AirTransRanger

After ordering BF2142 last weekend I was excited to see it come in the mail today. I had been playing the demo to get familiar with things and reading up on as much as I could in the forums here. My first night was a total failure. I'm hoping I can give a list of what went wrong and maybe get some help to get things fixed.
After install and playing for about a hour I logged off to let the wife have some time on the comp. I start the game back up and try to enter a game and get a message, invalid cd key. I try several other servers....same message. I log off, come back and it works...kinda. I get past the loading screen and within seconds, punkbuster boots me with no explanation why. I just get a window that says, punkbuster. What gives!!?

The first hour that i did get to play was interupted by an admin on the tg server. You get about 5 min of playing time before you get the boot. I'm guessing from other threads that this was to make room for supporting members. No harm done....but is it always that busy? How am I to know if I want to be a supporting member if there's no way to know what I'm supporting?

Sorry for the long message. I'm a little frustrated right now at the fact that a weeks waiting time as netted these results. Don't blame anyone here...just venting.

If anyone knows what might be causing the error messages I would be very grateful! Thanks.

WaffleHousChef

Excellent, the more information the better to fix problems.

I've not had any CD Key problems, so I can't really address that problem, but when the admin script will kick you it will do so through punkbuster. Sometimes the message just comes up as blank. The other messages aren't much more informative unless there are actual punkbuster problems.

You can check out this thread to see how the admin script works, and what you are likely to see when it automagically gives you the boot.

This is most likely the case #2 from the thread I linked above. There are two slots that are kept open so that Supporting Members can join without the server giving them a game system full server denial. This is so that the server doesn't read as full and people can actaully log in without getting kicked before the script can work its magic. If you're a non-SM and try and join the server and you get slotted into one of those last two slots it will allow you to initially, but it will clear you right back out to make room so that SMs can log in. Sometimes there is a little delay before it kicks you because it only kicks people so fast.

And as far as the server being busy, the answer is yes. The server is especially busy on peak times, but as a non-SM to get a slot on the server it will need to be 45/48 or lower or you will load into one of the slots that are reserved so that the server can have SMs join the game. A good tactic is to wait for the vehicle map (and the resultant player drop) to come up in the rotation as this will be the highest chance in the rotation to get on as a non-SM as peak times.

If you do not join in one of those last two slots the admin script is set so that it will kick the longest playing non-SM to make room for the SM joining the server. Depending on how many SMs happen to join after you and how many players on the server are SMs, this could be a long time or fairly quickly.

No worries. It can be fairly frustrating getting a game, and having issues with it. I hope this explanation helps a bit. Or at least gives some background on the things that you are experiencing. It can be difficult to get on the server during the evenings as a non-SM (that's why it took me two days to sign up ) but it is well worth it. Good luck!

AirTransRanger

Thanks wafflehouschef, aftering scouring the ea website i noticed that there was a thread on their forums about punkbuster, invalid cd keys. i'm in the process of reinstalling the game and all updates...including punkbuster updates in hopes that this will fix the problem. Thanks for the breakdown on admin kicks too. I have no problem paying money to be a supporting member, I would just like a chance to play with some TG guys before doing so. Seems a little like a catch 22. Anyways, thanks for the help and I'll report back and let ya know if I was able to work out the kinks.

WaffleHousChef

Nice, you found some info on your other problems. I forgot to mention that with the weekend coming up that if you can catch the server before it gets really rolling in the late morning or the mid-afternoon (EST) you also stand a good chance at getting on for a while.

Also, the NS server may be a good alternative in the future depending on how popular the spiffy new server is.

Ferris Bueller

The suggestion I have is to expand your horizons. TG has a lot to offer, and I mean A LOT. We host not only 2142, but also BF2 mods such as full time Project Reality and PoE2 servers and serveral other mods during our "monday night madness" on the private server. We also host Counter-Strike Source, Natural Selection and Dystopia (both HL 1 mods), as well as COD2, Armed Assault, and a myriad of other games. We also have organized teams, guilds and squads in games spanning the MMORPG universe.

In addition to that, mill around the forums, talk to people, see the sights. We have in-house squads, we meet up for LANs and BBQs a couple times a year in various parts of the country and world! TG is a huge community with a lot to offer and it's my strong belief that nobody should limit themselves to one small corner of it.

