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"Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."

IbarraDoug
Does your error code read something along the lines of, "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."

I've been having it since day 1 and it's extremely frustrating. It seems to be completely random. I've had playing times from 2 minutes to 2 hours.

I know for a fact it's not my internet (unless Comcast Xfinity isn't valid enough for you). Elder Scrolls Online is the only game I've had an issue with playing online. If it was my internet than I wouldn't be able to play for 2 hours sometimes.

I've tried switching between ethernet and WiFi and neither change a thing.

I've sent in a few tickets to tech support and I just get back an automated reply (which is ridiculous considering they state clearly on their support page that it wouldn't be an automated reply).

This disappoints me because it's a great game and I just want to be able to play it.

I just want to know that someone at ZOS is at least looking into this issue.

It's just extremely frustrating to feel like I'm the only one experiencing this problem with no response from ZOS that it's even been acknowledged.
  • Mefromnorway
    Mefromnorway
    ✭✭✭
    i have same problem, i log out for have a break and evryday there is login problem. this start to be annoying, i tryed now maybe 3 hour but always error cant login to where u choose cartoon
    Have fun and dont be rude. Im Norwegian so im sorry for my spelling, but hope u understand.

    Grand Master Crafter.
    5 chars full 9 traiter.
    3 chars Flawless
    2 chars Stormproof.

    Total 13 chars, evryone got full gold armor both roles.

    PS5 Europe.
  • clydethegnome
    clydethegnome
    Soul Shriven
    You are definatly not alone. I also am experiencing this issue since day one. I have tried everything on my end. The only common denominator I can come up with is xfinity/Comcast Internet.

    47-50 down
    9 up
    Other games work fine
    My ps4/install works fine at friends with charter Internet
    Wired/wireless doesn't matter
    Static address with all needed ports forwarded doesn't matter

    Can run 2 ps4's online gaming with Netflix streaming on pc or PS3 no problem with any other game.

    Just an acknowledgment of the issue would be nice.

    Cmon what gives???
  • ZOS_TristanK
    ZOS_TristanK
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!
    The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited - ZeniMax Online Studios
    Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Tumblr | Pinterest | YouTube | ESO Knowledge Base
    Staff Post
  • IbarraDoug
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!

    Thank you very much for the hasty response!

    1. PS4
    2. North America
    3. I have been able to play before. Works fine at friends' houses. Varies between 5 minutes - a couple hours at mine.
    4. I'm able to log back into the game after seeing the error.
    5. I'm getting kicked from the game with this message.
    6. I have not attempted to log into a different server.
  • clydethegnome
    clydethegnome
    Soul Shriven
    ^^same

    Does same thing on eu server.

  • ctdubb
    ctdubb
    Soul Shriven
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!

    PS4
    North America
    The first day I got it, it seemed like it worked better but the last week has been horrible
    No
    Getting kicked from the game
    .
  • Xalion
    Xalion
    Soul Shriven
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!

    I have the same issue. To answer the questions:

    1) PS4
    2) North American Megaserver
    3) This has been happening from day 1
    4) I can log back in immediately after the error. The random kick still happens anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours later though.
    5) I am getting kicked from the game with this error
    6) I don't think so. I think the same problem exists.

    As a side note, my ISP is also Comcast/ Xfinity

  • Ceirios1
    Ceirios1
    Soul Shriven
    ^^same here
    Edited by Ceirios1 on June 19, 2015 5:14AM
  • Ashendreg
    Ashendreg
    Soul Shriven
    Hi! This error happens constantly for me on PS4 on EU server.

    Getting kicked from the game then able to login. Mostly happens at heavy load times. Happens periodically, from 5 to 10 minutes or hours.
  • Alex_
    Alex_
    1 ps4
    2 european megaserver
    3 from day 1 i have the same problem
    4 same as everyone above
    5 getting kicked from the game while playing
    6 Didnt try

    Please fix this its really frustrating! I cant even play for 5 minutes straight now.
  • Alex_
    Alex_
    Internet is glassfiber 100/100mbit so thats not the problem. Ps4 has a wired Connection.
  • Cactuspenii
    Cactuspenii
    Soul Shriven
    1. Ps4
    2. Both na and eu megaservers
    3. No i have not
    4. Unless getting to character selection screen counts as playing. No i have not 4 days now
    5. Upon login attempt
    6. No it is the same message at same place on both servers. It happens when requesting character load.

    Bought the imperial edition and havent gotten to play it once.
  • IbarraDoug
    It's nice to know I'm not the only one dealing with issues like this.
  • IbarraDoug
    @Xalion

    That is interesting that you have Xfinity as well. But if that's the case it's ridiculous that ZOS wouldn't make sure their servers were compatible with Xfinity considering they're one of the biggest internet service providers in the nation...
  • andreask91
    andreask91
    Soul Shriven
    I am having the same problem !
  • Xalion
    Xalion
    Soul Shriven
    I wanted to post an update with the hopes that it might help others who are having this problem. I was running a more indepth analysis of my network today to make sure local equipment wasn't causing the problem. While doing this, I noticed that my outgoing ICMP packets were being dropped. I did a bunch of troubleshooting, and finally found an error in the firmware of my cable modem that was dropping all outgoing ICMP packets.

    This modem was the Arris TG862 - this is a common modem that Comcast provided to their customers for several years. The bug in the firmware is that when the security level is set to "medium", all outgoing ICMP packets are dropped. This is contrary to the desired behavior (medium security is supposed to drop all incoming packets - not all outgoing). I've confirmed that the manufacturer knows about the defect - and just hasn't bothered to fix it because ICMP is generally not used and so they don't consider it important.

