PS2 black out on certain cutscene events.

[Kensou]

First of all I would like to thank developers and everyone else involved in the creation of these forums and allowing us to submit feedback via this medium.

Since the June 2010 update there are several cutscenes that completely blackout the PS2 version of the game.

Namely:

• Chains of Promathia opening event (it blacks out near the beggining of the cutscene, when the NPCs run to the Tower)
  
• A crystalline prophecy opening in Lower Jeuno (This one registered as watched and my character was able to move after logging in again, this one freezes when the scene switches to the Metalworks, right before the transition)
  
• The Forbidden Path quest in Windurst Waters [S] (this one would leave my character on a loop since it played whenever I logged on, had to use PC version to get unstuck, it froze exactly when the Star Sybil warps down to the Animastery)
  
• Betrayal at Beaucedine (blacks out near the end when Lilisette jumps trying to get to Portia, this one does register as watched and game can be played normally afterwards)

Chains of Promathia opening, A crystalline prophecy and Betrayal at beaucedine will black out even if being watched via a goblin footprint/event Bard in town.

I have 2 PS2 systems and it happens on both on the same time frame, I've tried on different Internet lines and different router/non-router configurations it does not seem to be network problem. I did a file check, complete reinstallation of the whole game and it didn't fix the issue. I believe there are many other users with the same problem.

Thanks in advance for your support in resolving these issues.

[MercenaryX]

Yes this is a HUGE issue in the playstation version. I feel inclined to say to you Square-Enix that I'm stark raving pissed that FFXI's cut scenes stop working right in the middle of them. And its not just the cut scenes mentioned above! On the last quest to receive my dancer artifact body armor, the cut scene that you're supposed to see before you receive the piece will freeze and you'll be stuck in limbo while the little girl stands in front of the water in jugner forest. Please for the love of god fix this bug i'm begging you. I can't even outpost warp anymore without having to stand in front of the NPC in north sandoria for like 5~10 minutes waiting for the NPC to respond to my talking to it. As of yet, i still cant get my dancer af1 body piece from the quest titled "Comeback queen" i believe. I feel helpless and you need to do something about it.

[Kytaru]

Actually, I would like to add to the PS2 blackouts. The group I was doing the Wings of the Goddess missions with had to stop because half of us were not able to get past the cutscene in Xarcabard(S) at Rally Point Red for the mission "By The Fading Light".

I had been disconnected several times in the middle of cutscenes myself during the course of our WotG mission run, but had always been able to get past the scenes eventually. It was annoying, but workable. This time, myself and other ls members were cut off at the exact same point, and multiple attempts of redoing the scene did not work. The spot of the cut off by the way, was after Lilith teleported back to her magic circle, and reveals that Ragelise is with her. After Ragelise states "........", the disconnect occurs.

Technically, I guess this means we beat WotG as we were able to advance as far as we were allowed to. But I would much rather go for the actual knockout blow with my linkshell and watch the ending with my character in the cutscenes instead of a TKO. Especially since we have only two major fights left.

Thank you for your time.

[Ash]

Black screens happens a lot while doing Free races at the chocobo track, on ps2/ps3

[Xophious]

Greetings everyone!

Thank you all for your feedback and input on the current issue with the Playstation 2 blacking out on certain cut-scenes. We will gladly forward this issue to try and get it resolved. Before we can do that though, we'll need a bit more detail.

Since you started the thread Kensou, could you please fill out the following information?

___________________________________________
Thread Title:
Short outline explaining what sort of issue you are experiencing.

ISP:
Name of ISP you use to connect to the Internet.

Type of Internet Connection:
Specify the type of connection. (dial-up, DSL, CATV, Optic Fiber, Other)

Internet Connection Speed:
Specify the speed of internet connection. (Example: 768Kbit/s, 5Mbit/s)

Date & Time:
Date and time of when the issue occurred. Please be sure to state the time zone of your region. (Example: Pacific Time = PST/PDT)

Frequency:
State how frequently the issue occurs. Please select from the following.
1. Always
2. Sometimes
3. Once (did not reproduce)
4. Unknown

Character Name:
Which character did the issue occur with?

Race:
Race of your character when the issue occurred.
(Hume M, Hume F, ElvaanM, ElvaanF, TarutaruM, TarutaruF, Galka, Mithra)

World:
World where the issue occurred.

Main Job:
Main job and level of your character when the issue occurred.

Support Job:
Support job of your character when the issue occurred.

Area and Coordinates:
Area and map coordinates where the issue occurred.

Party or Solo:
If you were solo when the issue occurred, please write “Solo”. If you were in a party, please write “Party”. With alliance, please write “Alliance.”
*If you wrote “Party” or “Alliance”, please also include the number of members.

NPC Name:
Name of NPC that your character was interacting with when the issue occurred.
*If you were not interacting with any NPC, then please write “None”.

Monster Name:
Name of monster that your character was battling against when the issue occurred.
*If you were not battling against any monster, then please write “None”.

Steps:
Detailed steps on how the issue occurred.
*Please try to include the following details.

