Site Server Issues - 22nd Jan

[stark]

roleplayerguild.com/posts/4587036

Got a double post right here.

@Poi

Fix'd.

[Lady Absinthia]

I can access every part of the forum save one area - Profiles... Haven't been able to for 3/4 days... (Tried on different browsers, at different times, etc.)

[skidcrow]

I can access every part of the forum save one area - Profiles... Haven't been able to for 3/4 days... (Tried on different browsers, at different times, etc.)

@Lady Amalthea

I'm getting the same issue, except that I can eventually load it after waiting 2 - 3 minutes. It just takes a bit of patience. Really makes me think how useful it would be to update statuses from the status bar itself...

[Lady Absinthia]

@Mara I wish that were the case with me. Patience is something I have in spades when it comes to pages loading. (I grew up on 14.4 dial-up in the early 90's LOL) I can click on my profile, or anyone elses, sit, wait - it ALWAYS times out. I either one of the two lovely 500 messages. I can sit for an hour refreshing each time it times out, try different times of the day, try just after I see someone update their status, etc. Still... Nothing.

[kittyluna45]

So what is the status on the problem? I'm still having issues, and as @Lady Amalthea mentioned, trying to get to profiles is almost impossible. Also last night there was at least several hours where I could only see the lovely 500 messages, which is worrisome.

[Ruby]

So what is the status on the problem? I'm still having issues, and as @Lady Amalthea mentioned, trying to get to profiles is almost impossible. Also last night there was at least several hours where I could only see the lovely 500 messages, which is worrisome.

@kittyluna45

No change. Mahz is working on it, comparing logs with code. Tedious process. Eventually it's likely to need a server push to fully fix the issue. In the meantime the moment we hear something has changed, we'll pass it along to everyone else.

[Lmpkio]

<Snipped quote by kittyluna45>

No change. Mahz is working on it, comparing logs with code. Tedious process. Eventually it's likely to need a server push to fully fix the issue. In the meantime the moment we hear something has changed, we'll pass it along to everyone else.

@Ruby

Is he? According to the staff site, he still hasnt been seen here in 2 months. Unless he's been working behind the scenes?

We need affimative answers from Mahz publically before we can be put to rest. I've only been keeping to one RP since the slow down, as itll take way too much time for me to struggle by simply loading into the chat. It still ocassionally does the 524 time out sequence.

We're restless. We need confirmation from Mahz from his mouth. And we need it now.

[Hank]

Unless he's been working behind the scenes?

@Lmpkio

Bingo. Most of the actual work he does on the Guild happens on way deeper levels than the frontend and he doesn't need to log into his account for that.

[AngelofOctober]

<Snipped quote by Lmpkio>

Bingo. Most of the actual work he does on the Guild happens on way deeper levels than the frontend and he doesn't need to log into his account for that.

@Hank

I generally sort of agree Lmp. Mahz may not need to log on all the time, but he is the head of this website. I have been here long enough to know Mahz just vanishes. He's like those gaming companies that once use to speak to their audience and then just vanishes and doesn't address it.

Its nice to hear stuff from you guys. But I think the members are ultimately afraid Mahz will abandon the site or them.

[RabidRabbit]

This is very quickly moving from annoying to ridiculous. The apparent lack of response and action from Mahz, I have no idea what is actually happening on the back end but this is simply how it appears, is beyond frustrating. I fully understand that this site is a hobby, and I'm grateful for the work that the mods do to keep this site running, but when it routinely takes me five to eight refreshes and twenty minutes to load a single page then we have a problem. This is how better sites have died, for good.

Even a single post from Mahz himself saying "I know, and I'm working on it." Would put many complaints to rest. It's a consistent lack of dialogue between the admin and public that is perhaps the most frustrating. For all I know, the mods messages to mahz have gone completely unanswered and nothing is being done to fix this, or maybe Mahz is working tirelessly, day and night, to fix this. Either way, it's the silence and uncertainty that is killing the guild.

Clearly there are some serious admin oversights that have been highlighted by this recent issue. Mahz seems to be the only one with the ability to fix these problems, yet the mods seem to have no reliable method of getting in immediate contact with him. Perhaps a change in contact protocol is required. Alternatively Mahz need to find a mod or admin that is more active and that he can trust with whom he can share some of the backend access, so that the ability to fix problems like this lie with more than just one person.

*end venting*

[JBRam2002]

So logging on today and it seems like the Guild is running smoother than the snail pace of a day or so ago. Still awaiting a response, and if the Guild does return to normal speed we at least have a day logged where we can ask Mahz to go back and find out what caused the hamsters to run out of energy.

For a request to anyone that had any issues, would everyone be able to link any duplicate posts/threads in here that need to be attended to. We had one person who sadly posted her roleplay 4 times and even myself posting this thread accidentally posted it _five times.

Hopefully the last of the storm is behind us and we can get things back on track as soon as possible.

@NuttsnBolts

Duplicate post. The inconsistent nature of the site is making it difficult to make responses to PMs... most of my 1x1 RPs have essentially halted right now.