    I changed my level to a custom security level to allow outgoing ICMP packets and haven't been kicked since in several hours of playing.

    I don't know why - frankly I cannot think of a single good reason ESO would need ICMP packets. I am thinking that the firmware may be dropping more than just ICMP packets and I just didn't notice those. However, for those having problems check to see if that is your modem type and possibly adjust your security settings to allow outgoing ICMP.

    As a side question - could one of the ZOS reps check and see if ICMP is used for anything? I just want to know if this was coincidental or if it might be the cause of the problem.
  • Zsteelo
    Zsteelo
    I am having the same problem

    1.ps4
    2.both servers
    3.from day 1
    4.i get in 1 out of 5 attempts
    5.get kicked at load screens
    6.it happens in both servers

    My Internet is fine, I tried the stuff from other posts and none of that worked.
  • Arlek015
    Arlek015
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!

    - XB1
    - NA
    - Yes, but only for 5-15 minutes at a time, than thr error occurs.
    - Seeing this error from the log in screen, I was able to log in immediately after. (Kicks continue)
    - Getting kicked from in game.
    - I'm able to log into other server.
    -
    -
    -
  • IbarraDoug
    @Xalion

    Interesting theory. Is it still working for you? I don't see how that could be the issue especially since I can sometimes play up to 2 hours without getting kicked.
  • Xalion
    Xalion
    Soul Shriven
    @IbarraDoug

    It is still working for me. I played just over 5 hours last night with no kick in one session, and had several that were between 1 to 2 hours long with no kick. That is new for me - I usually don't make it past 10 minutes without one.

    I don't really see ICMP being the problem. I don't see a decent network engineer using ping for anything. There are too many reasons to block outgoing pings for me to think it is. It is possible that when your network naturally drops some packets that the client is programmed to ping a server to determine if your connection is still alive and drop you if you aren't. That would explain the semi-random nature. Until you actually drop a sufficient number of packets, no ping is sent so the client keeps you connected. Don't know why anyone would do that, but it is a possible explanation.

    It is easy enough to test though. Download PingPlotter or a similar utility with a free trial and run it against some external target. Look for a large number of dropped pings somewhere. It is also possible it was unrelated to ICMP and the fix I used (I turned off the firewall on my cable modem and turned on a better firewall on a router right behind it) fixed the other problem unintentionally.

    I'll let you know if the problem comes back, but right now it seems pretty stable.
  • yani2509
    yani2509
    Soul Shriven
    Thanks for the reports, folks! We wanted to ask a few questions. Those who are seeing "Unable to connect to game server. Please make sure you have a valid internet connection."
    1. What platform are you on?
    2. What server are you logging into?
    3. Have you been able to play before?
    4. Were you able to play after seeing this error?
    5. Are you getting kicked from the game with this message or seeing it upon your login attempt?
    6. Are you able to successfully log in on a different server?

    We know this is a lot of information, but we appreciate your assistance!

    1. PS4
    2. Europe
    3. I have been able to play before. Worked oke the first days
    4. I'm able to log back into the game after seeing the error.
    5. I'm getting kicked from the game with this message.
    6. I have not attempted to log into a different server.
  • IbarraDoug
    @ZOS_TristanK

    Any word on if this will be resolved in the upcoming patches during the next few days?
  • Halleys5th
    Halleys5th
    Soul Shriven
    1. PS4
    2. North America
    3. Yes, I've played before
    4. Yes, I'm usually able to play if I keep trying; I thought this was what the "wait time" was, but I've never actually been in a queue
    5. I often get kicked from the game when I try to enter another zone, dungeon, or "memory", and when I load I'm still in the zone I was in
    6. I haven't tried the other server
  • Yaden101
    Yaden101
    1. PS4
    2. North America
    3. I have been able to play for minutes but I end up getting kicked
    4. It's the same, I'd be able to play for a couple minutes before getting kicked again
    5. I get into the game first and as I'm playing I get kicked so I don't see it as I log in
    6. I haven't tried

    @Xalion Has the game crashed for you since you changed the setting on your modem/router?

    I'm hoping that by playing on EU or playing after today's patch will solve the problem.
  • IbarraDoug
    My patch is still downloading. Good grief this is a huge file.

    Did playing after the patch fix anything for you guys?
  • Yaden101
    Yaden101
    IbarraDoug wrote: »
    My patch is still downloading. Good grief this is a huge file.

    Did playing after the patch fix anything for you guys?

    I played after the patch and I still got the error. I thought that by switching to EU servers, it would fix the problem but I got the message eventually while playing. I did, however, get more play time on the EU server of about 40 minutes compared to when I play on the NA server which is about 10 minutes. Has switching to the opposite server cause any of you guys to have more play time before it kicks you out?
    Edited by Yaden101 on June 25, 2015 12:55AM
  • sadler66
    sadler66
    Soul Shriven
    This game is essentially unplayable. I've had it 2 days now and get regularly disconnected (I'd estimate 30-40 times now) -- anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 -- nothing consistent -- though probably happens most often when talking to NPCs (but considering a lot of the game is talking to NPCs, not sure if it's related or not).
    Comcast is my internet provider -- all other multiplayer games work just fine.
    1. PS4
    2. North America
    3. New player
    4. Yes, for 5-30 minutes until disconnecting again
    5. Getting kicked with the message
    6. Didn't try
  • TrevDavies
    This is happening to me since the new update.. Getting kicked a very 3 minutes.

    Ps4

    eU
  • IbarraDoug
    If this doesn't get resolved soon is it possible to demand a full refund somehow? This is infuriating.
  • IbarraDoug
    If this doesn't get resolved soon is it possible to demand a full refund somehow? This is infuriating.
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