Server down?

[zion]

Sorry, I tend not to login unless I want to complain lol. Not that I would ever complain. /cower

[Jaethor]

After an hour of running diagnoses, resetting modems and routers, troubleshooting out the wazoo, I don't know why I didn't just bloody check if the server was down.

[roeshak]

Everyone! Game on.
I was curious about all of this early today, yet for some reason didn't think to just check the forums.
Now everyone just needs to hurry up and come back!

[Kaal]

So. Can we get an explanation as to what is going on? Apparently our servers crashed for an unknown reason, went to a temporary server and are now on our original servers?

[Nakarym]

It...crashed. Stuff...broke.

What sort of explanation are you looking for?

[Pyrok]

Likely an ETA on when you will flex your omnipotent muscles and crush the puny mortals who are causing the world to plunge into stygian darkness repeatedly, thereby restoring normality to the lands. And then a minutely detailed list on what transpired, complete with arcane symbols (read: source code) so that one may decipher where the puny mortals were attacking the fabric of reality and declare it to be inefficient and demand that you elevate the plane of existence (read: server) to something more stable.

My guess Kaal doesn't like someone having more power over reality than him. er... I mean the gods. Definitely the gods.


Edit: Things like servers being taken down have been going on all over the net it seems. Methinks Cyber-Cthulu has awakened.

[Nakarym]

Trying very hard to take this with a grain of salt, because I know those hoping for answers (probably) have fairly good intent. In lieu of really having the grounds to speak out, let me say this on behalf of myself and my fellow gods:

I am sorry. Sometimes, things just don't work out in a good way: servers crash, files are corrupt, code goes haywire, things just plain -suck- every now and again. To those who've been patient while all of the above and so much more is going on behind the scenes, thank you. Thank you for showing your interest by continuing to log in, and even frequenting the forums when the game is having its special moments of anti-cooperation. Broken things will be fixed at their own rate, it's far from a simple matter of someone waving a wand and suddenly everything is wonderful again. We know this. You know this.

Now, to those of you less patient (who I can't really blame, having been in your shoes), please continue to bear with us and know that, given circumstances, as much productive work as is possible at this time is going back into patching up the Akanbar we love and getting things back on the good rail.

It's a process, with a number of factors and factors to those factors that are just plain shitty and beyond control. Forgive me if I seem to be dancing around the issue, because no, I really -do not- know any of the specifics, and if I did we're all more than aware I would not be at liberty to discuss. Just keep patience in mind, and remember that the goings-on in the heavens aren't always exactly sunshine and rainbows, but those who can are doing their best nonetheless.

That's all.

[Loren]

So... Down again? or is that just me?

[Kaal]

Down again...

[Loren]

On the bright side, things like this happen, I see Nakarym's Sig, and remember to vote!

[Kaal]

To the Heavens:

I think what I was mostly looking for is something to re-assure me that things are being done to limit this from happening again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know things are being done. What things though? Are we getting a better server? Are things being downgraded or upgraded? As a subscribed member, and even if I weren't, I feel like the efforts I am putting into this land are not being... valued? Troy made countless barrels, only to have the day be reset and his efforts turned to not. Fleur did hours of cooking... I can only imagine how tedious said pursuits can be, and then to have to do them all over again.

That isn't to say I don't understand, I know and trust that things are being done. More specifically, I trust that Jaethor will get it done. However, I personally feel that Zycandos should be a bit more involved. Not just involved with the behind the scenes bit, but also the consumers themselves. How many times have I heard something where "Zycandos will have to make a decision on that, You should talk to Zycandos"... Yet I have emailed him on at least three different occasions, messaged him at least twice, and have not gotten a response at all. To be specific, this isn't a complaint against Zycandos, but a feeling of complete disregard for those who are enjoying these lands and have done so for the better part of 5 years.

Server is down yet again... I am feeling pretty frustrated. I guess that sums it up, and as much as I hate to say it, I am not a patient person it would seem. Anyways, and as always, LOVE AKANBAR! (when it is working...) I have to agree with Lawrence, This is disheartening that of all the Akanbar forums, this is the most active one.