[stark]

The mod team have been speaking with Mahz directly via the Discord and are updating the site users with information as it becomes available. For the moment, Mahz is working on fixing things on the back end. He's sifting through code and matching up reports as quickly as he is able to, trying to find the issues. I'm sure he'll pop on for an update himself once he has anything definite to report. In the meantime there is nothing to be done except for being patient and, while I know that can be very frustrating, we're all in the same boat. Just continue to bear with us while things try to get straightened out.

[Lady Absinthia]

@stark A simple word from Mahz himself would be a well needed boost in the forums morale. Several members of the staff have stated just what you have, yet many members here are obviously needing just a bit more. Five second to say, "I am here and working on it" would do more for the morale of the site than multiple repeats from the rest of the forum staff. Not because we don't love the staff, we just love Mahz more.

[stark]

@stark A simple word from Mahz himself would be a well needed boost in the forums morale. Several members of the staff have stated just what you have, yet many members here are obviously needing just a bit more. Five second to say, "I am here and working on it" would do more for the morale of the site than multiple repeats from the rest of the forum staff. Not because we don't love the staff, we just love Mahz more.

@Lady Amalthea

I do absolutely understand the urge to hear from Mahz from the site users -- it's only natural. That said, he knows he's being asked for and I'm sure he'll pop up soon.

[Ruby]

Perhaps a change in contact protocol is required.

@RabidRabbit

Already done.

Outside of screen shots where we talk to him, I'm not sure what else we can do.

I get people are anxious, but he knows and he's working on it. Not something we'd lie about, considering how honest we were about not being able to get ahold of him earlier.

[NuttsnBolts]

This was taken a couple of days ago, so if anyone needs clarification on whether he knows or not then here you go.

As for logging in, chances are that he doesn't need to log in at all to work on the forum. He is a programmer after all and he designed the site from the grounds up so unlike vBulletin or PHPboards it doesn't actually have a programming interface that is accesses from logging into the site.

If you also look at any of the features screenshots of past you may also notice some odd usernames and random limitations. That's most likely because he runs the forum on a virtual machine first before he rolls out any updates, ie: a different, intranet version of the site. All he would have to do is insert the logs into that and he may be able to replicate the same issues.

The problem is finding the issues... Just because you have an error code does not mean that you know where the problem is. Think of it as the engine light coming on in a car, it's a symptom, not the issue. Bug solving isn't easy any anyone who plays any videogames will know how a simple bug can cause the worse problems imaginable. In addition to this, he needs to find time to work on the site, away from the projects and jobs he has a the moment.

So yes, we ask you to bare with us but know we are doing all that we can.

[Mitheral]

At least I haven't been getting as many Site Cannot Be Found messages. I think the site has reached Stealth Level 3.

[Mitheral]

Just a couple songs that remind me of the site.

youtu.be/S5pg5cuU244

youtu.be/TLs4MGTTXRU?list=RDTLs4MGTTXRU

[KoL]

Are we going to have this site fixed within a reasonable time frame, or not? This is starting to become a bad joke already.

Actually, joke doesn't really cut it, for the situation to reach the point it has, many, many things had go wrong and none of them can be attribute to nothing but neglect: A simple preventive maintenance every now and then would have avoided this, in the worst case scenario a back up of the site should exist for easy restoration, having more than a single person (who clearly doesn't care) be able to do the necessary repairs (like an actual "co-admin" should be able to do) and so on and so forth; all basic measure that could avoid this pain in the ass and wouldn't take enough time/effort to justify the "it's just a hobby for Mahz so he's not expected to treat it much seriously" argument that people love to fire around whenever we have this kind of site-wide problem.

Just to be sure, I know it's a hobby to him and all of us have RL to take care of, this is no defense in this case of extreme neglect, though, just cop out to avoid the responsibility he assumed when he made the site public. I respect it if you say that he's too busy to fix the site but: Why not take a look every now and then just to see if everything is alright? Why not hand the access to someone else that can do the maintenance? Or, if all else fails, why not simply be sincere and say that he can't fix the problem and either rollback to a stable version (even at the cost of losing posts), or admit that the site is too much for him to handle at the moment?

I mean, the moment you decided to make the site public, you assumed at least an inkling of responsibility over it, right?

I would prefer to not quit this site, but I'm not seeing many options other than "bearing with you" for an indeterminate amount of time. For the time being, I'll enable my adblock here once again. I didn't use it on the Guild out of respect, but the site is not deserving it for a very long time now.

[Hank]

If the solution was as simple as a "rollback", @KoL, that would have already happened, but Mahz needs more time to identify what's actually causing the problems and that's hard (and undesireable) when you're on vacation.

EDIT: Actually, I can't speak for Mahz concerning the future of the Guild, so let me just put it another way. Nobody else has root access or even knows how to work on the Guild because that's been Mahz's modus operandi forever. It's his pet project. That doesn't mean he doesn't take the Guild seriously; he knows how important this site is to a lot of people. But, for the time being, let the man enjoy his holiday. He'll fix the problems when he can.

I don't think anyone knows this but the Guild was initially created more than 10 years ago as nothing more than a place for Mahz and his friends to RP. It's obviously grown since then but I think it's important for everyone to take a deep breath and a step back during times like these and gain a little perspective.