Stuck at loading screen forever - game doesn't lock up and no error msgs

[john0x7073]

I just reformatted my computer and put a fresh copy of win 8.1 professional 64 bit (full release, not preview) and I can't seem to play FF14 now. I was running win 8 64 bit enterprise and it was working just fine.

The first time I loaded FF14 after formatting, I got to character selection screen just fine, hit play on the character I chose and it went to the black screen with the loading circle going on forever.. left it sitting there for 30 minutes before giving up.

After that, when I launch the client and press start to get to the character selection screen, it gives me the black loading screen and sits there forever.. waiting 1h + to see if I'd get any error messages.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, tried installing it on my non SSD drive and still the same issue. I've installed c++ redists, dx 9, updated windows etc and still nothing. I've also made sure I installed and ran the game as administrator. I've also tried compatibility mode with no luck.

I don't want to roll back my OS. Any other possible solutions to try?

[will65]

I'm having the exact same problem with Win 8.1 prof 64 bit hit start and it just stays at a black loading screen with the progress bar turning forever!

[will65]

OK I found this in another thread and it worked for me: Open the config file FFXIV.cfg under documents/my games/FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn with notepad and change the value of CutsceneMovieOpening to 1, rather than 0. Save, restart the game and you should be good