Originally posted by Kyleran Good job trouble shooting the problem, does seem strange they don't support folder redirecion, also explains why most folks don't run into the issue, as they don't do this on a personal PC. (More of a network tool as I understand it)
More and more people are doing it on personal PCs due to wanting to store their Documents or other data on NAS drives. And with the Windows Home Server I am sure it is also more common.
After I reverted the changes back, the game went back to its prior behavior. There is no reason why this can't be supported. It's really just the coders not being aware of the ability of the OS to do this. They should have coded it not to look for the folder in the C drive but instead point it to the value stored in the registry. It's basically just sloppy work on their end.
Edit: Well, even though I did not end up playing, I think my little find definitely helped with their beta testing. Let's hope they implement this before launch.
Probably Hackshield doesn't like it. That application is looking for any evidence of tampering whatsoever, so if you do something it isn't expecting, it assumes you are a hacker.
What's more interesting is that you got zero help from their support team other than go look at our troubleshooting page and that's it. Says to me they have a bare bones team working on this... in other words, if there is a bug, XLGames better find and fix it for them or it's likely to remain for a very long time.
It's not Hackshield that is looking for this folder. It is the Archeage client. After Hackshield goes through its update process, the game tries to launch by first looking for this folder in the C drive. If you are redirecting the folder to another location, the client will not find it because it is hard coded to look on the C drive. Most modern games realize this is a very old and outdated method and instead rely on the registry value (which they should). We are not running Windows 98 machines any more.
Edit: Can a GM change the title of the post to add something like "Game did not work for me but workaround was discovered"? I'd like to spread any helpful info I can and the title itself as it stands is a bit misleading now as I have discovered a temporary solution for it.
Thanks Grimal, for posting this. It's not a widespread problem but is not a little bit concern either. I've been following this because I do have a militarized type machine and many times it happens things like that. But mostly by the firewalls, antiphishing, spamdestroyers and all this kind of things overlapping eachother; but the problem now is fixed, at least for you, and with this explanation, for many others.
I'm going to wait until they fix this before I play the game. I don't like changing a policy I have in place to accommodate one piece of software when everything else I am running works fine. For me, the value of ensuring my data is secure and backed up far outweighs the ability to play a game.
I don't know if they will fix this. I ran into a problem with a single player game about a year ago (some zombie game) that still has not implemented a fix even though I posted on the forums about it.
I'm going to wait until they fix this before I play the game. I don't like changing a policy I have in place to accommodate one piece of software when everything else I am running works fine. For me, the value of ensuring my data is secure and backed up far outweighs the ability to play a game.
I don't know if they will fix this. I ran into a problem with a single player game about a year ago (some zombie game) that still has not implemented a fix even though I posted on the forums about it.
We shall see.
Here's a thought.
It's actually making a huge update and you don't know it.
I launched glypd, hit update a few things updated and I got the "play" button.
But nothing happened. closed, tried again "yadda, yadda, yadda" got to the same point.
Then I noticed that the icon in the taskbar had a "green" color going from left to right. it took quite a while to move and I surmised that something was downloading. Even though nothing was evident in the glyph window.
After a loooong time I then got a download bar in the glyph window but it appeared it was downloading the entire game again. Left it running all day (because I don't have the awesome internetz) and was able to play that night.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I'm going to wait until they fix this before I play the game. I don't like changing a policy I have in place to accommodate one piece of software when everything else I am running works fine. For me, the value of ensuring my data is secure and backed up far outweighs the ability to play a game.
I don't know if they will fix this. I ran into a problem with a single player game about a year ago (some zombie game) that still has not implemented a fix even though I posted on the forums about it.
We shall see.
Here's a thought.
It's actually making a huge update and you don't know it.
I launched glypd, hit update a few things updated and I got the "play" button.
But nothing happened. closed, tried again "yadda, yadda, yadda" got to the same point.
Then I noticed that the icon in the taskbar had a "green" color going from left to right. it took quite a while to move and I surmised that something was downloading. Even though nothing was evident in the glyph window.
After a loooong time I then got a download bar in the glyph window but it appeared it was downloading the entire game again. Left it running all day (because I don't have the awesome internetz) and was able to play that night.
