Queen Bee infusion sound not muted in the background (alt-tabbed)

I'm playing GW2 in windowed fullscreen mode, with the sound option "Mute when GW2 is in the background" checked. When alt-tabbed and GW2 is in the background, almost all sounds get properly muted, but the Queen Bee infusion is one of the sounds that keeps playing persistently (and quite obnoxiously).

This has been the case for years, but has recently gotten worse by being able to turn the exotic upgrade into infusions and thereby equipping multiple different stat versions, which compound the sound effects (6-7 queen bee infusions make a lot of noise), which some players like to equip and stand around in crowded places like the Mistlock Sanctuary. Alt-tabbing out while standing in that place will keep playing the Queen Bee infusions sounds.

If there's no toggle going to be added for infusion sounds (like those that have been added for player chatter and player item chatter to disable for example the Replica Job-o-Tron backpack sounds), then please at least make sure the sound is muted while alt-tabbed and GW2 is running in the background. Thanks.

I tried to replicate your results and I can't hear anything at all from the game when alt-tabbed and "mute when GW2 is in the background" is checked. That includes the buzzing of bees from the infusion. I don't doubt that something is going on; I just can't confirm it's something specific to the queen bee infusion.

What are your other sound settings? In particular, what are you using for "Other Players' Unique Item Sounds" and "Disable Player Item Chatter". At what level do you have the master sound and effect volume sliders?

A few months back, I had some trouble with the game not remember my settings. To fix it, I had to close the game, clear the cache, delete the various temp/settings files that float around the computer, and repair the client. (I'm sure doing all of it was overkill, but I wasn't interested in figuring out the root cause; I just wanted things to work again.)

If that's not worth the effort for you to try (and I wouldn't blame you to look for something simpler), I'd contact support and troubleshoot with them.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:I tried to replicate your results and I can't hear anything at all from the game when alt-tabbed and "mute when GW2 is in the background" is checked. That includes the buzzing of bees from the infusion. I don't doubt that something is going on; I just can't confirm it's something specific to the queen bee infusion.

What are your other sound settings? In particular, what are you using for "Other Players' Unique Item Sounds" and "Disable Player Item Chatter". At what level do you have the master sound and effect volume sliders?

A few months back, I had some trouble with the game not remember my settings. To fix it, I had to close the game, clear the cache, delete the various temp/settings files that float around the computer, and repair the client. (I'm sure doing all of it was overkill, but I wasn't interested in figuring out the root cause; I just wanted things to work again.)

If that's not worth the effort for you to try (and I wouldn't blame you to look for something simpler), I'd contact support and troubleshoot with them.

"Other player's unique item sounds", "Disable player item chatter", and "Disable player chatter" do not affect queen been infusion sounds.

The queen bee infusion sound is affected by the 'Effects' volume slider, which I have turned up high (in order to hear for example Vale Guardian blue circle teleports). I do not mind in principle that I hear the queen bee sounds (although an option to turn it off without having to turn off every single effects volume would be appreciated), but I have the issue that the queen bee persists after alt tabbing. I wasn't aware this was not a universal issue, that's surprising, thanks for the input.

@"Dzjudz.9142" said:

I wasn't aware this was not a universal issue, that's surprising, thanks for the input.Yeah that surprises me, too; "Mute While Tabbed" should prevent any sounds from being transmitted to your sound card regardless of the in-game source. Even when I was having trouble, it either worked or didn't work, but it didn't "forget" to suppress some sounds.

From what you wrote, I'm guessing this refers to other people's infusions, not your own. Or is it both/either? I can try testing with someone else, too (there just didn't happen to be anyone else nearby with Queen Bee. (It worked on all the other annoying sounds, like SAB minis and various backpacks and so on.)

Let us know if you're able to figure it out. I'm curious now.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Dzjudz.9142" said:

I wasn't aware this was not a universal issue, that's surprising, thanks for the input.Yeah that surprises me, too; "Mute While Tabbed" should prevent any sounds from being transmitted to your sound card regardless of the in-game source. Even when I was having trouble, it either worked or didn't work, but it didn't "forget" to suppress some sounds.

I don't have any, I find the sound annoying.

Its not the only thing that isn't muted when tabbed out. A lot of ambient sound effects in the Myst Sanctuary as well as this drill right next to the Camp Resolve Waypoint in Silverwastes aren't muted when tabbed out. Why doesn't this game have a true Mute option when tabbed out?

@Eloc Freidon.5692 said:Its not the only thing that isn't muted when tabbed out. A lot of ambient sound effects in the Myst Sanctuary as well as this drill right next to the Camp Resolve Waypoint in Silverwastes aren't muted when tabbed out. Why doesn't this game have a true Mute option when tabbed out?

Yep, sometimes it's waypoints as well if you're standing close. I guess it's a more general issue, but it's hard to pin down.

@"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:Its not the only thing that isn't muted when tabbed out. A lot of ambient sound effects in the Myst Sanctuary as well as this drill right next to the Camp Resolve Waypoint in Silverwastes aren't muted when tabbed out. Why doesn't this game have a true Mute option when tabbed out?

I cannot replicate those results. When I have the mute option (and it's working), it mutes everything.If you are "hearing" something different, my guess is that there's something else going on.

It might be a weird latency issue, in that the game isn't correctly remembering your setting and continues to transmit sound when it's not supposed to. I did have that specific problem a few months ago: I'd mute music, tone down effects and ambient sounds, and unmute-when-in-background. Five minutes later, after swapping zones, I could hear music and not hear the game when alt-tabbed.

To solve it, I ended up using the full nuclear option:

• removed all temp files, settings files, etc (from their various locations),
• started the game once to recreate them fresh (but didn't logon)
• repaired the game client

That was annoying (since I had to recreate all the client-side-saved settings), but it did work.

Alternatively: start a support ticket and work with ANet directly to troubleshoot. That has the bonus effect of providing them with data to help troubleshoot the underlying cause.

Still waiting for a fix on this.

Happen to know what your sound chip is? Had some old buggy drivers causing this, especially in the old days when muting was still a matter of "exclusive" access.