If you recently installed DDO or LOTRO and are either receiving a "Game error 201", or crashing after clicking the Play button just after selecting the world to log into (e.g. nothing occurs after clicking play except the launcher goes back to its default just launched state), please try this first group of steps below. If you are only encountering a crash right after clicking play and have not recently installed or reinstalled the game, please instead attempt what is outlined in the article here.
- 201 error after install: During the install if the Akamai Netsession installation was prevented this can cause the issue. If that did occur, rerunning the game installation and choosing the repair option may resolve this.
- Crash immediately after clicking play: This can occasionally be related to the game trying to locate system files related to the Visual C++ installation and not finding them. As a test try downloading and installing C++ manually via the download here, (use the vcredist_x86.exe when given the option to choose what download) however if that installer fails with any error then open the 'Uninstall a Program' list in the control panel and in there look for all listings of "Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable". Clicking on each in turn if you find one which lists in its details as being Version: 8.0.50727.762 then uninstall that and then repeat the attempt to install 10.0 SP1 from the vcredist_x86.exe file.
- Crash immediately after clicking play: Open your Documents and rename the folder "Dungeons and Dragons Online" or "The Lord of the Rings Online" by adding the word "OLD" to the folder name (e.g. "OLDDungeons and Dragons Online" or "OLDThe Lord of the Rings Online" (Note that you can alternately delete these folders if desired but backup any screenshots and other items stored here that you want to retain). Relaunching the game if you are asked to enable DirectX 10 or 11 graphics modes choose no on that dialog simply to test initially using the default of DirectX 9 rendering.
If any of those have no effect continue with the remaining steps below:
Within there you may find a "Program Files (x86)" folder. If so, double-click to open that. Within it should contain either a 'Turbine' folder or one named for the game (e.g. either Dungeons and Dragons Online for DDO or The Lord of the Rings Online for LOTRO) and if it does right-click on that folder, choosing delete (if you receive an access denied message, be sure that the game launcher as well as the installer is closed out).
Once that folder is removed, relaunch the game to test but if there is no change in the issue after that or the folders detailed were not there, then instead try uninstalling "Akamai Netsession" using the uninstall a program list in the Windows control panel. Once it finishes that uninstall then launch the game and this should trigger the game to reinstall it (you should get an end user license agreement screen regarding Netsession when launching the game).
If it's installer fails or the reinstall has no effect then as an alternate test try a manual installation using the following steps:
Hold down the Windows key and press "R" and in the run line that comes up type the following command hitting enter afterward:
%Userprofile%\AppData\Local\Akamai
Within the folder that opens look for 'Netsession_Installer' (it will list application as its file type) and when found right-click on it choosing run as administrator. Note that the installer is silent in that you should only see the wait cursor briefly come up and revert. If no errors occur then it should be relisted in the control panel under uninstall a program. If the installer gives an error or the file cannot be found then continue to the next set of steps.
If none of the above resolve this, as a final step uninstall the game via the uninstall a program list in the control panel and reattempt the installation from the original download (quick links below for reference*). This time though, during the install when able to choose where to install the game to on your system (folder path) first edit the path text to type in and set a custom folder path of "C:\Games\Turbine" instead of the default (typically "C:\Program Files (x86)\Turbine\(Game Name)"). If the installer asks to choose between "Express" and "Custom", choose custom. This will allow you to manually enter in the folder path for where the game should be installed to.
Note that during the installation (and subsequent patching process) we would recommend that you disable any sleep mode options (control panel > Power Options > Adjust when the computer goes to sleep) including those for the hard drives as sleep mode can interfere with the installer and launcher's ability to create files on or otherwise write to disk.
* Download links for LOTRO and DDO if needed:
http://www.lotro.com/en/game/download
http://www.ddo.com/en/game/download
If you are still encountering this issue after performing these steps, please contact our Technical Support Team via the submit a ticket option at here.