Crashing/Freezing When Loading Characters or Zone

Felyth · June 16

method__01 wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

/.,,,.

thanks for taking time to write all this but the prob is not with my rig,ssd or file sys
the prob afaik is with 24H2 win11 update and current game patch that causes CPU reaching 100% in some cases
and causes game crashes and freezes your pc-all other games working fine btw (example D3 and D4)
this is still happening since December with F76 -a game also from Bethesda -can check the many steam reports
and was also present on PTS where ive had the exact same crash

Exactly the same issue here - cpu ramps up to 100% during loading screens or when going into more crowded zones and freezes up my entire pc. 3 things can happen from that point - it either eventually loads and unfreezes my pc, freezes it completely to the point where I have to reboot my pc or the game crashes and I get the same error you posted in the screenshot. This has started happening to me since U46. I had 0 issues before U46 and I have 0 issues in other games (some of them way more cpu intensive like star citizen).

method__01 · June 16

after todays patch, game seems to run smoother -so far -got no fps drops and latency is stable
im doing dailys in NA server -lots of ppl logged atm- and have no major issues

Felyth · June 16

The patch did absolutely nothing for me.

S_Northman · June 16

After fully updating my PC (ASUS BIOS, ASUS other updates, Windows updates, nVidia drivers)
After today ESO patch

I'm sorry to say that these bugs are still there
- the 'unable to load skin' bug of the launcher
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674955/summary-unable-to-load-skin-error#latest
- the 'reload UI' bug
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674956/reload-ui-bug-after-last-patch-befor-game-update-45#latest

I didn't play enough to evaluate this one
- graphic glitches and even crashes:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/678623/graphic-glitrches-eso-nvidia#latest

I could add that there are numerous errors in the French translation for Solstice, including a lot of typos.

But no recent crashes at startup of the ESO client

halkjear · June 16

I found the problem for me.

Hitting Default option under video settings removed the issue.
So I decided to change one setting at a time back to what it should be, saving and going through a loading screen to see if it would freeze.
And soon I found the option causing the issue.

A recent update for nVidia App has apparently "optimized" my settings, turning ON Software Occlusion Culling in the video settings.
Software Occlusion Culling takes load of the GPU and puts it on the CPU, in case you have a weak graphics card.

I do not have a weak graphics card. In fact my GPU is much newer and more powerful than my CPU. So why it was turned on, no idea.

With this option OFF my game runs as it always has with everything at highest possible setting.

Maybe this helps someone else.

Felyth · June 16

I realise that the issue might be hard to fix or identify but could we please atleast get some acknowledgement here? I would very much like to be able to keep playing the game and this issue is making it very hard to. It's been 14 days since the update and there are several threads popping up about this issue. Please.

S_Northman · June 16

halkjear wrote: »

I found the problem for me.

A recent update for nVidia App has apparently "optimized" my settings, turning ON Software Occlusion Culling in the video settings.
Software Occlusion Culling takes load of the GPU and puts it on the CPU, in case you have a weak graphics card.
With this option OFF my game runs as it always has with everything at highest possible setting.
.

I'm interested in your finding, because I'm suspecting nVidia App and drivers to be the root of some issues in my PC, and not only for ESO..
Could you be more accurate please ?

When you speak of this option, it's located in video settings of the ESO client ?
You didn't change anything in the global parameters or ESO parameters in the nVidia APP itself ?

Speaking of nVidia APP, I take the opportunity to say it's mandatory to switch OFF nVidia Overlay in the settings of this APP.
For me Overlay ON was causing many random issues when launching the game.

halkjear · June 17

S_Northman wrote: »

halkjear wrote: »

I found the problem for me.

A recent update for nVidia App has apparently "optimized" my settings, turning ON Software Occlusion Culling in the video settings.
Software Occlusion Culling takes load of the GPU and puts it on the CPU, in case you have a weak graphics card.
With this option OFF my game runs as it always has with everything at highest possible setting.
.

