I know it's been broken for years, but thought I'd put it here just in case it fell off the work flow. I think it should either work or be removed.
I would give anything to get this working again. I hate playing in windows mode. I used to look the quest up while flying LOL
I have more information. Awesomium is not exactly a browser. It's an SDK that allowed developers to embed WebKit, including a .NET and C++ API. Awesomium was originally based on an old version of Chrome. Awesomium's API was abandoned about four years back by its creators. The HUGE ELEPHANTINE PROBLEM is that Awesomium does NOT properly support HTML5 and contains a number of unfixed bugs with security flaws. This means that when you open a fansite, such as the wiki, you may be exposing yourself to all kinds of security violations. There have been several reported over the years that managed to defeat the sandboxing. The wiki itself isn't a virus vector, but sometimes the wiki's advertising is compromised, and that's under the purview of the people who own Fansite, not EQ2i. If you create a wiki account and stay logged in, you don't get served most of the ads, but unlike an external browser that allows you to use ad blockers and turn off scripting, the end user doesn't have that much control over Awesomium. And then of course there's the issue that Awesomium can't handle stuff from the fansites if it includes things like embedded video, or HTML5 coding, so those sites don't display, or don't display properly. It wasn't too long ago that the Awesomium process was hanging and causing EQ2 to slow to a crawl. I'm not all that confident that Awesomium isn't still slowing the game. DBG should really update to something like Ultralight or at least CEF now.
I just want to be able to look up quest and stuff again without having to minimize and log in to wiki and then keep bouncing back and forth between the 2. I wish I had 2 monitors that would make my life alot easier but....
What specifically is breaking with the in-game browser? Are there specific websites that aren't working?
The in game browser hasn't worked in a few years now. None of the sites come up. At least the common ones that are used. If you read Sigrdrifa post up a few she has some more detailed information in that.
Well, for starters, you can't render most modern websites using Awesomium anymore. The prime example is the EQ2i wiki. You click a wiki link in one of your game windows, from the Default UI or a custom UI, and all you get is a blank screen.This is a huge problem since the wiki has been the OFFICIAL wiki for the game for a long, long time now, and it's the only user manual really for new players. As the Fandom website that hosts the wiki requires, there is a bunch of embedded scripting and custom CSS;. There is data tracking happening, though most I *think* is Opt In. If you are not logged into the wiki, it's gonna serve ads, ads which not infrequently attempt to execute malware (being logged in vastly reduces the amount of ads you are served). If you try and open Facebook from Awesomium, it will open, but you get a big message at the top saying that FB is about to stop working with this browser. If you try to open Google, you get a warning, "We've detected you're using an older version of Chrome. Reinstall to stay secure". EQ2Wire does seem to open properly, but I honestly have not exercised it enough to know if there are parts that don't work with the in-game browser. Feldon would be the person to ask about that. Since Awesomium has had no security updates in ages, I am really concerned about malware, trojans and other web exploits. Accordingly, I typically window out and use Firefox 77.0.1 (64 bit) with the AdBlock Plus plug in, and I have several layers of malware protection in my AV. I never see advertising that I don't want to see, and my system is resistant to executing certain actions via scripting.
stunningly! and hundreds of years didn't need to pass.. so yet they are not particularly reading this forum (i also wrote earlier about this). this browser is what disgraces this game. just remove it so that it doesn’t annoy (because until now you have not replaced it with at least something suitable for viewing almost any page on modern Internet)
Chiming in to verify everything Sig has said about the in game browser. You can navigate to all the links in Favorites, even the ones that have not been updated forever )) You can navigate to the forums in EQ2Wire. You can get to EQ2Interface. There is just no way to link to the EQ2 Wiki which, as others have stated, is just nuts. Can't even copy/paste a Wiki link to the address bar and get anywhere. Also have to agree that the Awesomium app is too ancient to trust. I generally tab out to search and have for ages. Some folks just WANT a working in-game browser. Check it out and fix or replace or remove )) please. <extra grin>
not to mention that the sideloading of it at launch of eq2 is one of the main reasons of mem leaks from what ive read ... just tossing that out there as well.
Caveat: using DarqUI 1. on character, open quest window 2. mouse over web icon 3. select EQ2U 4. about: blank is first seen in browser bar 5. then arrive at quest description on EQ2U in a second or 2 6. decide to go to wikia by using back button 7. Back button greyed out, non-functioning 8. Click on Home button with tool tip of Go to home page about:blank 9. Do not go anywhere. Still on EQ2U page 10. close window while muttering Start over at step 3 Select Wikia 1b. receive about:blank in browser bar 2b. browser bar reads correct link to quest in wikia HOWEVER 3b. screen is blank 4b. click Home button...still blank 5b. select EQ2Interface from Favorites and go immediately to site 6b. Make EQ2Interface page my new home page 7b. select Wikia from Favorites and go immediately to a BLANK page 8b. click Home button and go immediately to EQ2Interface The current Awsomium dll is 1.7.1.0 and dated 2013. Awsomium is dependent on NET. There have been many updates to NET for both 32 and 64 since 2013. If you search, in external browser, for Awsomium the results, depending on search engine, may contain interesting crash and lock up instances since 2013. Hope this helps
This is not a bug as it is. As an improvement in a future update, we will disable the in-game browser, and any links will redirect to your desktop browser.