Nameplates and arrow lost after instance switch to join team

[wishingwell]

When this happens to me, it's only while switching layers/instances within the same world. I've never had it happen while going into a FP or a WZ.

 

1: It doesn't matter if I switch instances while grouped, while solo, from the map, from the ops frame, starting with a mount, starting with a companion out, etc. Nothing seems to make a difference.

2. There doesn't seem to be a way to predict it. It happens every so often (and tends to happen in bursts, then goes away for a while) and only while switching layers/instances on a planet/the fleet/etc.

3. If I target myself, I won't be able to see my name above my head. I do not lose nameplates over anyone else's head; however, I also don't keep a static nameplate over my own head, so maybe that is a related bit of information. Or maybe not; I dunno.

4. If I target anything else, I won't be able to see the plumbob above my target. I can still see the target circle below the mob/NPC, however.

5. About 50% of the time, if I target something, I won't be able to un-target it (i.e. I have to target something else and cannot have an empty/open target) even if the mob is dead or the NPC is very far away.

6. Mapping to another area of the same planet does not help.

7. Resetting my UI with ctrl+U does not help.

8. Traveling by elevator, ship, shuttle (not taxi), or any other mode of travel that causes a momentary black screen or a loading screen fixes things sometimes.

9. Zoning into a FP or WZ will help.

[JLazarillo]

Hi folks,

 

 

Also, for everyone, can you please let us know if a CTRL+U reset of the UI fixes this? We've had this happen to some of us when we're playing, and that's helped in most cases.

 

It's never worked for me, not even once. And trust me, I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say I've probably tried hundreds of times.

For what it's worth, the following things have also not worked:

• Deleting the game's cache file (suggested in the support forum, but never followed up after reporting it didn't work, tried it a few times, but never helped)
  
• Using the launcher's repair function (suggested by a few other players in game and on forums, tried a few times but never helped)
  
• Uninstalling and reinstalling the whole freaking game (suggested once by another player on the forums, even tried this but nothing)
  
• Reinstalling/updating graphics card drivers (suggested by other players in-game, I try to do this anyway but it's never helped with this bug).
  

 

TL;DR - We care, even if we don't post about an issue and/or it isn't fixed quickly.

 

And while I am appreciative to finally see this get some acknowledgment, it still doesn't change that this has gone on for at least the last nine months without any at all. Just that would've made a big difference, or even better, asking for people's experiences like you are now. I know I'd be more than happy to help fix it, since it affects my own enjoyment of the game! But it's hard to share when I don't know what will be useful!

 

That said, for what it's worth, here are a few other things that I hope might narrow it down:

• This has been happening to me since at least November (that's when I first realized what it was...but it's sort of a funny thing that I didn't know what I was seeing at first, so it's possible it's been longer than that, even
  
• At first, this happened while switching from one instance of a planet to another instance of the same planet only.
  
• More recently, back in mid-June or so, this started also happening any time I hit a loading screen that wasn't the initial one from login with the "story so far" screen. This includes loading into Flashpoints or Warzones, or even just getting on/off my ship.
  
• This second version seems to happen slightly less often.
  
• I have tried to test as many variables as I can: solo/teamed, companion dismissed/deployed, map left open/closed, alt+tabbing to another window/staying in game the whole time, having UI on/off while switching, probably a few other things, just to see, but there seems to be no pattern.
  
• Due to the lockout on instance switching, it's really hard to do in-depth testing of various things that may or may not have an effect.
  
• I play in Full Screen (windowed) mode
  
• I am running Windows 7 Home 64-bit with an AMD Radeon 5700 series graphics card (including latest drivers, as noted above)
  

 

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope all this is helpful.

Edited July 27, 2013 by JLazarillo

[Slurmez]

Hi folks,

 

There are actually two threads about this topic; I've posted a response in the other thread and have been watching this one. (They didn't seem like they'd merge well. )

 

Unfortunately, reproducing this issue internally has thus far been unsuccessful, so the ongoing investigation has been slow while we use your reports to narrow it down. We're aware of it, though!

 

With your issue, Plo_Coon, does this happen to you ONLY when area transitioning to be with a group, or do you also see this when transitioning into content phases such as Warzones or Flashpoints? Yours is one of the only instances I've seen on the forums that's been reported very specifically and as happening 100% of the time, so I'm curious.

 

Also, for everyone, can you please let us know if a CTRL+U reset of the UI fixes this? We've had this happen to some of us when we're playing, and that's helped in most cases.

 

Finally, please keep in mind the following from our Bug Report Forum Guidelines

 

 

A lack of direct response is not an indication that your issue isn't being worked on, nor is it an indication that we don't see or care about it.