I'm interested in your finding, because I'm suspecting nVidia App and drivers to be the root of some issues in my PC, and not only for ESO..
Could you be more accurate please ?

When you speak of this option, it's located in video settings of the ESO client ?
You didn't change anything in the global parameters or ESO parameters in the nVidia APP itself ?

Speaking of nVidia APP, I take the opportunity to say it's mandatory to switch OFF nVidia Overlay in the settings of this APP.
For me Overlay ON was causing many random issues when launching the game.

The Software Occlusion Culling option is in the ESO video settings.

I did not change anything other than in the video settings in ESO. But I would assume that changes can also be made in the usersettings.ini located in the live folder, if you know how.

I also have Overlay turned off in nVidia App. But I never had it on because I have not use for it.

tsaescishoeshiner · June 17

I've had crashes in Summerset, and my entire PC crashed due to a memory error outside Sunhold* today. Curious to see if there's any related issue between all of these.

Solstice and other zones, ports, and character switches had all been fine, as far as I can tell.

Edit: Wrong Sun city

S_Northman · June 17

halkjear wrote: »

The Software Occlusion Culling option is in the ESO video settings.

My menus are in French then I try to use the best translation to compare.

In ESO video settings, I have:

'Software occlusion removal: NO'

I have this other line:
Ambiant occultation: with 5 possible choices
- Screen space IG
- none
- SSAO
- HBAO
- LSAO
Currently 'Screen space IG' is selected
I don't know if it is the best.

Felyth · June 17

S_Northman wrote: »

halkjear wrote: »

The Software Occlusion Culling option is in the ESO video settings.

My menus are in French then I try to use the best translation to compare.

In ESO video settings, I have:

'Software occlusion removal: NO'

I have this other line:
Ambiant occultation: with 5 possible choices
- Screen space IG
- none
- SSAO
- HBAO
- LSAO
Currently 'Screen space IG' is selected
I don't know if it is the best.

This is unrelated to the issue at hand. His nvidia app enabled Software Occlusion Culling which put more load on the cpu. He disabled that which helped take some load off the cpu which from what I'm reading was enough in his case to get rid of the freezing. This looks like some sort of compatibility issue causing abormal cpu usage. From what threads/posts I've read so far some people have started having this issue since installing the 24H2 windows update and some (like me) since the U46 eso update.

Sarannah · June 17

S_Northman wrote: »

After fully updating my PC (ASUS BIOS, ASUS other updates, Windows updates, nVidia drivers)
After today ESO patch

I'm sorry to say that these bugs are still there
- the 'unable to load skin' bug of the launcher
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674955/summary-unable-to-load-skin-error#latest
- the 'reload UI' bug
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674956/reload-ui-bug-after-last-patch-befor-game-update-45#latest

I didn't play enough to evaluate this one
- graphic glitches and even crashes:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/678623/graphic-glitrches-eso-nvidia#latest

I could add that there are numerous errors in the French translation for Solstice, including a lot of typos.

But no recent crashes at startup of the ESO client

The bios update, especially for asus motherboards, should have solved the unable to load skin error entirely. The only other thing I can recommend trying is to manually check if the powerlimits and p-core/e-core limits/values in place are correct and not too high for your motherboard. Some motherboards do not support some of the newer CPU's at full/extreme speed, due to this speed requiring some specific bios programs. Check your motherboard manual and the internet, to see which speed with which settings fully support your cpu in combination with your motherboard. (Sometimes it is one easily overlooked bios setting, an easily overlooked bios limit, or bios mismatch somewhere that causes major problems.)

S_Northman · June 18

After some testing, the bug of game crashing randomly when changing zones is still there

I'm not fully sure, but I guess ther could be a connexion between these crashes and the 'reload UI' bug.
This morning I started with a first character, the loading was OK
I played about 1 hour with some zone changes, no problem
Then I switched characters.
The 2nd one had the 'reload UI' bug at loading
Then I played a little
At the 2nd zone change, I got the crash.

