LAG Bombed: Mixing of Steam Players and Origin Players (can't tell who's who)

[GENERALZOOL]

I was in a session earlier, hosted by someone using Steam. Let's just say, I couldn't move much.

There needs to be a way to identify who's using what Client, especially as not everyone can sit in a Steam Player Lobby.

I was playing a session with a Steam Client Host, and everything I was doing took forever. In the time it took to get my Power Plant down, the person I was playing against was already able to build units and was already sending attack units before I could do anything.

I came out of said lobby after the inevitable happened (Lost due to LAG), and exited the game, only to find my Router trying to notify my computer of a 'FLAG_STATE=TRUE' warning.

Error Message:

'INBOUND_IP identified as FLAG_STATE=TRUE Unable to terminate connection, please reset gateway manually.'

I get this message when a connection is made to a Blacklisted IP address and the connection is unable to be broken because the application using that connection can't be terminated. Steam Client is on that list of Blacklisted IP addresses (Blacklisted by my ISP). As the game is so new, my ISP doesn't know it yet, so doesn't have a command that is optimised for it.

I don't know why, but they send a 'TASKKILL' command when a connection is made to a Blacklisted IP address, and that command is generally able to crash most anything I use. When I'm on Battlefield 4, the TASKKILL command crashes the game when I'm in a lobby with someone using Steam. Yes, this gets annoying when I'm trying to do something specific on that game. In this case, the CnC Remaster didn't crash, but it got extremely slow to the point of unresponsive most of the time (I didn't last long).

Can we have some way of identifying who's using what in the Lobby's please, because I'm not having any Win/Loss ratio being destroyed by this type of thing happening.

For everyone wondering, how does my ISP know what and who is using Steam and attempt to block them, I have no idea. I'm just glad that they just disconnect me, and don't go postal on every incoming Steam IP address, otherwise I'd have a lot of angry Steam players wondering why they're getting issues. At least it's me getting the problems and not them. No, I don't how my ISP knows who's using Steam. As for why they take such action to actually crash my games, it's because Steam got Blacklisted years ago. Steam got Blacklisted by my ISP due to some hacking incident that happened back in 2010 (changing router doesn't reset the Blacklist, any new router gets updated with that Blacklist). Long story. Let's just say, I had my identity stolen and someone else using my connection was to blame as they were not careful when playing online using Steam. Combine this with a virus that used an exploit in the Steam Client, and hey presto, one dead PC and a set of IP addresses that get blocked permanently (the list is kept up to date, and is extremely long now).

So yes, I can't play with people using the Steam Client, meaning, I'm most likely never going to be able to get custom maps via the game by joining other people's lobbies as they are almost guarantied to be players using the Steam Client. Hence, I need to be able to identify, and when Hosting, prevent them from connecting to my lobbies. I'm sure once my ISP updates the TASKKILL list, that I will be crashing a lot more.

FAQ:

Q1- Why does my ISP have a TASKKILL list in the first place?

A1- It's not for me, but it applies to everyone who uses my router.

Q2- How sharp is that TASKKILL list?

A2- Very, and it triggers before a session loads properly, and in the case of BF4, the application closes down and spits out the 'This program has stopped working correctly' message.

Q3- Why is the Blacklist still in effect, even though it started back in 2010?

A3- I've never phoned them up to remove it, and the amount of times it's saved me from problems is uncountable, since that Blacklist is updated to block other things such as Social Media sites (people have sent E-Mails containing links to malicious Social Media Posts before).

Q4- Just how long is the Blacklist in my case?

A4- It's a very large file that is installed onto any computer that connects to that router (auto-installs and can't be deleted). A friend of mine tried to delete the file once, the router kicked him off the connection, and when it reconnected, the file was reinstalled.

Q5- Would I get rid of such functionality given the choice?

A5- No, as it keeps people using my router from needing to worry too much about what they click on.

Q6- How do I get anything done online, especially on a Browser?

A6- I have to use OperaGX, as it has a built in Ad-Blocker, alternatively I use Google Chrome, but it has an extension that my ISP made, but it slows the Chrome Browser down a lot.

Strange for most people to understand, and believe, but that's how it is for me.

[Carbonic]

To be honest, this doesn't seem like a game issue, it seems like an issue you are having with your equipment and your connection.

Using developer time to solve a problem probably only you are having due to something on your end doesn't make any sense and could probably be better used elsewhere.

It sounds like you are sharing an aggressively managed business router/connection.

If you don't want to get your own router, change ISP or something else to get out of the situation the best workaround that might work is using a VPN (assuming VPNs are not blocked too).

[GENERALZOOL]

@Carbonic 

It wouldn't be too difficult to include a little thing to say 'This player uses Steam' or 'This player uses Origin' and I'm sure that such a thing would be useful just on the basis of connection, as connections that are weaker can't link up across clients as well as them would if all parties were using the same client. That's all I'm saying, all be it long-windedly as my case is more troublesome.

As for my ISP, it's just trying to protect my stuff, all be it in a way that would appear like it was using a Tank to take out a Wasp. However, imagine that my computer is the thing that is allergic to that wasp. So while my specific case may only apply to me, and the concept being born out of an extreme case, the concept wouldn't be too much to ask.

P.S.- Using a VPN actually doesn't get me anywhere, I just get insanely LAG bombed regardless and can't get online. As for changing provider, I will say that this thing that my ISP does have has protected me before now (even recently after some guy tried to hook my PS4 up to a Bot-Net, using a Public Game session to do it). So while a bit of a pain sometimes, it has its uses.

[zoolex]

I do think this post would belong in a different category. Rather than a Technical Issue, it's more of a suggestion for the game that would improve the game matchmaking. I did get booted out of a few sessions for trying to join sessions that had Steam Client players in them. So this, while not as extreme as @GENERALZOOL and his mental router configuration, is something that could be a little useful to some players. Namely those of us whose connection isn't the greatest to begin with.

Though definitely for the suggestions box, if only that existed as a separate category.

[GENERALZOOL]

@zoolex
I would have posted this Topic as a suggestion for possible improvement, though that category doesn't exist yet.

[jros83]

@GENERALZOOLWh...Why does your ISP blacklist Steam clients...?

This isn't a problem with the Remaster or EA, this is a problem with your network.

There's no good reason that your ISP should have Steam blacklisted, unless you live in some Totalitarian Dictatorship That Shall Not Be Named But We All Know Which One...

Assuming that's not the case... WHY are Steam clients blacklisted? Are you saying you just happened to connect in game to 1 random individual Steam user that for whatever reason your ISP has a problem with? That seems so.... random. I feel like there's more to this. Do you mind if I ask where you connect from?

[GENERALZOOL]

@jros83
Actually, getting my Identity Stolen via another Steam Client User, that was cause enough for them.

I'm in what is meant to be a first world country with a democracy (UK).

While this isn't a problem with EA, I still think they should at least put some sort of little indicator in the game to identify Steam and Origin games apart from one another.

[jros83]

@GENERALZOOL Well I certainly wouldn't fault your ISP at trying to protect your ID after a breach, it does seem a little excessive that they would go ahead and blacklist all Steam clients just because the culprit was on Steam lol. Some ISPs are criticized for not protecting their users enough; seems yours goes to extremes! :D

[GENERALZOOL]

@jros83
Better to Over-Do it than Under-Do it. It does make things very lonely when playing games though, LOL.