Guild Wars 2

How to Download and Use the Beta Client:

These instructions will not interfere with your regular installation of Guild Wars 2.

Windows:

• 1. Download the client here: https://account.arena.net/content/download/gw2-ptt
• 2. Run the client. (It will install in a similar manner to Guild Wars 2 but not do anything to your regular installation.)
• 3. You only need to download 5-6GB before the game is playable. As soon as the game says playable, you can login and go to Options [F11] and change “Content Streaming” to “On Demand.”

If you experience the crash issue that some players are experiencing when it becomes playable and you try to play the game, proceed to the next section of this write up.

OS X:

These instructions assume that you have a regular and — working — installation of Guild Wars 2 already on your machine.

• 1. Download the client here: https://account.arena.net/content/download/gw2-ptt
• 2. Go to the Applications folder.
• 3. Right click “Guild Wars 2.app”. (If you have show file extensions off on your machine it will not say “.app”)
• 4. Select “Show Package Contents”
• 5. Click through the following folders: “Contents” -> “Resources” -> “transgaming” -> “c_drive” -> “GW2”
• 6. In the “GW2” folder, drag in the .exe file that you just downloaded, which should be in your “Downloads” folder.
• 7. Rename the file “Gw2.exe” to something like “__Gw2.exe”. (We just want to backup the actual client).
• 8. Rename the downloaded .exe file to “Gw2.exe”
• 9. Launch Guild Wars 2 as you normally would and the download should begin.
• 10. You only need to download about 5-6GB before the game is playable. As soon as the game says playable, you can login and go to Options [F11] and change “content streaming” to “On Demand.”

If you experience the crash issue that some players are experiencing when it becomes playable and you try to play the game, proceed to the next section of this write up.

Note: You will have to change back “__Gw2.exe” to “Gw2.exe” when you’re done with the beta, and ready to use the regular client/play the live game again.

How to Solve the Crash Issue:

Only follow these instructions after you’ve gotten the beta client to its “playable” point.

Windows:

• 1. Right click on the Guild Wars 2 shortcut you’re using to launch the beta. (If you don’t have a shortcut, create one for the beta client by right clicking on the beta client and selecting “Create shortcut.”)
• 2. Select “Properties.”
• 3. In the “Target” field add a space to the end and then add “-perf -windowed” . (Do not include the quotes.)
• 4. Run the client again with the shortcut.

If this doesn’t work, try instead to add “-repair” to the target field, then rerun the client. After the .dat file has been repaired, if the client is still not working, try adding “-perf -windowed” again.

OS X:

• 1. Go to the Applications folder.
• 2. Right click “Guild Wars 2.app”. (If you have show file extensions off on your machine it will not say “.app”)
• 3. Select “Show Package Contents”
• 4. Click through the following folders: “Contents” -> “Resources”
• 5. In the “Resources” folder, open “CiderSettings.plist” with a text editor such as TextEdit or Sublime Text.
• 6. In the file, find the line:

  <string>--cmdline ""</string>

• 7. Add “-perf -windowed” in between the quotes in the line. The new line should read:

  <string>--cmdline "-perf -windowed"</string>

• 8. Save the file.
• 9. Launch Guild Wars 2 as you normally would.

If this doesn’t work, try instead to add “-repair” to the line, then rerun the client. After the .dat file has been repaired, if the client is still not working, try adding “-perf -windowed” again.

Note: Remember to change the line back to what it originally was when you’re done with the beta, and ready to use the regular client/play the live game again.

Try it all and still not working, A-net should fix it.