Half Life 2 - Online registration is da bomb!

[Windows95]

Forget Half-Life 2, trying to register the game by creating a Steam account is where the hardcore action is.

I now own the game and have it installed on my system, so all I need is permission from Valve HQ to play it. In the past hour I've been trying to make it past the "Create an account name" level. It takes about 7 or 8 minutes to get back a message saying "connection reset by peer". When I'm particularly lucky I get an "account name in use" message which means I get to try the level all over again.

Boy does that ever give me a chuckle. In fact I'm laughing right now and can't stop. Lots of people would be upset at this point, but I'm an optimist and realise I'll be past this as soon as the few other million people out there who own the game register their copy.

I think I might take a nap for a bit and try my luck again tonight when things get really busy.

Edited: Now with initial impressions!

Initial impressions:
- Graphics: Nice. So far my ATI X800 has been able to handle the 2D greenish/brown Steam screen without much trouble.
- Sound: Minimalist approach (i.e. no sound)
- Immersion: It's a cliffhanger. You just never no what's going to happen next...unless you count knowing your registration won't work.
- Replay value: High. Normally this kind of thing might be boring, but I give credit to Valve. For some reason I feel compelled to keep plugging along.

Edited: Now with spoilers!

Spoilers!
After having successfully created an account, I made it to the "Enter CD key level". It was a bit of a letdown taking a mere minute to go through successfully on the first try.

After an hour and a half, my subscription to Half-Life 2 is now pending (apparently something about servers being busy). Sadly they'll let me play the game anyhow for the time being and get back to me with the results.

So there you have it folks. Just 90+ minutes of hassle free registration to play Half-Life 2.

[Bob]

Damned software pirate! Legimate users would never complain about registration!

[Kraegor]

that's impressive.

Does it have an option to play a questionaire game?

Sims 2 let you answer quiz questions while installing. I think that was a giant leap forward in game install technology.

----------

oh yeah does it let you quicksave during registration in case you gotta go to the bathroom or something or does it just disconnect you from the server?

[Carpet_pissr]

Steam sounds like a great game...after all, the anticipation of a title like HL 2 is much more exciting than the actual product like so many things, right? Sounds like it's chock full of nervous anticipation, which usually leads to great atmosphere.

Meh, I'll wait for the reviews or bargain bin before picking this one up.

[Windows95]

Spoke to soon! The game is now being unlocked. Apparently this involves every single bit of data being verified by Valve because my 28.8 data pipe to the Internet is running at max and in 10 minutes I'm at about 30% of the way through unlocking the game.

Just when I thought my time with Steam was over.

Steam, you had me at hello!

[Windows95]

Meh, I'll wait for the reviews or bargain bin before picking this one up.

If you're talking about Half-Life 2, for sure. But if you mean Steam, grab it today. The Steam client itself is free, and you can help take part in a massive stress test that's going on right this minute! You know, like how much more stress can this gamer take before something snaps!?

Easter egg: If you place your mouse over the steam icon in the taskbar, it's says "Steam - working". This is a joke. A funny one. Steam is working about as well as your average office employee at ten minutes to five on a Friday.

[Octavious]

While I feel your pain this thread is cracking me up. This is why I'm waiting a week to pick it up heh. BTW did you channel Morts personality in the process? Funny stuff.

[Windows95]

Simply amazing. I have played first person shooters that are shorter then the Half-Life 2 installation experience. I'm just closing in on the three hour mark and it would appear that the game is finally ready to go. Looks like about 15 megs in downloads (huge for dialup, especially when mandatory) to activate my account, unlock the game and grab the needed files. Now after a quick recommended reboot, I can't log onto Steam to play. The server's are too frickin busy to allow me to play singleplayer. Amazing!

You know, I can understand these probs with MMORPG's cause you have to verify everyone's credit info and being an online game you need online resources that are going to get stressed. Now I know nothing of how Steam works but for singleplayer, there shouldn't be problems like this imho. I like the idea of Steam (a one time verification to prevent piracy and prevent stores from breaking street dates) but it should require minimal data transfer and effort to prevent nonsense from sever's being overstressed like this.

It's a bitch when you've got a day off from work and it looks like you won't be able to activate your game until your back at the usual grind.

