Are these forums under assault from DDoS attacks? Is this what all of the slowdowns, errors, and unscheduled maintenence is for?
Just curious on this. It would explain a lot.
It's indeed a possibility. The dark side of fandom...
Anyone so completely bent out of shape over 4e that they are orchestrating or participating in a DDoS attack against the WotC site is well beyond "fandom" into "emotional basket case in need of professional help" territory.
If that were true, I'd think Enworld would have gotten it too because a lot of the inexplicable ire has been aimed at them too. I think both sites and anyone so connected need to keep an eye out for it.
ENWorld has been knocked out a few times. Morrus actually apologized a few times that their site was down because of hackers.
Anyone so completely bent out of shape over 4e that they are orchestrating or participating in a DDoS attack against the WotC site is well beyond "fandom" into "emotional basket case in need of professional help" territory.
There is cases like that in fandoms..
Not like we haven't seen that. I mean we've seen people imply that they broke down crying over the edition change.
That some people are so emotionally invested in a game edition that they would be reduced to tears because it is changing, they would "vomit in their mouth" (as one poster claimed), or that they would actually try to harm the game's parent company is so pathetic I think it warrants a check mark on the ever-growing list of reasons the entire human species should be scoured from existence and the Earth given over to the cockroaches.
I mean we've seen people imply that they broke down crying over the edition change.
Ok, that's ridiculous. People have seriously said that?
That some people are so emotionally invested in a game edition that they would be reduced to tears because it is changing, they would "vomit in their mouth" (as one poster claimed), or that they would actually try to harm the game's parent company is so pathetic I think it warrants a check mark on the ever-growing list of reasons the entire human species should be scoured from existence and the Earth given over to the cockroaches.
Just because a few people "might" be having a little fun with the forums?
The ony difference between geeks not getting thier way (or even getting EXACTLY what they want) and fifteen year old girls having thier first crush dump them is that geeks have generally less concern with human feelings/property and/or making asses of themselves.
Why don't you blame global warming and dogs sleeping with cats on them, too?
Sheesh.
Just because a few people "might" be having a little fun with the forums?
A DDoS attack is not "fun", and anyone who takes part in it over a change in game editions is - how do I put this politely - a pathetic loser whose mother deserves a slap.
An Internet assault is also a possibility. Some people would rather spoil others fun rather than out up with something they do not like. I've seen this behavior on other boards (I've seen it in real life as well) and it is criminal (literally in this case).
It wouldn't surprise me (in the least) to find out this was the malicious work of hackers. I enjoy visiting these boards for a few minutes out of each day (or so). Whoever they may be, I wish they'd just leave us alone; we aren't bothering anyone. Hate to say it, but that's not the world we're living in. Follow the golden rule these days, and you'll just lose your ass.
Why don't you blame global warming and dogs sleeping with cats on them, too?
Sheesh.
-Good idea!
Perhaps, though, just perhaps it is the number of people trying to read this stuff. WotC ought to know pretty quickly which it is. The fact that they haven't reported it as a denial of service attack seems to indicate to me it's something else.
So, unless you all have proof that anti-4e people did it, why don't you just cool that rhetoric and let WotC figure it out. Unless, of course, you don't have faith that they can do it.
I don't have a lot of faith that they can figure it out, let alone fix it. I don't mean that to be as snotty as it sounds; just speaking my mind (for what little it's worth).
Considering the hostility of these boards of late, it wouldn't surprise me if it were fanboys (on either side). I'm more inclined to believe that WotC is simply in over their heads however; they just haven't admitted it yet. Even causual observation shows that they are way behind on the launch of D&DI. Gotta wonder if that has some tie-in with the glitchy boards lately.
I don't have a lot of faith that they can figure it out, let alone fix it. I don't mean that to be as snotty as it sounds; just speaking my mind (for what little it's worth).
Well said, Art. I completely agree.
When better to mess up the forums than on the release of a flagship game?
Kind of scary considering that post was last updated in October of 07 and there's been no official explanation for what's happening right now. While not the same exact team, this is the same company that wants to release a subscription based Internet offering....
:OMG!Its Skynet.
