Launcher No Longer Connects to Account Server?

dimitrik · May 2018

Literally as of last night's Windows 10 update (a big ol' hefty one, at that), clicking the 'Play' button on the launcher sends it to the 'Connecting to Account Server' status, then nada. Just freezes up.

Anyone else having this issue?

maldanaan · May 2018

Having the exact same issue. I've tried adding the launcher to the list of programs that can bypass the firewall, but no joy.

aesica · May 2018

I'm having this issue too, same circumstances. The recent windows 10 update has resulted in the launcher hanging after clicking "play." A gameclient process gets started, but it hangs indefinitely and consumes CPU like it's doing something, but nothing happens no matter how long you wait.

I'm going to assume the launcher hangs because it's waiting for a "I'm up, you can go away now!" message from the stalled game client. (Edit: Yup, killing the stalled game client process unfreezes the launcher)

ricco1776 · May 2018

I too am having the exact same problem, only thing is, I was on the Windows Insider Program when this happened. 1803 is the new version number that came out not too long ago. I tried putting the game in safe mode and that closed out the the login window, but no black screen with the Cryptic Loading Logo or anything.

dimitrik · May 2018

What you guys are saying is exactly it. It was the 1803 update that I installed right before this began.

Also, are you guys using Steam to connect to Champs, or Arc? Because it also might be impacting other games associated with Steam, but in kind of weird ways. For instance, Payday 2 - seems to run fine, but if you click to exit it, it black-screens on you with a loading screen. You can still interact with the menu, though. If you leave it alone for a while, it finally shuts down. Anyone else getting new weirdness?

Note: I tried just letting Champs run for a while to see if it eventually worked itself out. It doesn't. Or at least, not within the some-twenty-minutes I let it hang.

Sidenote, aesica, my Task Manager doesn't show the stalled game until I exit out of the stalled launcher. No idea why that's a thing, but go figure.

Edited a lot because I originally posted this when I just got up. A groggy brain is barely a brain.

fisitron · May 2018

I'm having this issue too. It looks like it's a growing issue.

I've tried it using both arc and steam, redownloading both, and it still won't launch.

blazer2001 · May 2018

I would suggest anyone having this problem, to please make a new support ticket and post the ticket # in this thread.

https://arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline#/discussion/1211017/game-client-doesnt-starts-on-windows-10-1803

It will help to keep things consolidated among people with the same problem.

jenghiz · May 2018

I am also having problems, and Windows update 1803 is at the bottom of it. I literally was playing this morning at 2:00 AM, but after I allowed the update to install Champions Online no longer functions. I've tried reloading the Arc and game client, I've tried launching the game directly, I've downloaded and reinstalled the Microsoft C++ redistributable (x86), I even updated my video driver, and so far the game remains broken. I tested Secret World Legends and Wizard101, and they both work.

dimitrik · May 2018

blazer2001 said:
I would suggest anyone having this problem, to please make a new support ticket and post the ticket # in this thread.

https://arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline#/discussion/1211017/game-client-doesnt-starts-on-windows-10-1803

It will help to keep things consolidated among people with the same problem.

Would've posted originally on your thread, but I didn't look for it there. And I'd agree that things would be best consolidated, but this is definitely a technical issue and not a bug in the gameplay. Gotta make sure it's in the right forum. We could maybe get a mod to combine our threads into one on this forum directory, though.

I will, however, be issuing a support ticket. Everyone submitting a ticket to bring attention to the matter is absolutely a good idea.

dimitrik · May 2018

Additional: Submitted my ticket. # 180502-000440

maldanaan · May 2018

Support Ticket # 180501-000852

aesica · May 2018

dimitrik wrote: »

Sidenote, aesica, my Task Manager doesn't show the stalled game until I exit out of the stalled launcher. No idea why that's a thing, but go figure.

You can click the little arrows to the left of each process to expand their contents:

That way, you can terminate specific things. I use it a lot when dealing with stalled firefox tabs since it kills just the tab instead of closing the whole browser.

dimitrik · May 2018

Oh hey, look at that. I checked it, and did indeed replicate your results, aesica. Look at me, learning how to internet. ^_^;

By the way, I've been playing ticket-tag with CO representatives a little bit now. Hopefully we'll have a solution to this problem soon. But keep sending in tickets and information, guys. I'm sure the more they have to work with, the better and faster they'll be able to pinpoint what's going on and correct it.

gtw891 · May 2018

count me in as one on that. Started just as I upgraded tonight (as of 5/2 1am).

gtw891 · May 2018

Your 'cure' isn't exactly working with me aesica. Every time I 'kill' the hanged launcher I also kill the game itself form and drops me back to square one.

gtw891 · May 2018

Launcher still has the hang up problems

shanspenfox · May 2018

I'll add in that I'm also experiencing this issue on two different machines; my desktop and my laptop, both upgraded to the 1803 April update. Kinda makes me wonder if Cryptic is going to get this fixed before May 8th, when I assume it's pushed to everyone with Windows 10 Home.