Moreover, after that kind of crash, I have to try to start the client 2 ou 3 times before it finally works.
It doesn't restart at the first try.
I observed that issue several times after crashes.

Raz415 · June 18

S_Northman wrote: »

Moreover, after that kind of crash, I have to try to start the client 2 ou 3 times before it finally works.
It doesn't restart at the first try.
I observed that issue several times after crashes.

Same.

Is anyone else seeing completely black, textureless PCs while crashing? It has happened many times now. Since I can pretty much force a crash by sprinting on my mount, I'm guessing this crash is caused by loading assets (zones and characters). I can play dungeons without any problem if I actually manage to survive the loading screens up to getting there, I'm guessing all assets in dungeons are pre-loaded?

Knight-errant · June 19

I was plagued with this issue at the start of update 46. I didn't have much luck submitting a ticket or with standard trouble shooting procedures. I did eventually narrow down the issue and I wanted to share what I believe is the cause of this problem and how I worked around it. I used an AI assistant to help with more advanced trouble shooting and narrowing down the problem. This problem is caused by file corruption that is originating from the games coding or from the games coding not being compatible with the device. My device meets standards so if it is the later I hope that it gets fixed in the future. I found that disabling any game overlays helped make smoother transitions for me so I would suggest doing that even though it may not be entirely necessary. The main fix I found was making sure to check the box {Check for obsolete files after next launcher startup}. Essentially after the game runs for some time, 2-4 hours in my experience, some of the program files become corrupt. I have not been able to identify them specifically but checking this box and restarting the launcher clears them. If you continuously attempt to try and load once the freezing begins and you wait eventually the game will crash and provide a message saying that the files are corrupt and you should repair or reinstall the game. Running the repair does nothing and reinstalling also does not fix the issue. I will provide an image of what box needs checked. I hope this helps others in working around this issue.

S_Northman · June 19

Very interesting, thanks! Hope that the devs will have a look at that.

This explanation is compatible with the two issues I have ('reload UI' error and 'crash when changing zone'), and the fact they are random. Should need some play time for the corruption occurs. I'm quite sure these issues could have the same root cause.

I bought ESO directly at the beginning, and some time later I linked my ESO account to Steam. Then I'm able to play using Steam or not.
Currently I have the 'unable to load skin' bug of the launcher, so I use the launcher only one time after an update of the game. Otherwise, I launch the ESO client directly (outside Steam) from the installation folder. Then this 'obsolete files cleaning' is not performed.

I confirm there is a problem with overlays, especially with the overlay of the nVidia APP.

For me quite all issues appeared after the W11 24H2 update and the ESO update 45. The ESO coding is rather old now, I guess that it is not fully compatible with W11 24H2 update. Never had any issues with 23H2. It is known that 24H2 modified at least two things: energy saving modes (affecting network connexions) and memory management. Maybe there is some root for file corruption here.

Nocturne Saint · June 19

I think the people who have bought ESO Plus should be entitled to a months game time. i got eso plus the 28th of may, and still can't properly play the game, it either freezes trying to load character, or if i get further, stutters like crazy and is choppy and unplayable.

i think we deserve compensation

method__01 · June 19

what worst -for me- is that we get no official support-and this is bad news, cause imo they dont know how to fix the issue
leaving users for near 20 days now do their own trouble shooting while ZOS focus on changing colors in game items
and sub -nonsense -new features -instead of give us a working game and proper (for the money they are asking ) content

enzoisadog · June 19

Has anyone tried doing a full Windows reinstall to get a completely fresh start and see if that helps?

S_Northman · June 19

I read some testimonies by players who reinstalled W (and reinstalled ESO as well), but It seems that this don't change anything. Then if you are able to stand at W11 23H2, could be worth to reinstall. If not, it's useless I think.

Moreover, most players say that they have no issues with other games, only ESO.

I think that W11 24H2 is the main culprit, which has introduced some modifications, with which ESO 'rather old' coding (launcher and client) is not fully compatible.

Moreover, the issues are worst for those who have an Intel Core i9 CPU due apparently to the energy savings fonctions of this chip (+ bad interaction with W11 24H2 new energy saving management).

