Right before finishing story, game crashed. Logging in from an instance checkpoint?

[Chrysline.2317]

I was doing the last chapter of LWS4 Episode 1 Daybreak. I was almost done, just 50% until Scruffy 2.0 was finished. But then the game suddenly crashed on my Macbook. :(

 

When I logged in, to my horror it was loading Domain of Istan and not the story instance itself. **Is it possible to allow logging back in to an unfinished instance?** _It’s very upsetting to start over from the beginning when the game crashing is not the player’s fault._

 

The game already uses Checkpoints when the player gets downed. Can’t they load back in to the instance right at the checkpoint? It would help retain players and let them focus on the experience.

[Fueki.4753]

There are no checkpoints for disconnects in story instances, no matter how long they are.

When your game crashes, you have to start over again.

 

There have been complaints abut that (including a recent one from me) since the launch in 2012,

but Arenanet didn't change anything about it (at least as far as I have noticed).

[Chrysline.2317]

> @"Fueki.4753" said:

> There are no checkpoints for disconnects in story instances, no matter how long they are.

> When your game crashes, you have to start over again.

>

> There have been complaints abut that (including a recent one from me) since the launch in 2012,

> but Arenanet didn't change anything about it (at least as far as I have noticed).

 

As sad as I am to hear that, thank you for explaining, Fueki. I wonder why not? Since there’s not much to exploit from a solo story instance. It might not be too hard to code for them, but it would mean the world to players with old computers or those from places where the faulty internet isn’t their fault.

 

Grammarly has a wonderful quip on their website: _To err is human; to edit, divine. _ For many novels, they go through around 7 rounds of editing to be as polished as they seem.

[Chrysline.2317]

Speaking of the unheard complaints Fueki mentioned, I sent support an e-mail regarding another issue. (_To add more respawn checkpoints for the escape the mists on the raptor scene in LWS4 Chapter 4 A Star to Guide Us. Because it’s pretty frustrating to fall 50 times and have to start over from the beginning. It adds up to motion sickness, hand pain, and a headache for the player. Not everyone who plays the game is a jumping master. Since the game already has respawn checkpoints, this is only a few tweaks for the dev._)

 

**But the response I received from support was along the lines of ‘please post this in the forums, so we can gauge player interest.’ _I checked the forums and there were complaints about it even when the episode was newly released._ I wonder what counts as enough number of people for ANet to consider something?**

 

On the surface it seems democratic. Though as an individual/fan, after hearing a reply like that, I really felt the company didn’t care unless pressured. :anguished: It only takes a minute to type ‘we’ve heard you, we can’t promise it will be fixed, but we’ll inform the devs that it matters to you.’

 

Quality of life improvements (and making the other feel cared for) would mean the world in the service/entertainment industry. Players quitting or getting frustrated over technical issues like this are failure points that would be in the interest of the company to address.

[Chrysline.2317]

If player interest is the basis for allocating company resources for technical solutions:

 

One suggestion I can think of is having a monthly poll of technical problems (in the dev’s to-do list) and having players vote on what they want the devs to prioritize.

 

To lessen the bias of the serial position effect (people remember the first and the last items more), the poll can randomly reshuffle the order of items every page refresh.

 

This won’t be the only basis for deciding on priorities. The value it can add is that the company might find out customer concerns/priorities that surprise them. It’s common for companies to assume one thing, only to interview the customer and find out they valued something else. A poll can let the player base feel heard, while lessening the cost of interviewing multiple players.

[Chrysline.2317]

I’ve tried the story instance again and it thankfully loaded right at the start of the Scruffy 2.0 fight (skipped the rest of Fahranur). (Though shaving off the health again can be punishing to the innocent player.) [Though the wiki said that loading at that instance means there’s no chance to backtrack for the That belongs in a museum Fahranur achievements since the flame wall puzzle will lock the room.]

 

However, the GW2 game/client crashed again during the Scruffy fight. Just like last time it was around the 50% mark. I dunno if there’s something wrong with that fight, I’ll try it at the lowest visual setting. If it crashes again, I’ll submit a blocks progress report bug.

[Fueki.4753]

> @"Chrysline.2317" said:

> As sad as I am to hear that, thank you for explaining, Fueki. I wonder why not? Since there’s not much to exploit from a solo story instance. It might not be too hard to code for them, but it would mean the world to players with old computers or those from places where the faulty internet isn’t their fault.

I _think_ this is because after a disconnect, the game has to reload the whole instance again, which resets the checkpoints for dying.

But I don't even have a sliver of proof for that hypothesis.

 

> @"Chrysline.2317" said:

> I’ve tried the story instance again and it thankfully loaded right at the start of the Scruffy 2.0 fight (skipped the rest of Fahranur).

It actually surprises me that can happen.

I've never disconnected in that mission myself though.

 

> However, the GW2 game/client crashed again during the Scruffy fight. Just like last time it was around the 50% mark. I dunno if there’s something wrong with that fight, I’ll try it at the lowest visual setting. If it crashes again, I’ll submit a blocks progress report bug.

Maybe it's related to the server-side problems that Arenanet is aware of.

 

[Chrysline.2317]

@"Fueki.4753" I’m only guessing but maybe loading from story instance checkpoints is added to the later stories? Since I disconnected from a LWS4 instance.

 

I’m testing new characters (for the profession/race)... and I may get to see if the personal story or older living world episodes don’t have that feature for disconnections.

 

It’s all good, thank you for having this conversation with me!