I laughed so hard.:D
I'll be back.
I actually feel sorry for WotC. They seem to be working so hard to make it all work. Despite their best efforts however, the D&DI is a no-show. With the D&DI an obviously vital component of 4e marketing, that's a scary place to be (for the company, I mean).
If I were in their shoes, I'd be in full scramble mode right now. The sad part is, they can't exactly raise the alarm that anything is wrong (at least not yet); that's an even scarier place to be. So, what to do? "Business is business", of course; tow the company line (for better or worse).
I wish they hadn't decided to tie 4e so tightly with the D&DI, at least not before they had a more firm gasp of how it was all going to come together. The game may suffer for it in unexpected ways. I wish they hadn't canceled the print mags in favor of the D&DI, because only now (months later), are they getting back on track. If the rest of the D&DI tanks, I hope it doesn't pull the mags down with it.
For whatever reason, WotC has all appearances of being in over their heads. They are faced with too many challenges and outright problems; glitchy boards are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I sincerely wish them success (for the brand sake, if not so much for WotC's sake). I can't honestly say I have much hope however. I'm an outside observer (of course) but even I'm beginning to worry.
Web attacks are very extreme. But there are a lot of people who feel like Wizards committed the equivalent of medical malpractice on an old friend who just needed some minor corrective procedures. The threat to Wizards isn't the few people who get carried away and do extreme things. The threat is the large group who will just walk away and won't come back.
Wizards put themselves in an incredible bind. A big portion of their hard core base--their bread and butter--is furious with them and not interested in their future. A good portion (maybe the majority--but is there anyway to know?) is happy with the new changes. Ironically, Wizards did all of this to make it easier to bring new players into the fold, which is unarguably a very good goal but would almost by necessity be a long term project. I am very happy that I am not one of their shareholders. They seriously cut into their market, and divided their base into two camps. I don't know how they can even begin to reconcile them.
Knowing Wizards' past business model, they will just keep pushing 4e along and pretending (outwardly at least) that everything is all rosy. Remember how hard they shoved and shoved and shoved Ebberon down our throats--again, a good setting, but they had better. Businesses need to be able to react quickly to a customer exodus. Wizards put themselves in a situation where they can't go back. I hope they are doing some hard thinking about how to get out of this one. I don't want to see D&D die.
Losing Dragon and Dungeon was a mistake. Not paying at least lip service to former players of older editions was a mistake.
All of this was planned, but turns out it was planned badly.
The glut of 3e market wide plus spinoff d20 systems that were designed to saturate / penetrate the market succeeded widly, but now it's too late to try to put the genie back in the bottle, and that what 4e is trying to do.
3e ensures that people are out there playing, and they have literally hundreds of years of material, that has supported WotC's efforts to the release of 4e.
They just didn't count on THIS MUCH backlash. I think.
But the good news for gamers is the fact that DMG, PHB, MM, etc for multiple editions, 1e, 2e, 3.X, are all now out there for 5.00 plus shipping, and more every day.
4e will lead to an even greater explosion of roleplaying, but from cheap as dirt resold 3e books via the internet marketplace, that the detail oriented players will snatch up and teach others to play.
I'm buying up the leather editions on a daily basis.
Charles
Sometimes its fun to dream. ;)
It could also easily be some type of covert sabotage from a rival company.
When better to mess up the forums than on the release of a flagship game?
I thought of that when I was seeing the D&D portion of the site and the forums.
And after giving up on those who call 4e "incomplete" because they planned a "Player's Handbook II", complain about editorial decisions on other books, and more... I started looking for the reason why this happened.
But also, I gave up when the talking cardboard box that was in the area where the forums are handled told me that nobody was doing anything, as well as the idea that I get something to eat while I ignore it.
:P
I was about to post a sarcastic paragraph but its just not worth it. If you want to blame the site's issues on anti 4thEd-ers, then by all means go ahead. Seems to me that thats the kind of crazy that requires therapy, not some imagenary communist death hackers out to derail the edition change.
