, as Cyro was actually fun again for a while. But thank you for taking the time to respond.

This stuff takes time. I'm no corporate simp, but it's heavy server stuff they have to sort through and all the bureaucracy involved.

Jaraal · December 2023

Darethran wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

*sad trombone*

Considering that the data could have been analyzed during the test, or reviewed immediately after the test.... I guess the answer is no pop cap increase. Bummer, as Cyro was actually fun again for a while. But thank you for taking the time to respond.

This stuff takes time. I'm no corporate simp, but it's heavy server stuff they have to sort through and all the bureaucracy involved.

I'll bookmark this, and revisit it in one year. Then I will ask you if one year is sufficient time to have completed "reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period," and told us:

a) Yes, we have determined that we can raise the population cap

or

b) No, we have determined that we are not able to raise the population cap.

reazea · December 2023

I'll always wonder why ZOS deals with the population cap questions as though they can't answer because it's TOP SECRET information. Why can't they just tell us what the actual population cap is? We know within a very small margin what it is already, but why don't they just tell us what the cap is?

It feels like a lack of respect for the customer when communication of basic information is this lacking.

Darethran · December 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

I'll bookmark this, and revisit it in one year. Then I will ask you if one year is sufficient time to have completed "reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period," and told us:

a) Yes, we have determined that we can raise the population cap

or

b) No, we have determined that we are not able to raise the population cap.

Oh I've no doubt ZoS is just going to forget about it, or only bring something up years down the line. A reasonable dev would take about a month or two to see what's involved in applying this permanently.

Really wish it happens soon, but it's ZoS so probably not. Like how EU got the server upgrades...A year and a half after NA?

Elsonso · December 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

I'll bookmark this, and revisit it in one year. Then I will ask you if one year is sufficient time to have completed "reviewing the data gained from this test, along with all the player feedback provided during this period," and told us:

a) Yes, we have determined that we can raise the population cap

or

b) No, we have determined that we are not able to raise the population cap.

Honestly, I don't think you have to wait a year for that. The answer is right in what Wheeler said. They returned the caps to the level that they were at before the test. To me, that indicates "B". At least, as of December 2023.

Who knows what 2024 might hold. They didn't update us on the server re-architecture work. It isn't clear whether that work continues or has been shelved. Either way, I think 2024 may have interesting things happening in Cyrodiil.

Won't know until January.

Karivaa · December 2023

Can you please increase the cap? The queue is too long on Xbox NA.

SaffronCitrusflower · December 2023

More servers for Cyrodiil and increase the pop cap please.

The tests they just did proved without a doubt that Cyrodiil players are much, much happier with higher populations and more, bigger fights.

More players = more income to pay for the additional server resources. Those players will also spend money on PvE related items. 2/3'rds of my friends list have quit the game entirely because of the super low pop caps in cyrodiil, and ZOS isn't getting any money out of them anymore. Higher pop caps will bring them back to the game and their money with them.

Why can't we please just get back the populations and group sizes we used to have 3 years ago? It seems like ZOS long term plan is to eliminate Cyrodiil all together. The pop caps only go down, they never go up. Why?