Could not authenticate user

(Bluud) #1

Hi,

I get kicked from every online game after a few seconds with a message saying ‘could not authenticate user’.

Needless to say I have the official game purchased through steam in the UK.

What is causing this error and how do I fix it???

(Crispy) #2

Are you running Steam and connected to the internet when you start the game?

You need to be in Online mode when you start the game, even if you intend to switch to offline mode later to play in Solo only.

(Bluud) #3

[QUOTE=Crispy;305078]Are you running Steam and connected to the internet when you start the game?

You need to be in Online mode when you start the game, even if you intend to switch to offline mode later to play in Solo only.[/QUOTE]

yes to both these questions. I start the game in public mode, and can play with other players for about 10 seconds. Then I get a message saying lost connection to the server while everybody who is left in the game sees the message ‘ME Could not authenticate user’. Just to be sure, the game does not crash for me, it returns me to the main menu saying I lost connection.

As I have purchased this game through steam I don’t have a cd-key or any other authentication to do manually. My friends all play their steam versions fine without this error.

What can I do to fix it?

UPDATE: My friends say other people are disconnecting from the servers with the same error message as mine, so other people are getting the problem too!!!

(Crispy) #4

If you are connected to the internet with Steam running in online mode and are getting this issue…

…I would suggest using Steam to verify your game cache or, failing that, delete your local game content and re-update via Steam. If you keep a copy of the videos folder that you patch in after Steam has deleted everything else, the download will take a lot less time.

Verify integrity of game cache

[ol]
[li]Open your Steam Games Library[/li][li]Right-click on Brink and select Properties[/li][li]Click on the Local Files tab and select Verify integrity of game cache[/li][li]Boot Brink and report back with the results[/li][/ol]

Delete local game content

[ol]
[li]Open your Steam Games Library[/li][li]Right-click on Brink and select Properties[/li][li]Click on the Local Files tab and select Delete local game content[/li][li]Boot Brink and report back with the results[/li][/ol]

(Bluud) #5

ok, I’ve tried both of these and exactly the same thing is still happening!!! Re-downloaded the entire thing from scratch and it is exactly the same issue.

Please fix, what’s the point in pre-ordering a game at full price if it doesn’t even work properly…!

What do I do now?

(dirtbag) #6

Im having the exact same issue, and i have also tried the deleting local content and verifying intergrity procedure…

(neg) #7

yeah both of the above make no difference

(Jekt) #8

Happens to many people, whenever someone is kicked for not being authenticated the server pauses and lags for 1-2 seconds.

(dirtbag) #9

Can we please have an update on this situation please?

(the.cosmic.pope) #10

I’m pretty sure this issue is related to the “Connection to the game session has been lost”
 issue. When you get the Connection Lost error, the server reports the user could not be authenticated. It has been suggested that this is actually a Steam bug regarding BT and O2 routers. Are you guys by any chance, Brits on those routers?

(Neuropa) #11

I’m having the same exact problem, sometimes I don’t even make it past the countdown at the start of the match before losing connection.

To the poster above, BT is my ISP and I am a brit, so that suggestion is probably accurate.

Seems funny that I could stay in games fine prior to a recent update and now I have this problem. What gives?

(neg) #12

[QUOTE=the.cosmic.pope;307307]I’m pretty sure this issue is related to the “Connection to the game session has been lost”
 issue. When you get the Connection Lost error, the server reports the user could not be authenticated. It has been suggested that this is actually a Steam bug regarding BT and O2 routers. Are you guys by any chance, Brits on those routers?[/QUOTE]
i dont get the ‘connect to game session has been lost’ just get a random CTD, and ingame people can see it says ‘neg Could not authenticate user’

(Nail) #13

try bypassing your router

(neg) #14

so you are telling me its some how even remotely acceptable that you should get crashed to desktop because steam loses its heart beat for half a second
makes sense i guess

(Nail) #15

no, I’m asking you to try something to get to the cause of your problem, or at least I was

(the.cosmic.pope) #16

Cannot, unfortunately. I have several machines relying on it.

(neg) #17

this, you cant exactly tell 4-5 other people to get stuffed because you want to play a game

(Nail) #18

you have 5 other people eating your bandwidth and you wonder why you have problems ?

(the.cosmic.pope) #19

Nope. I have a laptop sharing the bandwidth. When I say sharing, she is doing web browsing and I’m still able to torrent at 900k/sec. If torrents are able to go at such speeds, I’d expect to be able to connect to a game, given that Counter Strike worked on my 56k modem a decade ago.

This probably has nothing to do with available bandwidth, so let’s not side track the thread and hamper us finding a cure for the issue.

(neg) #20

thats cute, it has nothing to do with bandwidth, and they arnt all downloading at max speed 24/7 like you seem to assume, so it is extremely unlikely to do be that if i have no troubles with no other team games