Fyi, it looks like currently the Steam server's are down. You can check http://www.steampowered.com/status/status.html to see how they're running. According to Valve if the page hasn't been updated for 20 to 30 minutes (like it currently is) it means there's a problem and the server is down.

[Smoove_B]

If I still had a 56K modem, I'd be curled in a ball on the floor. I feel for you man.

I actually feel kinda bad for getting up at 6 am, unlocking in 10 minutes then playing for a half hour or so.

That being said, when I get home from work in an hour I *BEST* be able to log on and continue my gameplay experience or heads will get flown.

That is all.

[Alefroth]

Spoke to soon! The game is now being unlocked. Apparently this involves every single bit of data being verified by Valve because my 28.8 data pipe to the Internet is running at max and in 10 minutes I'm at about 30% of the way through unlocking the game.

Just when I thought my time with Steam was over.

Steam, you had me at hello!

Nope. You get to play Steam every time you want to play HL2. I crashed and rebooted. When I tried to restart Steam, I couldn't because of server problems. I love owning a single-player game I can't play because a server is down. This may be the one thing that tarnishes the HL2 experience. Hope they get it worked out soon.

Ale

[Incendiary Lemon]

When Steam couldn't connect it reset my login cookie disabling the offline mode.

[Alefroth]

When Steam couldn't connect it reset my login cookie and disabled the offline mode.

There's an offline mode? How do I activate such a thing?

Ale

[Windows95]

Ugh. I'm losing any sense of humour over this now. I've put three and a half hours into trying to get this game to work. I meet all the hardware requirements, I have all the right drivers and I even have the whole freakin game installed on my computer with the legal media in the drive to verify it, yet, I cannot play.

This game is supposed to be so great, and I'm sure it is, but Steam is a major achilles heel that Valve must have seen coming. There is no excuse for why launching a single player game is so complicated and consuming of internet resources. Vavle knew the sales projections, preorder numbers, etc., so they're definately in my bad books now (not that they really care $100 later...). Slow I could handle but now the servers won't even respond. Hulk smash doesn't even begin to cover it.

[Windows95]

When Steam couldn't connect it reset my login cookie and disabled the offline mode.

There's an offline mode? How do I activate such a thing?

Ale

For everyone's benefit, from Valve's support forum:

How To Make Steam Offline Mode Work
last edited by qUiCkSiLvEr
Special Note:
If a game says "100%" but "Not Ready" for offline play, it may be because the purchase process for that game (cd-key or cc purchase transaction) has not yet completed. You need to wait for that to complete before playing offline.
Two Scenarios:
1. My friend has no Internet connection, how can he set things up so he can play offline?
2. I want to be able to play at a LAN party and they won't have an internet connection there, how can we all play offline?

Answer:
There are several ways to do this that will work for players without Internet access as well as for LAN Parties where there won't be internet access.
Note:
You have to be online somewhere at least once to perform all of the following steps.
The first step here is to perform the latest update and capture it. This is very important to make sure you get the latest content and bug fixes. Everyone that will be participating at the LAN event must have the latest update!
Easiest way
Bring the computer that will be playing offline to an available internet connection at a friend's house, school or perhaps business. Log into the account and do all the updates, make sure it all works.
Then "exit" (do not log out!) from Steam, go to the Steam folder and make a copy of the clientregistry.blob file (just in case). Write-protect the copy (mark it Read/Only).

Physically unplug the computer from the internet, start up Steam and let it fall back into offline mode. Make sure the computer will play both Listenserver (LAN), client and the single player ok, then exit from Steam again.
WIN98
If this is a WIN98 computer, it will act like it's stuck updating and not logging in, JUST WAIT! It will take about 90 seconds for it to finally figure out that there isn't an active internet connection then it will prompt you to retry or go into offline mode.
The computer is now ready to play offline at home unless he accidentally logs out ...

If he does this he won't be able to play unless he verifies online again >> or << exits from Steam, then copies the copy of the clientregistry.blob file back which will restore his offline play.
NOTE: MAKE SURE THE ACTIVE ClientRegistry.blob FILE IS NOT WRITE PROTECTED!

