I am experiencing a bizarre pattern when loading destinations and it is absolutely killing my interest in playing the game. [b]Here's the scenario:[/b] 1. I start D2 and from orbit select any destination (open world or fireteam only, playlist or not); it takes roughly [b]0:30[/b] to load this destination from orbit every time. 2. I return to orbit (but don't exit the game) and relaunch to the same location. This time loading takes anywhere from [b]1:00-2:00[/b] to load, whereas it loaded fine in 30s immediately before. 3. I return to orbit and relaunch again to the same destination. This time the loading takes [b]2:30-4:30[/b] to complete! 4. From this point onward every load is now in the 2-5 minute range (depending on destination). [i]This pattern repeats predictably and regularly every time I start the game fresh.[/i] Here is another scenario: 1. I start D2 and from orbit select any destination. This destination loads in [b]30 seconds[/b]. 2. I return to orbit and relaunch to the same destination. This and any subsequent loads follow the exact pattern as described above (numbers vary by destination but are remarkably consistent per destination). 3. I 'Exit to Desktop', relaunch D2 and from orbit select any destination. This destination loads in [b]30s[/b]. 4. Same as in 3. Every time I restart the game, the load time for the first destination goes back to [b]30s[/b]! I tested this many, many times. This issue appeared roughly a month ago and has persisted through two uninstalls & reinstalls of the game (but I have not tried wiping my drive and starting completely fresh). Here is a google doc with details of 83 launches under a variety of conditions: [url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13FekqrPFDROem3ETUxrbXRrgvWYSi4AUQcObKPxFq_w/edit?usp=sharing]spreadsheet[/url]. I have tried to account for anything that might cause this or a similar problem and have tried to remove all sources of interference. Here are details to head you off before you tell me "it's because of ___" : - D2 is installed on an m.2 Samsung EVO SSD. This is clearly [b]not an access speed issue [/b]because my first load on startup completes in 30s every time - My computer exceeds the recommended hardware specs (runs > 60 fps nearly always) - Nothing else was running besides Firefox when I did these tests - Nobody on my network was hogging the bandwidth during these tests (most other devices were off) - I do not have similar issues in other games - [b]I was not slowed down by other players taking a while to load or by the servers populating a new tower instance, etc.[/b] (I ran most of my tests in a solo fireteam loading into Heroic Whisper and the Tribute Hall; the same issue presented itself, though the effects were larger, in public destinations like Nessus) - I have 2x8gb RAM, though they are running in single-channel mode (and were long before this issue started) - I normally run the game in fullscreen but I did these tests in windowed mode via alt+enter; I've found no difference between the modes - I have reinstalled the game twice and the issue persists exactly as documented before the reinstall - I have used Task Manager to monitor disk access, ethernet throughput, CPU load, and GPU load during these loads and have seen nothing out of the ordinary - If you really want to see it in action I will gladly FRAPS a video of myself opening the game fresh, loading a destination 4 times, quitting the game, opening it again, loading a destination, and then doing a quit/reload a couple more times I tried a variety of things while testing, and none of it seemed to make a difference. (Except for one time I think I got two 30s loads in a row by switching characters but I'm pretty sure I started the timer late on that one.) Here's what I tried: - Loading different destinations instead of the same one repeatedly - Closing every other program on my computer but D2 - Not holding O to return to orbit before relaunching, instead selecting a location while loaded into a destination - Switching characters in between loads (and then switching back without loading a destination on the second character) because maybe the character select screen was important? - Using a different character to load the destination - Waiting in orbit a long time before the first load (still only took 30s) - Staying in a destination after the first load before doing load 2 (next followed duration pattern) [b]Why this is a problem:[/b] Aside from just being generally mad that it takes forever to get anywhere in the system, I effectively can't matchmake once the loading duration gets too long. After waiting 4+ minutes, I often arrive in a location without anyone else there because they've left. In forges, enemies spawn but balls can't be thrown at the forge until I load in (and I have caused 2 friends to fail a forge by taking too long). In strikes, no strike enemies spawn until I load. I repeatedly get kicked from Sundial during the loading process and I effectively can't play the activity. I don't want to ruin Crucible games or Gambit matches. Has anyone experienced something similar? Can I gather more specific data to provide to Bungie techs? Any suggestions for what I can do about this besides restarting the game after loading 2 destinations?