35 replies to this topic

[The Imp]

...

But what would happen to my multiple profiles ? They have/d the same exact name and so on... it's really complicated to just |mergewithoutborders| .

[Almateria]

Heh, a creative name for sure.

 

Since you are posting here again (i saw your bio said you didnt do this since april) that means you are back on modding? Almateria's restoration for BG 2 and your fixpack/restoration pack for icewind dale 2 rule.

Hey, the rollback deleted lots of recent posts of mine, I've been posting. Anyway, ARP is p much a finished product, IWD2FixpackUB is kinda hard to say because I know it causes some issues of its own and there's a lot to do and I'm all alone. And the intermittent hospitalizations don't help at all.

 

Anyway, I disagree with the merger. I feel like SHS and G3 have way different target audiences, considering that G3 has mostly been updates to longstanding mods. And they have no way to upload your own mods.

[Almateria]

Could you make an account, maybe? Don't wanna hijack the thread.

[SConrad]

Next-- Well, someone has to say it, might as well be an oldhead...: is it true that G3 and SHS are hosted on the SAME SERVER(S | farm(s))???
 
Careless!
 
I know all about cost-savings and priorities and all that. But really, that is the, er, um, weakest 'reliability option' I've never wanted to hear.
 
Come on, guys & gals, you can do better than that.

Yes, it's true and of course we can do better than that. But hosting SHS and G3 is not cheap and despite donations and a tiny bit of ad revenue, I still pay for most of out out of my own pocket. It's now been over 10 years since I founded SHS and seeing how I've been paying for its hosting the whole time, and the simple truth is I have chosen to optimise for cost effectiveness over reliability.

I'm well aware that it isn't ideal and that our server setup could be improved for both reliability and performance. But with my limited time and desire to spend less money, that probably won't happen anytime soon. So if someone is happy to pick up the tab, I'll consider handing over the cost and headache of running SHS and G3 to them. Any takers? Didn't think so.

[The Imp]

... SHS don't even have active moderators and an impression like it's abandoned.

Actually you are wrong... the other day there was an ad spam posts... and soon the posts were deleted after I reported them... so there has to be some.
Yeah, you don't have to see or hear from them for them to be present.

[Azazello]

Next-- Well, someone has to say it, might as well be an oldhead...: is it true that G3 and SHS are hosted on the SAME SERVER(S | farm(s))???
 
Careless!
 
I know all about cost-savings and priorities and all that. But really, that is the, er, um, weakest 'reliability option' I've never wanted to hear.
 
Come on, guys & gals, you can do better than that.

Yes, it's true and of course we can do better than that. But hosting SHS and G3 is not cheap and despite donations and a tiny bit of ad revenue, I still pay for most of out out of my own pocket. It's now been over 10 years since I founded SHS and seeing how I've been paying for its hosting the whole time, and the simple truth is I have chosen to optimise for cost effectiveness over reliability.

I'm well aware that it isn't ideal and that our server setup could be improved for both reliability and performance. But with my limited time and desire to spend less money, that probably won't happen anytime soon. So if someone is happy to pick up the tab, I'll consider handing over the cost and headache of running SHS and G3 to them. Any takers? Didn't think so.

SC, you don't have to do this. You do it out of love. Gotcha.

We all love it too. Else, we wouldn't be here (and grousing).

So yeah, we ALL have to pony-up more on the financial support. Agreed. I will do my part. (Give me some time, though, heh.)

 

 

Ads are the devil's tools, sure -- but maybe it's time to introduce some.


And as mentioned above (and many times elsewhere), maybe it's time to pass on the reins. At least share them abit.

SHS, G3, and even PPG - the entire BG modding community is carried by these sites. Even the EE modders rely on them. That's way too much responsibilty depending on a few (and a few of those who can't maintain an active presence, because they have real lives to lead).

 

If we permanently lose just one of these sites, there's gonna be panic in the streets. If two are lost... I don't even wanna contemplate.

I for one do not support a merging of sites. They all have their own charcter and vibe. Best to keep them separate, at least on the surface. (Different servers, though. Please.)

But I do wish "The Dons" (sorry for the mafioso reference) would come together and think about how they can groom the new bloods, then pass on the management of the sites to them.

Could start a community discussion on how to do that. But ultimately, it's the decision of those who pay & have their names on the service contracts.

[SConrad]

While I understand you reasons, I'm concern about the fact that even biggest SHS/G3 disaster in the history, does not cause any action from admins side.

