Lost HC character while exiting game at full Health

There should never EVER be any kind of post regarding loss of an HC character for any reason.

well lesson learned i hope x'D

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harddaysnight wrote:

I think if you exit to login or character selection, it sends a positive message to the server that you have left the instance. Better yet, just use a portal. Don't be cheap in HC.

It makes no difference its caused by server-client latency and if the servers are particularly shitty at that time or your internets flakey, packet loss etc that have to be resent you end up with a delay where you think you've exited but what matters (the server) thinks you are still in game.

Its not rare to click on a portal then be able to run around for a couple of seconds before it ports you its just like that.

logout macro has the advantage of being the quickest/simplest method to get out so its the most reliable and if playing HC i'd recommend using it to exit even if you aren't going to use it to cheese the content.

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jovack wrote:

I wrote the original post quickly, so let me clarify.
a) defining "Exit"
b) my "death"

Let me explain. "Exit" option terminates the process leaving your character in the game for exactly 6 seconds unless you're lucky enough and server closes your session. So do not ever use this option as panic button. Never ever! Diablo 2 has nothing to how PoE works, the server constantly and continously saves your game state so there is no "Save and Exit" button, only "Exit". And yes, there is no "savegame" files like D2 had back in the years.

The another equivalent of "Exit" is Alt+F4 (for windows) combination or CTRL+F1 (or Q) (for Linux). For the same reason use it only if you're in safe spot like hideout or the town. If you want to log out safely there are four options vailable:

1. Logout using ESC -> Exit to character selection. This option kicks your character from the server and closes your game session. Slow but very reliable.

2. Type /exit command in the chat window. It does the same thing.

3. Send RST packet (abort TCP connection immediately) using third party software like cports.exe (CurrPorts by NirSoft). It's only reliable if you have good Internet without packet loss (speed doesn't matter) because RST closes TCP without ACK or any confirmation mechanism. Fastest way but requires perfect internet connection.

4. FIN termination. It requires confirmation packet from the server and very reliable but it's slower than RST, requires way more work with the socket and packet handling on your side. Still fast but slower than RST, you need basic knowledge of injecting your code into the target process and how FIN/ACK works. Also it breaks your Terms of Service, so you can be banned.

5. Process terminating via Alt+F4, Esc->Exit, or hitting Esc in the Login menu. Very unreliable.

Keep in mind all of these ways are based on sending TCP packets excepting 5. So if you have shitty ping, it will kick your character from the gameserver with some delay equal to your latency (depends on your location, hardware and the type of communication). It's about 10-100 milliseconds in average.

Logout macro using the third way MAY fail if RST / SYN packet will be lost, so do not listen people who say "Logout macro will save the character", they just don't have enough experience and understanding how the things work. It will save your character in 99% of cases but it heavily depends on your quaility of Internet connection. If RST lost - your character is dead.

All of these methods can be coded as a macro. I recommend you to combine 2 and 3 ways. For that purpose you need something like AutoHotkey and basic knowledge of programming. So it's not hard.

If you decided to use 3rd and 4th ways, these are the good spots to start with:

1. TCP 3-Way Handshake Process

2. TCP Connection Termination

3. FIN vs RST in TCP connections

4. RC-793 - Standard Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

5. C++ Programming Language

6. AutoHotkey Documentation (for 1.x and 2.x)

7. CurrPorts by NirSoft

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cursorTarget wrote:

...

Thanks for the detailed reply. I don't mind Esc -> clicking menu.

I just wish that I understood that both ended up properly shutting down the instance of the game.
I had plenty of time to exit in any number of ways, I guess from now on I'll just only do exit to character unless I'm in safe zone.

Thanks to everyone else for commiserations, this is just one of those "hardcore" things.

Also, the post with the spoilers in it, why so cringy? Of course there is room for discussion about hardcore deaths when it's about clarifying how the game's code works in terms of safely exiting and recording progress. It's not something that's obvious.

Anyway, this is my last reply to this, I won't be quitting to desktop anymore (despite it never in the past mattering). My next death will likely be to some "extra projectiles" monster that kills me in 2 volleys, or purple crystals while I'm looking over at my other monitor lol.

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cursorTarget wrote:

...
3. Send RST packet (abort TCP connection immediately) using third party software like cports.exe (CurrPorts by NirSoft). It's only reliable if you have good Internet without packet loss (speed doesn't matter) because RST closes TCP without ACK or any confirmation mechanism. Fastest way but requires perfect internet connection.

4. FIN termination. It requires confirmation packet from the server and very reliable but it's slower than RST, requires way more work with the socket and packet handling on your side. Still fast but slower than RST, you need basic knowledge of injecting your code into the target process and how FIN/ACK works. Also it breaks your Terms of Service, so you can be banned.
...

Jesus :) What is the point of playing hardcore if everyone goes all the way down to TCP level to be able to treat it like softcore, with devs full permission? I just don't understand who are those people trying to convince. It is like do some friendly card gambling with friends and family, and still cheat your way through, even with no real money at stake.

There are serious self-deception loops going on here.

Because the game is balanced around logout macro as Chris Willson, the GGG CEO told.