Cool. I will try launching it when I'm on my gaming rig. I still really want to play this game.
Thanks, DM. I will try this. But the account I am using have full administrator privileges am running in a Windows domain environment.
My machine is in a Domain environment and the only way I can get it to run is to right-click the AA icon whilst holding Shift and selecting 'Run As'. In the run as prompt enter the details of a local workstation account that is in the local Administrators group.
Forum Post count does not = Game Intelligence or Knowledge it just shows how often people like to talk.
Finally got the game to launch for me. It appears that this game does not launch if you are using folder redirection. Specifically, redirecting the "Documents" folder.
This is really sloppy coding on their part. I've only seen this in a couple of low budget games in the past couple of years. Why? No reason whatsoever as far as I can discern except the coders have no idea how to work with user profiles in a modern Windows environment. Redirection has been available and used for years in many environments.
I'm going to post my findings on the forums.
Should have read the whole thread before replying. Yes it's folder re-direction that's the problem. I had the same problem with another game (it may have been FFXIV:ARR can't remember) a while ago.
Forum Post count does not = Game Intelligence or Knowledge it just shows how often people like to talk.
Should have read the whole thread before replying. Yes it's folder re-direction that's the problem. I had the same problem with another game (it may have been FFXIV:ARR can't remember) a while ago.
I don't recall having the issue in FFXIV, although I might have. I do have a faint memory of being able to work around a recent game that had this issue by doing the following:
a) Turning off folder redirection so that the folder could be created under the Documents folder on the C drive.
Activating redirection and simply copying the folder created in the first step to the redirected Documents folder.
So with that game, the C drive was only checked if the game had not recorded that the folder was created. Once it was created, it wasn't held to the C drive limitation (seemed apparent that the methods were handled by different coders).
But for Archeage, this did not work. I tried again at the end of the CB3 and the fix was not implemented.
I've only experienced it with one other game since I have been using redirection (been using it for the last ten years). That game was "How To Survive". I made a post concerning the issue on the Steam forums (October of 2013), but last I checked they never fixed it. Pretty lame if you ask me.
Edit: Looks like "How To Survive" did actually fix the issue as I just reinstalled and it worked for me.
Originally posted by Acebets70 DLL error is out of date DX fyi
This thread is specifically about Folder Redirection issue. If you are having an error with your DLLs, that's separate from what I am posting about here.
It appears the client (when run) creates a folder on the C drive with two junction points.
1) Documents
2) Working
The first junction (Documents) is always checked to ensure it is created in a specific format written into the code. In my system, when the client runs, it creates a junction to the following:
<JUNCTION> Documents [??\path to DocumentsArcheAge]
Creating a Junction is a problem at this point, as a junction always needs to be pointed to a local disk. A better solution would be for the code to instead create a symbolic link. Because my documents folder resides on a remote location, the error I receive is:
"C:ArcheageDocuments is unavailable"
However, if I delete the junction and create a symbolic link (works like a junction but allows the destination to be on a remote destination) with the following command, it will work:
mklink /d Documents \(path to documents)Archeage
it creates a Junction and works when I double click it.
But, upon launching Archeage, it checks this and finds it is not how it originally wanted it created, deletes it and recreates the original junction.
At this point, I am left with two options:
1) Wait for Trion to change this behavior
2) Change my policy.
#1 is a win-win situation for me and Trion. It allows systems with the configuration I have (and there are others that have this) to play their game, thus potentially gaining additional customers.
#2, while possible on my end, is not practical for me. It's easy, sure. But it's not something I am willing to change with my environment because a) I need to ensure my Documents are in a safe place and routinely backed up and b) every other game that I can think of has 0 issues with this setup.
I've put in tickets regarding this, I've posted on the forums pointing this out. The end is that I don't think Trion or XL really cares. And that speaks volumes.
It broke for me too during the last beta weekend. I figured I would finally do more than create a character and actually play this weekend, so I patched up the client, ran into an error that it couldn't patch the last 30 MB or something.
All good and well, I restart the thing, it patches the remaining 30 MB and then I finally get to hit that play button... it starts loading and then BAM "unknown exception has occured" crash.
