It started happening a few days ago.
When launched - VO Update utility attempts to connect to update server and stalls for several minutes before anything happens.

A few specifics would be appreciated:

- What platform are you using?

- What, exactly, does the updater say when it's stalling?

- Is this actually happening for several minutes? As in, 120 seconds or more?

iMac OSX, cable 24 Mbit connection.

First line of text: Connecting to update1.vendetta-online.com:21024...

Stalls for 120 or more seconds then continues with the update procedure.

On a side note... today on 2 log-ins everything was normal.
This 'stalling' was happening several times on Monday and Tuesday.

You don't have any custom entries for us in your hosts file, or anything weird like that, correct? Or perhaps specialized firewall entries related to our update server connections?

Also, what nameserver are you using, for outbound queries?

Additionally, if you could run this a few times in a terminal, and post the results?

dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

No custom entries in host file, I don't even know how to do that.

I am using Little Snitch for firewall but I have all incoming/outgoing connections to VO allowed and when there is a conflict, Little Snitch asks if I will allow or deny connection.

I also run dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT several times with some different results in query time (from 8 to 75 msec):

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 56755
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 3575 IN A 0.0.0.0

;; Query time: 9 msec
;; SERVER: 83.139.104.2#53(83.139.104.2)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 01:21:02 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 54

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com TXT
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 54668
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "83.139.104.2.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 75 msec
;; SERVER: 83.139.104.2#53(83.139.104.2)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 01:22:26 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 84

It looks like you only did the "TXT" query the one time? The other query didn't use TXT.

If you could send us multiple returns from the full query:

dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

..that'd be helpful. Thanks!

This happened to me yesterday too.

$ dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com TXT
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 37760
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "211.29.133.137.dns-ap-au7.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 452 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.43.1#53(192.168.43.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 13:25:49 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com TXT
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 20789
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "211.29.133.161.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 476 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.43.1#53(192.168.43.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 13:25:51 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com TXT
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 3375
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "211.29.133.137.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 94 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.43.1#53(192.168.43.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 13:25:53 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> selfie.anycastip.com TXT
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 120
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "211.29.133.137.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 106 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.43.1#53(192.168.43.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 13:25:56 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

Ok, could you guys post some query logs from this, alternate server, please?

dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 48576
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "188.252.144.247.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 60 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 12:42:07 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 37969
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "188.252.144.247.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 57 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 12:42:17 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 56351
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "188.252.144.247.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 62 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 12:42:28 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 31973
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "188.252.144.247.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 120 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 12:42:32 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 64458
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "188.252.144.247.dns-eu-lu2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 63 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Apr 30 12:42:34 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 87

Weird. I'm in the US and I keep getting sent to hostnames for europe.

selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-de.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-it1.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-it1.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk9.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-de.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-it2.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk8.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk9.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk8.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-de.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk8.rage4.com"
selfie.anycastip.com. 0 IN TXT "173.221.220.0.dns-eu-uk8.rage4.com"

... but my updater doesn't take that long to run. Just a couple seconds.

Those are nameserver hostnames, not the actual update server, which is using GeoIP and not Anycast.

(However, for the moment, if you use OpenDNS or Google Public DNS for nameservice, you may get handed an update server in europe, as those share cache data. If you use a reasonably local nameserver, provided by your ISP, you should be fine).

Also, the DNS provider is in the middle of migrating routers on the east coast, so some of their anycast stuff in that corridor is wonky.

Please keep me posted if anyone sees this happen again, and if you do.. try to run the command while the issue is occurring:

dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 32990
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "5.254.139.195.dns-eu-bg2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 529 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Fri May 1 13:26:26 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 85

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 48271
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "5.254.139.195.dns-eu-bg2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 453 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Fri May 1 13:26:28 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 85

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 52958
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "5.254.139.195.dns-eu-bg4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 461 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Fri May 1 13:26:30 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 85

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 36140
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "5.254.139.195.dns-eu-bg4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 450 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Fri May 1 13:26:31 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 85

I observe similar delays , osX

Same here. I'm just testing the Windows client in a VM (Windows 7) and it's been hanging at the "Requesting latest version" for the past 6 minutes. I just logged out of the game 1 min prior to add my joystick into the setup. (and yes, there was a delay there also, but only like 4 mins or so)

I didn't observe this delay with the Linux client, but I'll check that later on tonight.

Hung right now on "Connecting to update1.vendetta-online.com:21024..." x86-64 Linux

; <<>> DiG 9.9.2-P2 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (2 servers found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 4582
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 2800
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "67.9.146.42.dns-us-mi2.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 91 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Fri May 1 19:08:34 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 94

It finally did connect but only after it gave up and tried update2

Disconnected
Connecting to update2.vendetta-online.com:21024...
Latest version: vendetta-1.8.334
Version is current; verifying files...
Connecting to update1.vendetta-online.com:21024...
Welcome to Vendetta Online 1.8.334

Quick follow-up on the Linux client. It only delayed a minute or two prior to getting connected, although that's still not right.

Caught this while the VO update client was failing to connect.

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 60432
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au7.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 75 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:14 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 51790
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au7.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 61 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:15 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 23672
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 38 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:16 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40085
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 39 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:17 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 46159
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 33 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:18 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86

$ dig @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @ns1.r4ns.com selfie.anycastip.com TXT
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 59337
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;selfie.anycastip.com. IN TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
selfie.anycastip.com. 1 IN TXT "120.159.38.198.dns-ap-au4.rage4.com"

;; Query time: 41 msec
;; SERVER: 176.124.112.100#53(176.124.112.100)
;; WHEN: Sat May 2 18:05:20 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 86