Launcher issues (finally found cause)

[CrutchCricket]

OK so for the longest time, ever since you rolled out the new launcher I've had troubles logging in. It would take forever and multiple restarts of the program or computer couldn't fix it. Sometimes it eventually logged in, sometimes it didn't. The game ran perfectly once the launcher logged in, never had issues patching or crashing or anything else others have experienced with starting the game. Similarly, no one else seems to have reported this specific issue. The old launcher ran perfectly, just this new one was insanely frustrating. I don't have Bitraider or anything else your general guide mentions. But finally I cracked it. I still think it's an issue on your end that your launcher program fails to work correctly in these circumstances but at least now I can definitively point to what they are.

 

My system: Win7 Home Premium

Network: Wifi

Other Networks via Hamachi tunneling adapter (not really used but there since the days I used to use it) and VMware/Virtual Box network adapters (I use VMs but not when I'm playing lol).

 

The issue is Windows 7 bundles the connections in Network and Sharing Center so I'm connected to multiple networks. And that's where your launcher falters. Apparently in cases where multiple networks are detected (on Windows 7 at least) your launcher doesn't know how to talk to your servers. This is verified because I can put in random characters for a password and it will spin uselessly forever if I let it. Disabling all Hamachi/VM network adapters though results in immediate rejection of the wrong password or successful login. I'm not sure if it's multiple networks in general or just these pseudo-networks that don't lead anywhere but the point is your current launcher can't route/timeout properly in some multiple network environments on Windows 7. Your old launcher didn't have this problem, and neither does the launcher for Guild Wars 2.

 

Now I can keep the extra adapters disabled until I need them and the launcher will run fine every time. But maybe this is something you should look at. Unless it doesn't happen on 8.1 or 10 I guess, though 7 isn't at end of life yet.

 

And for anyone else, if you're doing VMs or VPNs on Windows 7 and are having connectivity issues, maybe look into this, see if disabling them works for you too.

Edited September 29, 2016 by CrutchCricket