Cannot log in as guest anymore

The CelesteNet client fails to connect as a guest user. I'm unable to link a Discord account because I've deleted mine (it was linked before, however). It fails with the following error message: "Can't join while unregistered, see FAQ#5 on website". Looking at the given FAQ shows that this error occurs when logging in during lockdown. But it's been like this for at minimum 3 months. Are guest sessions effectively no longer allowed?

Looking at the Everest/Celeste logs (Celeste/log.txt), the issue lies in the handshake phase. The server returns a 403 error instead of whatever expected status.

I've tried deleting CelesteNet's modsettings file, effectively resetting it (with Steam Cloud off for that moment) and rm -rf'ing the Mods/Cache directory out of existence, but nothing changed.

I'm running Celeste on Steam with the latest version of Everest stable on Linux x86_64 installed through Olympus.

CelesteNet is also up to date, installed through Olympus as a .zip archive.

[RedFlames]

The CelesteNet client fails to connect as a guest user. I'm unable to link a Discord account because I've deleted mine (it was linked before, however).

First off, I'm guessing you don't have the key anymore that was generated for your linked Discord? If you still had that, nothing would prevent you from connecting with it, CelesteNet Server doesn't interact with Discord at all except (specifically) while you're linking the account.
If you still had your "key" it should still work.

It fails with the following error message: "[...]". Looking at the given FAQ shows that this error occurs when logging in during lockdown.
But it's been like this for at minimum 3 months. Are guest sessions effectively no longer allowed?

Yes, that is kind of how it is with the official server. At this point it's been years, basically, because of a few very persistent troublemakers.
And then whenever the game goes on Sale (as it did recently) we get an influx of people who might think it's reasonable for their first "test" message in an active chat to be a slur... so it may be kinda understandable how we prefer "lockdown" mode giving us less headaches because of these particular players.
Although we would all agree that it'd be better to allow more people to play on the server. We would just need better control over who can do what, like being able to mute people, maybe auto-mute or restrict newly joined users/people who don't read rules. Plenty of ideas for what we wish we could do certainly exist.

That stuff is something I (at least) have been thinking about implementing for the last 2 years or more, but I just never get around to it with enough energy, motivation and organization to actually move things along.

...Anyways, enough of me rambling just to say, we're unfortunately keeping lockdown on so that we can keep chat civil and usable without having to deal with trolls and such every other day during some weeks.

[...] the issue lies in the handshake phase. The server returns a 403 error instead of whatever expected status.

For the rest of your report: Yes, our server (jade/0x0ade's server) at celestenet.0x0a.de is indeed rejecting Guest connections and everything is working correctly. The server is working correctly, and your client I think is working correctly after being prevented from connecting. I really am sorry about that.
But that's the unfortunate reality of it. We do kind of rely on Discord to be enough of a hurdle for creating a "legitimate" account to prevent mass ban evasion and such.

There isn't anything to be fixed here, other than to improve moderation tools to a point where we'll allow Guests again, and to maybe add more OAuth2 solutions like linking Twitch accounts...

One thing we also should probably do is update the server's website to be more clear about "lockdown" just being the "default" way it operates now 😔

PS: People who just want to play with their friends can also technically run their own servers, but of course this isn't a very viable/good solution for most people, and there is no peer-to-peer mode either since it was never built that way.

Man.. I indeed had a suspicion that lockdown was the default now. And yes, I did wipe my CelesteNet config file with the key in it. I didn't think the server would accept it so I didn't even bother :(

I like the idea of a Twitch OAuth integration, at least my Twitch account will serve a purpose other than collecting dust. Or maybe a proper account system? Would that be too complex to implement?

I will keep CNet in case other login systems (or guest mode) get introduced in the (hopefully) near future.

Thanks for the reply and confirmation !

[Erikgobrrr]

Thanks for the reply and confirmation !

so... is this issue resolved?