| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Razz |
Posted - 11 Sep 2014 : 04:00:53
Ok, is it just me, or can no one else access an archive on the D&D Website of all of Ed's "Forging the Realms" articles?
I did Google and it did have a site called Forging the Realms Archives but all it did was lead me to a broken page.
Is there anyway to access all the previous Forging the Realms articles? |
| 28 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 14 Aug 2021 : 23:14:40
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
As to people knowing where files are kept.... I've worked for large banks & credit card companies, large government groups, and various other large private corporations, and I can tell you right now trying to figure out the moving file structure of large groups of people is sometimes worse than herding cats.
There's a difference betwixt personal shares, group shares, and outward-facing web content, though. If you have a public website and you're not keeping track of what's located where, there's an issue. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 14 Aug 2021 : 22:12:07
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
I agree with TheIriaben... its probably something where they are having servers upgraded in some form or because of some other IT related function. Maybe they're forgetting to copy files. Maybe they're renaming/re-ip'ing servers. Maybe some server ran out of space and the admin needed to clear space quick and they go and delete the oldest files. I'd actually be intrigued to see what kind of support they have for IT (I mean, is it even specific to WotC, or do they just have an outsourced provider provided by Hasbro themselves), and more importantly, how long they can keep people. I'm betting they don't pay a lot if I had to guess, and a lot of turnover, but I've been wrong before.
Moving files to a different server shouldn't matter so long as you either give the server the same name, tweak the DNS entries to aim to the same device, or do whatever voodoo is required to configure DFS shares. I don't know DFS, but I know the first two things are pretty trivial.
Given that they have -- repeatedly! -- moved files to different URLs in the past, even changed URL schemes, I'm sticking with that assumption: they're changing URLs for existing resources and not updating any records, anywhere. These changes have been part of site reorganizations in the past; WotC's site has changed a lot, over the years.
As I mentioned earlier, there are still files on their site from 2000ish. And their own web folks couldn't help me find those files in 2004ish. This also backs up the theory that they're simply shuffling stuff around and forgetting about it. There is obviously no effort to maintain any kind of site records or continuity... not that the latter surprises me!
And if they move to a new provider for their services who won't offer the same IP space, or they have the same external IP space and DNS entry, but some newbie IT person wrote his pointers using the IP's (which wasn't uncommon back in the early 2000's still). People might not realize how the web pages were setup by a previous admin. I can come up with 90 ways that this could happen through easy accident because admins change out, because I've seen it happen way too often. Just like the idea that someone may need to clean up space and accidentally delete the files (because when they're under the gun, I've seen many an admin assume that any files more than ten year are ok to delete.... or they are just looking at thousands of files and miss the one). Some of it may be intentional, but I'd bet half or more is just a function of change.
As to people knowing where files are kept.... I've worked for large banks & credit card companies, large government groups, and various other large private corporations, and I can tell you right now trying to figure out the moving file structure of large groups of people is sometimes worse than herding cats. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 18:52:12
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
I agree with TheIriaben... its probably something where they are having servers upgraded in some form or because of some other IT related function. Maybe they're forgetting to copy files. Maybe they're renaming/re-ip'ing servers. Maybe some server ran out of space and the admin needed to clear space quick and they go and delete the oldest files. I'd actually be intrigued to see what kind of support they have for IT (I mean, is it even specific to WotC, or do they just have an outsourced provider provided by Hasbro themselves), and more importantly, how long they can keep people. I'm betting they don't pay a lot if I had to guess, and a lot of turnover, but I've been wrong before.
Moving files to a different server shouldn't matter so long as you either give the server the same name, tweak the DNS entries to aim to the same device, or do whatever voodoo is required to configure DFS shares. I don't know DFS, but I know the first two things are pretty trivial.
Given that they have -- repeatedly! -- moved files to different URLs in the past, even changed URL schemes, I'm sticking with that assumption: they're changing URLs for existing resources and not updating any records, anywhere. These changes have been part of site reorganizations in the past; WotC's site has changed a lot, over the years.
