Black Screen

[Yunda]

I was doing wings of the goddess missions in bastok markets(s). I had a couple of problems with some of the cutscenes freezing up so I had to reset a couple times. I finished Storm on the Horizon and logged off. Now whenever I log in it goes to a black screen with chat box and sending/receiving there. After a couple seconds the chat box and sending/receiving GUI disappear and it is just a black screen. I have left it there for over an hour and it doesn't fix it. Other people have characters on that account and I have logged them on and off just fine. I only have problems with my character. I'm currently playing on ps2 with dsl connection.

[SE_James]

Yunda,

We would like to apologize for the problems you are experiencing, and we can offer a few suggestions to try to assist you in resolving this problem.

Suggestions:
1. Check to make sure you have properly configured or turned off any of the following: Routers, Proxy Servers, NAT Servers, Internet Connection Sharing services.
2. If you are using any kind of software/hardware Internet Sharing service/device the following ports need INCOMING access to your PC: TCP 1024 - 65535, UDP 53, and 50000 - 65535. Also, check to make sure that the ports mentioned are not blocked by your ISP for INCOMING access. Proper configuration of any of the above items mentioned should be done by following the instructions in the software/hardware manual or calling the manufacturer's technical support.
3. If you are using a router, and have configured that router for port forwarding, temporarily bypass that router and connect directly to the modem.

Please take note of the following:
• Proxy servers, and satellite connections are not supported and do not work correctly with FINAL FANTASY XI.
• Your router may require that you use a PC to configure your network settings. For more information about how to configure your network settings, please refer to the instruction manual that came with your router or contact the manufacturer directly.
• If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) specifies a DNS server, you need to make sure to configure your settings to allow packets to pass through UDP Port 53 as well. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual for your router or the information provided by your ISP.

[Yunda]

Is there a way to send him to his home point? I would warp him if i could. I'm even on blm at the moment, but I can't even log in. It is not a problem with my connection because then I'd have trouble with the other characters. It seems more like a cutscene failing to activate.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

We would like to apologize for the problems you are experiencing, and we can offer a few suggestions to try to assist you in resolving this problem.

You know damned well his problem is the years-old unresolved PS2 bug. Sending him on this wild goose chase helps no one and accomplishes nothing.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

From another thread with a different problem.

Logandor,

We do apologize for the problems you are experiencing. An issue such as this is generally a failure in the communications between your system and our servers in Japan. Your system is waiting for a response from the game servers that it’s not receiving for whatever reason, leaving you at the loading screen while it waits. We can offer a few suggestions for this problem.

Suggestions:
1. Check to make sure you have properly configured or turned off any of the following: Routers, Proxy Servers, NAT Servers, Internet Connection Sharing services.
2. If you are using any kind of software/hardware Internet Sharing service/device the following ports need INCOMING access to your PC: TCP 1024 - 65535, UDP 53, and 50000 - 65535. Also, check to make sure that the ports mentioned are not blocked by your ISP for INCOMING access. Proper configuration of any of the above items mentioned should be done by following the instructions in the software/hardware manual or calling the manufacturer's technical support.
3. If you are using a router, and have configured that router for port forwarding, temporarily bypass that router and connect directly to the modem.

Please take note of the following:
• Proxy servers, and satellite connections are not supported and do not work correctly with FINAL FANTASY XI.
• Your router may require that you use a PC to configure your network settings. For more information about how to configure your network settings, please refer to the instruction manual that came with your router or contact the manufacturer directly.
• If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) specifies a DNS server, you need to make sure to configure your settings to allow packets to pass through UDP Port 53 as well. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual for your router or the information provided by your ISP.Are we just getting botted responces now?

[Arkitan]

Some people that work for this company apparently are born with their heads rammed up their butts and dont understand that not everyone plays this game on pc! SOME OF US ACTUALLY PLAY ON PS2/3!!!! I dont consider FFXI to be PC worthy! Most black screens happen on PS2/3 and since SE doesnt have enough sense to understand this concept, I doubt theyll do anything about it! They know how to withdraw money out of our credit cards but wont help us when we need it! ISPs deserve to have the stupid slapped out of them! >=( It really doesnt take rocket science to figure out how to remove objects out of your butt! >.>

[Arkitan]

This is the email SE sent to me after I had to spell it out to them that I play on PS2:

Dear Customer,

Regarding your request for support. Please find your answer below. Based on your recent confirmation that you are playing on the Playstation 2 the following suggestions are related to your issue, however if you are still having trouble after reading our suggestions please respond back with the information requested at the end of this email.

