Request: Turning Off Visual Effects (An Accessibility Issue)

Gabriel_H · August 2025

I fully understand that you (ZOS) want to make your game shiny and pretty and have lots of big bangs and explosions. I don't mind that at all, but it is now getting to the point that in some places it is causing me actual physical pain. I'll explain.

While I have always had problems with my eyes, in recent years I have developed severe light sensitivity (thanks Covid), and while it has improved from the days of literally not being able to look at a computer screen, I still experience issues with very bright or sudden bursts of light.

Some effects in-game are very difficult for me to see, the original mob heavy attack animation colour for example, or the pale yellow shield wall in Fang's Lair cause me particular problems due to a mix of the subtelty of the animation and the colours. Addons help me compensate for those animations/effects I NEED to know about but can't see well - with the exception of the shield wall in Fang's Lair - have you considered maybe not so pale a colour?

Most effects are not an issue for me, but the content in the last couple of years have got particularly flashy. Lucent Citadel is one of my favourite things to tank, but an extended period of time in there with the very bright effects literally hurts - I have to alter my monitors contrast/brightness to be able to get through a run, but I can only adjust so much before I can't see what I need to see. The worst so far, outside of PvP, is the Shapers in Ossein Cage. There are an absolute tonne of effects not just from the mobs/bosses but also players, to the point that not only does it cause me pain, but there are so many layers of effects that things like the poison AoE becomes near impossible to see (the latter problem is also experienced by people whose eyes are fine btw).

You already have accessibility options for those with poor eyesight. And while I don't need to use those options I do believe you need to add additional options to turn effects down/off - from other players effects to mob effects to environmental effects. A whole range of options across the board would greatly improve my player experience (and stop my eyes from screaming at me) but I believe many other players, not just those with sight problems, would appreciate this too.

Erorah · August 2025

I absolutely agree.
And while I have turned off {other player effects - in the Video settings, is that what it is called?}, I do not feel as though it is working on anything.
I cannot even see bodies that need to be rezzed for all the lights and spell effects going on.
With all the new colors, which are lovely btw, there is now just layers upon layers of lights, effects, fires, spells explosions and more going on.

PLEASE, let us tone this down. Thank you so much in advance!

Gabriel_H · August 2025

Erorah wrote: »

I absolutely agree.
And while I have turned off {other player effects - in the Video settings, is that what it is called?}, I do not feel as though it is working on anything.

The "Ally Effects" in the settings is very limited in what it does

FurryCandyHearts · August 2025

Please add to this list all the visual effects from arcanist, warden, and others that cause issues while in 1st person view?

katanagirl1 · August 2025

Gabriel_H wrote: »

Erorah wrote: »

I absolutely agree.
And while I have turned off {other player effects - in the Video settings, is that what it is called?}, I do not feel as though it is working on anything.

The "Ally Effects" in the settings is very limited in what it does

I agree with this post, but would also like this one option to be added to consoles. We have no way to turn anything down.

allochthons · August 2025

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I agree with this post, but would also like this one option to be added to consoles. We have no way to turn anything down.

Came here to say this. No options of any kind on Playstation, at least. I just re-checked everything under Options.
People have been asking for this for YEARS. The accessibility aspect to this is very, very real. Add colorblind options too, please.

On the playability side, too, it's an issue. The flashy skills and banner, especially, make some battles really hard to navigate. How can we avoid standing in stupid if we can't see it?

Jaimeh · August 2025

I think the last 2-3 years the visuals have become intrusive: intense colours, flashing lines, exaggerated visuals... Also, on a related note, I also wish we could turn off seeing other player's skill styles on our side, some of the colours/effects are really tiring on the eyes.

WuffyCerulei · August 2025

I very much agree with this, as well as having different options for cosmetic visual/audio effects and other similar effects. Things do get out of hand.

