alrighty, so i figured out more about this problem. it seems i can join servers fine without steam running. but the problems only occur when steam is on. another thing - no matter what, i can join empty servers. any idea on how to fix this?
the 2 errors are pretty similar. i join a server (any server) and it loads to "setting up game". never does anything more. i have to use console to disconnect/alt tab out. but the other one does the same idea: it loads but instead of "setting up game" it says "awaiting connection...1" then "awaiting connection...2", and counts. what does this mean and is it fixable?