If you are experiencing or seeing any of the following issues at any point we do have a few suggestions. Connecting to/staying connected to the PlayOnline Viewer, FINAL FANTASY XI or Tetra Master, click on your character handle and crash/black screen or get stuck at downloading data screen, click on the character select button crash/black screen or get stuck at downloading data screen, randomly getting kicked out of game, or seeing the lag meter go red, seeing more chop/lag/disconnects around crowed areas, having trouble accessing only a specific zone/zones, having trouble logging in only a specific character/characters, or getting any of these errors; 3113, 3100, 4001, 1160.

Suggestions we have:

1. Check to make sure you have properly configured or turned off any of the following: Routers, Proxy Servers, NAT Servers, Internet Connection Sharing services.

2. If you are using any kind of software/hardware Internet Sharing service/device the following ports need INCOMING access to your PC. TCP 1024 - 65535, UDP 53, and 50000 - 65535, also check to make sure that the ports mentioned are not blocked by your ISP for INCOMING access. Proper configuration of any of the above items mentioned should be done by following the instructions in the software /hardware manual or calling the manufacturer's technical support.

3. If you are using a router, and have configured that router for port forwarding, temporarily bypass that router and connect directly to the modem. Please take note of the following FAQs:* Proxy servers, and satellite connections are not supported and do not work correctly with FINAL FANTASY XI.* If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) specifies a DNS server, you need to make sure to configure your settings to allow packets to pass through UDP Port 53 as well. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual for your router or the information provided by your ISP.* If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) specifies a DNS server, you need to make sure to configure your settings to allow packets to pass through UDP Port 53 as well. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual for your router or the information provided by your ISP. You can also try deleting your network settings within the PlayOnline Viewer and recreating a network configuration with all default settings. Thank you for contacting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center.

This still gives no help to me and Im sure it will give no help to any of you either! >.>

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Connecting to/staying connected to the PlayOnline Viewer, FINAL FANTASY XI or Tetra Master

Man, they had to dig deep into the archives to find this gem of a form letter.

[Arkitan]

Tell me about it! Still hasnt provided lick of help! Every other cutscene gives me a blank screen where I have to turn off/on my PS2 to log back on! I hate ISPs! (Incredibly stupid people) Does it really take rocket science to fix this?

[Dsherman]

This thread is one of a number of threads that complain about this issue.

SE seems to be very rigid in their posture that it is a network issue at the client end. It is not.

SE continues to refuse to look into it.

TO SE: IT IS A SOFTWARE ISSUE. IT IS NOT A NETWORK ISSUE. YOU NEED TO FIX IT instead of burying your head in the sand and telling people it's a network communication issue. THE PS2 CLIENT CRASHES WHEN TRYING TO VIEW CERTAIN CUTSCENES THROUGHOUT THE GAME.

It is often only a partial crash. (chatting still works, but the CS can not continue). If it is only a partial crash, the stuff that is still working can't even put up an error message about the ethernet cable being disconnected after having done so.

It has been this way for YEARS. It happens to WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE to still call it a network issue. It is only an issue on the PS2 Client. Xbox 360 and PC Windows clients ON THE SAME LAN AS THE PS2 do not suffer from this issue.

[Zerich]

SE doesn't care about blackscreen people.

[Sarick]

They are aware f the problem but would rather respond with inane solutions then fix it. Only way around this is get a PC. If this problem started affecting PC users then they'd care but since it's PS2/PS3 they've unofficially given the PS users the big flip off.


Dear SE, if you don't want to support PS2/PS3 get it off the supported platforms! This is falsely advertising compatibility. Your community team and programmers know this is a 100% confirmed issue with PS2/PS3 conversion incompatibilities.

[Darwena]

A friend of mine who play on PS2 have the same problem. He stuck on a quest since he got the black screen, he tell us he got the black screen and need to reboot. they are some CS he can't just watch and been stuck on those quest for years. He try everyday he play, before logout,to click on the broke CS and still stuck on it.

Another friend have similar problem on his PS2. Some CS took hours to run or simply got the black screen with chat log.

I'm not a PS2 user and play on XBOX, but I agree, FFXI isn't a PC only game. If I had a good PC to run game, trust me, I won't playing this "JP onry with the worst customer service for NA" on a PC and will be more on real MMO for PC.