And at last, there seems to be some bugs in the nVidia APP and the lest versions of their game ready drivers.

In other words: W11 24H2 + Intel Core i9 + nVidia GPU = you are quite sure to have issues with ESO

I didn't have all theses issues for 10 years with my old PC W10 / core i7.
With the new one, W11 23H2 / core i9, everything was perfect until March 2025.
Then: W11 24H2 + ESO update 45 + installation of nVidia new APP +/ drivers = many issues in the launcher and the game.

Felyth · June 20

S_Northman wrote: »

I read some testimonies by players who reinstalled W (and reinstalled ESO as well), but It seems that this don't change anything. Then if you are able to stand at W11 23H2, could be worth to reinstall. If not, it's useless I think.

Moreover, most players say that they have no issues with other games, only ESO.

I think that W11 24H2 is the main culprit, which has introduced some modifications, with which ESO 'rather old' coding (launcher and client) is not fully compatible.

Moreover, the issues are worst for those who have an Intel Core i9 CPU due apparently to the energy savings fonctions of this chip (+ bad interaction with W11 24H2 new energy saving management).

And at last, there seems to be some bugs in the nVidia APP and the lest versions of their game ready drivers.

In other words: W11 24H2 + Intel Core i9 + nVidia GPU = you are quite sure to have issues with ESO

I didn't have all theses issues for 10 years with my old PC W10 / core i7.
With the new one, W11 23H2 / core i9, everything was perfect until March 2025.
Then: W11 24H2 + ESO update 45 + installation of nVidia new APP +/ drivers = many issues in the launcher and the game.

I have an i7 (the power settings are also fine), I've installed the 24H2 update months ago and I've had no issues until the U46 eso update. Also I'm pretty sure nvidia has nothing to do with the cpu getting paralyzed.

Sarannah · June 20

Maybe something else to try and think about for those with issues: If you ever had any issues with ESO in the past and manually edited the usersettings.txt file, this change or changes may be affecting you now during a new ESO update. (This is why I will never alter my usersettings.txt manually.)

Also make sure to check every setting and limit everywhere on your computer. Check every menu to see if all settings are correct. BIOS, control panel, ESO, windows, etc. Check everything. Sometimes one small overlooked setting or combination of settings can cause major issues.

These are the only other things I can think of to try. Goodluck to those with issues.

S_Northman wrote: »

In other words: W11 24H2 + Intel Core i9 + nVidia GPU = you are quite sure to have issues with ESO

Running the latest windows 11 version, have an i9 14900k(capped at 5.6Ghz due to motherboard limit), and have an nvidia GPU(4080 super on 566.36 driver version), and have no issues at all. (Did have the unable to load skin error earlier this year, but fixed that completely with inputting the correct power limits and p-core and e-core values in the BIOS.)

S_Northman · June 20

I have an ASUS desktop G16CHR
core i9 14900KF
NVIDIA RTX 4070 SUPER

I found this link about e-core p-core
https://rog.asus.com/articles/guides/laptop-cpu-core-configuration/
Then I installed Armoury Crate but 'CPU configuration' doesn't appear as shown on this link.
I did some research on the web, I'm not alone, it seems that ASUS has removed this fonction in the last versions of Armoury Crate

Frayton · June 20

This fixed it for me: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8329469/#Comment_8329469

Raz415 · June 21

Servadei wrote: »

This fixed it for me: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8329469/#Comment_8329469

After following that formula, I've been playing for about 2 hours with 0 issues.

Raz415 · June 22

Customer support also came through with the following post:

"Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team. My name is Gabriel and as a member of our advanced team, I will be assisting you today.

I understand that you are still encountering issues after uninstalling OneDrive and completing the previously provided tests.

For our next step we ask that you make a few specific adjustments to your UserSettings.txt file. What will need to be changed, as well as where to find the specified file will all be detailed below.

