Progression and Equipment NOT saving in Multiplayer Client mode?

[Iriant_22]

Hey everyone,
​I played the original War in the North back in the day and I was really excited for this Legacy Edition. However, I’m extremely confused and frustrated by how the online multiplayer is handling progression and character saves right now.
​I want to detail my experience to see if others are having this exact issue or if there's something I'm completely missing:
​"Saving Disabled" Notice: Every time I join another player's lobby as a Client, a red message stating "Saving Disabled" appears on screen. I understand that plot/campaign progression belongs to the Host, but in the original game (and almost every co-op RPG), character levels, skills, and loot carried over back to your single-player save.
​Lost Levels, Gear, and Visual Customs:
​I have leveled up all three characters (Farin, Eradan, Andriel) to Level 8 in my own game, equipping them with gear I found.
​When I join a public match via Quick Match or Browser and select my character, the game often ignores my save file entirely. It either resets my character to Level 1 with default gear, downscales/forces a Level 3 version, or assigns a pre-made "ghost" character from the Host's lobby (e.g. giving me a random Level 10 Eradan without my actual equipped weapons).
​Back in the 2011 version, you could join anyone and clearly show off your custom gear and weapons. Here, the game seems to fail to import local .sav files when joining as a Client.
​Loot and XP Void: When the session ends or the Host leaves, none of the XP or loot I earned during that multiplayer match saves back to my main profile.
​Is this a known handshake/netcode bug with the Legacy Edition failing to read client saves, or is this really "intended" design where Clients are just temporary guests with zero character persistence?
​Right now, it feels like the only way to actually play with your own character and keep your gear is to strictly play as the Host. Is anyone else experiencing this?

[Seanestly]

we just expperienced a similar issue the 3 of us made it to lv 6 and got dc'd only the host has his guy and we lost our guys...so we made another run and restarted made it to lv 4 and got off to see if it happened again and it did only the host keeps the guy and all other players dont have a guy and no save available

[Wendigo (SonarTheSynth)]

This is a literal game breaking bug.

[Stall]

Someone on another thread said that this is just how the game is. Is that not true? I really hope its just a bug.

[Magic]

Yes me and a friend have zero persistence with our characters he only takes control of the characters I have already. I didn't know that we were supposed to be able to bring our higher level characters into multiplayer games. I was on chapter 3 then we restarted with him as host got past chapter 3 and when I loaded my save nothing transferred. No levels no gear nothing. It's kinda disappointing

[Iriant_22]

Originally posted by Stall:

Someone on another thread said that this is just how the game is. Is that not true? I really hope its just a bug.

No, that's definitely not true. I played the original game extensively back in the day, and multiplayer allowed you to bring your own main character with your actual level, equipment, weapons, custom appearance, and unlocked skills.
​Your progress (XP, loot, gear) carried back to your single-player save file regardless of whether you were the host or a client. What's happening here in the Legacy Edition is either a severe bug with save data syncing or a deeply broken netcode oversight.
​Besides, if this were intentional, multiplayer would be completely pointless: nobody wants to join a game just to level up another player's character while getting zero XP, zero loot, and zero progress for themselves!

[Stall]

Originally posted by Iriant_22:

Originally posted by Stall:

Someone on another thread said that this is just how the game is. Is that not true? I really hope its just a bug.

No, that's definitely not true. I played the original game extensively back in the day, and multiplayer allowed you to bring your own main character with your actual level, equipment, weapons, custom appearance, and unlocked skills.
​Your progress (XP, loot, gear) carried back to your single-player save file regardless of whether you were the host or a client. What's happening here in the Legacy Edition is either a severe bug with save data syncing or a deeply broken netcode oversight.
​Besides, if this were intentional, multiplayer would be completely pointless: nobody wants to join a game just to level up another player's character while getting zero XP, zero loot, and zero progress for themselves!

Okay good, I really hope they fix this, but this Asspyr. Damnit they get me every time lol. I never got to play a lot of the games they remaster, so I get pretty excited when they bring one back only for there to always be some bug or missing feature that ruins it...

[Bryonus]

I just came here to ask this question, I'm all for downscaling to match the host's level so you don't walk through everything but progression NEEDS to be kept. I have two other friends that want to buy the game but if we play together only the host is going to keep their character, that's utter nonsense.

[MadAsAHatter]

I really think this is a bug and not intended. Makes very little sense to play other peoples unleveled characters.

[BlutsBlood]

Originally posted by Iriant_22:

Originally posted by Stall:

Someone on another thread said that this is just how the game is. Is that not true? I really hope its just a bug.

No, that's definitely not true. I played the original game extensively back in the day, and multiplayer allowed you to bring your own main character with your actual level, equipment, weapons, custom appearance, and unlocked skills.
​Your progress (XP, loot, gear) carried back to your single-player save file regardless of whether you were the host or a client. What's happening here in the Legacy Edition is either a severe bug with save data syncing or a deeply broken netcode oversight.
​Besides, if this were intentional, multiplayer would be completely pointless: nobody wants to join a game just to level up another player's character while getting zero XP, zero loot, and zero progress for themselves!

It’s been a while with the original game but yeah you kept progress. I wanted to play coop today with friend and now it’s completely useless to play coop. We should all get our money back lol

[Blambo]

Submit a big report , if they don't know they can't patch it. I am doing the same , it is supposed to play like Dark alliance and champions of Norrath with character persistent even if story state isn't the same.