 

Sometimes, it's just exceptionally difficult to nail something like this down, and even fixing some instances will not resolve it fully, and that can be frustrating for us too!

 

As an example, some of you may remember a bug that was quite persistent about this time last year where you could be "stuck dead" seemingly randomly. It would happen most frequently in Warzone spawn areas, but we saw anecdotal reports of it happening all over the Galaxy. We researched the topic internally and absolutely could not get it to happen to us, no matter what we tried. At the time we didn't have a bug report forum, but I would still see threads that were similar to this one. In this instance, someone was finally able to discover the main cause of the problem without being able to make it happen (which is difficult!), and we were able to get a huge bulk of the instances corrected with Game Update 1.2.4. We knew it wouldn't fix all instances, and we found another cause that we were able to correct in Game Update 1.3 a bit later. That's not to say that we haven't seen a report of it here and there since then. Nonetheless, it's now exceptionally rare, and if we are able to smoosh it out once and for all, we absolutely will.

 

TL;DR - We care, even if we don't post about an issue and/or it isn't fixed quickly.

 

 

 

really? you cant replicate it because I can 100%, do you run a special version of the game "internally" perhaps get your Q/A to log onto live.....

 

have 2 people in a different instance to each other

 

Invite the other person

 

Have one come to the other instance

 

Hey presto namplates and arrows gone

 

Ctrl+U+U restores nameplates but NOT arrows, only relogging fixes.

[CrazyMcGee]

Hi Amber,

 

I checked this out after your post.

 

1) I joined a group (normal group, not ops group)

2) I used the automatic "transfer to other instance" button

3) nameplates and arrow were gone

4) I tried ctrl+u, but it didn't fix it

5) after I left the group, it seemed to be fixed (I joined another group soon after, so I'm not sure it was leaving or joining a new group that fixed it)

 

Just in case it helps, I was on a female smuggler (GS) type 1 body and I was on Ilum in the Western Ice Shelf.

[pooks]

I reported this months ago as a bug report. It is the #1 issue that is affecting gameplay.

This happens when switching instances so much so that I tell people I need to invite them and not be invited or this bug will happen.

It rarely happens when going into a FP, but it did happen last week getting the GF queue for a FP.

This happens in normal 2-player groups as well as ops groups or GF 4-player groups.

The only way to fix is to go to character select screen which often removes you from a group which is a pain.

[theStirge]

When this happens to me, it's only while switching layers/instances within the same world. I've never had it happen while going into a FP or a WZ.

 

1: It doesn't matter if I switch instances while grouped, while solo, from the map, from the ops frame, starting with a mount, starting with a companion out, etc. Nothing seems to make a difference.

2. There doesn't seem to be a way to predict it. It happens every so often (and tends to happen in bursts, then goes away for a while) and only while switching layers/instances on a planet/the fleet/etc.

3. If I target myself, I won't be able to see my name above my head. I do not lose nameplates over anyone else's head; however, I also don't keep a static nameplate over my own head, so maybe that is a related bit of information. Or maybe not; I dunno.

4. If I target anything else, I won't be able to see the plumbob above my target. I can still see the target circle below the mob/NPC, however.

5. About 50% of the time, if I target something, I won't be able to un-target it (i.e. I have to target something else and cannot have an empty/open target) even if the mob is dead or the NPC is very far away.

6. Mapping to another area of the same planet does not help.

7. Resetting my UI with ctrl+U does not help.

8. Traveling by elevator, ship, shuttle (not taxi), or any other mode of travel that causes a momentary black screen or a loading screen fixes things sometimes.

9. Zoning into a FP or WZ will help.

 

This is what happens to me, as well, except I keep my nameplate over my head unlike in #3, have never experienced #5, and while #9 will fix the target arrow issue, it will not fix the problem where the health bar above my head always shows empty, nor the one where all friendly health bars always show full. (Health bars in the UI always display correctly, it's only the health bars above characters' heads that break.) The health bar issue happens nearly 100% of the time(there have been very rare instances where I did not get the bug), with the targeting arrow problem happening intermittently.

 

Also, not sure if this is related, sometimes certain mobs in flashpoints will just not have a nameplate(I always have all nameplates for all characters on), just a health bar, regardless of whether or not I am suffering from the other bugs at the time. These mobs seem pretty consistent; there are a few in Battle of Ilum, mostly near the bridge. Some of the mobs in the pack will have nameplates, and some won't.