* What you were doing when the issue occurred. (Example: Battle, mission, quest, crafting, synthesis, etc.)
* Please do your best to write using official terms for item names and action names. Please avoid any abbreviations or improper terms.
* If you were using macro commands when the issue occurred, please include the details of the command.
* In case the error message appeared when the issue occurred, please include what the message said.
___________________________________________

Thanks!

[Kensou]

Thread Title:
PS2 black out in the middle of certain cutscene event sequences.

ISP:
It has happened on several ISPs I've tried with, from Mexico it's TELNOR and CABLEMAS and from the US it's Verizon DSL.

Type of Internet Connection:
DSL, Cable, and Fiber optic respectively

Internet Connection Speed:
2 Mbps, 4 Mbps and 15 Mbps respectively

Date & Time:
11:34 PM PST, but it has happened several times that I cannot precise the time for each instance.

Frequency:
Always

Character Name:
Kensou

Race:
TarutaruM

World:
Quetzalcoatl

Main Job:
MNK

Support Job:
WAR

Area and Coordinates:

• Lower Jeuno (K-6) for the initial cutscene of A Crystalline Prophecy add-on (this can also be triggered on (G-9) on this same area.
  
• Lower Delkfutt's Tower (first floor) (H-11) for Opening event of Chains of Promathia "The Rites of Life"
  
• Windurst Waters [S] (G-4) for cut-scene of the quest "The Forbidden Path"
  
• Beaucedine Glacier[S] (H-11) for the concluding cut-scene event of the Wings of the Goddess Mission "Betrayal at Beaucedine"
  
• Southern Sand'Oria [S] (I-7) for the cut-scene event for quest "The Long March North"

Party or Solo:
Solo

NPC Name:

• Chimh Dlesbah in Lower Jeuno for replaying A Crystalline Prophecy opening cut-scene.
• Goblin Footprint in Lower Delkfutt's Tower for "The Rites of Life"
• Raustigne in Southern Sand'Oria [S] for "The Long March North"
• The other events didn't take place while interacting with a NPC. None

Monster Name:
None
Steps:
Detailed steps on how the issue occurred.

While watching any of the previously stated "cut-scene" events, during specific times the screen will go totally black and the game will not respond until a hard reset is done. On the case of the quest "The Forbidden Path" since the event is triggered by zoning into Windurst Waters [S], the event won't be flagged as "watched" and will replay when my character logs in again, and will again black out at the same point in the cutscene event. Workaround for this was watching the event in the PC version of the game.

This issue only has happened on PS2 version of the game, it will always happen on the same time frame. I've replicated it on several PS2 consoles. Some consoles had a full clean install and update to neglect chance of corrupt data files and the issue was still present under these.

Specifics are below:

• Chains of Promathia "The Rites of Life" (it blacks out near the beggining of the cutscene, when the NPCs run to the Tower)
• "A crystalline prophecy" opening in Lower Jeuno (This one registered as watched and my character was able to move after logging in again, this one freezes when the scene switches to the Metalworks, right before the transition)
• "The Forbidden Path" quest in Windurst Waters [S] (this one would leave my character on a loop since it played whenever I logged on, had to use PC version to get unstuck, it froze exactly when the Star Sybil warps down to the Animastery)
• "Betrayal at Beaucedine" concluding cut scene evet (blacks out near the end when Lilisette jumps trying to get to Portia, this one does register as watched and game can be played normally afterwards)

Thank you so much in advance for your support in forwarding these issues to the proper diligences.

[brayen]

I get the same exact black out as Kytaru mentions in her post. right down to the exact moment as that elf guy appears as she mentions. None of my PC playing friends have had this issue and after multiple attempts even after i told my friends to proceed without me i have had no luck. it happens EVERY time no matter the job or location. I have since attempted to use my brother's PS2 as well but the exact same problem occurred. I had tried to report this issue to a GM on my 3rd or 4th attempt but they were never able to assist (it is probably not their job any way).

Hope this issue is fixable as i am eager to finish my Wing of the Goddess Missions!

[Vraelia]

When I did Windy Missions, it gave me black outs. I had to have my bf on his Xbox to get me past these. I forget exactly which CSs they were, but it involved the Toraimarai Canel and the Star Sybil.

[Stormcrowe]

I'm so relieved it's not just me!!

I have gotten blackouts for ages now...it started infrequently during Campaign Battle (mostly in Fort Karugo-Narugo) and seems to have gotten worse (along with npc chat delays) since the latest major update and PS2 "fix".

Other incidents:
- A Manifest Problem, final cutscene after zoning in to Windurst Waters (S)...I was stuck on a loop unable to leave but was able to get through after a few days of pestering GMs from my mule.
- Regaining Trust, final cutscene after speaking to Monberaux...the scene begins then blacks out after a "flashback" white screen...contacted SE about this today as it's gone on for a few weeks and I need access to Monberaux for COP missions!

[Qeepel]

Thank you for filling out the rest of the information that we needed Kensou! I'll escalate this now and get back to you when we hear a response. As always with cutscene crashes, you may want to try running a file check on your game data, which you can do from your POL viewer login screen. This might help you out in the meantime. Thanks again!