[xShapelessx]

Originally posted by Iriant_22:

Hey everyone,
​I played the original War in the North back in the day and I was really excited for this Legacy Edition. However, I’m extremely confused and frustrated by how the online multiplayer is handling progression and character saves right now.
​I want to detail my experience to see if others are having this exact issue or if there's something I'm completely missing:
​"Saving Disabled" Notice: Every time I join another player's lobby as a Client, a red message stating "Saving Disabled" appears on screen. I understand that plot/campaign progression belongs to the Host, but in the original game (and almost every co-op RPG), character levels, skills, and loot carried over back to your single-player save.
​Lost Levels, Gear, and Visual Customs:
​I have leveled up all three characters (Farin, Eradan, Andriel) to Level 8 in my own game, equipping them with gear I found.
​When I join a public match via Quick Match or Browser and select my character, the game often ignores my save file entirely. It either resets my character to Level 1 with default gear, downscales/forces a Level 3 version, or assigns a pre-made "ghost" character from the Host's lobby (e.g. giving me a random Level 10 Eradan without my actual equipped weapons).
​Back in the 2011 version, you could join anyone and clearly show off your custom gear and weapons. Here, the game seems to fail to import local .sav files when joining as a Client.
​Loot and XP Void: When the session ends or the Host leaves, none of the XP or loot I earned during that multiplayer match saves back to my main profile.
​Is this a known handshake/netcode bug with the Legacy Edition failing to read client saves, or is this really "intended" design where Clients are just temporary guests with zero character persistence?
​Right now, it feels like the only way to actually play with your own character and keep your gear is to strictly play as the Host. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Yep just tested it and if I join a random game I play as THEIR character not my own.

[DShepard]

Well this is a bummer. Anyone know if the host can share their save file for you to put on your computer? That would kind of be a workaround of sorts at least.

Also, anyone know if you at least get the same achievements for progressing the story etc as a co op guest?

[Iriant_22]

Originally posted by Blambo:

Submit a big report , if they don't know they can't patch it. I am doing the same , it is supposed to play like Dark alliance and champions of Norrath with character persistent even if story state isn't the same.

How can i do a report ?

[badatgaming]

This issue occurs because the game's old matchmaking netcode often fails to trigger the autosave for the joining player (the Client). To force the game to save your friend's character progression and equipment, try follow this exact sequence at the end of every gaming session:

1. Travel to a Town: Before quitting, both of you must travel to a safe hub/town area (like Bree).

2. Host save (P1) The Host must interact with any merchant, buy or sell a cheap item, and exit the vendor menu. Wait for the golden spinning ring icon (autosave) to appear and disappear on the screen.

3. Client save (P2) Now, your friend must do the exact same thing. They must talk to a merchant, make a quick transaction, and confirm that the autosave icon flashes on their screen.

4. Client quits first!! While still in the town, your friend must open the pause menu and select "Quit to Main Menu" first.

5. Host quits last! Only after your friend has safely disconnected and reached the main menu can you (the Host) safely close the session or turn off the game.

6. Run as Administrator. Both players should configure the game's executable file (warinthenorth.exe) to always run with administrator privileges. Right-click the file, go to Properties, select the Compatibility tab, check the box for "Run this program as an administrator", and click apply. This forces Windows to grant the game full permission to write and update the multiplayer save files on your local drive without background restrictions.

Also Your friend should play only one specific character during your co-op sessions. If they play ahead or change quest milestones in single-player, the game will block their character from saving next time they join you. NEVER close the game via ALT+F4 or turn off the console while playing. Ending the game in that way guarantees that the client's progress will be lost. Hope that helps!

[xShapelessx]

Originally posted by badatgaming:

This issue occurs because the game's old matchmaking netcode often fails to trigger the autosave for the joining player (the Client). To force the game to save your friend's character progression and equipment, try follow this exact sequence at the end of every gaming session:

1. Travel to a Town: Before quitting, both of you must travel to a safe hub/town area (like Bree).

2. Host save (P1) The Host must interact with any merchant, buy or sell a cheap item, and exit the vendor menu. Wait for the golden spinning ring icon (autosave) to appear and disappear on the screen.

3. Client save (P2) Now, your friend must do the exact same thing. They must talk to a merchant, make a quick transaction, and confirm that the autosave icon flashes on their screen.

4. Client quits first!! While still in the town, your friend must open the pause menu and select "Quit to Main Menu" first.

5. Host quits last! Only after your friend has safely disconnected and reached the main menu can you (the Host) safely close the session or turn off the game.

6. Run as Administrator. Both players should configure the game's executable file (warinthenorth.exe) to always run with administrator privileges. Right-click the file, go to Properties, select the Compatibility tab, check the box for "Run this program as an administrator", and click apply. This forces Windows to grant the game full permission to write and update the multiplayer save files on your local drive without background restrictions.

Also Your friend should play only one specific character during your co-op sessions. If they play ahead or change quest milestones in single-player, the game will block their character from saving next time they join you. NEVER close the game via ALT+F4 or turn off the console while playing. Ending the game in that way guarantees that the client's progress will be lost. Hope that helps!

This is complete bs

not only have we done things correctly and both visisted a merchant etc all that jazz, but this shouldnt be the case anyway. It should just autosave the characters gear and xp