I guess next beta I'll try again and reinstall if it doesn't work..
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
As of open beta right now, this issue has not been resolved. There are additional users whom have replied to my OP in their forums citing the same problem.
Received another useless email. This time it is telling me they are overflooded with tickets and should basically resubmit a new one following launch. What utter crap is this? I went out of my way to identify this issue for them, supplied the information on how to fix it and this is the response I get? This is total bullshit.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us regarding ArcheAge.
Unfortunately due to a large volume of inquiries we have not been able to personally respond to each ticket submission before our Open Beta came to a close and for this we do apologize. At the moment we are preparing our servers for Head Start and Launch and as such we would not be able to efficiently troubleshoot many technical issues as we would not be able to confirm whether certain steps were successful by logging in and running the game.
Please feel free to re-open this ticket by replying back to us if at Head Start/Launch you are still experiencing an issue
Received another useless email. This time it is telling me they are overflooded with tickets and should basically resubmit a new one following launch. What utter crap is this? I went out of my way to identify this issue for them, supplied the information on how to fix it and this is the response I get? This is total bullshit.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us regarding ArcheAge.
Unfortunately due to a large volume of inquiries we have not been able to personally respond to each ticket submission before our Open Beta came to a close and for this we do apologize. At the moment we are preparing our servers for Head Start and Launch and as such we would not be able to efficiently troubleshoot many technical issues as we would not be able to confirm whether certain steps were successful by logging in and running the game.
Please feel free to re-open this ticket by replying back to us if at Head Start/Launch you are still experiencing an issue
I would assume that this is the typical cleaning of the house before launch. They're wiping the slate clean, and forums most likely, for head start. Their belief being that if the issue still exists, it will pop up again and they will deal with it then.
I think this is proof that none of us were beta testing a damn thing short of server capacity.
Originally posted by grimal Originally posted by JaedorI sent a tweet off to Scapes last night and he replied saying most of the login issues had been fixed.One thing that worked for me (that I'd also seen recommended in other posts) is that you use Logout to exit Glyph rather than the X. Then log back in and see if it helps; there was some suggestion on the forums that the cache needed to be cleared.
I actually just uninstalled the whole game. Redownloading the client right now.
It did the same thing to me and I did the same as you...except that last part.
Received another useless email. This time it is telling me they are overflooded with tickets and should basically resubmit a new one following launch. What utter crap is this? I went out of my way to identify this issue for them, supplied the information on how to fix it and this is the response I get? This is total bullshit.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us regarding ArcheAge.
Unfortunately due to a large volume of inquiries we have not been able to personally respond to each ticket submission before our Open Beta came to a close and for this we do apologize. At the moment we are preparing our servers for Head Start and Launch and as such we would not be able to efficiently troubleshoot many technical issues as we would not be able to confirm whether certain steps were successful by logging in and running the game.
Please feel free to re-open this ticket by replying back to us if at Head Start/Launch you are still experiencing an issue
I would assume that this is the typical cleaning of the house before launch. They're wiping the slate clean, and forums most likely, for head start. Their belief being that if the issue still exists, it will pop up again and they will deal with it then.
I think this is proof that none of us were beta testing a damn thing short of server capacity.
Hmm... I have My Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and Downloads all redirected from my boot SSD C: drive to my local HD G: drive and Archeage worked just fine for me.
I'm running 8.1 -64bit and the method I used for redirection was to do so by right clicking the folders I wanted to redirect in explorer (a.k.a. "This PC") and under properties using the location tab to direct it to pre-existing folders I had created in my G: drive.
You did your redirection a different way?
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Return your computer to original spec's and the game will run and install hands off. Windows picks up error's over time and then you start the wild goose chase trying to find those error's.
Hmm... I have My Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and Downloads all redirected from my boot SSD C: drive to my local HD G: drive and Archeage worked just fine for me.
I'm running 8.1 -64bit and the method I used for redirection was to do so by right clicking the folders I wanted to redirect in explorer (a.k.a. "This PC") and under properties using the location tab to direct it to pre-existing folders I had created in my G: drive.
You did your redirection a different way?
