Any idea why can't join MP games?

[HachimanMk2]

Hi

I can joing MP games no problem.
But a friend is having difficulty joing any as he gets an error message and i get the same when trying to join him.
Screenshot below.


As far as i'm aware he's opened the Steam ports

UDP 27000 to 27020
TCP 27020 to 27050

Any idea whats up?

Thanx

[HachimanMk2]

71 views and no replies?
Is there a tech admin here?

[Andres]

I'll copy this thread to the Apothecary, as it is the subforum dedicated to technical issues with TW games.

Hopefully somebody over there will be able to help you.

[tgi01]

Hmm the first question is can he join other steam games ?

( there are demos and free games on steam also ... in case he doesnt haver anything else ) ...

TGI

[HachimanMk2]

I'll copy this thread to the Apothecary, as it is the subforum dedicated to technical issues with TW games.

Hopefully somebody over there will be able to help you.

Thanx Andres

[gollum]

Just be a bit patient HachimanMk2 - in all probability there is no answer yet, because none of the people that read your queery know the answer (as yet). This forum (mp ETW) moves slower than say the equivalent SP one - hopefully should get an answer soon

[Doc516]

Im getting the same message so any help would be much appreciated

[Belid Hagen]

been getting the same message all week.

[Scurvy]

I get same message, but can join maybe 1/4 games - can't explain why

[Tomisama]

What server are you on?

Open Steam, file, settings, downloads, and check your region.

It is auto-detected, but can be changed, and with a Steam reboot will hook you up with a different set of ETW games.

UnitedKingdom & Ireland is a late evening favorite for many

[KozaK13]

Reuters that are not built in to comps and hav not had ports forwarded etc. dont work so well

this is why i can only really play using hamachi with mates.

[thurjack_mahr]

I had this message once. I tried again, and it was gone.

Is it possible it just means there is currently no one else seeking a quick game and try back in a minute or two? That's what I thought it to be...

[Shahed]

I've had this message a lot too. I can only join 10-15% of the games.
I'm playing from a games café so I'm making an (uneducated) guess this has something do with router configuration.

[Tsavong]

I also have this problem, I just changed my reagen to the UK so I hope that will help as I am from the uk. my other problem is that I plain suck I don't think changing my settings will some how make me good though lol

[Major Robert Dump]

i get it when hosting games and friends try to join and vice versa, we are all on same steam region and checked our firewalls even. sigh

[footprint]

Heres what I have found out so far:

First I had 2 routers going, a modem/router and a wireless router. This can cause issues with port forwarding. The way around this is to put modem in full bridge and use other router as DHCP and port forwarding. Portforward.com has great info on port forwarding for most routers and a small app to test your port forwarding. You can not use DMZ on any of your routers Steam doesn't like it and port forwarding from one router to another and then onto comp screws up.

Having said all that I have checked what ports Empire.exe and Steam.exe use and the ports steam say to forward are from the host and use diff ports on my comp, not sure if I am understanding this correctly. I am sure this is a routing problem and any network admins lurking here that could shed some light on the issue will be showered in praise.

I have not had time to setup modem in full bridge mode but I know that will do away with any routing issues at my end.

Now atm to get a game I switch between Germany and my local evey now and then I jag one in my local but it does seem to me that after one game I have no chance of another in my region. This could be coincidence but I don't know (routing prob?).

Oh and be sure to drop all firewalls before trying to port forward test and set them up after.

Will post if I get it solved.

[Megas Methuselah]

What server are you on?

Open Steam, file, settings, downloads, and check your region.

It is auto-detected, but can be changed, and with a Steam reboot will hook you up with a different set of ETW games.

UnitedKingdom & Ireland is a late evening favorite for many

Yeah, this is it. Pevergreen found this out and managed to get to my North American region, where I whipped him.

[pevergreen]

Went from 5 games with medium latency, to like over 9000 with bad-good latency.

Better connection to Canada than Melbourne?

[Tomisama]

May be of some help to someone?

Steam Support - Troubleshooting Network Connectivity

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...1456-EUDN-2493

[Tomisama]

If you do get this error, try again!

I have found lately if I will just am persistent, it will link up.

Some times you can verify that the message is valid, as often you will see the hosted game drop from the list, or wink out temporarily (go and come back). Then try again!

I believe that chronic problems (people who can never connect) are almost always router related.

Additional interference can come from other programs running, other people on your router, network peak period congestion.

Keep working at it! Get that new router, read the Steam Support pages. It is all worth it!


BTW there were 20 thousand people playing this game in the last 24 hours, and almost 10 thousand of them are playing right now. Of course only a percentage of them are on multiplayer, but it gives you some perspective of the popularity (and internet demands) for this game. It is now number three on the Steam roster of over a hundred games.

[Jochi Khan]

When I first installed this game, opened router ports, set firewalls to allow access to the game etc I was able to host games and join other players hosted games.

Since the first 'auto' patch I have been unable to join or host games.
But can join Quick Battles, where Steam selects your army and opponent. Veeery strange.

I have checked and double checked ALL settings and still without success.

The dreaded Unable to join game. No response from Host.

[Tomisama]

When I first installed this game, opened router ports, set firewalls to allow access to the game etc I was able to host games and join other players hosted games.

Since the first 'auto' patch I have been unable to join or host games.
But can join Quick Battles, where Steam selects your army and opponent. Veeery strange.