As I mentioned earlier, there are still files on their site from 2000ish. And their own web folks couldn't help me find those files in 2004ish. This also backs up the theory that they're simply shuffling stuff around and forgetting about it. There is obviously no effort to maintain any kind of site records or continuity... not that the latter surprises me! |
| TheIriaeban |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 17:07:04
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
I agree with TheIriaben... its probably something where they are having servers upgraded in some form or because of some other IT related function. Maybe they're forgetting to copy files. Maybe they're renaming/re-ip'ing servers. Maybe some server ran out of space and the admin needed to clear space quick and they go and delete the oldest files. I'd actually be intrigued to see what kind of support they have for IT (I mean, is it even specific to WotC, or do they just have an outsourced provider provided by Hasbro themselves), and more importantly, how long they can keep people. I'm betting they don't pay a lot if I had to guess, and a lot of turnover, but I've been wrong before.
If you are really curious about the inner workings, might I suggest you check out WOTC on glassdoor.com? There are some interesting reviews of the company by its employees. Some of them are rather amusing. Looks like the average rating is 3.8 out of 5. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 16:37:28
I agree with TheIriaben... its probably something where they are having servers upgraded in some form or because of some other IT related function. Maybe they're forgetting to copy files. Maybe they're renaming/re-ip'ing servers. Maybe some server ran out of space and the admin needed to clear space quick and they go and delete the oldest files. I'd actually be intrigued to see what kind of support they have for IT (I mean, is it even specific to WotC, or do they just have an outsourced provider provided by Hasbro themselves), and more importantly, how long they can keep people. I'm betting they don't pay a lot if I had to guess, and a lot of turnover, but I've been wrong before. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 16:23:35
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-WotC doesn't do this kind of stuff anymore, right? Random articles about whatever. Navigating their website (trying to better describes it), I'm really just seeing links to their products but that's basically it.
No, the days of free lore are long since past. And it's a shame, because there was some really awesome stuff they posted, back in the day, like the Mintiper's Chapbook series.
Some utter crap, too, like the Zhent Headless Horseman, but the good stuff outweighed the bad. |
| Lord Karsus |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 15:18:52
-WotC doesn't do this kind of stuff anymore, right? Random articles about whatever. Navigating their website (trying to better describes it), I'm really just seeing links to their products but that's basically it. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 12 Aug 2021 : 17:51:31
I know that many of the links in my NPCs of the Realms page are no longer available at all. Unfortunately, not even the Wayback machine can help with some of the pages. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Aug 2021 : 16:39:50
quote:
Originally posted by TheIriaeban
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I don't understand why they don't just move everything to archives, after a time, instead of the current routine of shuffling everything around periodically and allowing stuff to get lost.
They are probably replacing servers and just copying everything from one to another instead of actually looking at the content and deciding if it should be moved to a more logical location.
Whatever they're doing, stuff is getting moved so that old links no longer work -- which suggests it's more than just copying data from one server to another.
They posted a file containing the full Roll of Years to the site back in 2000. There hasn't been a link to that file anywhere on their site since at least 2004, when I started looking for some other files from the same timeframe.
But the file is still there, if you know the direct URL.
Other stuff has gotten moved around multiple times, with URLs changing each time, but links not being updated. I've had to play "guess the URL" to find some of the older stuff.
That's why I'm quick to criticize their web team -- there is no rhyme or reason to how stuff gets shuffled around. |
| TheIriaeban |
Posted - 12 Aug 2021 : 16:04:15
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I don't understand why they don't just move everything to archives, after a time, instead of the current routine of shuffling everything around periodically and allowing stuff to get lost.
They are probably replacing servers and just copying everything from one to another instead of actually looking at the content and deciding if it should be moved to a more logical location. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Aug 2021 : 15:29:56
I don't understand why they don't just move everything to archives, after a time, instead of the current routine of shuffling everything around periodically and allowing stuff to get lost. |
| BadCatMan |
Posted - 12 Aug 2021 : 12:18:08
quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
If anyone wants, click the Google Drive link in my Sig. I've backed up all the articles I can there as pdfs, and most of the others I have printed, and will eventually have scanned.
