wow Loading Screen Fix (Blue Post)

[Stan 5,240]

Loading screens have been the nightmare of Legion so far for almost every player. The issue is very individual and what might help one player won't have any affect on another. Patch 7.1 increased loading times even more than Legion's initial patch. We've suggested a fix in the third week of November. This time, we've got a suggestion directly from Blizzard on how to improve loading screens for zones like Dalaran.

Zuvykree

Howdy! 

Our developers have pushed a hot fix that is aimed to significantly alleviate long load times. Anyone still seeing long load times, we would like you to use the following cvar command: 

Step 1) Goto the World of Warcraft tab within the Battle.net Desktop app -> Options -> Show in Explorer -> World of Warcraft -> WTF -> Open the Config.wtf file with notepad add the line: SET worldPreloadNonCritical “0” Save the document. 

It's important that you restart the computer before retesting. 

Note: Please be aware this command may cause a delay in loading of non critical environment textures and models. 

Step 2) While we're hoping to avoid this step, at all costs. Our developers feel pretty strongly that with the hotfix and this command this issue should be greatly improved. At this point if the troubleshooting so far including step 1 has no impact on your load times. We would ask you to do a fresh reinstall of the client by following the steps Here. 

Thank you!

(Source)

As redditor FenrirWolfie pointed out, you need to be careful during pasting as it contains unicode quotes that won't work, you must use ASCII quotes.

Blizzard is trying to collect feedback and suggests users experiencing long loading screens to send them over specific files so they can troubleshoot. More information below. I've hidden the post by default because it's long.

Halkriel

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Hey everyone! 

As frustrating as this issue is, I really want to say thank you once again for working with us so far. That said, I do want to address the concerns of us working on this issue. This issue a high priority for us right now, which is why we're collecting as much data as possible and also having you all try different possible resolutions so that we can get you all back playing and just enjoying the game. 

This said, we do have some more things to test and try here in a specific order to see what does and does not help with the loading times. I know that you all have tried some of these already, however we are testing a few things and need to know if any of these help. 

***The following must be done in a set order so we can test each possible resolution in a controlled manner.***
 

• 1) Delete the Cache folder inside the World of Warcraft directory. This can be found by opening the Battle.net App > Clicking on the WoW icon to the left side > Then clicking on options where the blue cog wheel is > After that click on "Show in Explorer" > Open the WoW folder and delete the Cache folder. Once this has been completed please try the game again. 
  
  2) Same steps as step 1, only this time, we are going to delete the Addons folder inside the Interface folder. After that, try the game again and see how the load times are. 
  
  3) Next we're going try the variables step from the last post. Goto the World of Warcraft tab within the Battle.net Desktop app -> Options -> Show in Explorer -> World of Warcraft -> WTF -> Open the Config.wtf file with notepad add the line: SET worldPreloadNonCritical “0” Save the document. Once completed, please again test the game. 
  
  4) This last one that was also mentioned in the last post but something we still want to test as well. Which I know is rather off putting for some, but last let's try reinstalling the game. Once installed again, please do not add any addons; instead just play the game as is and see how the loading screens fair.

After all of these steps we would like to get additional files from those still having issues: 

***Make sure that when gathering the data below that your last login was one of the long loading time sessions*** - By this I mean if you get a long loading screen, exit out of the game and then give us the files, otherwise we are not able to see what the loading time frame was when this happened. 

Before continuing below here's how to locate your World of Warcraft folder: 

• Open the Battle.net App
• Click on the WoW icon to the left side of the app.
• Click on the blue cogwheel icon that says settings.
• In the drop down list, click on "Show in Explorer" and gather the files/folders requested below.

Now that you're at the World of Warcaft folder, here's the information we are going to need: 

• First file we need is the Config.WTF file. This can be found inside your World of Warcraft folder then open the WTF folder.
• Next, Inside the World of Warcraft folder we want the entire Logs and Errors folders.
• After this your DXDiag system report.
• Last how long does it take to load in?
• What was the outcome for EACH of the 4 steps tried above?

Once that is all added to a .zip file, please email it to [email protected] with the subject: [Loading Times] - Client Information.

(Source)

Game Engine Issues

Lalovzki came up with an interesting post. Take it with a grain of salt though. According to him, the game engine has problems with how it interacts with VRAM and disc usage as the game cannot properly use the data stored in the devices and can't translate it into GPU what's causing long loading times. The game has shipped with an issue that can't be fixed without a major patch and could be here to stay until next expansion.

(Source)

[AliokWOWDB 7]

The CVar can be toggled from within the game, too.  The command is:

/console worldPreloadNonCritical 0

and then perform a UI reload (which is  /reload ).  This will edit and save Config.wtf without the user ever having to find the location of the file.

I only recommend this method for players - like me - who are experiencing mild to moderate latency when at the loading screen.  Players who are experiencing severe latency and/or client freezing should directly edit and save Config.wtf.

 

[hDszzT 103]

I'm really not sure I see an improvement with this, but then again my loading screens have never been as bad as what other people had.

Loading into the game didn't really speed up, but on hearthing into Dalaran I've seen some light-speed load times (literally less than 1-2 seconds) which I don't think I've had before. I guess that's an improvement.

[Valks 2,375]

On 12/19/2016 at 3:04 PM, Ammako said:

I'm really not sure I see an improvement with this, but then again my loading screens have never been as bad as what other people had.

Pretty much the same for me. Hearing the horror stories of 5 minute loading screens.. I thought 20 seconds was bad!

[Cedric 1]

On 12/18/2016 at 11:36 AM, Stan said:

Loading screens have been the nightmare of Legion so far for every player. The issue is very individual and what might help one player won't have any affect on another. Patch 7.1 increased loading times even more than Legion's initial patch. We've suggested a fix in the third week of November. This time, we've got a suggestion directly from Blizzard on how to improve loading screens for zones like Dalaran.

Not for every player.  I've only heard of this issue through the forums.  Be careful with confirmation bias.  I don't know how many millions of players may be playing with no issues at all.

Hope this gets sorted out for those affected.