Upcoming Update of the Game Launcher

[Nee-Elder]

1 hour ago, LordNocturnis said:

I am glad to see that the Community Team's eyes are still on this thread.

Yes  although i just realized  that today (Monday) was technically a  holiday for USA , and therefore my previous post from middle of page 6  was incorrect  guesstimate.

Sorry gang, looks like  tomorrow TUESDAY = some relief  hopefully.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Nee-Elder

[-Messiah]

Hi, 

The launcher updated for me but when i click "play" nothing happens. The button toggles on and off when i keep clicking it (as in lights up and then dims as if the play button is not ready)

 

Let me know what info you need and ill send it

 

Would really like to get this sorted so i can play again. thanks!

Edited October 11, 2022 by -Messiah

[Nee-Elder]

27 minutes ago, -Messiah said:

Let me know what info you need and ill send it

See this BioWare  post for directions: https://forums.swtor.com/topic/924959-upcoming-update-of-the-game-launcher/page/4/#comment-9722121

[Sarova]

12 hours ago, Lyriel said:

That doesn't help navigate within the thread, which is what Sarova was asking about. We used to be able to jump to the next official response inside the thread we were currently reading. I miss that feature too.

Thank you.  This is a really important feature that is missing from these new forums.  Devs, if you're reading, PLEASE add the ability to navigate Dev posts within a thread.

[MarkovChain]

Started game, launcher update started. nothing.

restarted launcher. failure (crash)

mailed support everything needed, including diagLauncher output as per listed text, SHA256 cksums of launcher files, config, etc.

no fix yet.

 

@JackieKoguys, please only do such updates as opt ins with a fallback.

the failed update ruined our sunday raid of 16 because the tank had to be replaced (still cant log in)

it also messed up another 16 raid on monday because our healer dropped out and still cant log in.

same here. cant log in since 24hrs.  not on this machine, not on any of my others.

 

i really dont care about some download speed improvements on my side of a very slow line, but if i have to download everything again, i`ll not have internet for a week or so.

please make a manual launcher install & instructions available. and make turning bitraider off a GUI thing while you are at it, bitraider sucks. forced me to download the game quite a few times.

[MarkovChain]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:38 PM, septru said:

Just get then steam launcher. It's managed by a third party aka not BioWare. 

won't happen. steam uses a very very old libssl with a lot of big holes in it. steam is basically a remote exploit tool in its current state of maintenance. that plus steam exfiltrates almost as much information as discord.  no 3rd party launchers. thanks.

[MarkovChain]

On 10/10/2022 at 4:50 AM, ronin_chi_lao said:

They were not actually downloads more like file checks. I had 3 of them when I just got the new launcher. A 30 gb, 8 and another real small one maybe 2 to 3 gb. But my separate drives  all stayed at the same space during and after.

@JackieKo a 30gb download just for file checks with a new launcher ? are you guys kidding  me ? i won't be able to play all week. get some checksums and compare with a flatfile list of checksums, for the emporers sake...

(i try to get FTTH since 2002, i am still stuck with 16k DSL and the only ISP delivering to this backwoods probably wont solve this in a long while.)

[KaidenAce]

The launcher updated with no issues. I was surprised by the 35+ GB download though.

After I login and attempt to play, the following happens:

1. I click the "Play" button but nothing happens. The Play button will toggle on (highlighted)/off (not highlighted). Windows Task Manager says SWTOR app is running.

2. I click the "Play" button, then the launcher screen disappears and nothing happens. The Launcher closes without launching the game since in the Windows Task Manager, SWTOR app is not running.

3. I could not find the developer logs at all so I did not contact Support. In the Settings screen, it says "Core: Ver.2.0.4.1 Lib: v1.0.0.0"

I'm hoping this information helps the team solve the issue. Please let me know if you need any other information.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Lednew]

On 10/7/2022 at 3:01 PM, Darth_Terminus said:

I've never frequented these forums much over the past decade, but the new launcher has done something I find unacceptable. I am no longer able to change my loading screen to an image of my choice without it being replaced by the one from the current expansion. I have used the vanilla launch screen for as long as the game has been out and I would very much like to do so for whatever remains of the game's lifetime. Is the launch screen really so important that it cannot be customized by each player?

It was mildly annoying when I had to re-apply my custom loading screen every time they patched the game, but I could live with it.

The new launcher now overwrites it every time it runs. This makes me unhappy.

[SteveTheCynic]

16 hours ago, MarkovChain said:

@JackieKo a 30gb download just for file checks with a new launcher ? are you guys kidding  me ? i won't be able to play all week. get some checksums and compare with a flatfile list of checksums, for the emporers sake...

