Hi, just want to ask if anyone has experienced this. Starting the other day the game would just minimize and kick me back to the desktop about every 3-5 minutes. It happens during cut scenes or regular gameplay. So, I get back to the desktop and just click on the game in the taskbar and it brings me right back into the game. If it happens during a cut scene, it keeps on playing (i cant hear it) and i miss a few seconds while I get back into the game. If it happens during game play it just pauses for me till I get back. It happens every 3-5 minutes like clock work and really just started within the last week.

I have tried a bunch of small fixes and adjustments. I have noticed that when i switch from fullscreen to borderless, instead of kicking to desktop, it just pauses. sends me right to the pause menu - not the world map, quest menu and i just click resume and keep going.

I will say, that it is very annoying and I can't seem to figure out why this is suddenly happening. I have almost 350 hours and the majority of it has been pure enjoyment with only a few freezes during cut scenes. I have to figure out something because this is the best game out right now and i have zero desire to play anything else!!!

specs:
GeForce GTX 770
i5-4670K @3.40
8 gb
driver 361.43
win 8.1

any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

anyone?

This is clearly a background process/driver doing this. Check for anything that activates/updates etc. on a regular basis, and check for any applications or processes that have mapped keypresses.

thanks! I'll try and figure it out.

anything in particular to keep an eye out for?

As I said, anything that updates, or checks for updates, on a regular basis. That could be anything from antivirus to web browser. Also, to minimise this kind of problem, do not run background tasks while playing games. Close all programs that are not absolutely necessary, and that includes things like IM and e-mail clients. It will be a process of elimination for you, since I have absolutely no idea of your setup.

thanks again.... any way to tell which programs are necessary?

There you go... process of elimination. :)

I also had this problem last week. When it happened, it was constantly dropping me back to the desktop. I usually have IE browser tabs open for maps, etc., and had a few tabs open for guides from sites I normally didn't use. Closing those tabs stopped that behavior that you also have encountered. It has only happened once or twice since then, but not repeatedly like it did originally... meaning .. it drops to the desktop, then I return to the game and don't experience again..

So that's another thing to check along with what Hickory said.

Cheers!