FromSoftware releases a small update for Fire ring on July 4th, which makes some balance optimizations and some bug fixes for the game in the wake of the release of the Shadow of the Earth Tree expansion. However, these changes were overshadowed by growing player frustration with From’s stance on fixing the game’s ongoing performance issues.
On all platforms, but especially PC, Fire ring suffers from an inconsistent frame rate, struggling to reliably hit 60 frames per second even in the game’s performance mode. However, From has rarely addressed the issue directly in patches, often suggesting that players make adjustments themselves instead.
In the Patch notes for update 1.12.3From added a section titled “Potential fixes for unstable performance.” In it, the developer recommended that PlayStation 5 players experiencing unstable frame rates restart their consoles in safe mode and use the “rebuild database” option. PC players were instructed to disable third-party mouse applications and make sure ray tracing was not accidentally enabled. And From asked PC players who were presented with an unjustified anti-cheat message to “please verify the integrity of the game files before restarting the game.”
“It is absolutely crazy to me that they continue to recommend placebo solutions instead of performance improvements,” wrote a commenter on Reddit. “Performance issues? We think it’s your fault, yes. Now go ahead and do things that no other game requires because it’s your PC/PS5’s fault.” another wrote.
Gaming technology experts at Digital Foundry recently published their analysis of Fire ring after Shadow of the Earth Treepublication and stated that “Long-standing technical problems remain unresolved.”
“Apparently no good progress has been made […] after two years,” reported Digital Foundry. “Few developers can match this studio’s prowess in world-building and 3D combat. But on every platform, we see a developer that consistently ignores important technical issues.” […] Shadow of the Earth TreeThe release of reminds us once again that obvious, ongoing problems in the studio’s production are being overlooked.”
Elsewhere in the patch notes, From mentions changes that were actually made to improve the game, including nerfing the Swift Slash ability in player-versus-player combat, increasing the throw attack range of the Smithscript Dagger and Cirque, and changing the boss placement in the second encounter with Golden Hippopotamus and Commander Gaius. From also fixed a number of bugs, including one that caused enemies to constantly heal themselves after their health was reduced by summoning Black Knife Tiche.