It certainly wouldn't hurt to burn a CD of the working offline installation for him.
Next Easiest way
Do all the above on a different computer, IE: install Steam, log into his account, do all the updates, exit from Steam, make the copy of the Clientregistry.blob file, start up and let it fall back into offline mode, make sure it all works, then exit again.
Then burn a CD of the install and take the CD to the remote computer and copy the install there.

Very Important! Make sure the files are placed on the exact same Disk and Path!
LAN Party Setup:
Clients
All clients that are going to play on the LAN should have unique Steam Accounts. You might also have to assign unique clientports to each computer if they are going to play online as well as offline. Please refer to this FAQ for help in configuring multiple clients behind a router.
Most home DLS and cable connections will only be able to support 6 or 8 players on a 128K uplink and 12 to 16 players on a 256K uplink, assuming that they are using a reasonable rate (7500) and cl_cmdrate (30) settings. You might have to lower the cl_cmdrate to 20.
The Server
The first step is to decide if the server is going to be a Listen Server or a Dedicated Server.
If this is a small party (4 players or less) just for fun, then a Listen server will probably be the easiest way to host a quick party, but it's important to remember that the player who's computer is running the Server has an advantage over all the other players.
If there are going to be more players, or if the players are more serious players and want a level playing field, then a Dedicated Server is the best way to go, and assigning a computer to run only the Dedicated Server (no clients) is the very best.
If this is for a Stand-Alone Dedicated Server, be sure to get the latest Server update.
If family and friends want to watch, then it is a good idea to set up a couple of extra computers for spectators and run the HLTV spectator proxy.
The first requirement is that you need a 10/100 switch or router for setting up the core network. This can be part of a router, and you can daisy-chain several switches to connect everyone else if you need more ports.
The key here is to use that one switch or router (we'll call it switch #1) to join up to 4 additional switches (assuming it's a 4-port switch) which then can support up to 16 players (at 4 ports each). This way, there is one central switch/router and up to four other switches.
If there is internet access available, then the central router can connect everyone on the network for authentication and web browsing if they need to.
For best performance, plug the Game Server into the central router or switch, that way it will have 1/2 the delay to everyone (you'll only have 3 ports then to connect additional switches to). It's a good idea to make sure the Server has a 100mbit Ethernet adapter.
NOTE: Do not use mixed ethernet speeds with "dumb hubs" they can't handle it. If you have a hub and not a switch, you'll have to make sure that all ethernet connections on the network are all 10MBit only.
Speeding up Fallback into Offline Play:
It's actually quite easy to make Steam fall back into offline mode with almost no delay.
1. go to network properties
2. right-click on your internet connection "local area connection"
3. disable it
4. start Steam - it only takes about 2 seconds to pop up to the start in offline mode.
5. then re-enable your connection and you can play on LAN.
One warning, XP might get upset if you disable your NIC and think that you are changing the hardware in your computer (happens when you re-boot, so enable the NIC before rebooting!).
XP identifies 7 devices on the system when it is installed and if the identity of those devices changes too much then XP will complain and may require you to re-activate.

[$iljanus]

Hmm, I hear Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines is out now too...

I'll wait till all of this Steam stuff is sorted out in the next few days.

[Beergut]

For everyone's benefit, from Valve's support forum:

How To Make Steam Offline Mode Work
last edited by qUiCkSiLvEr
Special Note:
If a game says "100%" but "Not Ready" for offline play, it may be because the purchase process for that game (cd-key or cc purchase transaction) has not yet completed. You need to wait for that to complete before playing offline.
Two Scenarios:
1. My friend has no Internet connection, how can he set things up so he can play offline?
2. I want to be able to play at a LAN party and they won't have an internet connection there, how can we all play offline?

Answer:
There are several ways to do this that will work for players without Internet access as well as for LAN Parties where there won't be internet access.
Note:
You have to be online somewhere at least once to perform all of the following steps.
The first step here is to perform the latest update and capture it. This is very important to make sure you get the latest content and bug fixes. Everyone that will be participating at the LAN event must have the latest update!
Easiest way
Bring the computer that will be playing offline to an available internet connection at a friend's house, school or perhaps business. Log into the account and do all the updates, make sure it all works.
Then "exit" (do not log out!) from Steam, go to the Steam folder and make a copy of the clientregistry.blob file (just in case). Write-protect the copy (mark it Read/Only).

