Launcher Grash [FIXED]!! I think I have found a solution.
Ok, so around 8pm GMT yesterday my launcher would refuse to work.
It kept crashing giving me the 'System Error -2146697208' or the 'System Error 2146697211' or the 'HTTPS error' and many other variations thereof.
I tried nearly everything I could. I deleted the .cfg file in the My Games > FFXIV to get a new launcher version.
When this failed, I then reinstalled the game with a totally clean install. No joy.
I malwarebyte's it. I did a registry fix. I tried everything I could bar a complete OS overhaul. Nothing worked.
I went to bed defeated last night and then today, thinking something had corrupted the OS or some malware was potentially hiding and affecting my unit. I literally did a complete OS replacement. Yes, I reinstalled Windows 7 (8 is still garbage, but I digress) in its entirety to play this game! Not the first time either!
Anyway, I was full of the joys of anticipation and after a 2-3 hour OS install and Windows Update process, I reinstalled the launcher, to download the game and BOOM!
The same effing errors.
Well, I'd literally tried everything my side that it could be.
Which left internet connectivity or SE server side issues.
I have VPNs for work and I used my US VPN. The launcher would work. I used a Canadian VPN, it worked. A British VPN it worked.
I live in Thailand and connect to the NA servers, because geographically they are my closest English-speaking servers.
Anyway, now knowing it wasn't my side or my unit. It only left 2 things; something had either severely broken on my side of the connection to the SE servers and basically there was a problem in the Asia-Pacific area connection to their launcher page (which does use a browser to launch and function.)
Coincidentally, I also noticed that the Lodestone and Forum pages were down for my own home IP in Thailand and that they would work through a US, CA, UK VPN.
The last thing I tried is the only thing that has worked so far and the game is re-installing as we speak....
I updated my ISP DNS settings to Google's Public DNS and it instantly worked, with no issues.
I could have saved myself all the bother of re-installing the game (this'll be the third time in the past 3 weeks), RE-INSTALLING MY EFFING OS! and all the frustration and annoyance by simply editing my DNS setting in my Local Connection.
You can use certain programs to perhaps find an even better alternative DNS routing, with many DNS benchmarking programs out there that you can try.
If you'd prefer to use Google's Public DNS which is (as you would imagine) fast and extremely reliable then visit the following:
https://developers.google.com/speed/...dns/docs/using
Currently the game is re-downloading and everything appears to be OK.
Now what will happen is they'll patch it and it'll all break again.
I highly suspect this is SE's side and something that they've broken. I literally eliminated everything single thing that could be generated on my side.
How this company manages to eff things up so monumentally and on such a regular basis is beyond me.
Your servers still have severe overloading issues every Sunday afternoon (American Time) and that's several years after the game's initial release, failure, re-release, re-release server failures and continuing issues.
I highly suspect there's a lot of other players in the Asia-Pacific areas (Australia, NZ, SE Asia) that connect to the NA servers that are having similar issues to me. Will anything be done it about it? Will it f....
Anyway, got that off my chest.
Now all I have to do is to wait for it to break again!
TL;DR Update your IPv4 Local Connection DNS settings to Google's Public DNS (or any other public DNS service).