| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 20 Sep 2011 : 14:18:32
I just wanted to say that it feels great to be back posting again! Hope everyone is doing well!  |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 23 Sep 2011 : 03:15:18
Problem Exists Between Lich and Keyboard. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 22 Sep 2011 : 21:02:37
These computers are supposed to be our loyal servants... |
| idilippy |
Posted - 22 Sep 2011 : 20:17:23
Good to see the site back, I was getting worried! |
| Halidan |
Posted - 22 Sep 2011 : 15:24:08
I'd be happy to donate once a year for all the pleasure that Candlekeep provides. It won't cover owning our own servers, but it would help pay the bill. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 22 Sep 2011 : 06:11:15
Yes. Where's the "donate button," Al? |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 22 Sep 2011 : 05:55:14
quote:
Alaundo's freaky 3D avatar head thingy
Candlekeep is indeed held on a shared server, as my coffers simply won't stretch to a dedicated server (this is a non-commercial site, afterall) ... Regarding the features offered by the web host for the package, i've found it difficult to match elsewhere.
quote:
Candlekeep Ownership
If you wish to donate to help with the monthly and yearly costs of running Candlekeep, then please use the button below. Your contribution is very much appreciated and will help us greatly. Thank you.
Ahem.
One reason your coffers might sometimes seem lighter than comfortable could be that your "donate button" is imaginary ... or should I just issue a cheque to "Alaundo, Head Moderator, Deceased Sage, and Legendary Prophet of Candlekeep"? |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 15:41:09
Well met
Aye, it was a server-side issue which we had almost no control over. Candlekeep is indeed held on a shared server, as my coffers simply won't stretch to a dedicated server (this is a non-commercial site, afterall). The host have now acknowledged that we get quite a heavy amount of usage and traffic and have thus moved us to a less-busy server, which should help. Regarding the features offered by the web host for the package, i've found it difficult to match elsewhere. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 15:29:33
Hamster-thrashed? |
| Markustay |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 14:28:30
Blame Rodenberry for that - he INSISTED humans be the 'perfect' species in the future.
His wife, being somewhat more realistic, allowed some darkness to creep in after his death (like 'section 31', a CIA-analog). She also allowed way to many continuity errors to creep in, but that eventually happens with any shared setting (as WE well know), so I suppose its forgivable.
Maybe I will get the B5 series on DVD (or Blueray) someday - I kinda like the idea that humans aren't the 'big bad' on the block. 
And to bring this back around, before I get Sage-slapped and Hamster-thrashed, ARE THERE STILL PLANS FOR A CK2.0?  |
| AdamBridger |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 11:48:44
Glad to have the forum back. I was getting worried there for a while.
On a side note, I absolutely loved Babylon 5. It obviously suffered due to the competing Star Trek shows of the time and its smaller budget but it did introduce some fantastic characters and stories - particularly in the first 4 series. It also did something that Star Trek didn't do - humans and humanoid races were not the dominant and preeminent species of the galaxy and mankind was not living in some form of utopia and this added a completely different perspective. |
| Thelonius |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 11:31:59
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I still theorize that Candlekeep simply phased out of Faerūn, somehow shifting into some other planar/dimensional place where time doesn't pass. Some sort of ancient defensive system, I suspect. This theory explains why Sage's gremlin population hasn't exploded beyond a critical threshold.
Of course another theory is that something predatory hunts the gremlins, either culling surplus gremlin population or simply driving them away from the keep. I doubt gremlins would find much mechanical complexity able to sustain their perverse biology when outside of the keep, unless perhaps they infest temples of Gond or migrate to Lantan.
No, they can't survive far from the Keep because they can't generate the amynoacid Lysine....  |
| Eldacar |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 08:17:41
RimuHosting is fairly cheap and customisable (they have a Dallas-based server farm), on a brief once-over of their options. I use a different hosting company, though, so I have no experience with their business side. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 05:42:54
Might I suggest choosing one located in North America? I don't have actual numbers, but glancing through the members list suggests that most visitors are from USA ... or perhaps Europe, hard to say. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 05:20:58
quote:
Originally posted by Eldacar
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Eldacar
What was the actual error, from those who actually looked at it more closely/fixed it? I got the same catastrophic failure message as others would have, presumably, but didn't recognise what it was specifically. I don't know or use asp much.
It essentially came down to errors/problems with the server, and their reluctance to immediately correct what was causing the outage on the branch of the ISP responsible for maintaining Candlekeep.
So Candlekeep runs on webspace provided by a hosting company on one of their servers, then (thus needing the host to fix it), rather than its own server? Or was it a completely server-side problem beyond the ability of server access to fix?
Well, I can say that Alaundo is currently in the process of arranging alternate server support for Candlekeep. So these outages may not be a concern for much longer.
|
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 05:19:19
The overwhelming majority of websites you visit are actually stored and running on servers provided by some sort of "web host provider" (terminology constantly differs as quickly as marketing can reinvent it). These are basically the computers (ranging from enterprise-level server racks to actual home PCs) which store and run the server-side (back end) code that provides your web browser with client-side (front end) code to display stuff.
Web host providers usually install all sorts of extensions which can support different web formats and languages; more extensions means a wider range of differing web formats/languages (and paying web clients) can be supported. The web host is assumed to be responsible for maintaining updates, security, patches, etc, it's also plugged into a different physical broadband connection which supports a different ratio (theoretically the exact reverse) of upload:download bandwidth, and the servers promise maximum possible uptime (ie: computers run in clean cold rooms, have redundant connections, and can draw from backup power supplies/generators if needed).
