Is it just me, or have loading times appear to have been massively improved on PC?

[Tommara]

They were already instant for me on an SSD and have been almost as fast on the HDD I currently use, so I haven't noticed a difference.

Yeah, game is on an SSD, so I haven't noticed a difference.

Edited Note: I have noticed that in the MSQ duty roulettes where cutscenes can't be skipped, that my cutscenes are finishing faster than others though.

[KageTokage]

Load times used to usually take like three to five seconds for me on a SSD.

Now it generally takes only one or two seconds, and in some cases I've actually loaded in so quickly that the screen isn't even able to fully go to black before I arrive at my destination.

I'm curious as to what optimizations they applied since I already noticed pre 5.5 via my hardware monitoring program that the game starts to pre-load zones the moment you approach a zone line or start teleporting.

[Sotaris]

Load times used to usually take like three to five seconds for me on a SSD.

Now it generally takes only one or two seconds, and in some cases I've actually loaded in so quickly that the screen isn't even able to fully go to black before I arrive at my destination.

I'm curious as to what optimizations they applied since I already noticed pre 5.5 via my hardware monitoring program that the game starts to pre-load zones the moment you approach a zone line or start teleporting.

I have same experience, yes seems be that zones is being loaded/rendered differently now. I prefer fast zoning than be stuck 4-5 seconds on a black screen.

[Liam_Harper]

No noticeable difference for me.

[DuskTS]

PS5 is so powerful it's actually boosting PC performance.

[MiniTofu]

PS5 is so powerful it's actually boosting PC performance.

In another way of saying it, haha. It has been like this for decades.

A lot of games design and limit around console before porting to PC. Always trying to adapt the least powerful hardware to maximize the audiences (because not everyone has the money and luck). I'm on PC with 10600k + 3080 FE and I know a lot of games don't really take advantage of it because of many port console games.

[Jeeqbit]

I notice it only in a few specific areas now, such as The Tempest.

[KDSilver]

Looks like what make load the area faster in that it loads area first then character second.
I load super fast but character then pop on screen after I arrive.

Which is good.

[KarstenS]

For guys like ...

No noticeable difference for me.

... and ...

Yeah, game is on an SSD, so I haven't noticed a difference.

... I have made a short video, to show what I mean when I say ...

With that the difference is huge.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pDO7ZQ-gOE

[Teraluna]

This appears to be good news for some players, so well done SE.
A problem still exists in world transfers with significant delays, to the point where people aren't even bothering, knowing the mark will be long dead by the time the system transfers them.
Before we go any further, it's known why the current system slowly queues characters. But this isn't a solution, it's the cause of the problem.
Now this may be the only way that SE can manage world transfers, if so, tough luck to all those who miss out on marks or don't even bother transferring now due to these delays.
But it's a long way from an ideal situation, and I would would hope SE are working on ways to improve this.
I'll be the first one to admit that I wouldn't have a clue what would be needed. Are we talking about something as fundamental as more powerful servers?
I can only see this issue continuing, maybe getting even worse with future gear upgrading/token gatherings etc.