Can't progress the quest "Tango with a Tracker" because of game crash.

[jekasama]

Platform: PC Windows 10
Date & Time: January 1st, 2025
Frequency: Once, not reproduced.
Character Name: Zahir
Race: Hume
World: Asura
Main Job: MNK
Support Job: WAR
Area and Coordinates: Boneyard Gully, ?-? (the Dark Miasma interactable)
Party or Solo: Solo with trusts
NPC Name: Quest giver: Despachiaire
Monster Name: Shikaree X, Shikaree Y, and Shikaree X's Rabbit.
Steps:
1. Started the quest normally.
2. Reached the fight area.
3. Started the fight normally.
4. Game crashed when the boss started a conversation (the boss hasn't aggro'd yet).
5. Restarted the game.
6. My character's now outside the fight arena, as if the fight had ended.
7. No reward(s) from the quest.
8. Quest tracker still on "Tango with a Tracker".
9. Tried to talk to the quest giver, Despachiaire again. He's now stuck in a normal NPC conversation.
10. The key item that as I understood needed to engage the boss fight (Letter from Shikaree X) is now gone from Temporary Key Items.
11. The interactable (Dark Miasma) in Boneyard Gully is now stuck in normal prompt, preventing me from entering the fight.

Posted here as suggested by GM Jobajokila that reached me in game to help:

[Alhanelem]

99% of the time, this is because of third-party tools. Disable them to proceed with the cutscene and I won't tell anyone if you put them back afterward. Such things very commonly cause crashes or softlocks in cutscenes.

In regards to not being able to obtain the replacement KI, as per wiki:

The item can only be acquired once per week (Conquest Tally) and it does not matter if a character is still holding the item from the week before, it is still possible to receive another one during the week after the old one is used.

When conquest resets, you will be able to obtain a new KI.

All the behavior you described is expected and normal aside from the crash itself. It's not a bug.

[jekasama]

Nope, still stuck. This is from the quest giver:

Pic edited with the temp. key items and quest window opened to show that I don't have the key item and the quest tracker shows the quest's name. Also you can see in the chatbox his current conversation text.

This is the one from the gully:

Shown here the dark miasma's text in the chatbox.

There's always a possibility that there's indeed something I'm missing (or using) however as far as my admittedly limited knowledge goes, and with GM's suggestion as posted in the original post, I still believe that this is a bug.

When conquest resets, you will be able to obtain a new KI.

This is what I hope and that it will resolve itself. Until it resets, however, there's nothing comes to mind to fix it from my end.

Original post edited for extra clarity.

[Alhanelem]

This is what I hope and that it will resolve itself. Until it resets, however, there's nothing comes to mind to fix it from my end.

There is no issue. You failed the BC, thus you need a new KI and you can get one on the next conquest reset. What you see is not a bug.

This fight, the associated quest, and literally every single mission people come here to post about it being bugged, 99.9% of the time it isn't, and they just overlooked something or didn't read everything.

Quests like this have been in the game for 15-20 years. if it was bugged it would have been found by now.

and with GM's suggestion as posted in the original post, I still believe that this is a bug.

GMs have no technical knowledge about the game- they aren't Tech Support, they're player support. Anytime you say you think something is a bug they tell you to post here. It doesn't mean there actaully is one.

GMs resolve desputes, enforce the rules, execute the one time item restore, and unstuck you if you're stuck in the world geometry. That's it. You can believe what you like, but there is no bug.

If you fail that BC for any reaosn, whether you crash, or leave, or disconnect, the miasma target will say what it says in your screenshot and that NPC will say what they say, until the time comes you can get a new KI. This is 100% normal behavior and not a bug. if you're alone any crash/dc will result in battlefield failiure immediately.

[Alhanelem]

1. Started the quest normally.
- Normal
2. Reached the fight area.
- Normal
3. Started the fight normally.
- Normal
4. Game crashed when the boss started a conversation (the boss hasn't aggro'd yet).
- Crashing isn't normal obviously but nearly all cutscene crashes are the result of third party tools. The remainder are just edge cases, like reading bad sectors on your storage device, or other random unpredictable things. Regardless, you have entered the battle area, it doesn't matter what happens or doesn't happen once you enter- disconnects, crashes or leaving without any other players in the battle with you will result in a failiure, which is normal.
5. Restarted the game.
- Okay
6. My character's now outside the fight arena, as if the fight had ended.
- Normal behavior in this situation. The fight did end, because there were no players in the battle.
7. No reward(s) from the quest.
- You didn't complete it, so, this is normal.
8. Quest tracker still on "Tango with a Tracker".
- You didn't complete it, so this is normal.
9. Tried to talk to the quest giver, Despachiaire again. He's now stuck in a normal NPC conversation.
- This is normal because the required time to get a new KI has not elapsed.
10. The key item that as I understood needed to engage the boss fight (Letter from Shikaree X) is now gone from Temporary Key Items.
- This is normal, the KI was lost upon entry.
11. The interactable (Dark Miasma) in Boneyard Gully is now stuck in normal prompt, preventing me from entering the fight.
- This is normal, you don't have the KI anymore, and no other battlefields to enter, so you can't enter.

Hopefully this helps you understand why what you experienced (other than possibly the crash, but it's still unlikely) is normal behavior for the game.

The same thing applies to all other battlefield areas in the game that requires an item to enter. There are exceptions where a KI or item is only used after completion, but the vast majority of fights, the entry item is used upon entry. You don't get a second chance if you crash, disconnect, leave, get warpII'd, get sent to GM jail, or anything else that could possibly result in battle failiure.

Aside from the crash itself, everything you described is 100% normal behavior for the game, in this and in almost any other battlefield area.

[jekasama]

Okay, noted. I'm gonna update the thread after the next tally, then. Thanks for the insights. I thought the tally reset is only for repeatable quests and not for all arena quests.

So I guess when it resets, I assume I just have to talk to the quest giver again to get another entry key?

[Alhanelem]

I thought the tally reset is only for repeatable quests and not for all arena quests.

Lots of random things are based on the weekly reset. This quest just happens to be one of them. The wiki contains mistakes sometimes, but I assure you that stuff wouldn't be there on the page if this quest wasn't subject to it.

I believe there is a seperate rematch fight that was added later, which is also subject to this. I've never done it though, so I could be mistaken.

Now, if you bring someone with you when you do the fight, then the battle won't end if something happens. In fact, if they clear it before you come back, it should still count for you. In your situation, the battle ended the moment you crashed because there were no players left in the battle area.

So I guess when it resets, I assume I just have to talk to the quest giver again to get another entry key?

Yes, as soon as the time until conquest tally reaches 0 (can be checked with the /cmap cmmand which brings up the region map), the quest NPC should give you another KI.

It sucks that a quest like this has an up-to-a-week retry cooldown but that's just how it is.