Also, support ticket #180503-000202.

gtw891 · May 2018

Is May 8th the official roll out of the Windows 10 home update?

grazerr · May 2018

Same here. It happen right after 1803. Submitted a ticket and tried everything they asked and nothing worked. I'm hoping they figure this out. I un-subscribed when I could not get it fixed. Not gonna pay for something I cannot use. I'll keep checking back to this thread for some solution, then I will re-sub.

grazerr · May 2018

On a side note. At first I thought it was a "windows not connecting" issue. But I did connect to Skyforge with no problem.

magpieuk2014 · May 2018

Me too, I'm afraid. Neither Champs or Neverwinter will load.

dimitrik · May 2018

I just tried to connect again, and I noticed there's a new patch. I was hopeful! My antivirus even balked at me over it. So my hopes rose even more!

Alas, no dice. Same issue. To my understanding, they ARE working on it. But keep the reports coming. The more people who come forward experiencing the problem, the higher up the priority ladder it climbs.

Also, gtw891, Aesica wasn't offering a fix. Unless I really misread, she was just pointing out that killing the game client process unfroze the launcher. As in, you can hit 'Play' again, but it'll just repeat it. I believe she was just illustrating that it seems to be a hiccup between the launcher and game client process's communication.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Aesica!

gtw891 · May 2018

Point noted dimitrik. Still it was a good ideal otherwise because it did point out the problem more clearly and helped me in troubleshooting this. Still I'm glad that they are working on it.

netwyrm · May 2018

I've got this issue too, have had it since patching up on the day of release. Still can't log in, do not want to roll back to previous version as I have patched other software since.

rtma · May 2018

Pretty much experienced the same, Connecting to account server in launcher, launcher does not respond, have to close via task manager.

vaaben · May 2018

i am having this problem aswell, been trying to find a work around for hours

aiqa · May 2018

You'll have to rollback to the previous windows version until either microsoft of cryptic fixes things.
You can rollback like this:

kaiserin · May 2018

Something to try if you have updated: Try updating/reinstalling your video driver.

This is still being worked on, but trying to above may help as well.

blazer2001 · May 2018

@kaizerin Thank you for your reply, good to hear you are still working on the fix for this problem

.

I tried completely uninstalling my video driver and reinstalling it again, but it didn't fixed the issue, it's still the same.

fisitron · May 2018

Yeah, reinstalling the graphics card drivers doesn't work.

bombermangold · May 2018

Can verify.
Windows 10 snuck in the 1803 update on me while was AFK for several hours.

Tried to launch CO the usual way (through Steam) and launcher keeps hanging after clicking Play button ("Not Responding").
Then I tried it directly from the folder. Same deal.
Then I tried to launch the game directly without the launcher. Program pops up in Task Manager that the cliant is 'running' but nothing shows up at all. Practically have to use Task Manager to kill it each time.

jaazaniah1 · May 2018

Hmm, I've disabled Windows 10 Update now. Will wait and see if someone comes up with a real fix for this issue.

https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/how-to-stop-windows-10-update/#Way2

dimitrik · May 2018

It's sad that so many people are having to roll back their update because of this. I'm not even sure what the update really did. I'm sticking with the update, though, as eventually we'll have to deal with it either way, and undergoing that donkey of an install isn't something I want to deal with again.

I really hope the devs can sort this out. I know they're working on it, so godspeed, gang.

grunspel · May 2018

I spent the day doing a fresh installation of Windows 10 on a new hard drive. I was looking forward to some superhero fun to end my day when instead I ran into 2 hours of wtf? from this problem. I don't know why I waited so long to check the forum, but now at least (a) I see I'm not alone and (b) it's apparently related to the latest version of Windows. Unfortunately for me, I have nothing to rollback to.

magpieuk2014 · May 2018

There should be a fix for it somewhere, as I can now get Neverwinter to play, and that's based on a very similar engine. I've tried all the CO compatibility options for Win 10, moving the program on to a different drive, etc but at the moment it just won't load and (unfortunately) I'm not able to roll the thing back. Next Win10 patch is scheduled for the coming week, hopefully it will fix the issues....

blazer2001 · May 2018

After reading that the Neverwinter client works in version 1803, I managed to make another test with another computer, that still has version 1709, I found out something interesting.

Here you can see the output of the console for CO game client in version 1709:

View post on imgur.com

Notice how CO reports the version number of windows as 6.2.9200, which is the version number of Windows 7.

Now check the output of the Neverwinter game client in version 1709, it reports the windows version correctly:

View post on imgur.com

The version is correctly reported as 10.0.16299.

My guess is that the CO game client is "detecting" compatible windows version in a different way than the Neverwinter client, which actually works on windows 10 1803.

bombermangold · May 2018

blazer2001 said:
After reading that the Neverwinter client works in version 1803, I managed to make another test with another computer, that still has version 1709, I found out something interesting.

Here you can see the output of the console for CO game client in version 1709:

View post on imgur.com

Notice how CO reports the version number of windows as 6.2.9200, which is the version number of Windows 7.