[Doog]

I can add another name to the list of people this has happened to, although I think it's only happened a handful of times. most recently it happened on corellia when I switched instances from the world map - it's also happened to me when I switched instances to join up with a group (on belsavis if I remember correctly). I've tried ctrl+u when this has happened in the past and it didn't fix the problem

 

to give some more detail, I can't remember the specifics of the bug when it happened to me on belsavis because it was a while ago now, but on corellia I was playing on my vanguard. I had changed instances and then the first thing I did after that was interact with a republic npc (it was either a rocket tram to labor valley or one of the mission-giving npcs next to the tram station in labor valley). after I had finished picking up the optional missions from that area (the last npc I spoke to was palla mazlin, giving the mission 'supply cache') I vaguely noticed that the nameplate had remained above the npc's head after I had hit esc to remove the character as a target. however I only really registered this information properly when I started one of the missions and noticed the nameplates missing from the enemy npcs. I don't know if switching instance then interacting with a same-faction npc is something to test, or whether the bug had already happened and it wouldn't have mattered if I had gone straight into combat, but I guess any detail is better than no detail

[Sinapus]

I've had it happen to me. It seems to happen only when I switch instances when I join a group. I can test it further by switching instances while outside a group but I suspect it will do the same.

 

The health meter under my nameplate shows zero health (though deselecting show nameplate, applying, and then reselecting show nameplate seems to bring it back) and I can no longer see an arrow over my current target. Makes picking a target out of a crowd difficult.

 

Logging out and back in will definitely clear it. I haven't tried ctrl-U, now that I think of it so I'll test it next chance I get.

[Elite-Force]

got the same issue, after joining the Hammer station through groupfinder. Cast bar was completely missing.

After strg+u x2 i got a stucked arrow (on the tank as i was heal) also my health bar under my nameplate got stucked and didnt represent my current health. Only operationwindow+potrait health bar showed the right amount of hp.

Also cast bar at my nameplate was missing, but not the cast bar next to my custom interface placed one.

this happened once for me joining a fp with the groupfinder.

 

sry for bad english.

[CrazyMcGee]

I'm not sure if this is related, but I got this bug and then went to fight the world bosses in the Gree event.

 

The bosses stayed yellow for me the whole time. I was fighting them, but they weren't red.

 

Anyone else had this? I had the nameplate and arrow thing at the same time, so I thought it might be related.

[DarthDak]

This happens to me as well, on various characters, at seemingly random times, but when it happens it's always in conjunction with switching instance when joining a group.

 

The CTRL+U (twice) dance does NOT fix it, for me.

 

I haven't tested enough to discern any particular pattern regarding race, gender, class, body-type or other body customizations, nor any piece(s) of equipment. Neither have I noticed any specific pattern as to whether the problem happens more often on certain planets than others.

 

So far, the only way I've found to get rid of the issue is to relog the character and hope that I get back in the correct instance so that the group simply has to reinvite me, with no instance switching required. Traveling to the ship and back hasn't seemed practical enough for me to try, so I can't say whether that would work or not.

 

Of all the current bugs that I know of, for me this is the single most annoying one, by far.

[PlasmaJohn]

... , one of users in this second thread mention that for him this bug starts appeaing once he switched AA options in graphing menu on. And i did the same thing or at least it looks like - I switched AA on hight (before it was on 'off') and then i've started having this bug. Tho' switching it off didn't help.

I used to get it occasionally when switching planetary instances, but after dialing up the graphics quality the issue manifests almost always (not quite 100%, but close). Resetting the graphics did not help. Ctrl-U twice resets the health bar over my head but then it never moves and the targeting reticule is lost. Traveling to FP's and ops are usually fine but occasionally bug out.

 

My workaround is to kill the process to simulate a disconnect. This keeps me in group and transfers me to the correct instance when I log back in.

Edited July 29, 2013 by PlasmaJohn

[Sinapus]

My workaround is to kill the process to simulate a disconnect. This keeps me in group and transfers me to the correct instance when I log back in.

 

I'll have to remember to try that next time it happens.

 

Edit: I manually switched instances and the problem definitely seems to be there and not simply joining a group. Ctrl-U restores the health bar on the nameplate, but the arrow still stays missing until I logout and back in.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Sinapus

[Seraphynn]

I have this issue also when in group and switching instances on the same planet. The only way I have found to fix is gut through the heroic with no markers. Leave group and switch back instance. Other than that a complete log off and log back on again. Which is annoying as hell when you have been trying to PUG a group for an hour.

 

Control UU does not work.

[idnewton]

My workaround is to kill the process to simulate a disconnect. This keeps me in group and transfers me to the correct instance when I log back in.

 

Unplugging one's internet cable also does the trick.

[funkiestj]

I've noticed the "missing target arrow" problem in WZ a few times this week.

 

Of course I see it regularly when changing PvE instances.

[LydMekk]

Since the last patch my targeting markers inst showing properly. This happens only in WZs (OPS) and in FPs.