[Jaethor]

To the Heavens:

I think what I was mostly looking for is something to re-assure me that things are being done to limit this from happening again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know things are being done. What things though? Are we getting a better server? Are things being downgraded or upgraded? As a subscribed member, and even if I weren't, I feel like the efforts I am putting into this land are not being... valued? Troy made countless barrels, only to have the day be reset and his efforts turned to not. Fleur did hours of cooking... I can only imagine how tedious said pursuits can be, and then to have to do them all over again.

That isn't to say I don't understand, I know and trust that things are being done. More specifically, I trust that Jaethor will get it done. However, I personally feel that Zycandos should be a bit more involved. Not just involved with the behind the scenes bit, but also the consumers themselves. How many times have I heard something where "Zycandos will have to make a decision on that, You should talk to Zycandos"... Yet I have emailed him on at least three different occasions, messaged him at least twice, and have not gotten a response at all. To be specific, this isn't a complaint against Zycandos, but a feeling of complete disregard for those who are enjoying these lands and have done so for the better part of 5 years.

Server is down yet again... I am feeling pretty frustrated. I guess that sums it up, and as much as I hate to say it, I am not a patient person it would seem. Anyways, and as always, LOVE AKANBAR! (when it is working...) I have to agree with Lawrence, This is disheartening that of all the Akanbar forums, this is the most active one.

Zycandos has been the person handling this since day 1. I am dealing with a family emergency and am not able to do anything. Zycandos has been on every day, working to fix the servers and whatever has broken Akanbar.

[Loren]

We're back, if anyone is unaware and/or interested

[Shax]

"I can only imagine how tedious said pursuits can be, and then to have to do them all over again."

Yes- this is frustrating. We (the players) are all "frustrated" to some degree with the crashes and issues Bar is having. However, try to imagine coding for hours on end, just to watch all of that unravel in front of you, and have to start over again entirely. I'm sure you can relate to this. Most everyone who has played has experienced a loss of their "reflexes" or even a total wipe out of their own client's settings at some point in time.

Lord knows I've spent hours working on cures, just to have my computer crash, and put me back at square one. And if it wasn't just -my- settings I was having to fix, I might give up, and say, "You can all apply mending manually from now on- good day!"

What needs to be understood, is that you and I, and the majority of the other "players", aren't going to see much going on other than a lot of earthquakes and a steady progression of bugs being quashed beneath the thumbs of the Divine. That does not, by any means, leave a doubt in my mind that they are doing everything they can to resolve the issues.

I have to agree with Lawrence, This is disheartening that of all the Akanbar forums, this is the most active one.

This is not disheartening for me to see. To me, all this says, is that a lot of people -care- about this game. It's like having a favourite toy, just to have it broken...you run to your mother, and she says, "I will try to fix it." A few hours pass, and Teddy now has both his arms, except one is sewn a little tighter on than the other and now he looks a bit deformed. You don't (normally) throw the bear down, and say, "This isn't good enough." You love the bear, despite it's imperfections, and hope your mum's sewing improves soon so he can get back to being his proper self.

Personally, and I believe most everyone feels this way, I want to thank all of the people who are working to make this situation better. Whether that is by simply logging in and continuing to play and reporting bugs, or the Divine who are actually doing the dirty work. We appreciate you. Don't feel disheartened. And again, thank you for all you do.

[Zycandos]

There have been, it would seem, two completely unrelated issues.

The first and most significant was a total server crash. Failure of a RAID 1 array and also a third backup drive. It was a very unlikely scenario, but it happened none the less. This meant everything had to be re-built from scratch from external backups, rather than the usual quick turn arounds we manage with problems.

As you may well have noticed, we got that back up and running within 12 hours or so, however just because Akanbar was up and running, that didn't mean everything was fixed. There is a huge amount of background stuff that needed re configuring also. As I mentioned in the news post, we moved to a temporary (slower) server for a few days, whist a new one was procured. Once that was fully set up, we then migrated everything to the new server in a far more seemless manner. That was completed yesterday.

The second issue would appear to have just been a normal "bug", which after some hunting has turned out to be unrelated to the crash. It was introduced around the same time as the server failure and caused some random shutdowns. We think that has gone now, but as with so many things, time will tell.