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Status of the Thay PW - Balanor - 08-27-2014
Players of Thay,
I write this still somewhat in shock, and as a result it is rambling. I apologize for that and...well...everything.
This morning when I woke up, the Thay PW was up and running strong and I was hard at work finalizing details for a new server update planned for Saturday morning. In less than 9 hours, due what I can only consider a terrible culmination of ‘unfortunate coincidences’, all that has changed. At this point in time, the Thay server is down, and it will be weeks before it is back up. And even then...well, let me explain what has happened first.
It began last Sunday, August 17. My home computer, which was already over 5 years old and I’d been kind of expecting to die, finally would not restart after a forced shutdown when it had locked up. In only one attempt out of a dozen tries was I even able to get into Safe Mode and copy off irreplaceable files such as old photos, etc that I had stored on there. Included were many of the archive files I had for NWN and Thay, specifically – as well as the off-server backups of Thay’s database and servervault.
I moved these files to my backup work laptop and promptly ordered a new home computer. Since then time I’ve been doing all my NWN work on this backup laptop I have from work.
As misfortunate would have it, the very next day, August 18, the virtual machine (VM) hosting the Thay PW NWN Server crashed hard, and fighting through blue screens and other problems, we lost some persistent data. But all-in-all everything returned to normal. Then the server crashed again over the weekend and I began to get more worried about its general stability and began thinking it was time to make a new VM as I moved recent copies of Thay characters and persistent database files to the host server machine’s hard drive which was running Thay’s virtual machine server. The physical server is only a couple years old, so I thought it had to be a software problem on the VM.
Then, as a further strange and frustrating ‘coincidence’, this Monday, August 25, my backup laptop would only go to a black screen with a white pointer when I’d login. After many hours troubleshooting, I was only able to copy that backup data that I had stored on it (from my home computer) to the only network storage location I had left: the hard drive of the physical server hosting the NWN server VM. I then had to reimage my backup laptop as even my work’s help desk was unable to figure out the problem with it.
As a result all files, live and backup, were on the physical host machine's hard drive for the NWN server this morning when the unthinkable happened. The VM hosting the Thay PW NWN Server application crashed again. Extremely concerned the VM was not reliable, I copied all database and character files from the VM to the physical host machine’s hard drive and then tried to restart the NWN Server on the VM. Not only did this crash the VM, but it also crashed the physical server’s operating system as well. And after that, the physical server would not boot past the BIOS screen.
This evening, after reseating the hard drive cables in it, I heard a fizz and smelling burnt plastic or circuit from inside the case. After that the physical server would only turn on and go directly into the BIOS, and there it would not recognize that a hard drive even existed. It turns out it was the hard drive on the physical server that was going bad, and not the VM for the server as I had thought. So I took the physical server to Best Buy hours ago, and they confirmed my worst fear: the hard drive is dead. This means all my personal files from my old computer (including family photos) and all the NWN files, including all your characters and persistent data, are gone.
I was told there is an option, not guaranteed, in which I could have the hard drive sent in and it is basically dismantled, the disks taken out, and they try to retrieve data from it that way. But this option is terribly expensive - $250 minimum, potentially more depending how ‘deep’ they have to go. This has at least a 2-3 week turnaround as well.
At this time I am working desperately to try and get into my mostly-dead old home computer to see if I can get to the old NWN backup files. If not, then I’ll be calling computer stores in the area tomorrow to see if any of them can retrieve data from a dead drive like Best Buy. Even if they can get data off the dead server drive, I have nothing to host the server on until my new computer comes in after my vacation (around Sept 10). As a result, the Thay PW will be down for several weeks at the earliest. Depending on how things go with the retrieval of data from the dead drives, it is possible that all characters and data will be gone when it does return.
I write the above not to justify my actions in which I have effectively lost all the data for the Thay PW, but to explain the extraordinary set of circumstances that resulted in this situation. In the decade that I’ve been hosting NWN servers, never have I encountered such a perfect storm of problems or had 3 computer fail in 10 days times. Looking back there were many, many different things I should have done different (moving the backup files to OneDrive or Dropbox, putting them on an external drive, copying them back to my backup laptop again, or dozens of other options). I take full responsibility for the loss of everyone’s hard work, and I am still shattered and numb by what has just happened. I too have lost work with this that, unless I can somehow miraculously get off my old computer, will be gone forever, so I completely understand the sense of loss and rising anger that you may feel reading through this. I can only say that I am sorry, from the bottom of my heart, and I’ll do all I can to try and make this right.
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THE REMAINING PART OF THIS POST IS INVALID AS OF SEPTEMBER 20, AND LEFT BELOW ONLY FOR ARCHIVE PURPOSES
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SERVER RUNNING AS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2014
So to provide at least something of Thay, the server is back up and running. This server will be using the data from the last February backup, but there will undoubtedly be a lot of questions and some confusion. I’ll try to answer the things that I have thought of (I’m sure there will be a bunch more) and other things that that are going to cause problems. Questions from anyone are welcome. I’ll try to answer as I get time.
1. Until further notice, please consider the characters and data here to be *the* characters and data moving forward. Take stock of where you’re at, and make note of what you really, really, REALLY want or need in the event we move forward with the current data and incentives options are provided and you want an item(s)/gold/or some other benefit as one of your incentives.