I have checked and double checked ALL settings and still without success.

The dreaded Unable to join game. No response from Host.

Some thoughts that may or not be helpful.

Preconceptions can be your worst enemy at this stage of troubleshooting.

For example, “it worked before, so it should work now”.

It may have worked before as a fluke, other people were having other major problems, and when the other problems were solved by the patch, the fluke that should have never happened in the first place, went away.

You see what I mean?

And there have been three patches, your current situation showed up on the second patch. I hoped the third would have corrected it, but not so.

Quick Games operate through the Steam Server (and why they are limited games), where the hosted games require linking with the game host. That is very likely why you can have one and not the other.

Empire Total War is not a server based game like many of the other games on Steam. GameSpy and Electronic Arts before them got the same bad rap when it was never of them either.

Total War games have always been host based games. The fact you do not even have to be connected to Steam to play multiplayer (you can play via Hamachi), should tell you something...

http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...71#post9574471

It seems that the hosting computer is not recognizing you computer, or your computer is not able to receive the response from the host. The result is you get no answer to your request to join, and then your program efficiently times out and tells you that, with the error message.

Btw have you checked with BT Broadband Desktop Help?

http://www.btopenworld.com/drivers

[Jochi Khan]

Btw have you checked with BT Broadband Desktop Help?

http://www.btopenworld.com/drivers

Yes, been there. Not getting any joy though.

With regards to the link, BT Home Hubs connected via an Ethernet cable (as mine is) do not require drivers or driver updates.

All ideas being investigated.

[Jochi Khan]

After two hours of trying to join games tonight and still getting Failed to join game. No response from host, I am ready to dump this game in the waste bin.

Not for the want of trying.

Checked and double checked...port settings (Router)...Firewalls...Antivirus program (incase it could be that causing the problem).

I have never known so much hassle with a game as with this one. Very disappointed to say the least.

[Hunter KIng George]

Jochi, I had the very same problem with MTW2, I dont understand as well...as soon as I downloaded the last patch for it..bam could not connect anymore. Just dont understand.

[tibilicus]

After two hours of trying to join games tonight and still getting Failed to join game. No response from host, I am ready to dump this game in the waste bin.

Not for the want of trying.

Checked and double checked...port settings (Router)...Firewalls...Antivirus program (incase it could be that causing the problem).

I have never known so much hassle with a game as with this one. Very disappointed to say the least.

In exactly the same boat, im tempted to ditch my homehub and BT for that matter altogether. Not only is their router built like Alcatraz and an absolute **** to configure but the customer service is also awful.

[Tomisama]

While waiting for programs to process (my work), I have been researching the BT Home Hub as time allows. The number of complaints leads one to be highly suspicious (and I am being kind).

Is there any way either of you BT users might be able to get the loan of another manufactures device, or purchase one with agreement if it doesn’t work, you can bring it back?

Is there anyone reading who can confirm one way or the other that the BT Home works in the UK (consistently) with this program?

We’ve got to get these guys playing…


P.S. Tib, can you join Quick Games? Jochi has reproted he can join Quick Games but not hosted ones. This is important.

[Jochi Khan]

While waiting for programs to process (my work), I have been researching the BT Home Hub as time allows. The number of complaints leads one to be highly suspicious (and I am being kind).

In exactly the same boat, im tempted to ditch my homehub and BT for that matter altogether. Not only is their router built like Alcatraz and an absolute **** to configure but the customer service is also awful.

The same can be said of many other ISPs.
I was left without an internet connection for over month a few years ago because of an unreliable ISP. They eventually went bust.
I have found BT to be very reliable and have had no problems with configuring other than an email account problem at setup.

If there is a suspected problem with the BT Hub or BT why am I able to host ALL the other Total War games WITHOUT any problems? I was also able to host and join ETW MP before the first auto update (patch).

Is there any way either of you BT users might be able to get the loan of another manufactures device, or purchase one with agreement if it doesn’t work, you can bring it back?

I do have another adsl modem, an EA900 USB purchased from the ISP that went bust but I do not want to go messing around and possibly screw up a perfectly good connection just to test if I can host/play MP ETW. It is Windows 95-XP compatable, Yes, 6 years old.

This pc is running Windows Vista.

[Tomisama]

If there is a suspected problem with the BT Hub or BT why am I able to host ALL the other Total War games WITHOUT any problems? I was also able to host and join ETW MP before the first auto update (patch).

This is not all other Total War games, not even made by the same development team, and not even the same server setup as any of the other games.

We all have the same game and the same patch.

But we all don’t have the same problem.

In fact almost no one has this problem but you.

So what does that tell you?

So there is something peculiar to your circumstance that is causing it.

It may be a combination of things that no longer work together because of the patch, but it is not the patch it’s self or we would all be suffering from it.

Troubleshooting this requires a process of elimination.

The major components are the program, computer system, and the network interface.

The first two seem to be working fine.

Now we need to test the network interface somehow.

Replacement with a “known good” interface would be helpful.

Your old one may not fit the qualifications of “known good”, as it is from a pervious era.

Please just hold on a bit more.

Waiting to hear from Tibilicus now, and for the updates promised this next week.

Just one more week, then I will shut up

[tibilicus]

I can sometimes, but very rarely join lobby games Tomi and I can sometimes get into quick matches as well.