Only the most affluent corporations run their own server farms in house; Google, wikipedia, Microsoft, etc. Everybody else must contract through a provider. A site like Candlekeep has far too much peak traffic to reliably run with much performance on a home PC with home/business internet connection.
This particular "8000ffff catastrophic failure" is a MySQL error, not uncommon, and usually caused when the servers update their Microsoft junk without also installing precautions against database-driver version conflicts. In short, Candlekeep's provider (Streamline.net) changed something to help one of their other clients and it broke Candlekeep, then apparently delayed for nearly one week before correcting it. |
| Eldacar |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 04:23:50
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Eldacar
What was the actual error, from those who actually looked at it more closely/fixed it? I got the same catastrophic failure message as others would have, presumably, but didn't recognise what it was specifically. I don't know or use asp much.
It essentially came down to errors/problems with the server, and their reluctance to immediately correct what was causing the outage on the branch of the ISP responsible for maintaining Candlekeep.
So Candlekeep runs on webspace provided by a hosting company on one of their servers, then (thus needing the host to fix it), rather than its own server? Or was it a completely server-side problem beyond the ability of server access to fix? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 04:06:46
quote:
Originally posted by Eldacar
What was the actual error, from those who actually looked at it more closely/fixed it? I got the same catastrophic failure message as others would have, presumably, but didn't recognise what it was specifically. I don't know or use asp much.
It essentially came down to errors/problems with the server, and their reluctance to immediately correct what was causing the outage on the branch of the ISP responsible for maintaining Candlekeep. |
| Eldacar |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 03:42:04
What was the actual error, from those who actually looked at it more closely/fixed it? I got the same catastrophic failure message as others would have, presumably, but didn't recognise what it was specifically. I don't know or use asp much. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 03:20:32
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I still theorize that Candlekeep simply phased out of Faerūn, somehow shifting into some other planar/dimensional place where time doesn't pass. Some sort of ancient defensive system, I suspect. This theory explains why Sage's gremlin population hasn't exploded beyond a critical threshold.
Ah. I've discovered the secret of Myth Adofaer. Candlekeep is the ancient Siluvanedden city's future!
|
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 02:30:42
I still theorize that Candlekeep simply phased out of Faerūn, somehow shifting into some other planar/dimensional place where time doesn't pass. Some sort of ancient defensive system, I suspect. This theory explains why Sage's gremlin population hasn't exploded beyond a critical threshold.
Of course another theory is that something predatory hunts the gremlins, either culling surplus gremlin population or simply driving them away from the keep. I doubt gremlins would find much mechanical complexity able to sustain their perverse biology when outside of the keep, unless perhaps they infest temples of Gond or migrate to Lantan. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 02:14:46
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
I thought the gremlins multiplied to such number that not even the SageVortex managed to suck them.
It's a locally temporal event, stretching into both the before-past and the after-future.  |
| skychrome |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:30:24
Huh? CK was offline? Blissful ignorance... |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:28:51
quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
I was kind of hoping that Sage was busy updating the forum software......him or A....
Alaundo deserves the credit. I was busy sitting on my thumbs.
|
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:28:22
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'd not say that having Dark Chekov on B5 had anything to do with being a desparate bid for fans... The show was already well-planned and going strong before he was on the show, and he only did a dozen episodes, maybe a full score -- across 5 seasons. He was a recurring guest star, somewhere closer to enemy than frenemy, but never quite either.
That's pretty much how JMS responded to the character placement of Bester, as per the online transcripts for the television series.
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| Dennis |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:22:32
I thought the gremlins multiplied to such number that not even the SageVortex managed to suck them. |
| sfdragon |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:10:00
I was kind of hoping that Sage was busy updating the forum software......him or A....
|
| Markustay |
Posted - 21 Sep 2011 : 01:02:12
Sorry for the continued derail (although, since this is a 'thank god CK is back' thread, and CK threads do have a rep for being derailed...)
And strangely, knowing next to nothing about B5, I played B5 miniatures (the only minis I still have intact, come to think of it - I left them in my Ex's attic), and played Centauri (the massive, monolithic nature of both their ships and empire appealed to my 'dark side').
Still know very little outside what background the rules provided, but I did buy a 9" Cantauri action figure that I would place on the table when I played (the emperor over-looking his troops?)
I had wanted to learn more eventually, but the series was already over and then my gaming group broke up, so I never pursued it.
Glad to see the complete randomness of thread-drift hasn't been affected by the down-time.  |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 20 Sep 2011 : 23:03:33
Not me- I figured it was just an update or something, or maybe a temporary server crash. Glad to be back, though! |
| swifty |
Posted - 20 Sep 2011 : 22:32:27
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
Whew! I was worried there for a few. Glad to see Candlekeep back on her feet.
So was I. Really thought it would be down for the whole month.
i was worried.i even ventured over to wizards.com i was that desperate. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 20 Sep 2011 : 22:24:00
Agreed with Furry Rupert: Bester was a fairly top-notch villain, better in my mind than standard James Bond archetypes because he genuinely believed - and convinced many around him - that he wasn't evil. Yes, there was the little matter of humans largely being treated like insignificant cattle since Bester's plan was ultimate genocide (or subjugation) of the "inferior" species anyhow ... that just underscores his villainy with poignant reminders to snap the audience's attention back when they start to gravitate too close to him.
To be honest, Chekov was a redundant victim character anyhow. The new (reboot) Chekov seems like the brilliant-nerd-who-magically-saves-the-day-archetype choking on a healthy heaping of no longer funny classic Chekov jokes. Bester wins. |
