Fixing the Master Server delay

[magecat]

Bypassing the NWN Master Server

If you want to skip the delay of waiting for the authorization server to tell you it's down, here's the fix. The "Could not contact Master Server" box will still show up but the connection will already be marked as a failure allowing you to continue immediately.

Solution for Windows (Ensure NWN is closed down before you make this change!)
Place this line in your HOSTS file and now server access is instantaneous. "0.0.0.0 nwmaster.bioware.com" Without the quotation marks.

Step by Step
Okay the first step is to find your hosts file. You may have to elect to 'show hidden files' a couple of times.

Step 1. Navigate from your root directory like C drive:
windows > system32 > drivers > etc > hosts (no extension)

If you're using Vista or Windows 7:
Open notepad up alone as an administrator. (Right click notepad and "open as administrator")
And then go File > Open: And navigate again through Step 1. to the 'hosts' file.

Everyone else (XP):
Simply open hosts with notepad after you've located it (No need for running as administrator).

[Yojimbo]

I been wondering about a solution never really though about redirecting it via the host table.

[magecat]

Yeah, really just tells it not to look.

[wollstonecraft]

Is HG Crossroads no longer active?
I used to use it but I havent tried it in a long time.

-WSCraft

[Werehound Silverfang]

I was going to post this, did it shortly after master server went down, but never got around to it. Thanks, magecat, on behalf of all of us.

[FunkySwerve]

The reason I didn't is that, should the Master Servers ever come back online (and there was a recent indication that bioware was still working on this, as well as the legacy forums), then this is a how-to to exploiting. It is precisely because of a technique like this that we had to introduce our own passwording to begin with.

I opted not to wipe this thread, but I would, as a result, strongly urge you all to make use of the !password command ingame - picking a password you will NOT forget, of course.

Funky

[Yojimbo]

problem is the best password for me to use would be the one I use/used with NWN master server but I am going to speculate that what you use is not encrypted. I thought our accounts were tied to our keys on HG and if so I wonder the actual necessity of a password.

[FunkySwerve]

Your accounts ARE tied to your key, which is the first line of security, and generally sufficient - and the only reason this thread didn't get deleted que pronto. That alone, however, will not stop someone who is spoofing your key to the server, which has happened on HG with at least one exploiter in the past.

Our passwords ARE encrypted using MySQL's encryption functionality. Even if I look you up by name, I couldn't tell you what password you entered. Here's a sampling, from which I've edited the cd keys out of an abundance of caution:


mysql> select * from user_passwords limit 10;
+----------+------------------+
| up_cdkey | up_password |
+----------+------------------+
| XXXXXXXX | 742a4cca79f13964 |
| XXXXXXXX | 70b91e184bdfd144 |
| XXXXXXXX | 322ee4cc318103a8 |
| XXXXXXXX | 742a3e270af7e529 |
| XXXXXXXX | 4e04766701ac8aa4 |
| XXXXXXXX | 807e21375538034b |
| XXXXXXXX | 693c81eb58888512 |
| XXXXXXXX | 72fd38d537a0cad0 |
| XXXXXXXX | 4ed79077d15a7c91 |
| XXXXXXXX | 90225bcb3111c294 |
+----------+------------------+
10 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Funky

[Yojimbo]

Good to know and I tend to expect less when something is essentially free.

[xian]

Is it safe to assume the bioware nwn master server won't be coming back online?

[Werehound Silverfang]

Very.