Can't launch game after the November 9, 2021 update

[Ashantara.8731]

Uninstall from C:\Program Files and install somewhere else. C:\Program Files is a system folder, games do not belong in there. All sorts of issues can occur when you install non-system related software there. Always install in a directory of your own, e.g. C:\Games, or even better, on a separate, non-Windows partition (e.g. D:\Games).

You can also, in addition, try to launch the Gw2-64.exe as Administrator (edit the bookmark accordingly), if your Windows user account has limited rights.

Edit: For a full, clean uninstall be sure you follow these steps, regardless of the fact that those instructions were given for another issue.

Edit #2: If none of the above helps, which I doubt, you can also try to disable Game Mode.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Ashantara.8731
addendum

[SimulationOfLife.4657]

@Katiekaboom; I don't feel comfortable messing with my broken game if I can avoid it. I'm no comp tech, the troubleshooting is already hard for me. Is anet saying they can't fix it ? 😞

[Ashantara.8731]

2 minutes ago, Tatwi.3562 said:

Above noted solution did fix the issue however.

Which version of Windows are you running?

And what is your user rights level? Admin or not?

[ScruffyOne.1706]

My wife and I both have been having this problem.  However, I have been able to get the game to launch after killing it.  The first time we launch it, it hangs, as others have said.  I think start task manager, kill it, and launch it again.  So far, that has worked for us.  But, I have to do that each time :(

[burstaxe.1832]

Yeah, been having this issue since yesterday. Launched it two or three times, locked up, restart, launch again. I actually got it working yesterday for a bit, but today I got nowhere. Ran repair, still locking. I'm just glad to know it isn't my computer at this point. Hopefully they fix it soon - I was hoping to play while I had the time off.

 

e: running as admin seems to work, at least for now

Edited November 10, 2021 by Vaflja.6873

[Tatwi.3562]

6 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Which version of Windows are you running?

And what is your user rights level? Admin or not?

Windows version is in my previous message. Not using admin rights.

[kapenike.6793]

2 minutes ago, ScruffyOne.1706 said:

My wife and I both have been having this problem.  However, I have been able to get the game to launch after killing it.  The first time we launch it, it hangs, as others have said.  I think start task manager, kill it, and launch it again.  So far, that has worked for us.  But, I have to do that each time 😞

The current "goto" fix for most is to right click your GW2 shorcut icon on the desktop > properties > edit target field by adding -windowed after the last " ... then after launching just drag the window to the largest size possible WITHOUT making it fullscreen

[Ashantara.8731]

3 minutes ago, Tatwi.3562 said:

Windows version is in my previous message. Not using admin rights.

The Home version has limitations, and if you don't have a user profile that has administrative rights, limitations are even bigger.

That's why C:\Program Files is especially not for users like yourself and why, in some cases, a program needs to be "Run as Administrator."

By the way, have you performed a clean uninstall before you moved the game folder to a new location?

Edited November 10, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Tatwi.3562]

1 minute ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

The Home version has limitations, and if you don't have a user profile that has administrative rights, limitations are even bigger.

That's why C:\Program Files is especially not for users like yourself and why, in some cases, a program needs to be "Run as Administrator."

By the way, have you performed a clean uninstall before you moved the game folder to a new location?

Whatever...

[Tony.8659]

What I want to know is, does Anet test any of their patches before letting them go live? And if they did you mean to tell me that they had no issues on their work PC's or home PC's? LOL. If they did, why would you release something like this it's just broken 😖

[SimulationOfLife.4657]

Someone just showed me how to do the 'windowed' thing in GW2 properties  shortcut. The game opened but it is not a fix. It is odd, and make me feel kind of pukey tbh.  😞

[Chant.2073]

41 minutes ago, Strong Woman.7845 said:

This is sadly, perfectly normal for "modern" gaming, where nothing works, every update break the game, every "fix" breaks more than it fixes, and the bugs never get fixed. I just didn't expect this old kitten game to be the same.

It's not just gaming. Lots of software development teams have this antipattern. Here's how I see the cause and effect:

1. A development team is pressured to deliver on time. They are not pressured to meet good technical standards.
2. (Optional) The development team resists the pressure. Lay decision-makers identify this resistance as counterproductive, and discourage it, e.g. by firing the people who are expressing it. (These are often their most skilled and knowledgeable staff.)
3. The development team caves to the pressure. They satisfy lay expectations by making changes as expediently, and as superficially, as possible.
4. The software's technical quality declines. Abstract traits like "security", "extensibility", and "maintainability" erode.
5. Low-quality software increases the risk of introducing bugs with each change. Increased bugs irritate lay decision-makers.
6. Lay decision-makers increase pressure and scrutiny. The nature of the pressure and scrutiny doesn't change.
7. Rate and severity of new bugs increases.
8. Developers burn out, or are fired. The collective skill and knowledge of the team declines.
9. It's no longer even possible to achieve good technical standards, because the team isn't qualified.
10. Congratulations, lay decision-makers. You are in a hell of your own design.

