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Forums > Home› Neverwinter Discussion › General Discussion (PC)

Hey I just closed Neverwinter! Why did the patcher open? - An explanation

akromatikakromatik Member Posts: 1
edited May 2014 in General Discussion (PC)
Hey guys,

In preparation for our upcoming expansion, we've enabled what's called "pre-patching". Pre-patching allows your client to receive the expansion patch *before* it comes out. That way, you won't have to sit and wait for your client to patch when M5 goes live.

One thing to note: pre-patching will *not* enable you to play the new content before it goes live. What it will do is save you time on November 18th when Module 5 comes out!

Another thing to note: you *will* be able to play Neverwinter whether or not you download the pre-patch.

I've included some frequently asked questions to alleviate any further confusion:

Q: My patcher just opened even though I just closed Neverwinter.
A: Yes, this is called pre-patching (see above). It's a time-saving process that makes it so you can download the Module 5 patch beforehand. This way, you won't have to wait a long time to play Neverwinter when Module 3 launches.

Q: I downloaded the pre-patch, will I still be able to access Neverwinter in the days leading up to Module 5's launch?
A: Yes, you will still be able to access Neverwinter if you download the pre-patch.

Q: I can download the patch early? Does this mean I can access the Rise of Tiamat content early?
A: No. It only means you won't have to wait to play Module 3 when it goes live.

Q: I don't want to download the pre-patch. Can I still play Neverwinter?
A: Of course. You will be able to play Neverwinter whether or not you downloaded the pre-patch. Of course, when Module 5 releases, you will have to download the patch one way or another.

Q: I don't like this. I would rather wait to patch on launch day.
A: Not a problem! Just close the patcher when it tries to pre-patch and you'll be fine. You will still be able to play Neverwinter and you will still be able to pre-patch if you change your mind. :)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • zipperocketzipperocket Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    I don't know what's happened with this 'pre-patch' but earlier today it patched just fine and I have been on NW for many hours. I got lagged out about 40 min ago and cannot get back into the game. The game loader (patching/authentication) window pops up and it just hangs there (black screen)... then it times out with "There was an error loading the login page. Please restart the launcher and try again. Error -118 when loading url /launcher_login". There is nothing wrong with my net... blazing fast as always.

    Anyone else have this issue or maybe the service is down?
  • melodywhrmelodywhr Member Posts: 4,220 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    slaaneshihorror wrote: »
    I've encountered a pretty bothersome problem with the pre-patch.
    If for some reason your internet cuts out mid-patch, it will cease to patch properly.
    I have no idea how to get it to actual do the patch, but it tries to load the patch after every attempt at exiting the game, only to fail.
    And prior to said disconnection that started the patch problems, my game was running fine.
    Now it seems I'm experiencing frequent server timeouts, as well as "Unable to authenticate" responses on numerous login attempts, despite even slowly typing out my password.
    It was bad enough that the patch was obscenely slow, but it also causes glitches if interrupted half way through.
    I can't even properly play the game now.

    when the game launcher loads, click 'options' and then choose 'safe mode' - press 'save' and then start the game. the pre-patcher isn't loading anything that should affect the current patch. if you're still having issues, you can submit a technical support ticket.
  • dippyjamdippyjam Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    How big is the patch? The pre-patch launcher closes when there's a disconnection and doesn't seem to resume though. It always begins to patch from 1.7GB. Had 70% completed in a few hours and now this happens.
  • cheesegromitcheesegromit Member Posts: 540 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    akromatik wrote: »
    Q: My patcher just opened even though I just closed Neverwinter.
    A: Yes, this is called pre-patching (see above). It's a time-saving process that makes it so you can download the Module 3 patch beforehand. This way, you won't have to wait a long time to play Neverwinter when Module 3 launches.

    Q: Why does it prompt me to download what appears to be same patch every time I close Neverwinter even though I've already pre-patched?
  • melodywhrmelodywhr Member Posts: 4,220 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    cheesegromit wrote: »
    Q: Why does it prompt me to download what appears to be same patch every time I close Neverwinter even though I've already pre-patched?

    if you've already been pre-patched and you exit neverwinter, the patcher is set to verify whether or not you have the pre-patch files.
  • melodywhrmelodywhr Member Posts: 4,220 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    dippyjam wrote: »
    How big is the patch? The pre-patch launcher closes when there's a disconnection and doesn't seem to resume though. It always begins to patch from 1.7GB. Had 70% completed in a few hours and now this happens.

    the size of the patch is going to depend on whether or not you have on-demand patching enabled. another factor is whether or not you've downloaded the latest patch on the preview shard. if i remember correctly, the patch is about 4GB with on-demand patching disabled.
  • seanna2000seanna2000 Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2014
    melodywhr wrote: »
    if you've already been pre-patched and you exit neverwinter, the patcher is set to verify whether or not you have the pre-patch files.

    You really should check and verify before you patch. An example would be DirectX.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited May 2014
    This content has been removed.
  • seanna2000seanna2000 Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2014
    starbigamo wrote: »
    seens like neverwinter servers are pretty dead at moment. its pre patch fault?

    I just got disconected several times and my internet is finne with everything else.

    It could be that Neverwinter doesn't have enough capacity to take the load of all the people online. Or it could be their patching if they're using the same servers. It could also be their line capacity. There are so many possible bottlenecks. Also, it could be that the packet transfer to their server was rather choked up with traffic at the time. Different sites are hosted at different locations, and the jumps to them could be more or less, not to mention they're different depending on the what the packet directioning algorithm decides, and also whether there are any collisions (which would require a random time wait before retransmission), among other things.

    It's very troublesome to upkeep servers, really, especially if you maintain complete transparency, because then people think one big server handles the thing but then it really isn't. But then again, they might need more servers/line speed/etc. but sometimes the infrastructure of the building might be a problem after a while.
  • hamletswordshamletswords Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 1,320 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2014
    So, if the window pops up after I exit the game, and then closes itself, that means I already have the pre-patch and am ready to go?

    I love this idea. Hope it works.
    My Harem: Dawn HR, Erin CW, Piper TR, Zoe GWF
  • seanna2000seanna2000 Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2014
    hamletswords wrote: »
    So, if the window pops up after I exit the game, and then closes itself, that means I already have the pre-patch and am ready to go?

    I love this idea. Hope it works.

    I'm not the designer nor the programmer, but from the behaviour, my guess is that it was doing at least one of the following:-

    1) Checking if you have the latest prepatches and closing if you do, else it will download and patch.
    2) Downloading the files a bit at a time.

    So you may or may not be ready to go, but you sh0uld theoretically be closer to being ready to go.
  • cheesegromitcheesegromit Member Posts: 540 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    Just to follow-up on this as it's what I thought has happened with previous modules. I patched a 1768MB update several days ago yet still had another 1769MB update to download now.

    Are these separate patches? Is the pre-patching working correctly?

    Edit: I have on demand patching enabled.
  • regnierxregnierx Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    Same thing i downloaded the pre-patch and now i have to download another 4200MB patch.
  • dardovedardove Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    regnierx wrote: »
    Same thing i downloaded the pre-patch and now i have to download another 4200MB patch.

    Is it actually downloading? Is the received number going up?
  • regnierxregnierx Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    yes, and i cant play if i cancel the download
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