ESO v1.3.0 live on PTS

ZOS released v1.3.0 late last night on PTS. In addition the patch notes are up. Get a snack, kick up your heels, and get ready for a long read --> CLICK HERE

Nice thread already up on Crafted and other item set bonuses:

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/118944/1-3-0-armor-and-weapon-sets

Oh wow, so this is coming sooner than later.

YES!!! 

• Improved the audio for horse hoofsteps.

I know its a nitpicky thing, but I was so sad that the sound of my horse was weak and muffled after 1.2.3.  It really was an ambient, immersion thing for me, hearing the thundering sound of horses rolling across the hills out in Cyrodiil.  (It was also an enemy locating thing, I could hear horses and direction with my 7.1 headset, then be able to drop my horse, crouch and avoid enemy or set up ambushes.)

Should be in around a month it looks like.  I read the patch notes pretty thouroughly and was dissappointed to see that little effort was put into the problem with Emperor's in Cyrodiil.  Boosting the AvA points requirement is a start, but something more concrete needs to be done.  Emperor's are completely overpowered as a single player and with Emperor farming so widespread it has become nothing more than a tool for GANKERS. 

Perhaps this is what Zenimax envisions for the game.  Unfortunately this is not what the majority of players want in Cyrodiil.

Former emperors need to only have the title and funny hat. Current emperors should have their buffs only in their home campaign, and shoud require the emperor to have people in tow.

I worry that the continued focus on "fluff" such as color balancing will again result in problems with FPS and rubberbanding in high population zones, such as Cyrodiil.  Further I worry that the problem of "unknown error" dropouts has not yet been addressed by the development team

Sooooo.......lots of good stuff and several glaring omissions. We will see how it plays out when it is actually live.

Catylynne of Skye

V12 EP Sorceress

New 1.3.1 notes for the PTS.  Looks like positive re-adjustments for spell crit builds

• Twilight’s Embrace: Updated the set piece bonuses on this set:
  • 3 piece bonus: Increases Spell Critical by 4%
  • 4 piece bonus: Increases spell power
• Willow’s Path: Updated the set piece bonuses on this set:
  • 2 piece bonus: Increases maximum magicka
  • 3 piece bonus: Increases Spell Critical by 4%
  • 4 piece bonus: Increases health regeneration

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/121494/pts-patch-notes-v1-3-1#latest

It should be noted that color balancing and smoothing textures often results in smoother graphics which are then handled better by graphics cards which will eliminate some "unknown" errors which occur when the cards can't render properly but have no clue "why".  It can actually increase FPS since fluidity is increased making rendering faster as it is less complicated.  Sometimes "fluff" isn't just "fluff" and being better looking is a side effect of better rendering performance. 

Some of these things actually delete pixels while enhancing the image - other times more pixels are added but the "clumping" together that was occurring is deleted which then results in faster processing since the image is easier to read by the processor so it doesn't freeze or stutter.  It is a real balancing act and I see it all the time when playing around with my digital photos - you can really screw up an image and make it unreadable.  I hate being told by my PC that it "Can't retrieve image" after I have played around with it... :(   but that is why I never mess with the original.  Even worse is printing one that I think looks fine and having it turn out like a Picasso (why is her eye on her chin and one lip has replaced an eyebrow???)  when printed - then being told "Image can't be saved". "Image can't be retrieved" "Corrupted Image Error!" Again - I have learned never to mess with the original. 

and... ambient sounds are what helps me immerse myself in a game - they usually have a higher setting than other sounds in my Audio settings... so fixing hoof sounds is a big plus for me also :)

Awesome.... They are quickly patching on PTS before they release to live. This is progress! I strongly  encourage everyone to log on and play around with the features and provide feedback and report bugs. This is your opportunity to influence change.