(i try to get FTTH since 2002, i am still stuck with 16k DSL and the only ISP delivering to this backwoods probably wont solve this in a long while.)

I got the new launcher yesterday evening (French time), and I watched carefully what it was doing.  So on the other screen, I had Task Manager open to the network performance graph, and most of the time, as the number of GB to download was decreasing, there wasn't actually any network traffic, so it was just marking the files as "yup, that one's OK, remove it from the amount remaining but don't actually download it," over and over.

[JackieKo]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:36 AM, Sarova said:

Thank you.  This is a really important feature that is missing from these new forums.  Devs, if you're reading, PLEASE add the ability to navigate Dev posts within a thread.

Hey Sarova, 

Just acknowledging that this is a feature we are investigating adding. I don't want to derail the thread with forum feature suggestions, but I at least wanted to let you know that is something we are discussing. 

22 hours ago, MarkovChain said:

@JackieKo a 30gb download just for file checks with a new launcher ? are you guys kidding  me ? i won't be able to play all week. get some checksums and compare with a flatfile list of checksums, for the emporers sake...

(i try to get FTTH since 2002, i am still stuck with 16k DSL and the only ISP delivering to this backwoods probably wont solve this in a long while.)

What StevetheCynic stated in the above post is what the experience should be for players. I'm quoting this from my OP as well.  "When we are ready to deploy the new launcher, it will APPEAR as a client download (as it uses the same progress bar), but it will only be scanning files to compare them to the new data structure. The “download” in this case refers not to re-downloading the game client but downloading small pieces of information for validating the game data already on disk. So to reiterate once more, players will not be experiencing a full download." I hope that is helpful! 

[Sarova]

15 minutes ago, JackieKo said:

Hey Sarova, 

Just acknowledging that this is a feature we are investigating adding. I don't want to derail the thread with forum feature suggestions, but I at least wanted to let you know that is something we are discussing. 

That's great news, thanks.

[Char_Ell]

I just downloaded the new launcher and had the same experience as @SteveTheCynic.  My standard (non-Bit Raider) SWTOR game client was already updated with the latest patch and it went thru 3 series of "downloads" but when I watched my network activity using Windows Task Manager it wasn't until the 3rd download that there was any significant network activity which only lasted for several seconds.  The launcher update apparently worked without issue as I was able to log into SWTOR and play as normal. After the update I closed and restarted SWTOR, clicked on the button with the two gear cogs in the lower left corner of my launcher window, and my launcher shows it's version 2.0.4.2.

1 hour ago, JackieKo said:

What StevetheCynic stated in the above post is what the experience should be for players. I'm quoting this from my OP as well.  "When we are ready to deploy the new launcher, it will APPEAR as a client download (as it uses the same progress bar), but it will only be scanning files to compare them to the new data structure. The “download” in this case refers not to re-downloading the game client but downloading small pieces of information for validating the game data already on disk. So to reiterate once more, players will not be experiencing a full download." I hope that is helpful! 

Hello @JackieKo, I recognize you provided the info about what downloading actually meant with respect to this launcher update and perhaps I'm preaching to the choir with this feedback.  However if the launcher is not downloading files then I think it would make for a better user experience for the status bar on the launcher to reflect that and indicate "validating game files", "verifying game data", "checking game files" or something similar instead of "downloading."   It seems to me that a relatively low percentage of players check the forums and swtor.com for game info and were not aware of that downloading did not necessarily mean the launcher was actually downloading game files.  I noticed a number of people posting complaints that they had to "re-download" the game.  You did say that people would have to download a good chunk of data if their game was not updated with the latest patch so I'm not sure how many of these people actually were downloading updates for the game itself instead of just for the launcher.  I just think it would have helped some if the game launcher only displayed download status when it was actually downloading files and had a different status when it was not actually downloading files.

[Ambrodel]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:05 PM, MarkovChain said:

@JackieKo a 30gb download just for file checks with a new launcher ? are you guys kidding  me ?

You don't pay much attention, do you? This is what I "downloaded" after having the launcher update today:

https://i.imgur.com/VU04kyl.jpg

 

Two short bursts of hardly any data, that was it. So what are you actually complaining about? Or are you the one kidding yourself?

[-Ashton-]

3 hours ago, JackieKo said:

Hey Sarova, 

Just acknowledging that this is a feature we are investigating adding. I don't want to derail the thread with forum feature suggestions, but I at least wanted to let you know that is something we are discussing. 

What StevetheCynic stated in the above post is what the experience should be for players. I'm quoting this from my OP as well.  "When we are ready to deploy the new launcher, it will APPEAR as a client download (as it uses the same progress bar), but it will only be scanning files to compare them to the new data structure. The “download” in this case refers not to re-downloading the game client but downloading small pieces of information for validating the game data already on disk. So to reiterate once more, players will not be experiencing a full download." I hope that is helpful! 

