You could have a defective video card, or a bad spot in either your RAM or video ram, both would cause you to crash as you have described.

But then again, it could be one of a dozen other reasons.

One thing it definitely isn't is the game itself, but remember, no game runs on 100% of all computers, some percentage of machines will not be able to run it.

as others have pointed out could be dozens of things, might want to have a pro check it out. At one point in my life I had close to 500 of these critters I had to keep running for the company I worked for. On trouble calls I found everything from not being plugged in to bad power supplies to virus infections and everything in between. Could just be a conflict between the game and a background program or might be something hardware related

Oh and edit I have had it crash once or twice since launch, so I know it does happen

I've never had a single crash. Not even in betas or the early release when the servers were being less than cooperative. I also work in a place where we build, test, and sell several different machines. Majority of them are gaming machines and we use GW2 to test them. None of them have any issues running it. Their specs range from mid-range to very high end. This is likely a client-side issue. We need to know more info about your system to really help you out, but you also have to calm down and be willing to give us this info. Simply foaming at the mouth and pointing the finger is going to get us nowhere.

We need to know things like:

CPU

GPU

RAM

Mobo(if you know what its model is that helps)

DX version

Driver revision

Windows install (XP, Vista, 7 - 32/64bit)

HD type and size (SATA - IDE - SOLID STATE)

also knowing if you've done anything with windows update can help. windows 7 now has service pack 1 available and that may fix some issues.

Another thing to note: In GW1 when the game crashed every 15 - 30 mins it was usually related to your graphics driver not being up to date. Updating the driver usually fixed the issue. With GW2 being made from an updated version of the same engine I can see this being a possible solution.

And finally, it doesn't matter how long you've worked with computers or how much you know there is always something that you can learn or that will surprise you.

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

Not sure why you even play the game.  Every time I come to this site there is a thread of yours about GW2 and they are never positive.

As far as the crashes go.  Driver update first.  It is easy, free, and will clear up a large % of the problems. 

Op you mentioned you are running Win XP w nvidea drivers

no idea if this helps but saw this on GW2Guru

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/54373-guild-wars-2-crashes-quite-frequently/page__st__150#entry1866609

I was getting the out of memory error  / game crash almost every other time I changed zones.  It was the same error all the time.

I followed the instructions outlined above:
There's something called the /3gb switch for 32bit windows (vista & 7 too) which enables applications to use more memory.

Instructions on how to enable the option:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=9583842&linkID=9240697

.... applied that 3Gb switch and the game has not crashed since applying the switch.

I have a 3rd gen i7 with a GTX 670 and 32 bit Win 7.

edit:

Nvidea released new drivers last week w better support for GW2

http://techreport.com/news/23565/nvidia-churns-out-306-23-whql-drivers-urges-users-to-upgrade

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

Ummm driver updates might work. It may not be your system at all. I have a gtx 670 which is very well cooled and it used to crash. Updated the drivers and it runs wonderfully. 

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

I have had 1 crash since head start, and that was zoning from W v W.  That is one pitfall that computer gaming has over consoles, there are so many thousands, perhaps millions, of configurations of software/hardware that it is impossible to make it work for everyone.  This is why I've always said that they (meaning all pc gaming companies) should give a refund within 48 hours of purchase in case the game simply doesn't work on someones system.  Of course that is a discussion for another thread.

Originally posted by niceguy3978

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

I have had 1 crash since head start, and that was zoning from W v W.  That is one pitfall that computer gaming has over consoles, there are so many thousands, perhaps millions, of configurations of software/hardware that it is impossible to make it work for everyone.  This is why I've always said that they (meaning all pc gaming companies) should give a refund within 48 hours of purchase in case the game simply doesn't work on someones system.  Of course that is a discussion for another thread.

I'll only say this. There's this big sticker on the back of the box (or on the official website) that has "System specs" listed. There are also sites like "CanUrunit.com" that help you figure out if your pc will play the game. There's also Nvidia update and AMD'S catalyst thingy that help you keep your driver up to date...and lastly; installing ANY game will install the DirectX version that it needs to run whether it be DX11.1 DX9.0c or whatever. So getting a refund because the game didn't work would be assanine.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

what are your CPU/GPU temps? you could be having an overheating issue.. I'd run some stress tests and check temperatures. Haven't had a hard crash since launch here.