As far as the frustration of getting slotkicked, I know how you feel. I've been a member of TG for almost 3 years and a SM for two. I too got tired of being slotkicked from the best action on the internet and got my SM going. Obviously everyone makes their own choice on this front, but I believe that once you gather a little bit of playtime (hopefully more than your first 5 minutes ) you'll make the same decision myself and many many others have made.

In addition to what waffle said, keep your eye on the forums for special events, such as password nights, that go on. The server is usually a bit less populated because people are too lazy to come here and look up the password and you'll get a much longer play experience, usually with a vastly greater number of TG members.

Glad you're getting your PB and CD key problems sorted out. I had the same problem when I installed 2142. All I can say is thank god for gamer-based support, because EA doesnt provide much in that department.

Cheers!

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

MDFubar

Welcome and glad you found answers to your problems. As for the "kicking" part. I managed to play a few times on the servers and had great times, then I would get kicked for an SM. Well that is not acceptable for me, lol, I had to become an SM! If you like what you see and what you here, my suggestion is to pay the $10 for one month and try it out. If you do not like it(like that is gonna happen) then do not renew.
This is best community that I have found after playing FPS games for about 10 years. Everyone has thier opinion, and that is mine. here is planty of support and planty of fun.
On another note, we recently changed our server for Northern Strike to a different host and now that server seem pretty populated also. Last night both servers where full when I got on to play(7pm EDT) and knowing that I could just pick which one I wnated to play in and go.............OH WHAT A FEELING!

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rage4order

It can be a bit frustrating at times with bf2142 but once you work through your initial problems you will be glad you did. It sounds like you are working through the cd key issue, I have never had that one but EA support has a work through on it. As far as the punkbuster issue it could be a couple of different things. If it is the auto kick for SM that is just how things work here, im not an SM yet and it bums me out as well but the nights I get to play are well worth it. Now many have had issues with PB and firewalls. Make sure you are allowing pnkbstrA and pnkbstrB full access through your mcafee or windows firewall or both. You didn't mention but are you running vista? If so make sure 2142 and punkbuster are running in admin mode as well.

Hang in there and let us know if you need any other support, there are a ton of guys here who know a heck of a lot more about computers than me and will be here to help.

Good Luck

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|TG-8th|RAGE

AirTransRanger

After reinstalling the game and patches as well as an update for punkbuster....i think I've got it. I was able to go back last night and play a couple of rounds. I thought it was rather funny that when I went back to play in the TG server, it was empty! Got a chuckle out of that.

I'm still getting some sort of windows generated error message about punkbuster. It says that punkbuster has generated an error and must be shut down. It ask if I would like to send information to microsoft. Doesn't really give an error number though. I'll have to see if it continues or not.

Oh, and as for vista...kind of a sore spot. I bought a vista compatible computer last fall and received my vista upgrade last march. After running vista for about two weeks, I had to reformat my harddrive and reinstall XP. Vista is crap and I will probably wait for the first service pack before trying to reinstall.

draeh

Especially Vista x64 with any of the newest motherboards. Too many random crashes because the drivers just aren't there yet. MS makes this even worse with the added sigs required for x64 drivers. Even an admin cannot install an unsigned x64 driver.

Oh well, for now there is no need for vista.

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rage4order

Have you gone to www.evenbalance.com and check what they are saying about punkbuster? There is some good info there as well. My punkbuster issues were fixed by allowing A and B through the firewall as I mentioned above. Glad you are getting there.

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|TG-8th|RAGE

AirTransRanger

I did make sure that both a and b are allowed. It's pnkbstr b.exe that is acting up. I also made it to that website to update punkbuster. I'm still getting the error message but it doesn't seem to interupt play. Just a nuisance.

rage4order

Great, glad to hear your are up and running!! Look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!!

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|TG-8th|RAGE

Pablo

Good luck on the battlefield!

rage4order

mmckee, just curious if you got a chance to get on last night and did everything run ok for you?

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AirTransRanger

I did get on early evening yesterday and yes it worked out ok. I only time to play a couple of rounds but I did enjoy myself and look forward to playing more with others here at TG. I'm realizing how much there is to learn in this game and I'm sure everyone here at TG will be a valuable resource in learing this game. I really have no doubt that I'll end up a supporting member. Guess I was just in a frustrated mood due to BF was not working correctly. Now that it's up and going, all is well! Look for me in game. My players name is AirTransRanger.