 

How about acknowledging and giving some much needed information to those who have been unable to log in since last Friday?

Instead you have taken 4  days to reply to a completely irrelevant post within the thread.

 

[Ambrodel]

1 hour ago, -Ashton- said:

Instead you have taken 4  days to reply to a completely irrelevant post within the thread.

That is, unfortunately, all BW is capable of these days

[Myzrahie]

So there has been literally ZERO answer to what the probable cause is? I look in that developer file and I keep seeing:

Java mismatch?

Interop not being able to do whatever the hell it is not doing.

Cannot read property 'getLoginSpecsHash'

Endless worklfow "selfupdaterepair"

Mind you, I dont know what any of this means and how it pertains to the problem, but we're asked to wait and wait and wait. The money for the next 3 months has been taken out of my account already and I've steadily been paying ( as most of all of us have) and we get a "we're looking into it"?

I find this modus operandi....wanting.

[Exly]

1 hour ago, -Ashton- said:

 

How about acknowledging and giving some much needed information to those who have been unable to log in since last Friday?

Instead you have taken 4  days to reply to a completely irrelevant post within the thread.

 

I suspect they don't know what's wrong, and that's why they are not talking about it. 

I do hope though that they plan to generously compensate everyone that is having problems and is unable to play because of this change.  

[haretgaderfgkola]

I've been stuck on the "The launcher is being updated. Please wait" message for like an hour already. Is this normal? Will closing the launcher through task manager solve it or mess it up even more? :/

[supertimtaf]

4 hours ago, Exly said:

I do hope though that they plan to generously compensate everyone that is having problems and is unable to play because of this change.  

Sadly this isn't FF14, Bioware never offered sub time to players ever, even when we had some maintenance that lasted one or two days longer than anticipated due to... I don't remember, I think it was Servers not restarting. It was one of the Zakel expansion so it was a while ago, can't remember. :x

I wouldn't hope for anything if I were you. Mostly because they cannot compensate only a specific group of players, as there's no way to tell "this person wasn't able to use the launcher", so they'll have to give sub time to every subbed player if they ever plan on compensation.

Mind you though, again Swtor isn't a player-friendly consumer experience. And while other mmos do offer compensations, Bioware does not because it means less money for them on the short term. Even if they end up losing players in the long run. 

 

 

[Advocatis]

The new launcher has quit working for me, whatever I do.  If I don’t reboot the pc, it just spins.  If I do reboot the pc, it clears the launcher, and then the SWTOR processes die quietly without starting the game.

I didn’t think they’d be able to top the non-existent 10th anniversary festivities, but then putting out a buggy launcher and beta testing it with their customers (many without permission) is priceless.

[-Rachel-]

Yes, it's awesome.  I have the same problem.  Launcher updated.  I guess I can login, but clicking the "Play" button on launcher, it does not go further and apparently, it dies quietly. 

 

*EDIT*  Email sent

Edited October 13, 2022 by -Rachel-

[-Messiah]

whats the ETA on getting replies on our errors? 

 

Has anyone had the problem when you click "play" nothing happens? its just like a toggle button. If youve got a fix it would save me a lot of wait time :D

[JackieKo]

Hi everyone, 

We’re seeing some common issues players are reporting that can be fixed by using the Repair function. We wanted to highlight these scenarios for players, so they can get into a working state. 

• If you see these type of errors:
• Game not launching
• Launcher crashing
• Blank launcher screen
• Slow launcher

Please try:

• Open the launcher, go to settings, and run the Repair function
• Or, if your launcher crashed during upgrade, please download the new installer from this page, run it, and choose "Repair"

If you are still experiencing issues and have not submitted your log file to Support, we highly suggest you do, so we can troubleshoot the issues further. 
 

[-Rachel-]

1 minute ago, JackieKo said:

Hi everyone, 

We’re seeing some common issues players are reporting that can be fixed by using the Repair function. We wanted to highlight these scenarios for players, so they can get into a working state. 

• If you see these type of errors:
• Game not launching
• Launcher crashing
• Blank launcher screen
• Slow launcher

Please try:

• Open the launcher, go to settings, and run the Repair function
• Or, if your launcher crashed during upgrade, please download the new installer from this page, run it, and choose "Repair"

If you are still experiencing issues and have not submitted your log file to Support, we highly suggest you do, so we can troubleshoot the issues further. 
 

 

Hello @JackieKo,  That doesn't work cause the repair button is not active on the launcher for me.  But I have the issue that I can log in.  But the "PLAY" button does nothing and acts like a toggle (highlight on/off) so the actual game never starts up.