But if your desire is simply to play, or you are OK with starting anew, this would be a very good time to start that new PC you might have been thinking of and clean your servervault of the secondary PCs that will be too much work to build up again from February.
2. Because data recovery attempts are still underway, I ask that if you login within the next couple weeks, to primarily focus on new PCs to start with, take stock of where you are at with the old copies of any PCs that were in the February 8 restore, or just to have a bit of FUN! It hasn’t yet been determined if we will be moving forward with what we have in some form or shape, or (best case scenario) resetting everything in a few weeks with the recovered data from the drive.
3. The merchant system was completely redone at the point the last backup I have, so no merchant data exists.
4. As for stories, relationships, and ongoing campaigns, at this time I’d ask that all DMs and players put all of that on hold. It’s possible what happens in the next few weeks may be undone, so this period should really be mainly for getting your characters status assessed in case data from the dead drive is not recovered, getting a jump start on a new PC, or simply playing for the hell of it.
If you do end up RPing with others though, I want to mention that we are currently working to develop a full IC story in the event that the state of things now is that which remains going forward. Therefore, I ask that people who chose to play now don't worry about trying to 'forget' events that occurred since February 8. Instead, RP that the consciousness of your PC(s) has somehow been transported back in time to 1360 DR to their younger/previous version of him/herself. As a result, your PC will have knowledge of events that happen ~2 years into Thay's future, and this will allow you to maintain relationships you've formed with other PCs, if you like, even if you need to recreate one as a level 1 PC.
5. Finally, in preparation for the ‘final’ decision, you can vote for one of the options at the top of this thread. These are the narrowing of choices I’ve decided to go with - thank you all (players, staff) for your input so far that helped shape these. If one appeals to you more than others, go ahead and vote on what you’d like.
Note that the incentives mentioned in that poll will be similar to those offered here (the second post of this thread): http://thaypw.org/showthread.php?tid=1402&pid=10630#pid10630
Now that all of this is covered, in the hope that everyone has read it and knows what to expect if you are logging in now, the temporary password for Thay is: temppassword
If you do not understand the current state of things, or have other questions, please post them before you login at this time!
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Karilynn - 08-27-2014
You are very generous to host us, and have put a lot of time and energy into the mod. I've had a lot of fun in the mod and certainly bear no ill will. :)
Eventually (if data is not salvagable), I'm sure we can make some arrangements to help players get characters back to where they were. In the meantime, everyone enjoy life and survive the period of Thay withdrawal. ;)
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Miscr3ant - 08-27-2014
While we all have hours invested, characters can be re-rolled and played once again in a matter of minutes (albeit not so well heeled) as the RP for my characters is stored in my head; I've only suffered two crashes. ;)
I'm more concerned with the actual thay.mod file...is that gone too? Or is that safe somewhere? Because THAT represents God only knows how many hours of building over the course of years. And if that is dust, then we most definitely have cause for sorrow. :(
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Balanor - 08-27-2014
The Thay PW mod file is safe as I copied that back over to my backup laptop immediately after I got NWN reinstalled on it yesterday so I could continue working on server updates.
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Miscr3ant - 08-27-2014
WHEW! :D
Also, if data recovery costs are a concern, if you have a Paypal account set up, I can donate what I can to help defray the effects on your pocket for something I get the benefit of, bud. :)
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Balanor - 08-27-2014
Thanks man. I've never asked for donations before, but if it comes to around that general amount for trying to recover data from a dead drive, I may gently ask for them. If the community is willing to help out, that would be a big help and incentive to do anything possible to get data from that drive.
Then of course, after that is the matter of spending even more money to purchase a [much more reliable] hard drive than the one that was in the server. Maybe a SSD or something. But that's a bridge to burn when we get there.
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Animayhem - 08-27-2014
(08-27-2014, 09:54 PM)Karilynn Wrote: You are very generous to host us, and have put a lot of time and energy into the mod. I've had a lot of fun in the mod and certainly bear no ill will. :)
Yes.
It is only a game. I still have erfs saved of areas I built for Thay on my main and backup drives.
As for data retrieval I suggest Staples. They managed to get everything off my dead hard drive from my last crash.
As for withdrawls :P It will help me get caught up on writing and screenshots.
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Balanor - 08-27-2014
Animayhem, do you remember what was Staples turnaround time? How quick did they get the data back to you?
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Bela - 08-27-2014
I am sorry about the poots you have failing, but sadder that you may have lost your personal files.
I also hold no ill will against you for these unfortunate turn of events. I hope you get your personal files back at least. As for "hindsight" I am sure everyone has had that thought many times, I know I have. This has been something out of your control, you are not at fault, as far as I am concerned.
I agree with Miscr3ant, if you have an account with paypal, I too am happy to offer you what I can towards the bill. As I get many hours of pleasure and release from real life through Thay.
You and your team have done a marvellous job over the years and I have no problems about starting my girls over and beginning in Thay again.
When Thay returns, so shall I. :D
RE: Status of the Thay PW - Animayhem - 08-27-2014
(08-27-2014, 10:45 PM)Thayan Wrote: Animayhem, do you remember what was Staples turnaround time? How quick did they get the data back to you?
They did it same day. Took about three hours. I had them load it to an external drive I had.
They did not have to dismantle it.