Now check the output of the Neverwinter game client in version 1709, it reports the windows version correctly:

View post on imgur.com

The version is correctly reported as 10.0.16299.

My guess is that the CO game client is "detecting" compatible windows version in a different way than the Neverwinter client, which actually works on windows 10 1803.

- - - -

((wow, quote function is borked))

If that's the case, then.... why the heck would something like that not have been fixed or at least looked at for CO to run across whatever different versions of Windows, especially in case of huge updates or total change in OS?

kahliatae · May 2018

Any updates on this bug?

cramneaj · May 2018

I have Update the 1803 version with the monthly patch of windows but always same bug.
Launcher deosn't respond.

Good luck to found a solution

draogn · May 2018

I had this problem too, the only fix was to roll back the update. (Which is never a good option, the updates also come with security updates.) Updating my graphics driver did nothing. I love how Cryptic is blaming the Microsoft/Windows for this.

aiqa · May 2018

draogn said:
I had this problem too, the only fix was to roll back the update. (Which is never a good option, the updates also come with security updates.) Updating my graphics driver did nothing. I love how Cryptic is blaming the Microsoft/Windows for this.

Where are they blaming microsoft? Not that (at least) partially blaming microsoft would be strange, a windows update shouldn't break userspace programs.

draogn · May 2018

aiqa wrote: »

I had this problem too, the only fix was to roll back the update. (Which is never a good option, the updates also come with security updates.) Updating my graphics driver did nothing. I love how Cryptic is blaming the Microsoft/Windows for this.

Where are they blaming microsoft? Not that (at least) partially blaming microsoft would be strange, a windows update shouldn't break userspace programs.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline/#/discussion/1211078/windows-10-april-update

CO has a history of being bad when it comes to drivers. Of all the games I have CO is the only one that has a problem with the new update. Even after my drivers were updated CO still wouldn't work.

aiqa · May 2018

That is interesting, so they claim if you make sure you're using the most recent graphics driver it should be fixed. But people in this thread have already tried updating their graphics drivers.

draogn · May 2018

Unless there's something in the engine, I'm also not sure why the graphics drivers would be interfering with the launchers ability to work. I could understand if there were errors in game with graphics. Unless this is brought on by the memory leaks that infect CO.

Also if the update did cause drivers to become unstable that'd affect more then just CO.

aiqa · May 2018

Well they say:

(version 1803) caused graphics drivers to revert to an unstable version

So that would mean the driver itself is the problem. Which then also should be fixed by making sure the correct driver version is installed. But people already said they tried upgrading their drivers.

I'm curious, so I am giving it a try myself now.

dizzy · May 2018

After the windows 10 update, I was unable to play the game (launcher hangs). I reinstalled my graphics drivers. I am still experiencing the same issue.

I understand the workaround is to rollback the update. But as much as I would like to play the game, I'm not going to do that. I'll continue to check this thread in case anyone has a breakthrough.

rtma · May 2018

Got May 8, 2018—KB4103721 (OS Build 17134.48) Update, tried Champions Online, still causing the Launcher to not respond when about to launch and doesn't, any other ideas?

dimitrik · May 2018

Hey, gang. Still been in contact with support over this, and though I was originally hesitant to put the latest development forward, you guys deserve to be in the loop and it kind of... I don't know... rubbed me wrong? Maybe I'm being unreasonable. You guys will call me on it if I am. The latest response I got was a small paragraph that boiled down to this:

"They are actively investigating this issue, but for now the best thing to do might be to contact Microsoft Support and work with them to see if they have any solutions or fixes for the errors."

I understand the frustration of the situation on the development team's side, but this feels like it's putting the onus of fixing the issue on Windows rather than correct it on Cryptic's end. Though I'm not as tech-savvy as some of you guys, it's looking a lot from this feedback that it's an internal blip on Cryptic's side.

And though I don't consider myself a doomsayer, I can't expect Windows to take me seriously. I'd expect them to say, "Technology moves forward. If the service you're using refuses to update, it's on them."

pantagruel01 · May 2018

I haven't updated my windows yet, but I'm curious if everyone with the problem sees a high cpu percentage for antimalware service executable, because that pattern looks like CO is fighting with Windows Defender.

blazer2001 · May 2018

You can try disabling windows defender, obviously, install another antivirus, NEVER EVER stay without an antivirus software!

I've disabled windows defender myself, but there isn't any change in the situation, the launcher still gets stuck.

draogn · May 2018

pantagruel01 wrote: »

I haven't updated my windows yet, but I'm curious if everyone with the problem sees a high cpu percentage for antimalware service executable, because that pattern looks like CO is fighting with Windows Defender.

No, my cpu is running normally. Even if it weren't, I have Defender turned off (I have something else protecting my computer which has filters set to allow the Cryptic's games to pass through), I've updated my graphics drivers, and I'm having the same problem. This is a problem with CO, not Microsoft. This is a problem with the game, not the update.

What's especially odd about this, is that I can use Champions launcher to run NWO and STO, but not CO. (And I've tried running CO from NWOs and STOs launcher that didn't work either)

Launcher No Longer Connects to Account Server?

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