Leamas.5803

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> I assume it must have been related to your system (i.e., OS), its configuration or some program you are using across all of your devices (the antivirus, for instance). There must be a similarity between all of them that was causing it, there is no other explanation as other players did not experience your issue.

>

Oddly, there was no similarity. I don't use any specific 3rd party firewall or AV software other than what Microsoft provides and if they are installed (Such as MalwareBytes or Spybot), I don't leave the background services running. I know I certainly didn't do any specific changes across all 3 machines approximately a month ago, when this started, other than perhaps Windows updates pushed by Microsoft. When I removed Synapse off the first two machines and they worked, I had assumed it was Synapse, but Synapse was not installed on the 3rd machine. No config or software changes were make to the 3rd machine. The only thing that changed on it was yesterday's patch.

The other option, of course, is that perhaps my ISP changed, or fixed, something on their end. That would explain the behavior and living in rural Canada, would explain the lack of activity about this on the forum, but you'd think that would have affected other games or Internet services as well.

@"Inculpatus cedo.9234" @"TheQuickFox.3826"

While there were no mention of crash fixes in yesterday's update release notes, it seems to have resolved the issue. Synapse does not appear to have been a factor as it was not installed on the 3rd machine, yet the crashing went away after the patch none the less. No other changes were made to this 3rd machine. GW2 appears to now be working properly on all 3 machines. It's running on my laptop now as a test as I have had the crashing go away briefly before, only to return the next day.

> @"TheQuickFox.3826" said:

>

> I know nothing about that, but it could be worth to log into your router and try to disable features like packet inspection, firewall, blocklists.

> First make screenshots of your existing settings so you can put everything back when needed. Then test if this solves anything.

So, I'm unsure what the cause was as there was a large game update today, however, after the update, and removing Synapse on both the main PC and the laptop the game seems to have stabilized. Both have remained up for over 30 minutes without a black screen. On the laptop, I did attempt to the launch the game after the update, but still encountered the greyed out start button on the character select screen. That went away after I removed Synapse, but removing Synapse fixing it might have been a fluke. I'll have to exit and reenter the game a few times as the greyed out start button was a random issue.

That said, if Synapse was the cause, rather than the patch being the fix, then the game has an issue than needs to be addressed. Synapse should not affect the game like that. I'll leave the laptop running for a while, then I'll test the 3rd machine and leave Synapse installed.

> @"TheQuickFox.3826" said:

> This one was most likely caused by my security software Malwarebytes messing with the connection between my game client and the ArenaNet servers. So, what you can do except for contacting support is checking if anything interferes with your connection. This can be a firewall, antivirus, vpn, net filter etc.

Do we know which ports need to be open and connectable? I recently installed updates for my Ubiquiti router and switches. I wonder if that update did something...although everything else works...Apex, Rust, Minecraft, etc...

> @"TheQuickFox.3826" said:

> Does it look like mine?

>

>

> This one was most likely caused by my security software Malwarebytes messing with the connection between my game client and the ArenaNet servers. So, what you can do except for contacting support is checking if anything interferes with your connection. This can be a firewall, antivirus, vpn, net filter etc.

>

> I'm still using malwarebytes today and this issue has long been resolved.

>

> https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/75462/black-screens-connectivity-issues

Yes, it looks just like that, but nothing software-wise has changed on any of these machines, especially the laptop since literally all I use it for is GW2 and Zoom, and certainly not all at the same time, unless it's related to a Windows update. I'll check the thread out and see if I can can track it down. Thanks.

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> Well, you could _try_ removing those things. Just to see.

I've tried removing it from one machine to test, but my son's headset is Razer so it will need to be reinstalled.

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> Have you tried a -repair to the client? Probably to no avail, but...

>

> If it were a game issue, would it not affect most players? /shrug

>

> Is there anything, program, etc., that all your computers share?

I've tried both repair and removing the local.dat. Nothing particular between the 3, other than Steam and the nVidia software, and I typically keep Steam shut down. Razer Synapse, might, be on all three, but that shouldn't affect it and a network issues should give errors, one would think, so I'm kind of at a loss.

It appears the issue I am having is most certainly related to the game in some fashion. I've finally gotten around to testing it on my other machines and all 3 of my machines exhibit the same behavior.

Desktop

AMD Ryzen 7-3800X

nVidia 2080 Super

Desktop

Intel i7-7700k

nVidia 1080

Laptop

Intel i7 - Early 1st-2nd gen

nVidia 445M

In the screen shot, you can see the screen is black, but I still have a GW2 pointer, which is not frozen and I can move it around and the music still plays in the background, and it will sit like that indefinitely. Action buttons don't do anything. The game is not completely locked up and I can exit via ALT-F4. This will usually happen within a few minutes of loading in to a map. There is a secondary issue which occurs occasionally, where I cannot get past the character select screen. I choose a character, press the start button, which then greys out, but never actually loads a map.