Physically unplug the computer from the internet, start up Steam and let it fall back into offline mode. Make sure the computer will play both Listenserver (LAN), client and the single player ok, then exit from Steam again.
WIN98
If this is a WIN98 computer, it will act like it's stuck updating and not logging in, JUST WAIT! It will take about 90 seconds for it to finally figure out that there isn't an active internet connection then it will prompt you to retry or go into offline mode.
The computer is now ready to play offline at home unless he accidentally logs out ...

If he does this he won't be able to play unless he verifies online again >> or << exits from Steam, then copies the copy of the clientregistry.blob file back which will restore his offline play.
NOTE: MAKE SURE THE ACTIVE ClientRegistry.blob FILE IS NOT WRITE PROTECTED!

It certainly wouldn't hurt to burn a CD of the working offline installation for him.
Next Easiest way
Do all the above on a different computer, IE: install Steam, log into his account, do all the updates, exit from Steam, make the copy of the Clientregistry.blob file, start up and let it fall back into offline mode, make sure it all works, then exit again.
Then burn a CD of the install and take the CD to the remote computer and copy the install there.

Very Important! Make sure the files are placed on the exact same Disk and Path!
LAN Party Setup:
Clients
All clients that are going to play on the LAN should have unique Steam Accounts. You might also have to assign unique clientports to each computer if they are going to play online as well as offline. Please refer to this FAQ for help in configuring multiple clients behind a router.
Most home DLS and cable connections will only be able to support 6 or 8 players on a 128K uplink and 12 to 16 players on a 256K uplink, assuming that they are using a reasonable rate (7500) and cl_cmdrate (30) settings. You might have to lower the cl_cmdrate to 20.
The Server
The first step is to decide if the server is going to be a Listen Server or a Dedicated Server.
If this is a small party (4 players or less) just for fun, then a Listen server will probably be the easiest way to host a quick party, but it's important to remember that the player who's computer is running the Server has an advantage over all the other players.
If there are going to be more players, or if the players are more serious players and want a level playing field, then a Dedicated Server is the best way to go, and assigning a computer to run only the Dedicated Server (no clients) is the very best.
If this is for a Stand-Alone Dedicated Server, be sure to get the latest Server update.
If family and friends want to watch, then it is a good idea to set up a couple of extra computers for spectators and run the HLTV spectator proxy.
The first requirement is that you need a 10/100 switch or router for setting up the core network. This can be part of a router, and you can daisy-chain several switches to connect everyone else if you need more ports.
The key here is to use that one switch or router (we'll call it switch #1) to join up to 4 additional switches (assuming it's a 4-port switch) which then can support up to 16 players (at 4 ports each). This way, there is one central switch/router and up to four other switches.
If there is internet access available, then the central router can connect everyone on the network for authentication and web browsing if they need to.
For best performance, plug the Game Server into the central router or switch, that way it will have 1/2 the delay to everyone (you'll only have 3 ports then to connect additional switches to). It's a good idea to make sure the Server has a 100mbit Ethernet adapter.
NOTE: Do not use mixed ethernet speeds with "dumb hubs" they can't handle it. If you have a hub and not a switch, you'll have to make sure that all ethernet connections on the network are all 10MBit only.
Speeding up Fallback into Offline Play:
It's actually quite easy to make Steam fall back into offline mode with almost no delay.
1. go to network properties
2. right-click on your internet connection "local area connection"
3. disable it
4. start Steam - it only takes about 2 seconds to pop up to the start in offline mode.
5. then re-enable your connection and you can play on LAN.
One warning, XP might get upset if you disable your NIC and think that you are changing the hardware in your computer (happens when you re-boot, so enable the NIC before rebooting!).
XP identifies 7 devices on the system when it is installed and if the identity of those devices changes too much then XP will complain and may require you to re-activate.

[/quote]


This is a joke, right?
I mean, seriously, this is a joke???
Someone .... please......?!?


The entire distribution model that Steam represents may have just committed suicide.

and that's no joke.

