EC2/Cloudfront servers not responding

[Nightchrome.1085]

It started before the latest patch, when I was unable to connect to the trading post because the servers the trading post tries to connect to always timed out when attempting connections. Then the update came along, and the patcher got nothing but connection errors and refused to update for the same reason...the server instances just never responded. Watching in a network monitoring app just shows the game waiting and waiting and then giving up...only to try the same servers again.

I assume this is maybe related to the fact that I am in Japan, and perhaps something has caused the local instances to become messed up and unresponsive, and nobody has noticed?

Regardless, overriding the asset server of the patcher using the -assetsrv command so it always uses the primary server in the USA allows the patcher to update, which can get me back into the game.

However, as far as I am aware, it is not possible to override the server used for the trading post, so even though I get back into the game and can play, I can't use the TP at all.

I've had a support ticket open for 4 days now, but the only response I've gotten from what I assume is a front-line CS person is some boiler-plate response about "clearing your browser cache", which I struggled to remain civil when replying to.

Any assistance would be most appreciated.

 

*Edit: for the record, I've manually switched to use the USA asset server and today's patch updated just fine. No hope for the trading post, sadly.

[mercury ranique.2170]

> @"Nightchrome.1085" said:

 

> I've had a support ticket open for 4 days now, but the only response I've gotten from what I assume is a front-line CS person is some boiler-plate response about "clearing your browser cache", which I struggled to remain civil when replying to.

> Any assistance would be most appreciated.

 

Did you clear your browser cache?

Not to sound rude, but front-line CS persons has to ask those questions, even if you don't believe in it, cause it very often is the solution. It often is a rquirement for them to be able to escalate the ticket to a technician. I know it can be annoying, but just cooperate and I'm sure your issue will be resolved (or explained why not)

 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

It would not have been your 'browser' cache, but the GW2 cache. Have you cleared it? It is the cause of 90+% of BLTC issues.

 

Good luck.

[Healix.5819]

> @"Nightchrome.1085" said:

> However, as far as I am aware, it is not possible to override the server used for the trading post, so even though I get back into the game and can play, I can't use the TP at all.

 

First, ensure your DNS is up to date. Using a command prompt (cmd.exe), enter:

ipconfig /flushdns

 

To quickly confirm if you can access the trading post, try opening https://tradingpost-dfw-live.ncplatform.net/humans.txt (team info), then its IP form, which are forbidden/denied http://52.54.139.246 and http://54.88.70.117

 

It's possible to override the IP, but not through the command line. You have to edit your hosts file (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts), opening it using notepad as an administrator. You can override the trading post with:

54.88.70.117 tradingpost-dfw-live.ncplatform.net

 

To lookup the IPs (using Google DNS), open a command prompt (cmd.exe) and enter:

nslookup tradingpost-dfw-live.ncplatform.net 8.8.8.8

 

You may also need to override:

2tradingpost.staticwars.com

static.staticwars.com

 

There seems to be a problem with some people not being able to access certain Amazon IPs. You can fix this by using a VPN. For more information, trace one of the IPs you're failing to access (cmd.exe > tracert 54.88.70.117). Either your ISP or someone in-between isn't routing it properly or blocking it, or it could be on Amazon's side. The trace will reveal how far into the route you make it, though do note that some nodes will ignore pings, including most of Amazon.

 

> @"Nightchrome.1085" said:

> I've had a support ticket open for 4 days now, but the only response I've gotten from what I assume is a front-line CS person is some boiler-plate response about "clearing your browser cache", which I struggled to remain civil when replying to.

 

GW2 uses CoherentUI to render web pages in-game, which includes the launcher itself and the BLTC. There'll be various cache folderd located under the %temp% folder, named gw2cache-...

 

Also, if support didn't actually tell you what the cache was, ArenaNet needs to do some training.

 

 

[Nightchrome.1085]

> @"Healix.5819" said:

> It's possible to override the IP, but not through the command line. You have to edit your hosts file (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts), opening it using notepad as an administrator. You can override the trading post with:

> 54.88.70.117 tradingpost-dfw-live.ncplatform.net

>

> To lookup the IPs (using Google DNS), open a command prompt (cmd.exe) and enter:

> nslookup tradingpost-dfw-live.ncplatform.net 8.8.8.8

>

> You may also need to override:

> 2tradingpost.staticwars.com

> static.staticwars.com

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah, the first thing I did (and included descriptions of in my support ticket) was clear the GW2 cache and all the other google-recommended solutions. It really does seem to be the trading post servers and the patch servers specifically which never respond, both ingame and via tracert. I have no problem reaching the other hosts the game connects to, so it seems unlikely that something is blocking amazon servers wholesale. If I couldn't login at all, I'd definitely think it was my side, but as it stands I can log in and play just fine.

It's just really weird that I've had no problems with this for years now, and suddenly these specific machines are now incommunicado.

 

*Edit:

Tried from multiple providers here in Japan, seems like it gets as far as Amazon/NTT servers in Chicago and then goes nuts.

ae-2.r20.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.43]

ae-6.r07.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.61]

ae-1.a01.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.94]

ae-2.amazon.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.201.106]

then timeouts and other bizarre responses.

I'm surprised I haven't seen any other comments from people in Japan. I know there are a few of us playing the game.