Guild Wars 2

(For a TL;DR: Scroll down)

Hi there,

first of all: Germanfag here, english isn’t my native tongue, so please excuse this text on that terms.
I’m posting this issue in the EN-Forums because in the german part there was no response to this.

So the problem is:
Since the last few days (max. one week) some people claim to have massive FPS-issues.
This subject rised up several times since then on the german, english and french forum (I don’t speak spanish at all but maybe it’s also discussed there). These topics also arise in several fan-forums.
But this topic seems to be neglected somehow.

The funny thing is: All of these people (including myself) claim, that the performance of GW2 crumbled only after that one update and before this, it was quiet okay.
In most cases the FPS dropped by 2/3 “out of nowhere”. (Mine f.e. High/Med 1600 Reso from 45~60 to ~15 – simply standing in the center of LA – game is now unplayable w/o using subsampling, which simply sucks and causes headache)

So, let’s skip all that stupid “Seems to be your HW bro” or the standard answer from the support “Please send us a Game Advisor Report”.
Many people (including me) already have done that without any sign betterment.
The problem tends to be whatever came up with that said patch engine-wise.
Well, to be honest, the real problem is even worse: The topic receives no attention from the devs or CM’s. It’s kinda like this topic is hushed up

TL;DR: There are far to many people complaining about said FPS-problems in the same way (“Didn’t touch anything, other games work fine, few days ago GW2 ran perfect until then”, etc.) that there needs something to be done about.
I know this is no place to actually demand something… but it would be great to know, if the devs have this issue on there screens.

Thanks for reading.

I can confirm this as i have exactly the same problem.

i have found 2 things myself:
1. use 304.79 driver.
2. turn off reflections.

I dunno if you run with Nvidia cards, but seriously the drivers they have put out have gone from bad to worse lately.

I took like a 2 week break and before I was able to get 40-50+ FPS now I am averaging 25. What gives?

After the halloween event (act 1) fps started to drop, it has dropped atleast 10-15fps.

I hoped it would go back to normal after the halloween events were over, but it hasnt :/. i have tried repairing/fiddling with settings and can’t seem to get it stable @ 60fps anymore.

My friends that play gw2 have been telling me the same thing, during the halloween events something changed in the game wich lowers fps.

I have no problem with the game but i installed the latest 310.33 beta yesterday and i noticed alot of stuettering.fps was higher in some areas but begane to stutter and get lower in some others ,it didn’t make sense.Going back to 306.97 made my fps normal again.

Same problem here… after halloween patch I have 16-23 fps no matter which graphic settings I use.

Same here. Changing graphic settings doesn’t change more than 10 fps give or take.

Holy crap, almost Page three after only one day :O
Okay, there is a quiet similiar topic (allthough it’s more about crashes since “that one Patch”)

Could we – pretty please – get an answer if there were any changes considering the games engine during Halloween?
And if there are plans to revert these?

I have to concur. FPS dropped massively during the event. Had expected things to recover now it’s over but have seen no return to the game’s formerly adequate performance.

bump.
Having the same issue

Noticed the same thing performance degrading patch after patch.

Problems here as well. Had no issues running the game last night, with an average of 45-50 FPS. Downloaded the new patch tonight, didn’t touch my settings, and now I’m down to 15 FPS.

Running a 2012 Retina MBP using Bootcamp, so Nvidia 650M.

Been having problems also. Started having these issues after the end of the halloween patch. Was just in the story quests and WvWvW and after latest patch it happens anywhere out in the world out of nowhere.

With all the posts and threads being started I just wonder when there going to acknowledge this.

Working as Intended to fix the Dye drop rate bug

I have been having the same problem. I followed their instructions on installing SP 1 for Windows 7, downloading the latest drivers for Nvidia and also configuring my card to the specifications in the thread and it has resolved nothing.

The game is basically unplayable for me as it is unless as the OP said I subsample it which is imho unacceptable.

My FPS crumbled after I installed a better and faster processor into my otherwise untouched rig (PhenomII 555 -> 965), so it isn´t only their patches.
It´s also better hardware.

/facepalm

ANet, if you can´t program a proper FPS-limiter then scrap the kittening thing!

Fixing dyes .. S E R I O U S L Y ? ! ?

2 weeks ago I had 30-40 fps at WvWvW…now only 20-30…

Luceid.5631:

Well, to be honest, the real problem is even worse: The topic receives no attention from the devs or CM’s. It’s kinda like this topic is hushed up

Basic advise for game forum use of any kind:
Just because a certain issue does not immediately recieve an answer from a dev/CM does not mean it is “hushed up”.

What it does mean is that right now they don’t have a solution to the problem, and instead of wasting everyones time by going through every thread and posting, “it’s ok, we recognize your problem, you may feel special now”, they wait until they have an actual answer.

They have read your thread. They know that there’s an issue. They employ several people to do nothing else the whole day than reading the forum and relating this feedback to the developers. They don’t need to answer you, and you shouldn’t hold your breath until you get a response. You’ll live and play much happier that way.

