Can't load into Aurum Vale Duty

[Harmonity]

Hi all, I seem to have an unique problem, I've tried searching for this specific problem only to find people having issues with the dungeon gameplay itself.

My particular problem is, I can not load into the Aurum Vale dungeon itself. I've done the MSQ all the way up to freeing Doma, level 71 BLM, doing other dungeons and quests and alliances just fine. I've never done PvP in the game. I have a quest from level 47 to enter aurum vale, Gilding the Bilious.

Here's my step by step:
1. Queue through Duty finder to Aurum Vale.
2. Accept Queue when it pops.
3. Game disappears from my screen.
4. Start up FFXIV and log back in.
5. Select same character I was on to enter the dungeon.
6. Be stuck in Aurum Vale dungeon loading screen for upwards to hours.
7. Force stop game, log on different toon.
8. Ponder why this matters so much.
9. Log back into original character, not in queue for dungeon anymore.

This has been a repeat occurrence for me specifically, since a few months ago. I'm at a loss of what is the issue. Help?

[LeonKeyh]

Could be a number of different things. Try updating your graphics drivers, there are a lot of particle effects in Aurum Vale that could be the culprit. Could be some sort of file corruption too, I don't know if PC has it, but most games allow you to scan your install for issues, look for something like "Scan/Repair" if that's not an option, try reinstalling the game.

[Harmonity]

I've tried updating the graphics card, several times over several months as well.

There isn't an easy to find option to scan and repair through the FFxiv launcher, but if it helps, my graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB.
I seem to not think it's a graphic issue simply because I can do Heavensward and Stormblood dungeons without any issues at all. This is the only dungeon, where it's stopped me from progressing further into the Grand Company. Maelstrom if it helps.

[Aurora_Sylphy]

In that case, it is probably not a graphics issue but a file corruption/error issue caused by something missing/and or being broken in your current FF14 install and the game not fixing or detecting it. Usually if you installed it though steam I would tell you to verify your files, but that wouldn't work even if you bought the game on steam as the install thru there is only for launcher, which subsequently downloads all the needed files. I don't know if FF14 has an easy way to scan the game files for issues, so you might need to reinstall it perhaps? Under the settings in the game launcher there is an option called 'Restore Game Data' which is recommended when you have launch issues due to corrupted files or what not, but I assume that just deletes all installed patch/game files and just redownloads and installs them. Does a specific error message pop up on the screen when the game crashes? Also, is this an issue on all your characters (if you have an alt that has already done it).

Usually if this was a crash or corruption issue (for say a missing/broken file) or a graphic issue (some people commonly get several different DirectX related errors and crashes) a message/warning/message box usually pops up with some information, so if something like that happens it could help. If FF14 created a crash log file of sorts, it would probably help, but I have no idea if the game does do that cause when ever I have encountered an issue an error message or dialogue usually always pops up.

[Jojoya]

I've tried updating the graphics card, several times over several months as well.

There isn't an easy to find option to scan and repair through the FFxiv launcher, but if it helps, my graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB.
I seem to not think it's a graphic issue simply because I can do Heavensward and Stormblood dungeons without any issues at all. This is the only dungeon, where it's stopped me from progressing further into the Grand Company. Maelstrom if it helps.

Far more likely that it's a corrupt game file than some other issue with your PC.

First thing to check would be your character specific files, especially if you can enter Aurum Vale on your other character that you mentioned (assuming it's a high enough level). Save a copy of your character's folder to a different location on your PC then delete the original. Log into your character - the game will automatically create a new folder and character setting files though everything will be set to the game default. Try entering Aurum Vale solo unsynced.

If you can get in without issue, you'll know the corrupt file was one of the character files. You can choose to either restore all your character settings manually or copy back some of the files from the duplicate folder you created. Files with obviously descriptive names (like Gearset) should be safe enough to copy back though I'd avoid copying any of the files with less helpful names. If you restore any of the old files, enter Aurum Vale one last time to make sure you didn't reintroduce whatever was corrupted.

If you still can't get in after deleting the character folder, some other game file is corrupted. You'll probably need to do a full game re-install though you may want to open a thread in the Technical Support forum first to see if there are other things to check.

[Harmonity]

Far more likely that it's a corrupt game file than some other issue with your PC.

In that case, it is probably not a graphics issue but a file corruption/error issue caused by something missing/and or being broken in your current FF14 install and the game not fixing or detecting it.

It was indeed a corrupted game file, I only started playing last year and installed the game with my 'middle of nowhere swampland' internet. What would normally take a few hours to reinstall would take days. I travelled to my parents' and downloaded it there. First thing after installation was que immediately into Aurum Vale, and I had no issues whatsoever. There must have been a hiccup for that specific dungeon because I had no issues with the rest of the game thus far.

Thanks all for the help, pretty funny how this turned out.