 Heat has been my issue in past.

For >$50 you can get a quality air cooler for the cpu. Hit up Newegg.

I overclock a bit so I take it a step further, and keep my case open, and have an external fan blowing in XD, the things we do.

Originally posted by Four0Six

 

 Heat has been my issue in past.

For >$50 you can get a quality air cooler for the cpu. Hit up Newegg.

I overclock a bit so I take it a step further, and keep my case open, and have an external fan blowing in XD, the things we do.

I had to do that to get my vid card to tolerate skyrim. CPU was fine, vid card was teh culprit.  Even after I set the video card fan to 100 percent, underclocked the video card,  and tweaked Skyrims graphics down to the lowest setting the game would crash every ten minutes. I have never had any issue with any other game wuth that card ( Radeon 6870). A 20 buck desk fan from the hardware store cured the problem entirely

My GTX 560 Ti video card was stuttering. I couldn't figure out why and thought it was the game. NOPE! It turned out that my issue was I was using Wireless networking to connect to our cable modem. The PCI adaptor was polling and interrupting the system. I bought a Wireless repeater with a 4-port hub and wired my PC to that. No more issues.

I guess I will repeat what others have said. Look at YOUR PC first before blaming the game. Too many times it is something as simple as a badly written driver, expecially in Win XP Pro.

Originally posted by TheIronLegion

Originally posted by niceguy3978

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

I have had 1 crash since head start, and that was zoning from W v W.  That is one pitfall that computer gaming has over consoles, there are so many thousands, perhaps millions, of configurations of software/hardware that it is impossible to make it work for everyone.  This is why I've always said that they (meaning all pc gaming companies) should give a refund within 48 hours of purchase in case the game simply doesn't work on someones system.  Of course that is a discussion for another thread.

I'll only say this. There's this big sticker on the back of the box (or on the official website) that has "System specs" listed. There are also sites like "CanUrunit.com" that help you figure out if your pc will play the game. There's also Nvidia update and AMD'S catalyst thingy that help you keep your driver up to date...and lastly; installing ANY game will install the DirectX version that it needs to run whether it be DX11.1 DX9.0c or whatever. So getting a refund because the game didn't work would be assanine.

Do you really think that they can optimize a game for every single one of the hundreds of thousands of possible combinations of hardware and software that ensures it will run if you meet the "minimum requirements?"  I don't really think it is the game companies fault for not being able to make the game work on every combination of components out there, and thus wouldn't bash them if the game wouldn't run on my computer but would on thousands or millions of others computers, but I don't think it is out of line to be able to go to a company and expect to get a refund. 

Edit:  This wasn't even a problem if you played BWE because they were giving refunds if you didn't like the game, you had to contact them, and there was no automated process for it.  I may not like some aspects of the game but Anet will always be in my good graces if for no other reason than that.

Hmm I don't crash much but a guildmate was.

Try changing your driver to the nvidia 306 beta driver.  People are reporting better stability with them.  If you have AMD card then I dunno though.

Originally posted by Elikal

Originally posted by Aerowyn

Originally posted by Elikal

Originally posted by imlazyxd
Time to get a new computer.

a) Time you gave me the money?

and

b) Look at the official Tech forum. There are hundreds of crash entries, all for VERY different computers and Windows versions. So... no. Just no.

i been working with computers for a very long time now.. most times it is a user issue with system or internet.. not saying game bugs don't cause crashes but overall it generally is not anything with the game in my experience.. we need system info to be more helpful.. If possible i'd also recommend a clean install of windows if you haven't done that in a good while.

I know people try to help, and I appreciate that. But look, I am using computers for 20 years give or take. While I am no master of comp-tech, I surely know how to properly run a computer, keeping everything working properly. And as proof, every other game I played the last months and weeks works very good. So I have reason to assume there is nothing wrong with my computer, but with my compatibility, something that ANet has to patch and work on.

