Dev deep dive request- the music and music players and singers of tamriel

Umbracat449 · April 14

Hello, I saw this in the patch notes:

"After 12 years in Tamriel, we are in the process of modernizing the audio mix of ESO. We are excited for you all to hear the changes, but be aware that due to these adjustments some of the sound levels in game might be different from what you are accustomed to. This is a large scale work in progress, so please bear with us! We plan to discuss these updates in detail in a future developer deep dive article."

This sounds really interesting! I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

I'd love to also hear about how you do the music, choosing pieces and musicians and singers, recording them, putting them into the world, the whole bit. Id love to hear about the different pieces we the players can play with our lute and flute.

Id love some kind of music celebration event too, I've wondered whether it's possible to bring the different singers out from all the different taverns and have them on a stage somewhere, doing sessions, we could watch, but, not sure if that is even possible.

The music of tamriel is one of my favourite parts.

Looking forward to this sounds deep dive.

katanagirl1 · April 14

I really love the music in the game. I read this with trepidation though. I don’t really want any music changes.

Syldras · April 14

Umbracat449 wrote: »

"After 12 years in Tamriel, we are in the process of modernizing

Please no!

JemadarofCaerSalis · April 14

Syldras wrote: »

Umbracat449 wrote: »

"After 12 years in Tamriel, we are in the process of modernizing

Please no!

More variety in the vein of what we already have?

Great!

Modernization of the music?

Not so great.

whitecrow · April 14

All bards will now play synthesizers.

Syldras · April 14

I mean, it does say "audio mix" and "sound levels", but considering the UI modernization looked horrible and unfitting for this game, and the combat animation modernization made the graphics more flashy and partially cartoony, seeing this term makes me wary.

Umbracat449 · April 15

Well, I don't mind richer sounds, and better combat sounds, they sound like bad fireworks....I never read "modern" as in modern music as in a change of style.

And to be fair, I added music on to this.

Maybe they're only doing sound effects.

Id love a rethink of the bird in grahtwood, reapers march, it's so frequent, it's like fingernails down a blackboard to me. Have to mute the zones.

Basically anything too frequent after dozens/hundred hours, is gonna drive the players nuts.

DoofusMax · April 15

FWIW, I'm pretty sure that "modernizing" does not mean beatbox bards and hip-hop minstrels. I noticed on PTS that the sound on the lower floor of the Rosy Lion was much more clear and crisp than it seems to be on the live servers. Nothing the minstrel was singing changed, but the quality of the sound seemed much better.

CatalinaWineMixer2 · April 15

This is a really good thing! @Zos thank you for listening! There is so much beautiful music in the game, any additions or expansions upon this can only make it better. Really excited to hear more about this!

LunaFlora · April 15

yes this would be awesome!
i LOVE the music in Elder Scrolls Online

Syldras · April 15

DoofusMax wrote: »

FWIW, I'm pretty sure that "modernizing" does not mean beatbox bards and hip-hop minstrels.

I don't think anyone here expects that to be the case.

The wariness is about the fact that the last few modernizations we saw weren't exactly well-received. Instead of an UI with a higher resolution, we got a design with weird blocky boxes and thicker icons. Instead of making the combat animations more fluid and realistic, they just got flashier and some effects felt cartoonier/simplified compared to the old ones.

tsaescishoeshiner · April 15

Can we get an interview with Daahin? Rimmen's pop star with a captive audience of writrunners.

Umbracat449 · April 15

There've been a few singers that have stopped me in my tracks, and sometimes they're in very remote places- I'm sure they're not often found or listened to.

That's why I was wondering about a festival where they all feature- but I don't know how doable that is.

JemadarofCaerSalis · April 16

Syldras wrote: »

DoofusMax wrote: »

FWIW, I'm pretty sure that "modernizing" does not mean beatbox bards and hip-hop minstrels.

I don't think anyone here expects that to be the case.

The wariness is about the fact that the last few modernizations we saw weren't exactly well-received. Instead of an UI with a higher resolution, we got a design with weird blocky boxes and thicker icons. Instead of making the combat animations more fluid and realistic, they just got flashier and some effects felt cartoonier/simplified compared to the old ones.

Yeah, I am not thinking of modernization as in 'hip-hop' but rather, just sounds that would be wildly out of place in Tamriel or sounds that are grating.

BretonMage · April 16

My biggest audio wish is to be able to customise the music in our homes, as well as to set the volume level of music boxes separately from the "Effects" volume.

I have also grown attached to the musical ambience of certain zones, I hope the new proposed system doesn't deviate too much from it. More of the same would be good, not so keen on something wildly different.