Sound advice for every forum operator out there:
If your customers are having an issue with your software for an extended period of time, it´s a good idea to pipe in once or twice and clearly declare that you´re working on it, instead of having to read on reddit about it.

Especially when said issue is seemingly impossible to reproduce in house and your customers can provide hands on info on it FOR FREE.
And are actually eager to do so .. not sure for how long though.

It could be partially the driver, but the game is highly suspect for being at fault:
You said “it started after halloween upgrade”, well, people are still reporting that they sometimes see Raw Candy Corn nodes in the game for the blink of an eye.
It seems that somehow the game is still convoluted with halloween elements, which are simply invisible or something, but might additionally be draining from your rigs performance. Just a guess.

I can confirm that aswell that i still see candy nodes popping up once in a while, if that is the case they did a bad job reverting the game to the previous patch.

I’ve also seen those candy nodes popping up here and there but then disappearing when I’ve moved closer.

Before the halloween event I had a benchmark spot I always went to to check my framerate. I consistently got 26-27fps.

During the event: 19fps

Now: 21fps

That seems very, very odd to me.

Just watch what our framerates will be after a christmas event =P

I am downloading the game right now and asking myself if I should get it at all, first I couldn’t register, error 502 etc; then I had trouble downloading it and all I got is auto messages from support and they have no phone number to call them… and now I read this..if my fps is going to suck I will be requesting a full refund. Poor tech support/customer service is a game killer.

They probably have a reason why you have to register to the forum before you can read it.

Same problem. I was getting 45-60+ FPS pre Holiday patch. Now after supposedly “returning game to normal” I’m getting 30-45. Hmm, not good. Might mention I’m on Windows 7 64 bit and have also tested this on a Windows 8 system and it has the same 15+ FPS drop as well. I’m a 59 yr old retired network engineer and my “younger” (lol) brother’s system also has a 15+ drop and he’s on a different ISP, totally different computer system (i7 vs my AMD cpu) (nvidia graphics card vs my AMD card). So it is not a ISP problem, a hardware problem or a driver problem. I would with 100% certainty put it as a coding problem without any doubt at this point. Not trying to point fingers just stating the obvious. I love the game but please try to get this fixed as soon as possible. Thanks!

Haelis.9426:

Same problem. I was getting 45-60+ FPS pre Holiday patch. Now after supposedly “returning game to normal” I’m getting 30-45. Hmm, not good. Might mention I’m on Windows 7 64 bit and have also tested this on a Windows 8 system and it has the same 15+ FPS drop as well. I’m a 59 yr old retired network engineer and my “younger” (lol) brother’s system also has a 15+ drop and he’s on a different ISP, totally different computer system (i7 vs my AMD cpu) (nvidia graphics card vs my AMD card). So it is not a ISP problem, a hardware problem or a driver problem. I would with 100% certainty put it as a coding problem without any doubt at this point. Not trying to point fingers just stating the obvious. I love the game but please try to get this fixed as soon as possible. Thanks!

This + so many others state the obvious. I personally need to upgrade my specs a bit but if this is what’s going to happen, what good will it do? I still bought the game and if upgrading it wont even help then what’s the point really?..

uhhhh looked like i missed somethin here, did the halloween event restarting again from act1? Is this the issue which causing me unable to conect this freakin 2 days?

[Edited by moderator due to caps]

Optimization of GW is archaic, outdated, and cpu dependent. i am running a i7-3820, 16 gb ram, with an nvidia gtx 690. for some pathetic gw2 specific reason, i am getting 20-30 fps in wvw. Joke. It has gotten worse since the patch.

Who optimized this program, smurfs?

How can you assess the optimization without seeing the code and having worked on it? I don’t accept that is as easy as some people in these forums make it sound. You are of course free to speculate, but how can you state it as fact?

Ok, it is not fact, you are right. but explain to me how a gaming rig, that pretty much handles every other high end game out there (90+ FPS), gets a great 3dMark score, does poorly at times in gw2. I mean 20-30 fps in wvw, and 30 in other areas of the game.

It actually is like a kick the gut. Nice system, spent a lot on it, did a fair amount of work, but our game, well, just wont do well. hahaha. I can overclock my cpu, and I will, but I think that their programming is very unefficient if this rig cannot handle it.

Having the same problem. Getting massive fps drops recently. The lag is making it almost unplayable in some areas. It was fine before the halloween event but ever since its been getting worse. Its like the stuff from the Halloween event hasn’t been cleaned up properly. Occasionally i still see those candy ore mines pop into view and disappear when i get near it, so they are obviously still there but hidden.

Gryph.8237:

Ok, it is not fact, you are right. but explain to me how a gaming rig, that pretty much handles every other high end game out there (90+ FPS), gets a great 3dMark score, does poorly at times in gw2. I mean 20-30 fps in wvw, and 30 in other areas of the game.

