Login loop problem

[Cutter]

I'm trying to get a friend into the game but he is running into issues getting past the shards/character select.

 

He has previously been able to get to the character creator and make a dude. When he tried to complete character creation & enter the city, he wasn't able. I don't remember if he mentioned any error messages, it's been a while since he tried.

 

This weekend he gave it another shot. coming back a week or so later. He can get past the login screen and see the shards. When he clicks on the one he originally made his dude on, it displays the character page but it is blank and there's a message that the server is unreachable. Clicking OK on that message asks if he wants to go back to login and lose his place in the queue. Click yes. Back to login, the game gives a message that he is already logged in. Click OK to clear the message. Logs in a third time, gets to the shards page, clicking a shard just sends him to the empty character page with the same server message as before. Rinse and repeat.

 

(He also tried clicking a different shard with no characters & it put him through the same loop.)

 

AFAIK he has checked his firewall settings to allow the game. Is this possibly going all the way back to his initial failed attempt to get into the city after character creation? What else could we try to get him up and running?

 

Thanks!

[UltraAlt]

2 hours ago, Cutter said:

Clicking OK on that message asks if he wants to go back to login and lose his place in the queue.

 

There is no queue that I know of.

Are you playing on the weekends on Excelsior? I guess that server could get filled, but I have never experienced that (I don't play on weekends)

 

2 hours ago, Cutter said:

Click OK to clear the message. Logs in a third time, gets to the shards page, clicking a shard just sends him to the empty character page with the same server message as before.

 

Even if the server is full, I wouldn't see getting this message.

Again, I haven't seen that kind of server queue message, but I can't see that should be showing before character creation is completed.

 

Did the player use the Homecoming launcher to install City of Heroes?

Did the player make sure that the game was updated before launching it?

 

2 hours ago, Cutter said:

Back to login, the game gives a message that he is already logged in.

 

You get this when you are already logged into the game. I'm assuming they have their own account that they aren't sharing with anyone else.

If this happens just log back in again, and it will terminate the active instance of the account.

 

If the game hangs when going into the City, just let it sit until the character "zones in". Sometimes there is a delay due to lag. This should take well less than 5 minutes.

 

The character won't be "saved" until the character has been "zoned in" to the game.

 

So I would test just making a garbage character that they don't intend to play just to get a character saved.

Go to Reunion or Indomitable. just click and pick through everything (make sure to pick powers and a character name) and zone into the game.

move around for a bit and then log out. 

Go back to the same server and see if the character is there.

 

check back if they still can't get a character into the actual game (past character creation)

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by UltraAlt

[Tock]

Sounds like a network or bandwidth issue.  Having enough of a connection to make it past login, but not enough to talk to the server. 

 

We'd need to know how they're connecting to the game. 

 

Generalized Networking advice:

• Wi-Fi? Look at the signal strength.  If you're south of 1Mbps, your connection will be infrequent. 
  • Wi-Fi, either find a placement closer to your router, consider installing a mesh kit, or switching to Ethernet.
    • Computer Placement: line of sight or near line of sight to your Wi-Fi Router/Cell Hotspot is best.  Avoid: bookcases, large metal appliances, microwaves, and multi-floor without a line of sight (without a Mesh kit, Router on 2nd Floor, Laptop on 1st?  Won't work as well.  Especially true with Basements and other places cement is a factor.)
    • Consider the laptop capability.  If an older system, Wi-Fi 3 ("G" network) systems will perform slower than Wi-Fi 4 or newer.  You may need to buy a new Wi-Fi Dongle for USB.
    • Wi-Fi Router is also a factor.  Consider the following:
      • Placement
        • Wi-Fi Routers cannot penetrate certain media.  Metal, Cement Slabs, Thick Glass have a 'bouncing' effect, while bookcases, furniture, and people 'absorb' radio waves (consider hallways, doors to the outside and other frequent foot traffic, which can be interruptive.)
        • Higher is better.  Most Wi-Fi Routers at chest or waist height will have a harder time 'navigating' around people than one placed at head height or better.
        • Consider using a Mesh kit if your router is a Cable or DSL Modem that can't be moved easily.  If you do this, turn Wi-Fi Features off on your Cable/DSL Modem and use them on your Mesh devices instead.  (Also, keep things simple -- only one should be a DHCP Server.  Pick one, and turn the other's DHCP Server off, whichever one you feel is easier to manage.  Usually, your Mesh kit is easier to control.)
      • Age
        • Like the laptop, age of the router is another factor.  A mismatch in networks may be something to consider.  Wi-Fi 3 routers with Wi-Fi 4/5/6 devices and laptops won't realize any increase in speed over 54MBps.  Wi-Fi 4 router may have a 150MBps maximum, but a Wi-Fi 5 or 6 device cannot exceed that 150Mbps.  Upgrading your router to a newer one may be a good idea in that case.
      • Public Hotspots
        • Generally it's a bad idea to game in these places, even when they give you a password.  The connection is meant for the mass use of email, web, and communications traffic.  Video, Gaming and downloads, your experience will generally be poor.  Plus, you have no assurance of privacy.  (Any public hotspot with no password used, doubly so on the privacy forefront.  Consider your in-game password in need of a change if you did use one: your network traffic is unencrypted.)
           