Standing on fleet, planets etc. soloing and not in a group it works normally.

 

The selected target is shown in the UI lower right round Box but looking at the target it doesn't show the red circle around it or the red downpointing Arrow above it. It shard to see a properly selected target in a Group of enemies, NPC or players.

 

This also happened after 2.0 but went away in an earlier patch but it's now back again

 

2 different PCs same problem. Tried ofc. repair function etc.

 

Need a fix.

[LydMekk]

Started a New thread, didnt see this one...

---------

Since the last patch my targeting markers inst showing properly. This happens only in WZs (OPS) and in FPs.

Standing on fleet, planets etc. soloing and not in a group it works normally.

 

The selected target is shown in the UI lower right round Box but looking at the target it doesn't show the red circle around it or the red downpointing Arrow above it. Its hard to see a properly selected target in a Group of enemies, NPC or players.

 

This also happened after 2.0 but went away in an earlier patch but it's now back again

 

2 different PCs same problem. Tried ofc. repair function etc.

 

Need a fix.

Edited July 31, 2013 by LydMekk

[Styelth]

I've had this happen as well. It started while I was in a class phase and the group finder popped. When I shuttled to the instance, Colicoid I believe, I had no ground circles or head arrows on my targets. I was healing so this wasn't a major issue, but if I had been DPS faced with multiple enemies of the same type I would have been in trouble.

 

The problem corrected itself when I shuttled out to the exit, but when I left the fleet and boarded my ship it came back. I tried ctrl-u many times and it didn't fix it. Because it seemed to happen every other time I zoned I had to close the game and restart to correct it.

 

I also had the same problem when joining a group for PvE and then using the pop-up switch instances prompt to join my group leader. It's far more frustrating here, as you must relog to fix it, since zoning out and back isn't as easily accomplished as on the fleet.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Styelth
Followup

[LydMekk]

Yeah...

[PlasmaJohn]

This seems to be fixed (or mitigated) for me since the 2.3 patch landed. Last couple nights I could instance switch all over Hoth without issue. Have not tried the Fleet <-> Homeworld shuttles though.

 

Just in case me being cured is a mystery this problem started/got much worse when I switched graphics settings. Perhaps the new vibrancy change caused some settings or shaders to get reinitialized to a sane state.

 

I'm curious to see if I no longer get the Essles/BT crash which also started around the same time I monkeyed with my settings.

[JasonNH]

This has been the greatest aggravation for me with the game the past few months while playing with a leveling partner. We will log in at the same time and invariably get put on different instances. I will switch instances and often all the nameplates are missing and that makes the game very difficult to play. The only way I can resolve it is to log out and log back in again and hope I get the same instance. Of course, if I don't, I am locked out from switching again until 2AM (gee, thanks, more fun than "/stuck" timeouts). At this point, my partner will have to switch instances and come to me, and what often happens is that my avatar is faded for her as though I were still on a different instance, and my companion stats don't show up for her at all in my group avatar.

 

I *think* the problem is less likely to happen if I switch instances before grouping, but I am not sure. The hit or miss element may also be more tied to the planet than some of the other variables we have tried. I believe while leveling on Nar Shaddaa with our imperial characters, it happened every stinking time.

[Joesixxpack]

Hi folks,

 

Unfortunately, reproducing this issue internally has thus far been unsuccessful, so the ongoing investigation has been slow while we use your reports to narrow it down. We're aware of it, though!

 

With your issue, Plo_Coon, does this happen to you ONLY when area transitioning to be with a group, or do you also see this when transitioning into content phases such as Warzones or Flashpoints? Yours is one of the only instances I've seen on the forums that's been reported very specifically and as happening 100% of the time, so I'm curious.

 

Also, for everyone, can you please let us know if a CTRL+U reset of the UI fixes this? We've had this happen to some of us when we're playing, and that's helped in most cases.

 

 

Sometimes, it's just exceptionally difficult to nail something like this down, and even fixing some instances will not resolve it fully, and that can be frustrating for us too!

 

 

I get this bug more often than not when switching instances on Ilum during the Gree events.

 

Ctrl + U has never resolved it. Logging out/in sometimes resolves it, not consistently. It persists into PVP WZs. Dunno about persisting into other worlds.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Joesixxpack

[funkiestj]

I'm still seeing it both when switching PvE instances and in WZ. Targetting in WZ REALLY sucks when this happens.

[BobaFaceroll]

I get this every time I change instances, and CTRL+U does nothing to fix the problem. Sometimes it goes away and things work properly if I zone (i.e. hit a loading screen) and sometimes it stays glitched.

 

It would be great if this got fixed. It's been an issue for a while now, and it does impact game play. Targeting is very difficult when this happens.