Actions taken in response to this disaster:

• (Slightly) more expensive server acquired with 4x HDDs, set up using RAID 6 to tolerate two possible concurrent hard drive failures.
• Automatic regular monitoring of hard drive health. Email alerting is in place for when things go bad.
• Automatic backups are now verified to be working. Email alerting in in place for when things go bad.

While that may not be the list you want to see (and hey, suggestions welcome), I'd hardly say it did "not cause any action from admins side."

How about getting back to this topic before next downtime will happen? While G3 get new admin, SHS don't even have active moderators and an impression like it's abandoned.

👋 *waves*

I don't necessarily disagree that we couldn't use more active moderators, but that's more K'aeloree's department.

SC, you don't have to do this. You do it out of love. Gotcha.

We all love it too. Else, we wouldn't be here (and grousing).

So yeah, we ALL have to pony-up more on the financial support. Agreed. I will do my part. (Give me some time, though, heh.)

More donations was not the intended outcome of my post: understanding was. I'm actually relatively comfortable with where things are, the recent mishap aside (which I've taken steps to ensure it's much less likely to happen again).

It would take significant effort to make meaningful changes even if there was an influx of cash. I appreciate the gesture though.

Ads are the devil's tools, sure -- but maybe it's time to introduce some.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. It's been there for quite some time.

If we permanently lose just one of these sites, there's gonna be panic in the streets. If two are lost... I don't even wanna contemplate.

"Permanently" is a strong word and at least from SHS/G3's perspective, I highly doubt we'd come close to anything as bad as what we just had--which amounted to a few months' of content. Not that a few months' worth of content isn't important, but it's a far cry away from the site being permanently gone.

But I do wish "The Dons" (sorry for the mafioso reference) would come together and think about how they can groom the new bloods, then pass on the management of the sites to them.

Between costs (and lack of alternatives) of mod hosting, old and painful forum software, and the amount of time required... it's hard to see meaningful change happening no matter who's in charge. We've had chats about how we can make improvements, but so far we've only been throwing a few ideas around.

[Sam.]

I don't necessarily disagree that we couldn't use more active moderators, but that's more K'aeloree's department.

He is busy. He don't have time. Otherwise things would look different. Using the occasion, I would like to request (super) moderator for agb1 or/and myself for Modding>Mega Modifications>Mega Mod Help and giving back "Jarno Mikkola" account to the "The Imp" by merging/reset password  - FAQ for the Megamods its way to much important to be outdated.

At a minimum, I would be more than happy to help moderate IE Modding Tools. I would also be willing to help keep information in the Downloads section up-to-date and in-sync with the associated topics.  Currently there are a lot of broken links...

[Fiann of the Silver Hand]

I second these proposals.

[Lava Del'Vortel]

I believe we should be all happy that SConrad and Kaeloree are admits and keep in mind how many years SHS is available to BG fans. Without them, SHS would be down already, so I suppose instead of whinning, we should enjoy the come back. Perhaps some new moderators would be helpful, but indeed - that's our opinion. Kaeloree would need to decide if that's going to happen and if so, then how it should happen, as those people should be active users.

 

Apart from that - I sent Kaeloree a message, SConrad, but I suppose I should let you know here, as well. I encountered the same problem as before the server problem. If I try to upload mods that are bigger than 5 mb, I got a message that no file was selected or something like that. Is there any chance it could be fixed? Many of my mods should be updated, now it's just impossible.

 

Cheers!

[Azazello]

...so I suppose instead of whinning, we should enjoy the come back.

Whining is part of the fun of being here. If you can't whine amongst friends, what's the point of life??

Huzzah! Welcome back SHS! Huzzah!

[discharger12]

IRC is dead

[smeagolheart]

I can't update my mods hosted here either.

[Almateria]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="ALIEN" data-cid="589664" data-time="1472152273"><p>
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Lava Del" data-cid="589348" data-time="1470567486"><p>If I try to upload mods that are bigger than 5 mb, I got a message that no file was selected or something like that. Is there any chance it could be fixed? Many of my mods should be updated, now it's just impossible.</p></blockquote>
 <br />
This bug prevents people from uploading files here and they use shitty hosting. Seriously, how hard can be this? I'm consider creating my own hosting for BWS <strong class='bbc'>because current'y, there is no good alternative for SHS!</strong></p></blockquote>

Dude you are so melodramatic, chill out!