(near) Infinite Loading Screens with Gears Turning

Well, back and still at a complete loss as to what's going on. Instead of being dumped into a zone with 1000ms, now the game will just keep me in the loading screen for ages. Force close, relaunch, get into the next zone instantly. East Coast NA, Washington server but gateway hasn't changed this issue. Genuinely exhausted trying to figure it out at this point. Just wondering if anyone else has a similar experience.