Be default, this file is placed in the following folder: C:\Users\[your.username]\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live

Once you have located the UserSettings.txt file, open it and find the following lines:

SET MaxCoresToUse.4
SET RequestedNumJobThreads
SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads

Edit and set the above entries to the below values:

SET MaxCoresToUse.4 "3"
SET RequestedNumJobThreads "6"
SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads "6"

After the above has been completed, save the file using the standard Save function (Do not use Save As). From here, start up the game and check to see if the freezes or crashes persist.

Let us know how testing goes and our team will review and reach back out to you.

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,
Gabriel
The Elder Scrolls Online Team"

Their formula was different for my CPU that has 4 cores and 4 threads, but it works.

imno007b14_ESO · June 22

Raz415 wrote: »

Customer support also came through with the following post:

"Greetings!

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team. My name is Gabriel and as a member of our advanced team, I will be assisting you today.

I understand that you are still encountering issues after uninstalling OneDrive and completing the previously provided tests.

For our next step we ask that you make a few specific adjustments to your UserSettings.txt file. What will need to be changed, as well as where to find the specified file will all be detailed below.

Be default, this file is placed in the following folder: C:\Users\[your.username]\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live

Once you have located the UserSettings.txt file, open it and find the following lines:

SET MaxCoresToUse.4
SET RequestedNumJobThreads
SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads

Edit and set the above entries to the below values:

SET MaxCoresToUse.4 "3"
SET RequestedNumJobThreads "6"
SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads "6"

After the above has been completed, save the file using the standard Save function (Do not use Save As). From here, start up the game and check to see if the freezes or crashes persist.

Let us know how testing goes and our team will review and reach back out to you.

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,
Gabriel
The Elder Scrolls Online Team"

Their formula was different for my CPU that has 4 cores and 4 threads, but it works.

Thanks! It's still too early to proclaim that I'm completely in the clear, but after using these values, I could immediately see a difference hanging out in Rimmen and porting to the different wayshrines and dolmens in Alik'r, which we're previously problem areas. I was fine doing trials or dungeons, etc., but those two places especially always eventually made a freeze fest of my PC. I had tried some similar settings in usersettings.txt that involved multiplying cores and threads by certain fractions, etc, as well as multiple repairs and reinstalls and compatibility settings, etc., and nothing helped, but this seems to be working. Fingers crossed!

EDIT (in case it's helpful to someone): My CPU is a AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

S_Northman · June 22

Thanks for sharing.

I have a core i9 14900-KF that is supposed to have 24 cores (8 P-cores and 16 E-cores), and 32 threads.

First I used the values given by Raz (3,6,6)
I had a crash at the 2nd zones switch using a portal (in Solstice)

Then I used the 'formula' given in the link above
The calculation gives (18,22,22) based on the total number of cores (it should be 6 instead of 18 using only the P-cores)
I had the reload UI error (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674956/reload-ui-bug-after-last-patch-befor-game-update-45#latest) and the PC fan seems to turn faster.

So nothing very improved in both cases and I get back to the standard values (-1)

If someone found good values for core i9 14900-KF, I am interested in testing.

The good thing is that the support and the devs seems to be aware of an issue with this number of cores / threads
See also https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/42162

Once again I didn't have any issues with ESO before the update W11 24H2 and ESO update 45.
First the 'reload UI' issue occured.
Then after the ESO update 46 I began to have the random 'game quits' when teleporting, with the ESO window proposing to send a crash report (no freezing of the PC).

W11 24H2 / ESO 45 brought as well the 'unable to load skin' bug for the launcher (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674955/summary-unable-to-load-skin-error#latest)

Sarannah · June 22

S_Northman wrote: »

Thanks for sharing.

I have a core i9 14900-KF that is supposed to have 24 cores (8 P-cores and 16 E-cores), and 32 threads.

First I used the values given by Raz (3,6,6)
I had a crash at the 2nd zones switch using a portal (in Solstice)

Then I used the 'formula' given in the link above
The calculation gives (18,22,22) based on the total number of cores (it should be 6 instead of 18 using only the P-cores)
I had the reload UI error (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674956/reload-ui-bug-after-last-patch-befor-game-update-45#latest) and the PC fan seems to turn faster.