A nerd rage attack is possible, but it still seems to me that the most likely answer is just more traffic then expected thanks to the release of 4e. Hopefully Wizards will either adjust the forums to it, or it will just die down when the people posting just to say they don't like 4e get bored and find something else to do (wishful thinking?).
The forums definitely have been a little unstable the past few days. The load has definitely increased, but we've also uncovered a few other things that need to be managed better forums-wise (post archiving, MySQL replication, etc.). We've been doing quite a bit of maintenance, though, to resolve these issues and get them stable.
Thanks for your patience,
Eric
Hi Everyone,
The forums definitely have been a little unstable the past few days. The load has definitely increased, but we've also uncovered a few other things that need to be managed better forums-wise (post archiving, MySQL replication, etc.). We've been doing quite a bit of maintenance, though, to resolve these issues and get them stable.
Thanks for your patience,
Eric
Thanks for dropping in and giving us an answer, Eric.
But also, I gave up when the talking cardboard box that was in the area where the forums are handled told me that nobody was doing anything, as well as the idea that I get something to eat while I ignore it.
What? Who told you what exactly?
Hi Everyone,
The forums definitely have been a little unstable the past few days. The load has definitely increased, but we've also uncovered a few other things that need to be managed better forums-wise (post archiving, MySQL replication, etc.). We've been doing quite a bit of maintenance, though, to resolve these issues and get them stable.
Thanks for your patience,
Eric
Thanks, that's a far better answer than the stock answer I received from customer service.
4th ed is alright. I like some of it, but for the 1st time I'm not excited about an upgrade and in some ways our group is bored of it already after lvls 1-4. I just think boards are having trouble due to numbers. Theres alot more hate for 4th ed than 3.5 and even 3.0 that I remember. WoTC made some stupid mistake. Some sacred cows needed shot but they basically tarshed the 30 year old cosmology that didn't realy need fixing (The Great Wheel).
Lotsa upset customers anotherwords.
I used to be a longtime loyal Dragon and Dungeon subscriber. Pool little WoTC.
4th ed is alright. I like some of it, but for the 1st time I'm not excited about an upgrade and in some ways our group is bored of it already after lvls 1-4. I just think boards are having trouble due to numbers. Theres alot more hate for 4th ed than 3.5 and even 3.0 that I remember. WoTC made some stupid mistake. Some sacred cows needed shot but they basically tarshed the 30 year old cosmology that didn't realy need fixing (The Great Wheel).
Lotsa upset customers anotherwords.
A point often missed is that WOTC listened there to OLD debates, the base.... The Wheel IS a trouble for a % of players and DM, or not cared for. As for other things, like alignements.
The changes are not made as randomly and out of the blue as though, notice how many of them follow controversial, much debated points of D&D, sincE the very start for many of them...
WOTC is accused of not listening to the base. But then, who represent the base well? What does the base want?
A point often missed is that WOTC listened there to OLD debates, the base.... The Wheel IS a trouble for a % of players and DM, or not cared for. As for other things, like alignements.
The changes are not made as randomly and out of the blue as though, notice how many of them follow controversial, much debated points of D&D, sincE the very start for many of them...
WOTC is accused of not listening to the base. But then, who represent the base well? What does the base want?
I always thought that the various D&D worlds or homebrew can have their own cosmology. Most people don't care to much about fixing the great wheel as oppposed to mechanical changes- ie fixing overpowered 3.5 stuf.
Its one of the reasons some don't feel like 4th ed is even D&D at all (with some justification). Theres no great wheel, no spells as such to cast, no bard, no gnome (Ok in the MM). In 3.0 they were careful not to upset the old skool gamers even though they changed the mechanics. How many new Dungeon Masters do you know? Most DMs I know have been running the game since at least 2nd ed.
Between ditching Dragon and Dungeon magazines and gutting the D&D cosmology they've upset alot of there market. Dungeon may have only sold 60-70K copies each month but I bet most of those buyers were DMs. Locally alot of people are not updating to 4.0. Basically WoTC have managed to alienate a large % of their fanatically loyal (until now) customer base.
The forums here are alot more poisonous than I rememeber the 3.0-3.5 or 2nd-3rd ed editions were. You can't please eveyone but theres alot of upset customers out there.