So, it would appear, in my thinking, something was changed in the game, back a month, or so, ago, and it doesn't like something with my network or ISP. My ping times are generally decent, averaging under 50ms to Google, my connection speed is more than ample (~25Mbps/16Mbps) for what GW2 requires. Other on-line games that my kids play don't have issues, such as Apex Legends, Rust, Roblox, Minecraft. With the laptop, I have tried running the verify, deleting the local.dat, I've run both Spybot and MalwareBytes. NOTHING ever gets written to any of the log or dump files and nothing applicable seems to be in the Windows event log. I'm kind of at a loss as to what to look at next since it affects all 3 of my machines.

Thoughts?


Strangely, it worked all day yesterday after the Spybot scan, and now the black screen is back today, after the update. Running Spybot again to see if something snuck its way back in. The machine was shut down with GW2 yesterday and started up today specifically to run GW2. :s

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Leamas.5803" said:

> > > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > Could be an issue with your software firewall or antivirus. Try adding the GW2 installation directory to the list of exceptions.

> > I don't have any firewall or antivirus installed on that machine, other than what comes with Windows.

>

> In that case, you should make sure there is no malware or virus on your system...

>

> You should also check the GW2 dump file to see what caused the crash. I think the file is located here (**%AppData%\Guild Wars 2\Coherent Dumps**) or in the GW2 game installation folder (**Crash.dmp**). To open it, follow these instructions: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/1357225#Comment_1357225 (You could also check your OS health status by following the instructions further down: DISM, SFC.)

Hmmm, there was something there that S&D cleaned and the game seems to have stabilized. It's really odd that it would suddenly come up like this. The only things this machine is used for are GW2 and just recently Zoom (Since before XMas). I wonder if there was something pre-existing that a recent game update became sensitive too, or something invasive left behind by the Flash uninstaller.

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> Could be an issue with your software firewall or antivirus. Try adding the GW2 installation directory to the list of exceptions.

I don't have any firewall or antivirus installed on that machine, other than what comes with Windows. Nothing has changed on that front and I've used this machine for years. Why would it suddenly become an issue? I also tried running in administrator mode, same issue.

Tried deleting the local.dat. Same issue where I press the Play button on the character select, button greys out, game doesn't start, then after a minute or two, it crashes to the launcher and is logged out. After the 3rd try, I managed to actually load in to a map. Then, after about 10 minutes, black screen. The ping is higher than usual, at about 110ms, but not so outrageously high that it would cause major connection issues...and it shouldn't cause this type of issue. No error messages are shown at any time.

Nothing gets logged anywhere. Not in the log files in the program folder or the appdata folder. Are logs written elsewhere or is there a way to increase the log level to see what's going on?

I have this issue as well. You can hear the audio in the background, but the screen goes black and all you're left with is in the in-game mouse pointer. Commands (0-9) don't appear to do anything.

Another thing it's doing is that it will occasionally do nothing when you press the Play button in the character select screen. The button will grey out but the game does not start. After a few minutes it will time out and the game will crash to the launcher and you'll be logged out.

This started in the last week or two. I tried running a repair and it didn't help. Nothing in the Crash.dmp or ArenaNet.log.

It's an ancient machine that I only use for farming, but I've never had issues with it.

1st gen i7

8GB RAM

nVidia 445M GPU.

> @"Memoranda.9386" said:

> > @"Fire Attunement.9835" said:

> >

> > Bug Fixes:

> > Fixed some issues with autotargeting

>

> Report back after testing to see if some or all of the issues have been corrected. I personally won't be able to check for several more hours.

>

Definitely working better than it was. FOV seems to be more or less back to normal and my Reaper #2 actually landed the target. So early indicators are hopeful.

> @"Memoranda.9386" said:

> > @"Leamas.5803" said:

> > It seems that they very much tightened the FOV for autotargetting. I can make it work, but all targets basically have to be right in the middle of the screen within only about 30 degrees of deviation off center. Can anyone confirm this behavior?

>

> That seems more or less the case, although even when lined up in such a way, if your character isn't facing the proposed target it seems unlikely to function as previously known.

>

> Something clearly has been changed, either intentionally or not, but it would've great if that could be taken care of. Daredevil Staff 2 is, uh, interesting. When doing a few Strikes, even within auto-attack range, sometime Staff 2 would still dive away from the boss target and go after an add-on.

I just noticed Reaper skill #2 seems to miss the intended target as well. I just fly right on through, even when there's only a single target.