LunaFlora · August 2025

i agree and i recently made a list post for this stuff.
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/681702/accessibility-request-a-list-of-strobing-flashing-effects-occurrences/p1?new=1

Attorneyatlawl · August 2025

Jaimeh wrote: »

I think the last 2-3 years the visuals have become intrusive: intense colours, flashing lines, exaggerated visuals... Also, on a related note, I also wish we could turn off seeing other player's skill styles on our side, some of the colours/effects are really tiring on the eyes.

Tiring and it makes it artificially hard to tell what skills someone is firing off in PvP.

BretonMage · August 2025

Jaimeh wrote: »

Also, on a related note, I also wish we could turn off seeing other player's skill styles on our side, some of the colours/effects are really tiring on the eyes.

I would really love this option.

kumenit_taeynav · August 2025

ive honestly just given up on group content altogether unless i can run with my friends who i know dont have the arcanist class and will actually respect me when i say it physically hurts my eyes when i get beamed in the face. you dont get that sorta respect from strangers if you ask them to change the colour of their beam or to be careful where theyre aiming it

it super duper sucks that the only option for beam colours was limited time and had requirements to claim it? i dont have as many problems with the blue beam compared to the green beam but not everyone can or wants to switch colours
1. not everyone was playing during its avaiability
2. not everyone already had an alt or wanted to level them to meet the reqs
3. not everyone wants to change their own skill styles. not even when the healer asks super politely
people are of course free to do and claim what they want from the crown store but strangers who WANT to help me through a group dungeon dont even have the option when i ask them to switch to the blue beam if they didnt claim that skill style pack

physical pain aside the arcanist beam still covers up the battlefield and its difficult to see much beyond it. aoes and enemies are difficult to spot through the intense beam. its cost me a few soul gems over the years and its only gotten worse with everyone picking beam with multiclassing

i would kill for the option to not only tone down the flashy effects, not just on the arcanist beam but also on other abilities like the lightning destro staff ultimate, but also to change the colour of other peoples abilities specifically for myself. it is a downright shame that we cant already change how other peoples abilities appear to us. i am literally being kept out of a lot of multiplayer aspects of this multiplayer game because i dont enjoy the physical pain in my eyes

g0thiCiCecReaM · August 2025

This is one of many reasons my gf and I have stopped playing, it's impossible to see anything, and I mean anything with the ridiculous amount of effects. Blinding people (literally) with turning their screens almost solid white (I forget what encounters but it's really annoying) is not valid mechanics. You should be able to see what's going on, especially in trials. This is the only MMO in the last 20 years that I've played that you couldn't disable most spell effects.

Gabriel_H · August 2025

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I agree with this post, but would also like this one option to be added to consoles. We have no way to turn anything down.

Really?! Wow.

Gabriel_H · August 2025

kumenit_taeynav wrote: »

ive honestly just given up on group content altogether unless i can run with my friends who i know dont have the arcanist class and will actually respect me when i say it physically hurts my eyes when i get beamed in the face. you dont get that sorta respect from strangers if you ask them to change the colour of their beam or to be careful where theyre aiming it

it super duper sucks that the only option for beam colours was limited time and had requirements to claim it? i dont have as many problems with the blue beam compared to the green beam but not everyone can or wants to switch colours
1. not everyone was playing during its avaiability
2. not everyone already had an alt or wanted to level them to meet the reqs
3. not everyone wants to change their own skill styles. not even when the healer asks super politely
people are of course free to do and claim what they want from the crown store but strangers who WANT to help me through a group dungeon dont even have the option when i ask them to switch to the blue beam if they didnt claim that skill style pack

physical pain aside the arcanist beam still covers up the battlefield and its difficult to see much beyond it. aoes and enemies are difficult to spot through the intense beam. its cost me a few soul gems over the years and its only gotten worse with everyone picking beam with multiclassing

i would kill for the option to not only tone down the flashy effects, not just on the arcanist beam but also on other abilities like the lightning destro staff ultimate, but also to change the colour of other peoples abilities specifically for myself. it is a downright shame that we cant already change how other peoples abilities appear to us. i am literally being kept out of a lot of multiplayer aspects of this multiplayer game because i dont enjoy the physical pain in my eyes

Skill styles have made a big difference - both good and bad depening on the colour. I personally swapped out some skill styles (I play Templar) so that I could actually see when I was casting my own effects. The pale yellow ZOS use in a few places barely registers with me.

