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Why xREDIRECT is not working


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xOR
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: x-base.info
Old 04-23-2017 , 09:37   Why xREDIRECT is not working
Reply With Quote #1

xREDIRECT is no longer working (except maybe for non-steam users with outdated versions which we never supported anyway) since Valve has blocked server redirection.

They did this because it was abused by people running server farms with fake servers that had the sole purpose of redirecting players to a different server. E.g. there were 100 servers where it was impossible to play on but they were shown in the server list as if they were normal game servers with active players. If people connected to them those servers would instantly redirect their players to a different server they didn't intend to connect to. Basically those 100 servers were farming players to get them onto 1 server.

Valve handled the case by entirely ignoring a good suggestion that would have solved their issue without breaking non-abusive plug-ins like xREDIRECT and instead going for simply blocking the "connect" command necessary for redirections completely to "prevent server redirections" - which harmed all non-abusive software in the process because now they couldn't redirect anymore either.
The news post I linked was already the 2nd or 3rd attempt (I couldn't find an older news though) after the update they had released previously to block "connect" but already failed to block it if someone would write "Connect" (with capital C) instead. Some redirection programmers didn't even have to change their code, because they already had been using the command capitalized.

What followed was a sequence of more updates trying to block the command to which people would still just keep finding more ways around. If I am not mistaken the latest fixes in 2013 had already been only in the beta and had never made it into any stable version, at least not all of them.

In the beginning I tried to update xREDIRECT with a workaround until an AM mod made clear that if Valve wants this command to be blocked I shouldn't be doing this. I was left without a hint that would tell me whether I would get banned or have the xREDIRECT plug-in removed from AM forums if I still tried to release updates with workarounds. You can see that discussion from 2013 on this thread. But I can guess what would've happened if I'd still tried to release updated versions, because in 2014 that mod was still deleting posts or threads with infos about connect command workarounds which could make xREDIRECT work again (the same that are publicly visible on Valves own github page by the way).
As I was playing by the rules while those fake redirect server creators obviously were not I stopped releasing xREDIRECT updates and left it broken while fake servers still existed and basically made the server lists unusable.

My summary would be that every participant in this process made each decision to make sure the community is ending up with the worst possible result.

TBH I haven't played in a long time and I don't know what the situation is now. I since have moved on and haven't looked back except for a few times (like now) when e-mail notifications reminded me that somehow this xREDIRECT sub-forum is still alive. I'll leave this thread open for a bit, maybe someone can fill it with an update on the current situation, I am curious now.

I made this post because people still keep on wondering about this. Now there is a post that people asking why xREDIRECT doesn't work can be sent to for an explanation without having to write it again and again.
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Last edited by xOR; 11-06-2020 at 18:04.
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Giass
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: {Israel}
Old 05-08-2017 , 06:59   Re: Why xREDIRECT is not working
Reply With Quote #2

Oh no :/
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