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Still cannot log in, account error

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Hello all,

After searching the forums and making sure that my account itself *should* be able to log in to the game, I am still unable to do so and am getting the "Account error, please contact billing support" on the launcher with the server status showing as down in the upper right. I have clicked the http://www.startrekonline.com/user/free_demo_start/Cryptic link which I had already done when the demo was installed, and my account shows "Star Trek Online Demo - Cryptic Studios" under the activated features. If I click the link again, I get a "Your account does not qualify for the demo" error, so I'm fairly sure its properly tied to demo access.

I've made my PC the DMZ on my router and I don't run a local firewall, so its not a port forwarding issue. I've also tried making a new account and setting it up with the demo, which also did not work. I had this same error in the beta, and similarly was never able to log in. I am on Win7 Enterprise 64bit, and have tried turning off Microsoft Security Essentials just to see if that was interfering.

What am I missing? I've never had this much difficulty logging in with an MMO.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Thanks for trying the typical remedies before posting. :D

    I've heard some reports that the account server can take a little while to catch up once the demo is actually activated. I haven't personally experienced that but perhaps it is causing your issue.

    I'd say before anything else, put in a ticket to support explaining the issue and the steps you've already taken in case they beat other users to answering the question of what's gone wrong.

    You mentioned you had this same issue in beta. Have you validated/reinstalled the client since?

    Due to some issues I've had in other games (not Cryptic-produced so I'm not sure it holds here), I've found sometimes my passwords for the forums were too complex for the game client. Maybe you could try changing the password temporarily to something simple and see if it works. The only reason I suggest this is because you had issues in beta before billing support was even needed. >.<

    Edit: As an added not since I have a personal issue against DMZ settings, STO uses ports 7000-7500 (source: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=156377) so you may want to forward only those ports and exit DMZ so the rest are blocked. :D I have noticed no issues connecting with or without those ports forwarded on Windows 7 x64 Professional w/ MSE. Do you have another firewall installed besides windows firewall?

    Edit (2): You may also try disabling windows firewall temporarily to see if it is blocking the connection. I find it unlikely but perhaps they restricted the firewall slightly more for Enterprise.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Heh, well I work in IT, so it comes naturally to at least try the easy stuff before I ask anyone for help ;)

    I uninstalled the beta client a while back and just redownloaded the new STO client last night, and since the beta I did a full format and reload so there couldn't have been any remnant registry entries or files.

    I only had the DMZ on for testing briefly, it has since been turned back on ;) The windows firewall is all disabled. Also, I used to be running Win7 enterprise but am now running Win7 Pro (went from the company VLM copy to my own in the format, and apparently forgot that part :P), but still 64bit.

    i'll try a less complex password, but barring that I'll just go ahead and put in a ticket. Thanks for the reply though, I just want to get in the game already :P

    Edit: Nope, even a nice short password didn't change a thing :P
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    ouberlord wrote: »
    Win7 Pro ...*snip*...but still 64bit.

    Hrm, that means it should be very similar to my setup. :/
    ouberlord wrote: »
    Edit: Nope, even a nice short password didn't change a thing :P

    Was pretty much a shot in the dark anyway. :) You might want to test the nettest tool provided by Cryptic http://www.startrekonline.com/support/tech just to verify but it doesn't necessarily mean issues should occur if it fails.

    One last thing: I've heard some mention that running STO as administrator fixes some issues. I rather hope that isn't true but it may be worth a shot. >.<

    Edit: Maybe they just IP banned you. ;) j/k of course since it sounds like you've never been able to log in.

    Can you post in other forums? One clear indication of your account being properly activated should be freedom to post across the forums. Otherwise, you get stuck in just a few subforums, like this one.

    Edit (2); I keep thinking of more (likely useless) things to check. When you originally signed up your account you validated the e-mail that was sent correct? I believe you have to for forum access but perhaps something got screwed up. You might try temporarily modifying your e-mail and revalidating it. Another shot in the dark though. >.>

    Edit (3): Scratch Edit(2) off the list. When I tried doing it just to check it would let me edit posts but not create new ones so that excludes that possibility.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Well, TRIBBLE. I got a response back from customer support that essentially boiled down to "Well, it should work! Give us more information on your issue if it persists and thanks for playing!" The irony is I almost included every word I've put in this thread, and I've never *got* to play yet :P

    I've tried running as admin, and I did verify the account.

    However, the nettest results are certainly not promising. I get basically the following after letting it run a for a couple hours:

    Port 80: 0kb/s 0kb/s 0kb/s
    Port 81: 0kb/s 0kb/s 0kb/s

    Etc.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Getting an account error can only mean that your account doesn't have the correct permissions. What account are you logging in to the game with? Are you 100% its the same one you logged in to the website with? No blocked ports can possibly create that error, so nothing of that sort will help.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Well, I think I figured it out. I went into the launcher options, and the "Proxy" was set to "None". Set it to "US" and checked "Patch via Proxy" and voila, game fired right up like nothing was ever wrong.

    I'm convinced every computer problem in the history of ever must all boil down to a 0 being set to 1 or vice versa.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Neither of those would affect that particular error, so it must have been something else. Either that, or you were getting a different error message after you setup your demo permissions.
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