TL;DR version: I have one specific character that cannot reliably log in, change channels, or change maps. Help!
Hello all,
I’ve been playing this game for quite some time and really enjoy the overall in-game atmosphere, world, and even storyline (weird as it gets at times, admittedly). Unfortunately, about three weeks ago I started encountering a critical problem with the load screen hanging for a very specific character about 80% of the time on any login, channel change, or map change (which makes dungeon/saalus runs practically impossible).
At this point I’ve just about given up on my ticket with IMC (the third ticket, which is still “In Progress”; the prior two were “Answered” but did not resolve the issue), and the overall advice in-game was to ask on the forums and see if anyone had any ideas that could help. To that end, I’m hoping that some of you may have experienced something similar and have a solution, or have some other suggestions that I could try! The details of my ticket, which includes a lot of detail:
Server : Orsha
Team Name : [Redacted]
Character Name : [Redacted – the specific character is a Cleric C1, Krivis C3, Paladin C3, Oracle, Inquisitor; Level 349]
Steam Account : [Redacted]
Country : Canada
System Information : CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs)
RAM: 8GB
OS: Windows 10 (Build 14393)
VIDEO CARD: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 (w/6GB integrated RAMDAC)
FREE DISK SPACE: >100GB (Solid State Drive)When the error happened(Date, time, location) : Noticed starting on December 26, around 5:00pm server time (may have actually started any time after the weekly maintenance).
Steps to reproduce the issue : Attempt to log into any map or dungeon with [one specific character], or change channels on that character.
Description : This is a continuation of the same problem from the tickets sent on December 26 and 27 [Note: The content of those tickets is substantially the same as this one, but with less detail]. The client continues to hang for the [specific character] in the same manner as before (the most recent account modifications and moving the problematic character to Orsha did not help: Orsha will hang too). However, after further testing I believe I can provide additional information, which I very much hope may aid in the diagnosis and problem resolution.
Again, this problem is limited only to the [one specific character]. All other characters do not have any issues with login, map changes, or channel changes whatsoever. [This specific character] also never had this problem until after the last weekly maintenance patch.
Attempting to log into the game, change maps (including enter dungeons), or change maps on the [the specific character] has a very high chance of causing the game client to hang on the loading screen (about 4/5 times). I have not been able to decipher and reason or difference between when it does work and when it does not.
The game hangs at the same part of the loading screen every time: about 2/3rds of the way through the load process. There are no error messages: the game stops responding, stops loading, and the CPU usage for the client at this point spikes to 50%-80% CPU usage and stays that high until the game is force-closed. For reference, the game running properly/loading is about 15%-20% CPU (even Ch1 of Klaipeda with >60 people is max 35% CPU usage).
Server side, I expect that the character actually does load into the map/channel/dungeon. This is based on (a) That, if the client hangs when changing maps via a map-change portal, when I re-enter the game the number of channels corresponds to the new map, and if I can successfully log in then my character is on the new map, and (b) Once in an automatched dungeon where the client hung on entry, when I was finally able to successfully enter the game again on that character I noticed that I had received the exp and items for completing that run – I assume my automatched teammates cleared the dungeon fast.
Based on all of the above, my best guess is that something was introduced into the client-side code during [the Dec 25] maintenance (I’m not sure what), which manifests only due to some sort of setting or variable that is character-specific and (for me) only manifests on [this specific character]. The problem is likely client-side and likely involves some sort of ‘looping’ calculation/behavior during the load process which can never complete.
Please let me know if I can provide any further information or do additional tests from my side to rectify this issue. I would very much like to be able to play this character again.
Some additional notes and/or things I have tried [and I intend to update this]
- I have tried removing all equipment, costumes, etc. from the character; no difference.
- It does not appear to be map specific at all. At this point I have tried a multitude of cities, fields, dungeons, instance dungeons – all to the same effect and behavior.
- I am completely guildless (and, at least for now, prefer to remain so).
- This character is not my ‘main’ questing character, so I do not believe there are any particularly unique items on this character. If anyone has had a related problem with a specific item though, let me know!
- This problem occurs regardless whether or not I am under Token benefits or other buffs.
- This problem persists even when not using any add-ons.
- This problem persists though a variety of different settings options (I haven’t tried all possible combinations – but this seems unlikely to make a difference as all my other characters load without issue).
- There is no whisper history on this character (and this problem predates that ‘whisper’ bug anyway)
- No major character changes occurred (that I can think of) between when this worked without issue and when the problem started. This character was in this specific build for a bit over a week (via the Rank Reset Event) before the problem started.
- No known computer system changes occurred between when this worked and when it did not.
- There was a weekly maintenance (December 25) between when this worked and when it did not.
Thank you for any assistance or suggestions!