• Cellular, placement of the phone, hotspot or other device matters. 
  • If it has a weak signal on the source, the wi-fi signal coming from the hotspot doesn't matter.  Find a window, a tall shelf, or another out of the way placement that faces your closest Cellular Tower.  (In the LTE/NR/mmWave era, can be as easy as a neighborhood drive in town, or as complicated as a Internet Search to which tower is closest to you: https://www.cellmapper.net/ ) 
  • When deciding toward Hotspot performance over computer placement, side with hotspot performance.  Having a 54Mbps link means nothing if the Hotspot's connection to a cell tower is below 1Mbps.
  • Also, "premium hotspot data" applies.  If you can't connect on slowed speeds, you likely won't be able to until your next billing cycle.  (Especially for gaming, unlimited cellular plans are mostly a lie.  The slowed speed rate is useless for 90% of Internet apps these days.  It's a punishment, not a feature.)
     
• DSL? Some are less equal than others.  768Kbps isn't as common anymore but still possible in rural areas, lots of line noise with ill-maintained telephone poles, and home wiring that may need replaced.  Even if you're paying for faster speed, if the DSL Modem can't realize that speed, you won't either.  Using 1MB is a baseline.  3MB, 5MB even better.  (You'll be hard pressed to find DSL service over 5MB unless you live in a City.)
   
• Cable?  You may need to restart your Cable Modem.  (This is a good idea to do periodically, as Cable Modems tend to slow over time from logs, RAM overfill, and other short term issues.)  Also, Cable Modems that offer Wi-Fi may need troubleshooting as above.

Fiber shouldn't be a bandwidth issue, but Wi-Fi placement still matters.  Even with great bandwidth, you can't use it if your device is getting a 10MB link or slower.

 

Your connection from your ISP to Homecoming Servers is also out of the control of Homecoming Servers.  A Speed Test can give you an idea of your home's bandwidth, but it won't be precise:

• Some services are paid by ISPs to prioritize speed testing traffic while others are throttled.  While a Speed Test may report 100MBps speed, your gaming traffic may be throttled by your ISP because of various reasons.
• Your link between your ISP and Homecoming Servers may have a long-term issue as well.  Frequent problem locations include Asia (Philippines, South Korea, etc.), Pacific Islands, AT&T High Speed customers (frequent in the US South), or any ISP that tends to throttle any service that uses OVH (HC's Datacenter provider in Canada.)

Finally, other usage on the network matters as well.  If your house has frequent usage with family members streaming HD video, playing games, and other activity you are doing while you game.  (Watching Twitch while you play?  Or are you a Creator streaming video while you play?  Your bandwidth requirements will be higher.)

[Marine X]

On 5/2/2023 at 12:57 PM, Cutter said:

He has previously been able to get to the character creator and make a dude. When he tried to complete character creation & enter the city, he wasn't able. I don't remember if he mentioned any error messages, it's been a while since he tried.

If he didn't make it into the city, he won't have a character to log into, they have to make it to Atlas Park, Mercy Island or Praetoria or they aren't saved for the game to load them. Just select an available slot and create/recreate a character, then name it, then proceed to enter the city.

[Cutter]

So he keeps trying and still no luck. He is unable to access a shard - when he clicks any of them, the game goes to the character select/creation screen but it's blank and immediately displays the unreachable server message. I know he's on wifi, newer computer that should have zero issues running the game or maintaining a connection. He's able to join other online games issue-free. So it's gotta be something specific to COH. Honestly it feels like a lost cause at this point.

[Captain Fabulous]

Has he tried connecting using Ethernet instead of wifi?

[biostem]

I've seen something like this before, where a firewall pop asking if you want to allow the connection was minimized or closed without allowing it, and the game loads to the login and character select, but won't allow connecting to the game/shard servers...

[SuggestorK]

yup that screams like a firewall issue.

[Marine X]

Unlike a lot of newer games, which use DirectX, COH requires OpenGL, without that the game cannot run, has it been installed? Just a thought since you said it was a newer Laptop, which more than likely does not have OpenGL installed unless he did it.

[Cutter]

3 hours ago, Marine X said:

Unlike a lot of newer games, which use DirectX, COH requires OpenGL, without that the game cannot run, has it been installed? Just a thought since you said it was a newer Laptop, which more than likely does not have OpenGL installed unless he did it.

I'll ask about that.

[biostem]

6 hours ago, Marine X said:

Unlike a lot of newer games, which use DirectX, COH requires OpenGL, without that the game cannot run, has it been installed? Just a thought since you said it was a newer Laptop, which more than likely does not have OpenGL installed unless he did it.

I've installed CoH on many computers with fresh & updated versions of Windows 10.  Missing OPENGL would not, IMO, cause the kind of "login loop" that the OP described.  My inclination is to believe that a firewall or other kind of filter kicked in, blocking the actual game server/shard connection, vs the initial login one...