Yes. I am doing my redirection to a network share via a GPO. My Documents is not a local drive, hence the problem.
Originally posted by Rudder Return your computer to original spec's and the game will run and install hands off. Windows picks up error's over time and then you start the wild goose chase trying to find those error's.
A computer is by design meant for multiple tasks. I can understand not installing other software on it if you are running an Exchange Server or SQL server, but for a game? That's simply a ridiculous requirement. I am not going to build a dedicated PC just for playing Archeage.
Played until 30 minutes ago, got disconnected and now the game won't go. Stop right before the server screen should appear. Rebooted, tried several times and then came there to see if anyone else was seeing this.
I am going with the assumption that they cannot really do anything without XL's approval. If they need to report bugs to XL then wait to see if it warrants a fix plus the time to write and implement fix, I don't know how this is going to work. Borrowing from something I read earlier, subbing to an MMO is investing in the development lifecycle. If it's going to take an excessive amount of time for issues to be addressed, I don't see how it will retain a population aside from the diehard fans.
Comments
It's not Hackshield that is looking for this folder. It is the Archeage client. After Hackshield goes through its update process, the game tries to launch by first looking for this folder in the C drive. If you are redirecting the folder to another location, the client will not find it because it is hard coded to look on the C drive. Most modern games realize this is a very old and outdated method and instead rely on the registry value (which they should). We are not running Windows 98 machines any more.
Edit: Can a GM change the title of the post to add something like "Game did not work for me but workaround was discovered"? I'd like to spread any helpful info I can and the title itself as it stands is a bit misleading now as I have discovered a temporary solution for it.
It is a question of fangs.
You are most welcome.
I'm going to wait until they fix this before I play the game. I don't like changing a policy I have in place to accommodate one piece of software when everything else I am running works fine. For me, the value of ensuring my data is secure and backed up far outweighs the ability to play a game.
I don't know if they will fix this. I ran into a problem with a single player game about a year ago (some zombie game) that still has not implemented a fix even though I posted on the forums about it.
We shall see.
Here's a thought.
It's actually making a huge update and you don't know it.
I launched glypd, hit update a few things updated and I got the "play" button.
But nothing happened. closed, tried again "yadda, yadda, yadda" got to the same point.
Then I noticed that the icon in the taskbar had a "green" color going from left to right. it took quite a while to move and I surmised that something was downloading. Even though nothing was evident in the glyph window.
After a loooong time I then got a download bar in the glyph window but it appeared it was downloading the entire game again. Left it running all day (because I don't have the awesome internetz) and was able to play that night.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Cool. I will try launching it when I'm on my gaming rig. I still really want to play this game.
Please let them fix this before launch...
My machine is in a Domain environment and the only way I can get it to run is to right-click the AA icon whilst holding Shift and selecting 'Run As'. In the run as prompt enter the details of a local workstation account that is in the local Administrators group.
Should have read the whole thread before replying. Yes it's folder re-direction that's the problem. I had the same problem with another game (it may have been FFXIV:ARR can't remember) a while ago.
I don't recall having the issue in FFXIV, although I might have. I do have a faint memory of being able to work around a recent game that had this issue by doing the following:
a) Turning off folder redirection so that the folder could be created under the Documents folder on the C drive.
So with that game, the C drive was only checked if the game had not recorded that the folder was created. Once it was created, it wasn't held to the C drive limitation (seemed apparent that the methods were handled by different coders).
But for Archeage, this did not work. I tried again at the end of the CB3 and the fix was not implemented.
I've only experienced it with one other game since I have been using redirection (been using it for the last ten years). That game was "How To Survive". I made a post concerning the issue on the Steam forums (October of 2013), but last I checked they never fixed it. Pretty lame if you ask me.
Edit: Looks like "How To Survive" did actually fix the issue as I just reinstalled and it worked for me.
Looks like the issue is still not fixed for CB4.
This thread is specifically about Folder Redirection issue. If you are having an error with your DLLs, that's separate from what I am posting about here.
I've looked at this a bit more.
It appears the client (when run) creates a folder on the C drive with two junction points.