So nothing very improved in both cases and I get back to the standard values (-1)

If someone found good values for core i9 14900-KF, I am interested in testing.

The good thing is that the support and the devs seems to be aware of an issue with this number of cores / threads
See also https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/42162

Once again I didn't have any issues with ESO before the update W11 24H2 and ESO update 45.
First the 'reload UI' issue occured.
Then after the ESO update 46 I began to have the random 'game quits' when teleporting, with the ESO window proposing to send a crash report (no freezing of the PC).

W11 24H2 / ESO 45 brought as well the 'unable to load skin' bug for the launcher (https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674955/summary-unable-to-load-skin-error#latest)

What motherboard do you have? I looked up the ASUS G16CHR and there are many different versions. They all seem to have the Intel® B760 Chipset though. So I am going on based off of that assumption. Please check this!
https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/229719/intel-b760-chipset/specifications.html
https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236787/intel-core-i9-processor-14900kf-36m-cache-up-to-6-00-ghz/specifications.html
I'm assuming those are your hardware specs.

Your chipset(motherboard) does not seem to have the Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost Frequency technology. So you can't operate your CPU at 6.0Ghz without issues.
Your chipset(motherboard) does also not seem to have the Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency technology. So you also can't operate your CPU at 5.8Ghz without issues.
You need to cap your CPU at 5.6 Ghz for the CPU to run stable with your motherboard. The cap for you is at 5.6 Ghz P-core and 4.4 Ghz E-core. This should solve your issues, atleast some of them.

Going over this cap is usually fine, but ESO will not like it. This can cause unable to load skin/lag/delay issues as the CPU will try to do more than your motherboard is capable of doing.

Hopefully this info helps you, and everyone else! For everyone else with these issues: Check the official manufacturer sites and check which technologies your motherboard and cpu can handle, otherwise you will run into issues sooner or later!

PS: Added the sites where I found the info for your ( @S_Northman ) motherboard/cpu. So you can check these things for yourself.
PPS: Please always read the manuals and look up your specs thoroughly when you get new hardware!

S_Northman · June 22

Thank you Sarannah for your time.

I was not able to found the info about the chipset, but I was able to monitor the CPU using ASUS 'Armoury Crate' app.
It is around 1,3 GHz when doing nothing special, 4,2 to 4,4 GHZ when loaded, with some peaks around 5,4 GHz. I assume that ASUS did a correct job with their BIOS. And the temperature in under control. That seems raisonnable.
I guess that otherwise I should have many random issues in different situations and with different sotware, blue screens and so on.

Moreover, I have issues only with ESO. These issues are random (happen or not) but only in very precise situations.
Not any issue with W11 23H2
After W11 24H2 and ESO 45, the 'reload UI'' issue appeared randomly only when switching characters
After ESO 46 update, the 'ESO quits - send a report' appeared randomly when changing zone
Moreover, I remarked that if a character has the reload UI error when charged, it is more likely to have the 'ESO quits' error during the next zone changes.
These 2 issues could be connected.
Otherwise, if the character loads correctly, and if I stay in the same zone, I can play for 2 hours or more without any issue, the game runs perfectly.

My issues are not general for the PC, only with ESO, only during some precise actions, and they appeared after well identified W11 / ESO updates of the client. Only when loading something as a character or a zone.

Then I think that the main root is in W11 / ESO updates, not only in my configuration. In the meaning that these updates are not working well for my configuration, for the ESO coding.

Concerning the 'unable to load skin' error of the launcher, it appeared after W11 24H2 or ESO 45 update. Everything was OK before.
The PC is 100% able to start the launcher using the 'enter key' trick (which basically consists in spamming the ESO server with requests).

So I guess there is something wrong with exchanges between the PC and ESO server, causing my three issues that are related to loading from the server, and that the main cause is W11 24H2 and other MS updates as .net.