Infinite loading screen – never loads into any zone (Steam + Standalone, Win11, RTX 4090)

The game is now stuck on an infinite loading screen when trying to enter any zone. The loading cog spins indefinitely.

Important note: The game was working correctly and I was able to play and load into zones yesterday. This issue started afterwards.

System details:
- GPU: RTX 4090 (MSI Suprim)
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- Client: Steam and Standalone (both tested)
- Install location: Tested on different drives
- NVIDIA drivers: Multiple versions tested
- Audio initializes correctly (menu music plays)
- Loading cog spins forever (does not freeze)

Troubleshooting already attempted:
- Verified game files
- Full reinstall (Steam and Standalone)
- Deleted shader cache and config folders
- Switched gateways
- DX12 and Vulkan
- Disabled Windows Memory Integrity
- Launch flags tested:
--nosound
--noasync
--waitforpreload
- Single-core CPU affinity test

Result:
The issue persists and I cannot load into any zone on any character on both steam and the stand alone client.

You aussie? Because some AU server players cant load in either. For AU its a server problem

"

Ziphx#2548 wrote:

You aussie? Because some AU server players cant load in either. For AU it’s a server problem

. Yeah I am that’ll do it cheers mate

same here