It seems that they very much tightened the FOV for autotargetting. I can make it work, but all targets basically have to be right in the middle of the screen within only about 30 degrees of deviation off center. Can anyone confirm this behavior?

After reading the thread more closely, I can clear up the confusion about "Right-click to attack/interact". Whether this is enabled or not is not the issue. I've been AFK farming CS for months with my minions (Some of you have probably seen me idling at Ewan). While there, I will occasionally reach over to press skill #1 to tag mobs not close enough to aggro on me or my minions. This is all I've ever needed to do. Since the recent update, now I have to physically click a mob before my attack will tag them and send my minions in to action.

Doesn't work with necro staff skill #1 either, 1200 range. I can go close enough that a mob will agro on me, but skill #1 will not target them. I have to physically select a target by clicking on them before my skill will hit them.

For staves with animations on the top, Royal Flame Staff and Bifrost, for instance, for necromancers the casting scythe animation interferes with the staff animation and looks kind of wonky. Could we have a means of disabling the scythe animation? Really, while it may be cool at lower levels, for higher level content, you put all the work in to getting something like Bifrost, and the scythe animation obscures the staff animation.

Considering it's necro-specific, it should be easy to do. There will already conditional code that says do this for a necro and no one else. It would be nice if we had a flag that disables it. The current code likely goes something like this.

If (necro==true) then

`display sycthe`

end if

It could easily be changed to something like this and all that would have to do is add a checkbox to necro character gear screens similar to the ones used to hide headgear and shoulders (Logic for hiding character specific items already exists). The change between the conditional statement and the form layout change for the checkbox, should be a very minimal code change.

If (necro==true) and (scythe_checkbox==true) then

`display sycthe`

end if

> @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> Considering its a necromancer specific animation when staff casting, its seriously unlikely to happen.

Considering it's necro-specific, it should be easy to do. There will already conditional code that says do this for a necro and no one else. Just give us a flag that disables it. The current code likely goes something like this.

If (necro==true) then

`display sycthe`

end if

It could easily be changed to something like this and all they would have to do is add a checkbox to necro character gear screens similar to the ones used to hide headgear and shoulders (They already have logic for hiding character specific items). The change between the conditional statement and the form layout change for the checkbox, should be a total of less than 10 lines of code.

If (necro==true) and (scythe_checkbox==true) then

`display sycthe`

end if

For staves with animations on the top, Royal Flame Staff and Bifrost, for instance, the casting scythe animation interferes with the staff animation and looks kind of wonky. Could we have a means of disabling the scythe animation? Really, while it may be cool at lower levels, for higher level content, you put all the work in to getting something like Bifrost, and the silly scythe animation kind of takes away from it.

Is there a way to shut the black scythe animation off when casting? It really doesn't work well with certain staves, especially those with animations on the top of the staff already, such as the Royal Flame Staff and Bifrost. The scythe tends to overlay the animation and look wonky.

> @"Hannelore.8153" said:

> Don't overclock your machine unless you really know what you're doing.

I didn't overclock it at all. It's a retail card that CAME from eVGA...except, I think mine of 4GB.


> @"anduriell.6280" said:

>

> When you overclock you should run stability tests to make sure you OC correctly.

>

Which was done extensively by myself and it was in to the shop where I bought it twice for bench testing. They kept it on the bench for 9 days the second time I brought it in. As I said...I didn't do any overclocking. It was a retail card an eVGA GTX 670 SC. I like to think eVGA knows what they're doing.

> @"vesica tempestas.1563" said:

> There is nothing wrong with overclocking as long as you have thoroughly tested that your pc is stable and heat is in acceptable range for your hardware. I've overclock Ed my cpu and gfx card since day 1 of gw2, and never had problems. I suspect what support means is that gw2 leans heavily on your cp, so any issue is magnified. Re cpu over clocking I do it through my bios and switch off boosting. Gfx card I do through an app.

>

> I would go as far as saying a stable overclock gives a lot of value in GW2 because of this dependancy, if I recall I get another 5 fps out of it.

I don't typically overclock beyond what's delivered from the factory. It's great when it works. Like with my 1080. I get a pretty consistent 70-75fps at 2k with nearly max details. The problem is that when problems do arise there is very little in the way of help with debugging it. It's one of those "curse" situations where there's an obvious issue but no apparent problem. ANet says it the card/configuration, the vendor, card and chipset manufacturers blame the game since the card remains stable on the bench and in stress applications such as Furmark and Superposition. So the only option you're really left with is either replacing hardware at your own cost or trying things like downclocking. After 3 years (The length of the warranty) of fighting with vendors and manufacturers, I just downclock now. Thankfully that machine with the 670 is soon to be retired. It's about 7 years old, so has served a long life. Hopefully, when I get the new one, it will be stable.