Attorneyatlawl · August 2025

Gabriel_H wrote: »

kumenit_taeynav wrote: »

ive honestly just given up on group content altogether unless i can run with my friends who i know dont have the arcanist class and will actually respect me when i say it physically hurts my eyes when i get beamed in the face. you dont get that sorta respect from strangers if you ask them to change the colour of their beam or to be careful where theyre aiming it

it super duper sucks that the only option for beam colours was limited time and had requirements to claim it? i dont have as many problems with the blue beam compared to the green beam but not everyone can or wants to switch colours
1. not everyone was playing during its avaiability
2. not everyone already had an alt or wanted to level them to meet the reqs
3. not everyone wants to change their own skill styles. not even when the healer asks super politely
people are of course free to do and claim what they want from the crown store but strangers who WANT to help me through a group dungeon dont even have the option when i ask them to switch to the blue beam if they didnt claim that skill style pack

physical pain aside the arcanist beam still covers up the battlefield and its difficult to see much beyond it. aoes and enemies are difficult to spot through the intense beam. its cost me a few soul gems over the years and its only gotten worse with everyone picking beam with multiclassing

i would kill for the option to not only tone down the flashy effects, not just on the arcanist beam but also on other abilities like the lightning destro staff ultimate, but also to change the colour of other peoples abilities specifically for myself. it is a downright shame that we cant already change how other peoples abilities appear to us. i am literally being kept out of a lot of multiplayer aspects of this multiplayer game because i dont enjoy the physical pain in my eyes

Skill styles have made a big difference - both good and bad depening on the colour. I personally swapped out some skill styles (I play Templar) so that I could actually see when I was casting my own effects. The pale yellow ZOS use in a few places barely registers with me.

That's fine, just give us the ability to turn it off client side for ourselves.

AcadianPaladin · August 2025

I agree and don't appreciate that the art/graphics direction has moved from lovely medieval fantasy very much too far toward 'neon cartoon' graphics. Exploding mounts that obscure my screen for a couple seconds when summoned are high on that list.

If the game is going to continue to embrace over the top light effects, at least give us the ability to toggle off seeing them. I'd love it, for example, if I had a setting so every player I see on a mount appeared to be riding a random vanilla horse.

MincMincMinc · August 2025

This feature could also help make the game more understandable to the average player.

Animations used to mean something early on in the game. Not every spammable had tons of performance breaking particle affects and giant tentacles. The only things we really need to see are CC effect telegraphs and ultimate animations because they are hard hitting.

Its why most spammable skills early on like surprise attack had simple animations.....because they were spammed. Now it does like 3x the effects and can proc hundreds of other combinations of sets and status effects and...... they are all done up like ultimate animations now.

Its also why the gamechanging skills of each class were in the 5th last to unlock slot. Generally they were also much higher cost and designed in a way to not be spammed.

Really the game design just used to be cleaner, but hard to fault zos when quarterly dlc releases were pushed so hard. Sell, sell, sell.

thedocbwarren · August 2025

The bright blinking I get from all the weird mounts, pets, and whatever that is causes migraines for me. It's been asked many times for skrys to pets, etc. to stop with bright flashes.

Rlacoste · December 2025

yup, out of control, performance feels 8fps when trying to 1v1, really pretty though.

magnusthorek · December 2025

I remember once, years ago, when Templars' "Nova" ultimate (and morphs) were so bright it was causing migraines and overall discomfort to the player base, after all, we relied on it quite a lot. I, for one, had to close my eyes and play only by the sound while it was up. If you're not that old of a player, watch the video Annoying bright spells in games from Viva La Dirt League and you'll understand. ZOS then listened to the player base and, eventually, nerfed the animation (he-he) and it became softer.

Why not do it again?

Recent · December 2025

Sometimes it gets so bright i cant see anything that's going on. It's like having a torch flashed right in your eyes.i hope we can one day turn down the lights