1) Documents
2) Working
The first junction (Documents) is always checked to ensure it is created in a specific format written into the code. In my system, when the client runs, it creates a junction to the following:
<JUNCTION> Documents [??\path to DocumentsArcheAge]
Creating a Junction is a problem at this point, as a junction always needs to be pointed to a local disk. A better solution would be for the code to instead create a symbolic link. Because my documents folder resides on a remote location, the error I receive is:
"C:ArcheageDocuments is unavailable"
However, if I delete the junction and create a symbolic link (works like a junction but allows the destination to be on a remote destination) with the following command, it will work:
mklink /d Documents \(path to documents)Archeage
it creates a Junction and works when I double click it.
But, upon launching Archeage, it checks this and finds it is not how it originally wanted it created, deletes it and recreates the original junction.
At this point, I am left with two options:
1) Wait for Trion to change this behavior
2) Change my policy.
#1 is a win-win situation for me and Trion. It allows systems with the configuration I have (and there are others that have this) to play their game, thus potentially gaining additional customers.
#2, while possible on my end, is not practical for me. It's easy, sure. But it's not something I am willing to change with my environment because a) I need to ensure my Documents are in a safe place and routinely backed up and b) every other game that I can think of has 0 issues with this setup.
I've put in tickets regarding this, I've posted on the forums pointing this out. The end is that I don't think Trion or XL really cares. And that speaks volumes.
It broke for me too during the last beta weekend. I figured I would finally do more than create a character and actually play this weekend, so I patched up the client, ran into an error that it couldn't patch the last 30 MB or something.
All good and well, I restart the thing, it patches the remaining 30 MB and then I finally get to hit that play button... it starts loading and then BAM "unknown exception has occured" crash.
I guess next beta I'll try again and reinstall if it doesn't work..
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Received another useless email. This time it is telling me they are overflooded with tickets and should basically resubmit a new one following launch. What utter crap is this? I went out of my way to identify this issue for them, supplied the information on how to fix it and this is the response I get? This is total bullshit.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us regarding ArcheAge.
Unfortunately due to a large volume of inquiries we have not been able to personally respond to each ticket submission before our Open Beta came to a close and for this we do apologize. At the moment we are preparing our servers for Head Start and Launch and as such we would not be able to efficiently troubleshoot many technical issues as we would not be able to confirm whether certain steps were successful by logging in and running the game.
Please feel free to re-open this ticket by replying back to us if at Head Start/Launch you are still experiencing an issue
I would assume that this is the typical cleaning of the house before launch. They're wiping the slate clean, and forums most likely, for head start. Their belief being that if the issue still exists, it will pop up again and they will deal with it then.
I think this is proof that none of us were beta testing a damn thing short of server capacity.
It did the same thing to me and I did the same as you...except that last part.
If that.
Hmm... I have My Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and Downloads all redirected from my boot SSD C: drive to my local HD G: drive and Archeage worked just fine for me.
I'm running 8.1 -64bit and the method I used for redirection was to do so by right clicking the folders I wanted to redirect in explorer (a.k.a. "This PC") and under properties using the location tab to direct it to pre-existing folders I had created in my G: drive.
You did your redirection a different way?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Yes. I am doing my redirection to a network share via a GPO. My Documents is not a local drive, hence the problem.
A computer is by design meant for multiple tasks. I can understand not installing other software on it if you are running an Exchange Server or SQL server, but for a game? That's simply a ridiculous requirement. I am not going to build a dedicated PC just for playing Archeage.
Just to update:
I opened a ticket on Tuesday 9/16/2014 to report this issue.
Received the following message : "Your question has been received. We will respond to your question within 96-120 hours."
Not sure how they are calculating their hours, but it how now been 118 hours and no response. I will let you know if I hear in the next two hours.
Still no word. Past the 120 hour mark.
I am going with the assumption that they cannot really do anything without XL's approval. If they need to report bugs to XL then wait to see if it warrants a fix plus the time to write and implement fix, I don't know how this is going to work. Borrowing from something I read earlier, subbing to an MMO is investing in the development lifecycle. If it's going to take an excessive amount of time for issues to be addressed, I don't see how it will retain a population aside from the diehard fans.