With almost 4TB of games, it used to take about 60-80 seconds for my game list to populate....

as above some newer games require NVME SSD's to run but that is about 3 games that require this, if you don't mind slower load times then mechanical is fine for 99% of the games out there.

I use a 4TB NVME for newer games or ones i want super quick loading times in, the rest i have stored across an 8TB hdd and a 4TB hdd.

example is star wars battlefront 2, loading off an NVME takes a few seconds, hdd it takes about 30 - 40 seconds and levels take on average about 30 seconds to load, but gameplay is completely unaffected.

loading times don't really bother me as i have patience and i also grew up with tape loading amstrads in the early 80's lol. (some games took 30 minutes or more to load, then crash and go though loading again)

You noticed that too Arkham? When your games list is populating or even to be able to select all games and what not it takes a long time like 30-40 seconds at times...same with the option to install games takes a long time to appear too.

Hello, it can take some time for the games and apps sections to populate, just leave the external drives connected and give the Xbox some time.

I had the same thing with my 4TB external when I went to the S and it took maybe 30-40 minutes before everything showed up.

With having two externals that process may take some time.

Since the most recent update, my dashboard/console start-up has been extremely slow... When I go to look at My Games on the dashboard, it takes quite a few seconds to load the list when it used to be almost instant. Dunno if it's a coincidence or not, but
it's a pain.

I had no problem ponying up my $60 (plus $25 for season pass) and I am sure a good part of the population feel the same.. about $60 and hopefully about the DLC.