It actually is like a kick the gut. Nice system, spent a lot on it, did a fair amount of work, but our game, well, just wont do well. hahaha. I can overclock my cpu, and I will, but I think that their programming is very unefficient if this rig cannot handle it.

I don’t know why, but it seems possible it’s because of needs this game has that other games don’t. The game tracks a lot of moving objects such as players, enemies and NPCs. It has huge zones, and does not seem to use “fog” to reduce draw distance (near as I can tell, but I am no graphics expert.) Just to name some.

I have the same issue as well and I am from SEA region

Guild Wars 2 will take advantage of Umbra’s occlusion culling technology

This basically means that this UMBRA software is taking care of making this program run smooth and is obviously failing spectacularly at it.

I have no idea why it has to fail this bad with GW2 as other games seem to use it without problems, but that´s our deal.

Maybe we should start (complaining on their fora) writing complain e-mails, as it sure as hell doesn´t seem to interest anybody in here.

I had read that the game used Umbra. Be interesting to know, via profiling, where the game threads are spending all their time. I guess it’s possible Umbra is one of the biggest chunks of time. I think I know what occlusion culling is, but I lack the background in graphics to understand the computational complexity of occlusion culling.

From before the halloween update: 28.1fps
From right now: 27.6fps
Seems well within the range of “no difference at all”. These aren’t exact to the pixel, but the FPS doesn’t change when you move left/right/up/down slightly and is why I chose this site as a benchmark. Night and day don’t matter either. Go and try it if you don’t believe me.

I’m not saying this is a bandwagon thread, I just don’t see anything besides the anecdotal “i think its slower” that’s posted after every, single, update.

Logged in today at Rata Sum and was getting around 4-9 fps, I usually get 60ish there. I didn’t notice any degradation during the halloween events etc but it seems maybe something has changed with todays patch to cause the drastic drop? Hoping this get resolved soon.

I have had a serious FPS drop in WvWvW since the halloween patch. I run fine when in the PvE zones but as soon as i zone in to WvW my fps starts to cycle from 78 to 40 to 18 while standing still and not moving. As soon as there is any type of force in the area, it becomes a slide show. I am listing my specs below due to there not being an update to my video card drivers. My machine is set to run GW2 in high performance with the switchable graphics mode. I also tried 2 different ISP’s to make sure the problem wasn’t with my cable provider and my connection is bencmarked at 25MB down and 4MB up.

Lenovo Ideapad Y470
Intel Core i7-2670QM @ 2.20 ghz
8 Gig Ram
AMD Radeon HD 7690M with switchable Intel HD graphics
1366×768 Resolution
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
DX11

Just an update since there was a small patch since I posted. I am now having the same issue in PvE as well as WvWvW.

I dont really have a fps issue but the latest patch have given me some in-game lock ups for 10-15secs with a bad audio sound. This had only happened with the latest patch.

Yesterday noon and afternoon my game runned extremely fine with a constant fps of 60 (with low fluctuation). After the big Patch yesterday evening the game is stuttering again like before Halloween-Patch … why do they ruin the gameplay with 90% of all patches? T_T Yesterday noon I thought “Nice! It runns smooth, let me give this game another chance”. Now … my thought are “Really nice game … but … the FPS-Issues are destroying the gameplay … what a pity…” … AGAIN!

Fix your god**** game, please! It would be a great game without this issue! :-(

And yet , still no informations or statements from devs / techs ….

I have posted 2 topics here and in none of them I didn´t get any respond from Anet . I posted you on supports with game advisor included and nothing .

I want to know if the problem is on my or yours side . And if you are working on it ( say a little about progress ) or if I should start to asking for refund .

And write it in official post ( sticky ) so you don´t have to write it into every single post related to this problem .

So please , let us kno whats going on .

More transparency indeed would be great :-/

I’m running on a very old system, playing on the lowest graphic settings @ 720p. Before and during Halloween, I could maintain a playable 15~20 FPS. Now, after Halloween, my frame rate is at 7 and dips as low as 3 or 4 sometimes. This has effectively rendered the game unplayable. :/

I didn’t touch anything HW-wise and I can see a betterment right now

With some crap-like things like managing multi-cores and setting priority in task manager it seems to be very close to the old values

Could it be that a lot of lag is originating from large draw distance? It’s no matter what you set your settings to, draw distance of objects, npc’s are still pretty far. No wonder why we get stutter lag then we just turn around coz to much stuff is rendered at same time. So i think for mid-low systems this could be a huge fps killer.

I was running a nice 90 FPS (everything max)before I couldn’t play for a good month or so (before the Halloween thing), come back after patching and im showing 60fps but the game sure as hell not playing at 60fps it all choppy and combat takes me down to 20fps. It not my rig, im running w8, i7 3770, asus hd 7970 DCU2. drivers are all up to date automatically with GPU tweak so it no that either.

hope they sort it, something has defiantly broken.

Seems choppier yes.

Specs in siggy.