authentication occurs through steam, so you need to be online for things to work out. Basically, if you can get into friends you should be able to authenticate.
Since the steam summer sale started up a few days ago that could be the issue you are having. I would try changing the steam server you are connecting to and see if that helps.
IronHorseDeveloper, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributorJoin Date: 2010-05-08Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
Definitely ensure steam is online, and you can see your friends.
Also try restarting steam, and waiting a few minutes.
Finally, you can try changing your steam server location. Steam > settings > Downloads > steam server region
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Since the steam summer sale started up a few days ago that could be the issue you are having. I would try changing the steam server you are connecting to and see if that helps.
Also try restarting steam, and waiting a few minutes.
Finally, you can try changing your steam server location. Steam > settings > Downloads > steam server region