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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Oct 2015 : 05:48:35
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The termination date for the WotC Forums is October 29th, 2015 (tomorrow/today). In a few hours, a venerable if cluttered piece of D&D history will disappear into the nothingness of lost data. There even the internet forgets.
Unless you save what's important to you!
MerricB from the Enworld forums has developed a program to help assist in saving threads from the WotC forums.
Here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?468980-Wizards-forums-migration-tool
It converts all the posts in a thread page into BB Code, which is compatible with EnWorld (and indeed most forums). This greatly increases the rate at which a user can copy information to their own files or to repost in one of the many 'salvage' and 'emergency evacuation lifeboats' at various RPG forums. EnWorld and The Piazza Forums have opened their arms for all content to be rescued and preserved on their forums. I'm sure Candlekeep could always use a few more volumes.
I have used the tool to save one of my favorite threads. Ended up with over 400 pages in a office file pulled from a 14 page thread. Will get to uploading/reposting it when I have more time.
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Baltas
Senior Scribe
Poland
955 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2015 : 06:37:39
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| Well, that's sudden bad news...Still, thanks fo the warning Dark Wizard, now there is some hope many valuable threads can be salvaged. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6675 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2015 : 06:42:19
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I was for a long time the oldest registered poster there - 2001 to be precise. It used to be a vibrant place but now largely moribund.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36845 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2015 : 14:51:33
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| I was active there for a time, and enjoyed it, for the most part. I likely would have remained active over there if they hadn't banned me. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2015 : 18:39:51
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There is a post by a Wizards Community Manager on the MtG section of the Wizard Forums stating the date for forum closure is now November 5 at 10AM PT.
Link: http://community.wizards.com/forum/magic-general/threads/4260936
Not sure if this is only the Magic section, but I doubt they would go through the effort to close down sections on different dates, when they could just pull the plug for the entire community all at once.
A note about the migration tool, it must have threads manually entered into the URL field and then it converts the posts (and only the posts) to BB Code compatible text. That way it can be reposted for a compatible forum as 'quoting' the WotC forum poster.
The thing is, actual users have to be the brains behind the tool to enter in thread links and then copy the resultant text into a word/office file or to repost to another RPG forum. It's still more elegant and quicker than manual copy/paste.
Nothing will get saved unless fans actively go and grab a copy of their favorite threads. If there is anything scribes here want to save, now is the time to do it.
Of interest, one of the Eberron posters/fans is a software developer who wrote a program to image entire subforums. They claim to have the entire Eberron forum saved, but they have not released the software AFAIK.
Meanwhile, the program released by MerricB on EnWorld remains the fastest way I've encountered to save what we can.
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Edited by - Dark Wizard on 29 Oct 2015 19:32:45 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2015 : 16:24:05
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| I was going to go back and save the entire 'Utter East' thread (I had it in another computer that's gone now), but then I thought, "whats the point?" |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2015 : 22:00:00
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Worry not, I have that one covered, but that's about the only thread I remember. It was a dense thread, thus a quick copy vs the amount of solid discussion and material it contains.
The Elven Netbook has a compiled source so it's not efficient to go after that. The Kara-Tur Redux thread is just too massive to tackle.
I can't think of many threads that build on the setting rather than focus on just friendly chatter or heated discussion. A lot of that casual posting either found its way to Candlekeep or has been discussed again in parallel over the years.
I'm hoping the software developer who cloned the Eberron subforum will release his program to others so we can start grabbing all the other setting threads as well. It runs automatically and copies the entire site, not just the text posts. We're luckier than Eberron, they don't seem to have a definitive fan site to congregate around like Candlekeep, DLNexus, or Planewalker. Keith Baker also posted directly to the WotC Eberron subforum, so it was imperative they copy those posts. |
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Derulbaskul
Senior Scribe
Singapore
408 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2015 : 13:17:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Dark Wizard(snip) Keith Baker also posted directly to the WotC Eberron subforum, so it was imperative they copy those posts.
I would almost argue that some of Keith's posts at the WotC boards are so important to understanding the setting that they need to be inserted in Eberron rulebooks. I've copied almost every post of his that I could find. |
Cheers
D
NB: Please remember: A cannon is a big gun. Canon is what we discuss here. |
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Baltas
Senior Scribe
Poland
955 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2015 : 15:41:04
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So, some news about the copying of forums? I know it's rather late, but copying each thread individually is impossible, and I allways found some new stuff through years, when going through Wizards forums.
So did someone for example comply all of the Forgotten Realms subformus, Dragonlance subforums, and such. I read above someone downloaded the whole Eberron subforum, is there a link to that?
I ask as much interesting iformation will be lost otherwise for many, especially future readers...
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From what I discivered, various forums are copying threads en masse, I just didn't notice it, and embrased myself...So I at least check if I copied some stuff no one else did. |
Edited by - Baltas on 05 Nov 2015 14:17:50 |
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End of WotC Forums Countdown! Save at Will!
