I have been having this problem since being forced to install v1.23.4. At first I thought it was a teleport problem, but I have since realised that either teleporting near some, or entering sight range of a group of avatars causes the client to instantly close with no warning. It even happens if I am in a different sim.
When I try to re-log at the place which caused this I have 1 frame load, then it closes again, over and over, and the only way I can log back in is to log into home when this has happened. I have narrowed it down to avatars by turning "character" off using the advanced menu and finding that everything was fine until I turned it on and again the client closed instantly. In all cases not a single part of any other avatar (not even the oval blob) has loaded on my screen before the client closes, and neither do they show up on the log-in screen as part of my last view.
It is not a cache issue. I have nothing else different on my computer. It doesn't need to be a sim close to the avatar limit, even as few as 4 has caused this to happen. I have turned all of the graphics sliders to minimum. I have turned off trees, grass, clouds, bump, fog, foot shadows & particles using the advanced menu before entering places (something I always do anyway to increase performance).
I noticed with the new client version that the little cloud when you log in has been replaced by a yellow oval blob and have heard somewhere that avatars now render as a complete baked item. I am guessing that all of the information for these avatars is being sent in one un-throttled mass of information and that the client can't handle it.
Am I alone in having this problem? I remember when the dreaded 1.23 first came out that I heard it was riddled with problems and refused to install it until I had no choice, and now many aspects of this virtual world are ruined for me. I searched through the options in preferences, advanced and the de-bug menu and can't find anything relevant.
Is there something I am missing? I have noticed a few other detrimental changes which have been forced upon us, such as the sideways menu to access the upload buttons (why make it harder to get to?!?!), the weird idea of making the screen shots various different shapes and sizes rather than just detecting our screen resolution, but something which causes the client to close so easily is just too much.
I missed a friends rez-day party last week, I have had to cancel events, I am unable to explore places of interest, I am having journeys along protected routes ruined, I have been unable to help build cities with a friend, many many aspects of SL are being affected for me and I am beginning to wonder if there is any point in continuing with this charade any more.
The constant decline in physics performance is bad enough, but this really takes the biscuit....