[Turtle]

It's out at the mall near my house. It turns out they got enough preorders there to have it drop shipped the same day to them.

I picked up a copy and it's good... Real good.

One problem is that it does have some classic Troika style obvious bugs. Luckily, these aren't found in gameplay itself, just some scripting problems in cutscenes and pedestrians.

[Eduardo X]

Why was it I wasn't buying this game?
Oh yeah, because the online authentication is absolute bullshit.

[$iljanus]

It's out at the mall near my house. It turns out they got enough preorders there to have it drop shipped the same day to them.

I picked up a copy and it's good... Real good.

One problem is that it does have some classic Troika style obvious bugs. Luckily, these aren't found in gameplay itself, just some scripting problems in cutscenes and pedestrians.

I assume this is for Vampire:Bloodlines. If the bugs aren't fouling up gameplay then no worries. At least you can play the game...

And forgive my ignorance but if I have interpreted this correctly, installing HL2 from a disc requires online verification which I presume will occur when you boot up the game for the first time? And you need to install Steam even though you own the CD in order to authenticate and, I think, download patches?

Edit: I'll probably buy the game but I think I'll just wait a bit due to demand overwhelming the server.

[Windows95]

Time to eat some humble pie. Turns out my registration pains were partly my fault. All the slow sever nonsense was true, but the reason I couldn't log on was that I connect through another computer (I use Internet connection sharing). After finally getting their help pages to load I found out about this nonsense and installed a modem in my computer so I can dial out directly. My PC is currently downloading an update for HL2 and will be ready to play in 5 minutes. Let me also say I could have picked up on this a whole lot sooner had Valve included this info in the box, in Steam or somewhere other then the bottom of a slow to load help page. I would assume since the first three quarters of the installation worked over ICS that the remaining quarter would as well.

I still call bull shit on Valve for this. I'm not sending missile launch codes to the White House here, I'm trying to register a game for single player action. I shouldn't need an ultra secure connection with limited protocols/ports to play on my own. I can understand upping the security for multiplay to prevent cheating/hacking, but give us the choice. Has the whole world gone mad? I HAD TO INSTALL A MODEM TO PLAY SINGLEPLAYER!

[Maxarian]

So far I have wasted 49 minutes trying to register. All day long I thought about this friggin game and now that I have it, I can't play it.

Someone is gonna catch a beatin for this!!!

[Massena]

I'm fucking pissed. This is crap. I've been doing this for 45 minutes. They wanted all kinds of info (including an email they can spam), and to top it all off, after getting to actually install the game (all 5 cd's), my CD key isn't working.

I am extremely unimpressed.

[Massena]

I can't tell you how many times I've entered in this CD key. Entered it without using the shift key, and with using the shift key. Entered it without adding the "-" and with the "-". I'm on try 10 or 11. I paid for this game. I shelled out $55 after a bitch of a day at work, it's 7:20, and I'm not playing.

I think it's about time to break out my pegleg and eye patch.

[Chesspieceface]

Crosspost but VALVe just posted this:

"We have resolved the issues that caused some to experience delays with Half-Life 2 authentication earlier today. We appreciate your patience and hope everyone enjoys the game."

Try now.

[$iljanus]

I'm fucking pissed. This is crap. I've been doing this for 45 minutes. They wanted all kinds of info (including an email they can spam), and to top it all off, after getting to actually install the game (all 5 cd's), my CD key isn't working.

I am extremely unimpressed.

Did they want a legit e-mail address or can you put in whatever you'd like?

[Massena]

Yeah I just got everything up and running. I started a little before 6:00, it was 8:45 when I got it going. Let see 8, minus 6, carry the two, divide by 5, and I think that equals a TWO HOUR FORTY FIVE MINUTE installation process! For the single player portion. And it was all so needless.

I haven't worked this hard to install a game since 1997.

That said, the introduction is very good. I'm hoping the pain fades under a relentless assault of gaming goodness.

edit: Silj- I gave them a real address that I only use for spam, so I'm not sure. They haven't sent me anything yet. I unchecked all the "subscription" boxes, so it could just be for password verification.

[Chesspieceface]

I used my main email for Steam about 4 months ago (or whenever they killed the WON servers) and have not received a single piece of mail from it.