Guild Wars 2

Since HoT has been released there have been several topics everyday about game crashes etc, most of them are OOM related, after looking on the forums for someone about OOM – Heap errors.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/World-Boss-Crashes

On this topic a year ago an Anet dev said it was there 32bit client causing the problems with restricted memory usage,

If ANET know this is a problem back then, why continue to make a game that requires masses of players to be in the same place at the same time, spamming skills on a boss, that will increase the likely hood of a crash 10 fold, 64bit has been the norm now for along time,

I have to agree now with others who have posted in the past, Anet you need to get a 64bit client so that people can make full use of the hardware they have, there is no point in putting out content with stunning GFX if, we cannot play due to OOM issues or have to turn down the settings so it looks like crap.

The OOM issues have gotten so bad that some of my friends wont even log in now because they know they cannot take part in some of the new world events, I don’t think this is how you planned the HoT launch.

So simple question, are we going to see a 64bit client or are we going to be plagued with OOM issues due to an outdated client.

Question? I am using the same client but am not getting these errors even though I am running my settings on high. Wouldn’t this suggestion that maybe the errors are cause by how the motherboard and OS are handling memory management?

simplesimon.2084:

Question? I am using the same client but am not getting these errors even though I am running my settings on high. Wouldn’t this suggestion that maybe the errors are cause by how the motherboard and OS are handling memory management?

If it was purely down to OS/HW Anet never would have admitted the client was at fault, before HoT was released I very seldom crashed ingame, since HoT released its been 2 or 3 times a day, this is echo’d across the game, I have no doubt that in some cases peoples hardware isn’t helping, but an outdated client is adding to them woes and in the right circumstances GW2 eats more RAM than google chrome.

simplesimon.2084:

Question? I am using the same client but am not getting these errors even though I am running my settings on high. Wouldn’t this suggestion that maybe the errors are cause by how the motherboard and OS are handling memory management?

Then other games and programs would cause the error. Crashes like this never happen on Dark Souls even at 8k.

You can prevent crashes with memory buffers. Somehow Anet let their game crash instead of reducing the amount of effects/textures to prevent the crashes.

Xillllix.3485:

You can prevent crashes with memory buffers. Somehow Anet let their game crash instead of reducing the amount of effects/textures to prevent the crashes.

or you know instead of them reducing the graphics and the visuals you know one of the strong points of this game they could update to a 64 bit client……

By checking the Steam survey, there are:

Windows 7 64 bit 37.48%
Windows 10 64 bit 23.99%
Windows 8.1 64 bit18.62%
Windows 8 64 bit 2.41%

82% of the players on Steam have a 64 bit OS. And yet we are stuck with a decade old 32 bit, directx 9 Engine.

They would need to support 2 clients, 64bit and 32bit, otherwise they will alienate those who run 32bit.

The cost to gain ratio probably isn’t seen worth it to do, even ESO runs a 32bit client, and WoW which has a 64bit client showed minor gains at best.

Lastly it would mean updating all the different engines and architecture for GW2 to ensure a 64bit client would even work. If it was as simple as people think it is, it would have already been done. Doing a move like this on a live product is really just a money pit, it would be more efficient to do work arounds when dealing with OOM issues then it would be to go back and make a 64bit client.

I think the biggest problem is that in the time you need to bring the 64-bit client
to run you must more or less stop every other changes on the current client.

Once you have everything running as 64-Bit it was at least for me with my Delphi
Projects, just a click to compile them as 64- or 32-bit exes.

Main problem for me were strings, however i have no dynamic memory allocation,
and i assume that will be the biggest problem in a project like an MMO and there
will be a lot sources for bugs and crashes.

But in the end there is no way around that, or they have to bring back culling.

Oh .. and then there is the problem with the MAC users, since Cider is only a
32-Bit emulation.

Ok I Did It.2854:

…before HoT was released I very seldom crashed ingame, since HoT released its been 2 or 3 times a day.

This is exactly my experience, doesn’t what gamemode, I don’t think I’ve ever had my game crash 3 years prior to this.

Looks like that decision to stick with an old engine going forward is going to bite them. Desperate need of change, I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would be doing anything with DX9 in 2015…

I’m also in the never-crashed-until-HoT-came-out crowd. Since I last upgraded my hardware last year, I’ve always run with all of the graphical settings maxed out. I ran Teq numerous times with these settings with no problems. Then HoT released and I crashed with an OOM error every time I ran Teq—every time that is, until I lowered my graphical settings to just slightly above the lowest settings possible. Once I did that, I haven’t crashed during Teq once.

Does this mean they need a 64-bit client? Not necessarily. There may just be something in the newer builds that needs corrected as the game didn’t see to have trouble managing its memory properly before that. But a 64-bit client couldn’t hurt.

They have to either build the 64-bit client or stop making maps and events as big as they are in HoT. They’ve demonstrated that they can’t have both.

Changing the client means changing the servers too. It’ll not happen if they can fix/patch the problem other ways. It’s not cheap and a schedule nightmare to do it with a live 24/7 service. GW2 works like a medical solution. 24/7, 99.9% serviceability/month. And that is the minimum , trust me
Also they can’t just switch to 64bit just like turning a switch, they have to support 32bit clients after that too. So they have to solve the issues anyway and the cheapest way is to scrap the 64bit client idea and concentrate on the 32bit.
I think they doing a good job with fixes. I know lot of mmo’s with much greater problems but no fixes/patches for months.

At this moment they need to either make a 64bit client, or introduce some ingame checks that would prevent it from addressing more memory it can handle. The problem, after all is not just because gw2.exe is a 32 bit process, but also because some parts of its engine seemed to leave the safety checks to the system/graphics drivers, assuming that these are also 32bit.

No, asking players to lower their graphics settings is not a viable solution to the problem that is caused solely by Anet.

Rinn.2375:

Changing the client means changing the servers too.

Thats wrong. Also i bet the server will run mostly on 64-bit. Can’t imagine at least
that they still use a 32-bit SQL-Server for the amount of data that we have in the
BLTP.

I would pay € for this.

There’s no reason why they would need to change the server for a 64-bit client.

I do notice that there is a marked increase in memory usage in HoT over core Tyria which I attribute to the player density and increased environment complexity. But I’ve not gotten an OOM error yet.

Don’t have the expansion and WvW is crashing for me all the time.

It would be the best thing to happen to the game, 64bit DX11/DX12 would make a huge difference. I remember when WoW went from DX9 to DX11 and my frame rate nearly doubled in populated areas like towns.

Counterweight.7192:

I would pay € for this.

Don’t give them ideas.