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I had to say thanks for that. I went looking for these, but most of the PDFs aren't available through Wayback Machine, so this was the only way I could get them. Wizard's modern site only shows roughly half the articles, the dates are wrong (with days and months swapped), and they can't be searched. The archive via Wayback Machine is difficult to navigate and I'm not sure all the articles can be found there either. Three of the articles (The Lost Crown of Athalantar, The Halarkenblood Mystery, and The Sly Blade) are lost entirely from the Internet except for your PDFs. Yours is the only complete collection of the articles in any form. So, thanks for your preservation work. 
I've collected as many working links to the archived HTML articles as I can find, and indexed them on the wiki.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forging_the_Realms |
| Irennan |
Posted - 12 Dec 2015 : 14:16:18
quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
Aye. They really screwed it up this time.
If it helps, This link lets you browse all Forging the Realms articles sorted by Date or Author, but it took me forever to find it on the website.
Thank you, Delwa. It seems that all the Forging the Realms article can still be found with that tool. |
| Shadowsoul |
Posted - 12 Dec 2015 : 14:07:54
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I've had serious issues with their website management for years, precisely because of crap like this: they just arbitrarily shuffle everything around and don't update any links or anything, leaving their content in Limbo. I once got in touch with their web folks to ask for help in locating an article that had long since been lost -- and they couldn't find it, either! (I eventually found it when someone gave me the title of the file; this was enough to play with URLs and locate it).
They've put together a pretty website, but you're screwed if you want to find anything on there that's more than a few months old.
Give me functional over visual appealing any day. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 12 Dec 2015 : 14:03:53
Aye. They really screwed it up this time.
If it helps, This link lets you browse all Forging the Realms articles sorted by Date or Author, but it took me forever to find it on the website. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Dec 2015 : 04:35:45
I've had serious issues with their website management for years, precisely because of crap like this: they just arbitrarily shuffle everything around and don't update any links or anything, leaving their content in Limbo. I once got in touch with their web folks to ask for help in locating an article that had long since been lost -- and they couldn't find it, either! (I eventually found it when someone gave me the title of the file; this was enough to play with URLs and locate it).
They've put together a pretty website, but you're screwed if you want to find anything on there that's more than a few months old. |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 12 Dec 2015 : 01:05:54
Oh, and now they just wiped it out and locked from too polite archivers with robots.txt (blanket * on /dnd/), including all archive.wizards.com (!)
I suppose they indeed cannot leave evidence of how the quality changes. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 21 Sep 2014 : 03:33:35
No problem! I'm not sure where it was, but if memory serves, someone else had the first several articles linked here in a single pdf. If you find it, lemme know! |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 21 Sep 2014 : 02:42:40
Very nice. Thanks.
-- George Krashos |
| Razz |
Posted - 21 Sep 2014 : 02:05:52
Awesome! Nice! :D |
| Delwa |
Posted - 20 Sep 2014 : 04:03:12
If anyone wants, click the Google Drive link in my Sig. I've backed up all the articles I can there as pdfs, and most of the others I have printed, and will eventually have scanned. |
| Razz |
Posted - 20 Sep 2014 : 03:48:49
Yeah with the way important D&D links get lost thanks to WotC, it is best to copy any info put up before that happens. I need to start copying these articles myself before that happens. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 Sep 2014 : 01:12:52
quote:
Originally posted by Razz
Thanks, Wooly! :D
Not a problem! As I said, I recently discovered that I'd missed a few of them (about a dozen), so I'd had to find that link to find the ones I missed. Luckily, those links are still valid. |
| Razz |
Posted - 13 Sep 2014 : 00:40:23
Thanks, Wooly! :D |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Sep 2014 : 12:25:45
I discovered recently that I'd missed about a dozen of the earlier articles, and used that link I shared to go thru and make sure I had them all. |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 11 Sep 2014 : 09:40:57
Well met
Aye, i'm no fan of the new WotC site layout and design and find myself using the archive all too much. Longing for a single ZIP download of [i]Forging the Realms[/] PDFs, however  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Sep 2014 : 06:24:39
Try this link |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 11 Sep 2014 : 04:07:23
How about through here:http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/default.aspx ?
I would try it but this machine I am using, but it locks up on anything approaching a modern webpage. |
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