Now, I'm not really convinced that bleak narrative fits what I'm seeing here in GW2. Maybe I haven't been paying the same attention you have, but my impression of this game's quality, as a piece of software and as an ongoing software development effort, is much higher than a lot of games I've played and enjoyed (and considered worthwhile).

[Ashantara.8731]

1 hour ago, Strong Woman.7845 said:

This is sadly, perfectly normal for "modern" gaming, where nothing works

Are you sure that it's an issue with the game client and not some players' computer-illiteracy?

Many on here install everything under C:\Program Files, one person I know of even suggested the Desktop as an install location. Oof.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Witch of Doom.5739]

This may be excessive (not meant critically to the OP).  I couldn't run the game normally, but creating a new shortcut which launches the game in Windowed mode works perfectly.  No uninstalling, reinstalling, messing with the registry, etc.

[TonySu.7942]

Yes, I understand what you are saying.  But the client has been working even through it was installed in the wrong place.  Only after this patch, people are not able to log in.

[Ashantara.8731]

3 minutes ago, Witch of Doom.5739 said:

This may be excessive (not meant critically to the OP).  I couldn't run the game normally, but creating a new shortcut which launches the game in Windowed mode works perfectly.  No uninstalling, reinstalling, messing with the registry, etc.

No one said anything about messing with the Registry. If you want to avoid future conflicts between the game client and Windows, you should heed my advice. I mean well, by the way.

[Shadow Dragon.1469]

its crazy that no one here after all the issues haven't posted specs sometimes issues are linked with hardware regardless if it was caused by a patch....

 

my intel rigs (2 of them) are fine, my main rig is not working amd 5900x / 3090

[Ashantara.8731]

6 minutes ago, TonySu.7942 said:

Yes, I understand what you are saying.  But the client has been working even through it was installed in the wrong place.

And to avoid future conflicts between the game client and Windows, you now have the perfect chance to eliminate the number one reason for such issues. Just saying...

Edited November 10, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Linken.6345]

23 minutes ago, Witch of Doom.5739 said:

This may be excessive (not meant critically to the OP).  I couldn't run the game normally, but creating a new shortcut which launches the game in Windowed mode works perfectly.  No uninstalling, reinstalling, messing with the registry, etc.

You do know that gw2 dont mess with the registery, that is the one reason you can just move around the folder were ever you want it and then just create a new shortcut.

And it works without problems.

[Lyssia.4637]

1 hour ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Has any of you (yes, all of you who posted above) tried to reinstall the game outside of C:\Program Files ? That is a system folder and games do definitely not belong in there.

P.S. Also, have you added the Guild Wars 2 folder to your antivirus' list of exceptions?

Mine game isn't installed on C:\Program Files.  (It's actually on my D:\)  It's on my antivirus's list of exceptions as well, and I double checked my antivirus as soon as all this started.  Still getting the problem.  😒

[tripdarift.1578]

Restarting the game 4 times seems to work consistently for me.

 

None of the other 'hacks' work.

 

Looking forward to them releasing a fix for what is a serious issue for a lot of players.

[Bad Karma.2670]

Since the update that removed the Halloween content, my game rarely starts up after logging into my account.  My friend has the same issue, so it's not my computer.  After logging in, the game will simply fail to load.  According to my Task Manager, GW2 is "not responding".  I am able to "End Task" in Task Manager to close the program and continue using my computer (i.e. no hard restart).

 

As I was typing this, I figured I'd try again.  After successfully logging in, my character screen briefly appeared before the entire game simply shutdown again.  This time though, I didn't have to use the Task Manager to close it down.

[ShionKreth.1542]

1 hour ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Are you sure that it's an issue with the game client and not some players' computer-illiteracy?

Many on here install everything under C:\Program Files, one person I know of even suggested the Desktop as an install location. Oof.

 

Yeah, pretty sure - people's level of computer literacy didn't change from before the patch to after the patch. 😛

[Lasvious.1079]

I also can't get the game to launch in the standard manner after the patch.  It has music, but won't let me switch the window to open the game.  Also can't shut down the app manually and have to do a hard restart.

 

I did get visuals after running as an admin, but that's really not fixing the problem.

 

I run no add ons.  

[Lasvious.1079]

1 hour ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

The Home version has limitations, and if you don't have a user profile that has administrative rights, limitations are even bigger.

That's why C:\Program Files is especially not for users like yourself and why, in some cases, a program needs to be "Run as Administrator."

By the way, have you performed a clean uninstall before you moved the game folder to a new location?

Most of us have ran the game in the default install location for years.  If it just stops working like that after a certain patch, it isn't an issue with all of this, it's something they need to fix.