[Solved] Can't. Access. Game. I need help!

[Radiation]

Hello, this is Radiation, AKA Rad/Radi. If anyone has been wondering where I'd disappeared to for a month and a half, my computer is consistently blocking the game; I can type stuff on the forums, but I can't get online and play Paw'd. I have no clue why it is blocking the game, but I'll try and get back on ASAP.

And.. sorry Team Robot.

EDIT: It's also blocking the site. Sometimes I can't get on the forum without the screen going blank and weird, and I can't get to the homepage, art and media or the game guide at all. Basically, I'm now limited to asking on the forums what updates have occurred, because I can't access them on my own....

[Tobias]

The site and the game's working fine - maybe check your computer for viruses, and see if you have problems with anything else that requires a decent internet connection (such as Skype).

You can also try to access the site over https (https://www.pawdgame.com/ - with the 's' after http) and see if that makes a difference for accessing the game guide, art and media.


In addition, it would help to know what error message you're getting when trying to play the game. You can also try to use the standalone client (if you get a warning that the file is not "commonly downloaded", disregard it and click "Keep" / "Run anyway"; the program's clean, despite Chrome/Windows freaking out because something doesn't have thousands of downloads).

[Radiation]

Thanks for the 'https' link; I can now access the whole game website, but my computer still doesn't allow me to play.

EDIT: The error message I'm getting is:
"The game could not connect to the server because Flash Player blocked the access. *ways to potentially fix*

The following error was returned by the operating system: Error #2048"

[Tobias]

If merely encrypting your traffic immediately solves the problem with accessing the game's website (which is the only thing that https does), then either

- a virus
- someone in your home/dorm, or
- your internet service

is messing with your traffic (which it can do as long as it's unencrypted, and can't anymore when it's encrypted, without raising a warning). The error message you still got means that the connection to port 843 was either blocked, or someone interfered with it.

I don't know what kind of network you have, but you should talk to whoever is responsible for it (if you're in a dorm, the campus IT department, if you're at home, check with your parents). If all of them are absolutely sure they didn't do anything, then you have a virus messing with your traffic and should reinstall.


You can download and use the standalone client from the link I gave you, this will no longer need to connect to port 843, so it'll get around that step. However, if whoever interferes with your connection is also blocking the game server's ports, the next step would simply say that it can't connect to the server. Still, might be worth to figure that out. When connecting with the game client, make sure that "secure connection" is checked, too.


Also, it should be obvious that you might want to make sure that your URLs have https in it from now on, given the fact that unencrypted traffic from you is manipulated.

[Orly]

Hey Rad, sorry you are having problems, I've been wondering how you've been! :)  Hope you can get on soon!

[Radiation]

Hi Orly! I'll try and get on soon. Hopefully I'll be online and questing before the Halloween event begins... I'd hate myself if I manage to miss it. :(

[Radiation]

...Okay, I've found the problems.

1) A virus is in my computer and is messing with all my gaming.
2) My dad says I've been playing Paw'D too often and that I should get off of my chair and do other things. So he blocked up my gaming AND my writing websites. Now I can't do games or even write on my computer until he lifts the block.

...Yay. Cheers to me. I'll be incredibly lucky if I get online in time for Halloween. My mom says that she'll try to remove the virus, but I think that the gaming block is staying until around winter or summer break, or maybe it'll stay on forever, because my dad doesn't like that I 'goof off online.'

I'm ecstatic.

No, I'm utterly depressed now. Apparently, this blocking program, K9 Web Protection, "protects me" from websites it considers "inappropriate." And it can't be lifted by anyone but my dad. And my dad is on a trip. Out of the country. This is cow dung.
...-facedesk-

- a virus
- someone in your home/dorm, or
- your internet service

So, it's all three Toby.

[Tobias]

Well, there you go. This goes to show that you should be privacy conscious and make sure you are using encryption, such as https, because people do snoop around in your traffic.

You might want to keep in mind that the program your parents installed does keep a detailed log of the exact address of every website you visit, and saves it for whoever installed it to look through. Other programs exist that outright take screenshots of what you see every few minutes, and there is no way to tell what else might be running on your computer right now. From a security standpoint (with a virus on your computer, and other software monitoring what you do), your computer is to be considered compromised, and would have to be reinstalled completely to get back to a known clean state. In practice, you might not have that option.


Your dad installing programs to log and mess with your internet traffic, without telling you, shows that there are deeper issues within your family you may want to work on. There is a distinct difference between saying "your mom and dad are worried you're spending too much time on the computer, so we'll install this software to make sure you don't do X and Y, and that you're not going to any weird sites" (an open dialog establishing trust, despite the fact that monitoring software is installed) and simply installing it in secret, starting to analyse you without even saying a word (which is what seems to have happened here).


Anyway, just some food for thought. I'll close this topic, since we found out what the "issue" was - anything else you have to talk out with your parents, because they are the ones responsible for your connection problem.