[Drakhon]

I've been only playing this on PS2 and only started getting this problem in 2010 when I moved to the country and started using wireless internet but since then on most quests dealing with ToA and WotG I get black screen. Couldn't finish the pup cs after final boss fight for lv 60 head piece because of this, couldn't start sch af quest until I did a bastok mission quest. This unlocked the problem with the npc for sch so I could start AF but the cs for that mission then locked up. I have the same problem for Sandy and Windy mission quests so my mission progression stopped, only thing I was never able to finish. Even minor quests would lock up. I was waiting for this PS2 memory expansion to take place that SE promised in December, figuring the extra memory would unlock these problems but SE and Sony have yet to implement this. One of the main reasons I have quit the game. Will be officially gone tomorrow.

[Arkitan]

Ok, Ill add and edit this post to state what missions/quests give a blank screen for them as I go through them myself.
This is ones for PS2.

1: NPC: Kerutoto, Quest: Waking Dreams, Blank screen happens after first cutscene of quest. Currently, it wont let me get Windurst nation mission cutscene I need to progress as Kerutoto is the NPC needed.

Will edit more once I find more.

[Dsherman]

Based on recent announcements regarding the new expansion announced at VanaFest posted elsewhere in these forums, I have come to the conclusion that the problems with crashes of the PS2 client on a number of NPC Conversations and Cutscenes will never be fixed.

They are not going to create an expansion install disc for the North American PS2 version. I suspect it is for economic reasons. There are too few players in North America that still depend on the NA PS2 version for access to FFXI for it to be worth creating and distributing that expansion installation disc.

I also tend to believe that it is for the same economic reasons that they do not want to put time into fixing these crash problems for the North American PS2 version.

I suspect the problems are caused because of issues that Square-Enix and both Square and Enix before that have had for many years in porting things to North America. The amount of text data needed to convey something in English is much longer than the amount of text data needed to convey it in Japanese. There have been many games in the past where something has had to be cut out of the game as it was done in Japan to make room for the added length of English text.

My suspicion in the case of FFXI is that the longer English text has in some cases exceeded some memory boundary in the PS2, which causes the game to crash when that English text is loaded. And no one at SE caught the error when it was made. And now they probably don't want to put time or money into finding the problem and fixing it.

The Japanese version is likely not having this issue, or they would be fixing it.

They are not blocking use of the NA PS2 version at all.... they just aren't going to do much effort to support anything specific to the NA PS2 version any more to fix it. You can still log in, but if it crashes, too bad.

[BST]

Based on recent announcements regarding the new expansion announced at VanaFest posted elsewhere in these forums, I have come to the conclusion that the problems with crashes of the PS2 client on a number of NPC Conversations and Cutscenes will never be fixed.

They are not going to create an expansion install disc for the North American PS2 version. I suspect it is for economic reasons. There are too few players in North America that still depend on the NA PS2 version for access to FFXI for it to be worth creating and distributing that expansion installation disc.

I also tend to believe that it is for the same economic reasons that they do not want to put time into fixing these crash problems for the North American PS2 version.

I suspect the problems are caused because of issues that Square-Enix and both Square and Enix before that have had for many years in porting things to North America. The amount of text data needed to convey something in English is much longer than the amount of text data needed to convey it in Japanese. There have been many games in the past where something has had to be cut out of the game as it was done in Japan to make room for the added length of English text.

My suspicion in the case of FFXI is that the longer English text has in some cases exceeded some memory boundary in the PS2, which causes the game to crash when that English text is loaded. And no one at SE caught the error when it was made. And now they probably don't want to put time or money into finding the problem and fixing it.

The Japanese version is likely not having this issue, or they would be fixing it.

They are not blocking use of the NA PS2 version at all.... they just aren't going to do much effort to support anything specific to the NA PS2 version any more to fix it. You can still log in, but if it crashes, too bad.

The unresponsive NPC issue is a major problem for all region PS2 owners from what i have read, and from my own experience it may not happen on some of your characters, but will do on others. For example, my main character cannot talk to Bastok chocobo renters, yet my mule can talk and rent a choco with no problems. A simple way to see this in action is: load PS2, make a new character, select bastok, go to bastok-mines and talk to every npc in the zone. You can talk to all npcs fine, all but 1 npc - Echo Hawk. Echo Hawk seems to freeze 100%. After you freeze on hawk try taking the Zinc ore quest from Parraggoh in the same zone.. after trading the ore to complete it Parraggoh will freeze, reload and talk and its ok.. but now more npcs will start to freeze on you! (Stay away from the steaming sheep in port, just about all npcs outside it will freeze you). I do file check, finds nothing, i have reinstalled many times, i have tried this with router/modem/wireless and nothing fixes it, port setting doesn't do no good either. Square know this is an issue but cannot fix it, it seems.
I use my xbox360 more now, so i guess since that new expansion wont come to PS2 i am done playing on it.