Plain answers to the problems people have with desktop games

Every question answered here

The site is organised by the situation you are in rather than by product. Each question is answered in the same order: the short answer, the likely causes, the steps that cost nothing, the point at which it is worth asking the publisher or an official body, and finally whether buying something would actually help.

The game will not install or start

• Why will the game not install on my computer at all?
• What happens if I am running Linux?
• The installer stops partway through. What should I try?
• Why does the game open and then close straight away?
• How do I tell whether my computer is capable enough?
• The update keeps failing or starting again. What causes that?

It runs slowly or stutters

• Why does the game stutter when my frame rate looks high?
• What happens if my laptop becomes very hot while playing?
• How do I tell whether my settings or my hardware is the limit?
• Why did performance get worse after an update?
• Do other open programs really make a difference?
• Is my second monitor or high refresh rate screen involved?

Lag, disconnects and slow downloads

• Why is my ping high when the servers are overseas?
• What happens if my connection drops during a match?
• How do I tell whether the problem is my internet or the game?
• Why is the game download so much slower than other downloads?
• Does Wi-Fi really make that much difference?
• Should I use a VPN to lower my ping?

Signing in, codes and account security

• Why has my new account not activated?
• What happens if the confirmation email never arrives?
• How do I tell whether a bonus or invite code is still valid?
• What should I do if someone else may have my password?
• Can I use one account on more than one computer?
• Why does the game say an account already exists?

Spending, randomised items and younger players

• What is a randomised in-game item, and what should I know first?
• How do I tell whether a site selling game currency is legitimate?
• What happens if a child in my household spends money in a game?
• Where do I report a scam or harmful content in Australia?
• How do I check whether a game suits a younger player?
• What should I do about abusive messages in chat?

Quick answers to the five most common questions

Symptom and likely cause

The table below is a starting point, not a diagnosis of your particular computer. Symptoms overlap, and more than one cause can apply at once.

Free steps worth trying before you spend anything

Most of what gets sold as a fix for game problems repeats work your computer can already do. The order below is the one a support technician would follow, and it is the order used throughout the answers on this site.

1. Restart the computer rather than only closing the game. A restart clears driver state that a window close does not.
2. Use the launcher's own integrity check or repair function. It compares your installed files against the publisher's list and replaces only what is wrong.
3. Update the graphics driver from the chip maker's own download page, not from a utility that offers to do it for you.
4. Free up disk space. A drive with very little room left slows every write, including the game's own temporary files.
5. Lower graphics settings one at a time and note the effect, starting with resolution, shadows and reflections.
6. Connect by cable if you can, and pause other downloads on the same connection while you play.
7. Read the publisher's own support pages for the specific game. They are the only source for that game's current requirements and known faults.

If none of that changes anything, the next step is a support ticket with the publisher, not a purchase. Describe what you tried; support queues move faster with that detail.

When the problem is not the software

A fair number of complaints that arrive as "the game is broken" turn out to be something outside the game. Dust in a laptop's vents raises temperatures until the processor slows itself deliberately. A power plan set to a battery-saving mode caps performance even with the charger connected. A monitor cable rated for a lower refresh rate limits what the screen can show regardless of what the computer produces. A nearly full drive, a failing cable, or a connection shared with a large upload all show up as symptoms that look like faulty code.

This matters because the fixes differ entirely. Cleaning vents, changing a power setting or swapping a cable costs nothing or very little. Reinstalling the game ten times does not help if the real limit is a 60 Hz cable on a 144 Hz screen.

Where World of Warships fits, and what it does not address

World of Warships is a naval game played on desktop computers. Its affiliate programme is what pays for this site, so the plain facts belong here rather than buried in a legal page. According to the programme terms, the game is supported on Windows and Mac desktop computers, and Linux is not supported. The programme covers creating and activating a new account, which means it is aimed at people who do not already play.

The programme also states a bonus code for new players, WARSHIPS, which it describes as granting 500 doubloons, seven days of Premium Account, 2,000,000 credits, a mystery Tier IV ship and a skilled commander, with the bonus added automatically once the player logs in. The same terms give the end of that code's lifetime as 31 January 2025, a date now in the past, so treat it as no longer current and check the game's own site for whatever is offered today.

What a new game does not do is fix a problem you already have. It will not lower your ping, repair a driver, cool a laptop or recover an account. If you are here because something is broken, the answers on this site are the relevant part and the link below is not.

Visit the World of Warships website

Paid affiliate link: if you sign up after following it, this site is paid a commission by the affiliate network that operates the link. Nothing changes for you.

Reporting a scam or harmful content in Australia

Several of the questions on this site end at a point where the right move is to report something rather than keep troubleshooting. These are the bodies that handle it, described as they describe themselves.

• Scamwatch, run by the National Anti-Scam Centre within the ACCC, collects reports about scams and publishes warnings about current ones.
• The Australian Cyber Security Centre, part of the Australian Signals Directorate, publishes security guidance and receives reports of cybercrime through ReportCyber.
• The eSafety Commissioner handles complaints about online abuse, image-based abuse and seriously harmful content, including material in games and chat.
• The ACCC administers the Australian Consumer Law, which covers what you are entitled to when something bought online is not as described.
• The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner deals with privacy complaints about how an organisation handled personal information.
• The Australian Classification Board publishes the classification and consumer advice given to games sold or distributed in Australia.

How these answers are written and checked

Questions are chosen from the ones people actually type when something has gone wrong: the phrasing is kept close to the original rather than tidied into a heading. Technical explanations are written in general terms that hold across desktop games, because a specific version number stops being true within weeks. Where a claim depends on a particular game, the answer says to check that publisher's own pages, and where it depends on Australian law or a government body, the answer links to the body itself.

Answers are reviewed against those official pages on a quarterly basis, and the review date appears in the footer of every page. Nothing here is written by a person who inspected your computer, so none of it is a diagnosis. The publisher of this site has a commercial relationship with one of the products mentioned, World of Warships, and earns a commission on sign-ups made through the links to it. The About page sets out how that is kept separate from the content.

Terms you will meet in these answers

Short answers to five more questions