Curse

Theosephus · Mar 12, 2008, 05:41 PM // 17:41

First off.. this problem has not occurred with any other software. I know my way around windows and PCs, so this problem is solely GW as far as I can tell. My PC is well above the recommended requirements and my graphics & motherboard drivers are up to date.

During the loading screens between areas, GW would randomly freeze. Alt-Tabbing brought up the taskbar and I could attempt to shut the PC down with Start>Turn Off Computer, but even successfully clicking Turn Off did not shut the PC down. Only the taskbar and taskbar-related graphics (as well as the Alt-Tab selection menu mid-screen) would display.

The hard drive still accessed when I clicked Turn Off or opened any other applications via the taskbar. All new applications would be displayed behind the frozen GW screen, with only taskbar-related graphics being power button on the PC itself.

It hasn't happened for 3 weeks now, but it would sometimes occur as much as twice a day or as little as once a week. I recently installed Factions and have only had one such instance of this problem since then, where beforehand there were many more. I'm not sure if the addition of Factions made a big difference to the manner in which the GW data file was accessed.

The area would successfully load on the progress bar but it would freeze before the game world was displayed. All attempts to shut down the GW window and return me to the graphical desktop failed and none of the GW minimize/shutdown windows buttons were operational.

The mouse pointer was still active and using GW graphics until I alt-tab out to the taskbar (whereupon the GW screen remained frozen in the background). I could bring up Task Manager and navigate but with no visual it was pointless fumbling in the dark.

I have had freezes with 2xAA on and off and it usually occurred within an hour of the PC being turned on. On my PC, during normal play, the screen blinks (to black and back very briefly) before fading in the game world graphics (it blinks twice with AA enabled). This does not occur when GW locks up. It may be related to initiating the graphics, which leads me to think it may be hardware-related. But since installing Factions it has only occurred once, leading me back to software-related.

Any brains out there able to shed some new light?

jackers1234 · Mar 12, 2008, 05:48 PM // 17:48

well, i can start by confirming that the screen blinking is not related to the crash, as my pc does this, and i have never had a crash.

i can also suggest defragging if you havent already, and maybe try downloading a new .dat file, that seems to fix most graphical errors relating to gw

Ekelon · Mar 12, 2008, 06:03 PM // 18:03

Hmm, those are all very similar symptoms that I have encountered before. As for the game stopping the load mid-game (when it freezes at 0%), it's usually an internet connection problem. If your game freezes at 100%, then it's a game problem. If your game freezes while you're loading (AKA having high lag time when trying to Alt+Tab), I usually find that it's my own problem and being impatient with my computer, since it is experiencing high activity and sometimes you can alt+tab back to the game (having to wait 10+ seconds) as it's so busy.

As for the black thing, my new HD Radeon 9800 does that quite often. Nothing bugs up though, so I'm assuming it's just adjusting the graphics on the monitor. I don't really see it as much of a problem though.

Divinus Stella · Mar 12, 2008, 06:16 PM // 18:16

If the loading bar gets stuck at 100% its just as likely to be a connection problem as it is a game problem, i think anet adjusted the routing in guildwars about 3 months ago, i have to disable my firewall before i can play GW because it will just stick on 100% otherwise.

But what you have sounds more like a problem with the dat file, the game is hanging when loading up certain files so just try downloading a fresh dat file and go from there.

Tarun · Mar 12, 2008, 06:30 PM // 18:30

The computer did not shut down because the GW process was still active and frozen. Windows will not shut down (or hibernate) if there is a hanging process.

Have you done a full -image? If not, do so (or reinstall with a new dat and then -image) as it will help resolve a lot of loading issues.

Also make sure to update your graphics drivers.

Theosephus · Mar 12, 2008, 07:38 PM // 19:38

If it happens again, I will do a full -image and then wait and see if it reoccurs. Thanks for the suggestions.

Tarun · Mar 12, 2008, 08:10 PM // 20:10

If everything tried does not resolve the issue, you can set your computer up for a Full Memory Dump which can help techs debug the exact cause of what is wrong.

nvmu · Mar 12, 2008, 09:00 PM // 21:00

there is another option to try, not sure exactly about it, never used it myself, here is the link http://www.plaync.com/us/support/doc_4890.html?prod=48 it is a guild wars diagnostic page from ncsoft, it will tell you what/ how to do it