I use Intel, NVidia and Windows XP. A game simply HAS to work with that widespread system setup. Sorry if that comes over as arrogant, it is arrogant towards ANet as a paying customer, where I think, having no niche computer and a good understanding of how to operate my computer, it just *has* to work.

Intel Pentium 4?  NVidia 7000 series?  Windows XP SP1?  See, all those things are considered UNDER minimum specifications.  You're not giving any details at all, just brand names.  Those companies and series have multiple versions.   XP in itself is a minimum OS and should be running SP2/SP3; and if you're running an early version than you're running 32bit, meaning that you're not running a suitable amount of RAM for this game (because of the 32bit OS limitation).

I'm sorry, but the game doesn't "just have to work" for low end computers; this game is not WoW and didn't come out 7 years ago.  Welcome to 2012, where tech is already into 6-core and even Octa-Core (8) processors.  Computers are mostly running Windows 7 on 64bit OS, with an upcoming conversion to Windows 8 (I'll pass on that crap, though).  RAM is considered "low" if you have less than 4gb, and "average" if you have 8gb.  Nvidia went from the #-thousands series to a #-hundred series, with the 600 series being the newest.

So, the question is:  Details, do you have them?

And, for that matter, I'm going to deduce that with the very little information that you've provided your computer is UNDER minimum specification and that you cannot rightfully play this game.  Because of this, you really have no room to complain about the crashes and instead should get a new computer or not play this game on that older one.  But again, this is an assumption made based on those "details" you've provided.

Most of those users are Nvidia card users running the latest 306.* drivers. I'm using an AMD Phenom II X6 1090T overclocked to 3.6GHz and a factory overclocked MSI GTX560Ti and haven't had any issues with GW2. I'm also using Nvidia drivers from a year ago.

Originally posted by niceguy3978

Originally posted by TheIronLegion

Originally posted by niceguy3978

Originally posted by Elikal

Ok, this is getting absurd. It was bad enough the game crashed every 45-60 mins in PVE and every 30 min in WvW. But I managed.

But now in my level 50 personal story quest "Battle of Claw Island", it crashes EVERY 5 minutes. I can't even finish the story, and I tried several times, even with lowest settings to be sure.

 

This isn't funny anymore.

I have had 1 crash since head start, and that was zoning from W v W.  That is one pitfall that computer gaming has over consoles, there are so many thousands, perhaps millions, of configurations of software/hardware that it is impossible to make it work for everyone.  This is why I've always said that they (meaning all pc gaming companies) should give a refund within 48 hours of purchase in case the game simply doesn't work on someones system.  Of course that is a discussion for another thread.

I'll only say this. There's this big sticker on the back of the box (or on the official website) that has "System specs" listed. There are also sites like "CanUrunit.com" that help you figure out if your pc will play the game. There's also Nvidia update and AMD'S catalyst thingy that help you keep your driver up to date...and lastly; installing ANY game will install the DirectX version that it needs to run whether it be DX11.1 DX9.0c or whatever. So getting a refund because the game didn't work would be assanine.

Do you really think that they can optimize a game for every single one of the hundreds of thousands of possible combinations of hardware and software that ensures it will run if you meet the "minimum requirements?"  I don't really think it is the game companies fault for not being able to make the game work on every combination of components out there, and thus wouldn't bash them if the game wouldn't run on my computer but would on thousands or millions of others computers, but I don't think it is out of line to be able to go to a company and expect to get a refund. 

Edit:  This wasn't even a problem if you played BWE because they were giving refunds if you didn't like the game, you had to contact them, and there was no automated process for it.  I may not like some aspects of the game but Anet will always be in my good graces if for no other reason than that.

Only issue is that you've already "consumed" the product. That's like buying a turkey from Walmart and then asking for a refund because it doesnt fit in your oven. Unfortunately there is no way to tell if a game will work on all systems as a developer, but it is in the users best interest to investigate and do some searching for themsleves. That and there are always things that can be done to fix issues that are client side(e.g. getting a new graphics card, updating drivers, reseating components -ram,cpu,etc). So asking for a refund is still assanine.

I've been playing daily since the release.

I have crashed one time, and that was a sever reboot.

It's your system sorry.