# Site... grinding to... halt...



## wedgeski (Aug 26, 2004)

I post this only because of my frustration at not being able to visit my favourite site whenever I want to.  For the past few days ENW has basically been unusable for me except at times of the morning just like this. I mean completely home-page-takes-minutes-to-load and forum-browsing-basically-doesn't-work unusable. Any upgrades in the pipeline?

(Disclaimer: this is neither a whinge nor a moan; it is, however, a desperate plea for help.)


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## Piratecat (Aug 26, 2004)

We've been having 1000-1200 people on it simultaneously as people get back from GenCon, along with a lot of photo downloading. Sluggish.


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## wedgeski (Aug 26, 2004)

Good point.


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## Desdichado (Aug 26, 2004)

It was sluggish during GenCon as well, though, for those of us who didn't go.  And for several weeks leading up to GenCon.  The sluggishness of the site has greatly increased my postcount rpg.net...


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## Emiricol (Aug 26, 2004)

I agree with Joshua.  The timing of GenCon goesn't seem to have been a factor, as it has been sluggish before and during the Con.  Or if it hasn't, then I'm just crazy or something


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## Joshua Randall (Aug 26, 2004)

So, umm, the $20,000 we raised last year is being spent how? And the new server is coming when?


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## Grazzt (Aug 30, 2004)

Emiricol said:
			
		

> I agree with Joshua.  The timing of GenCon goesn't seem to have been a factor, as it has been sluggish before and during the Con.  Or if it hasn't, then I'm just crazy or something




Not just you. Same here. It was slow before and after the Con for me too.

And I'm with Joshua...when's the new server coming?


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## RangerWickett (Aug 30, 2004)

Joshua Randall said:
			
		

> So, umm, the $20,000 we raised last year is being spent how? And the new server is coming when?






I worry about saying too much of what is essentially a private matter of Russ's, but people seem a little indignant that we don't have a new $20,000 server, and I want people to understand that the site is not easy to afford.  I used to feel the same way, and then I had myself set straight.

First, I believe that the final number wasn't 20,000, after you factor in a few people not paying what they pledged, and taxes, and such.

Second, the ENnies are expensive, especially if you factor in that we had to pay for shipping submitted products to the judges.

Third, of course, is the hosting of the site.

I cannot (and even if I could, I wouldn't) go into details, but suffice it to say, Russ is doing a danged fine job with what he has.


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## Grazzt (Aug 30, 2004)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> I worry about saying too much of what is essentially a private matter of Russ's, but people seem a little indignant that we don't have a new $20,000 server, and I want people to understand that the site is not easy to afford.




I wouldnt dump 20K on a server either. You can build/buy them much cheaper than that. I just hooked up three Dell Power Edge dual Xeon servers at work (I do Network Admin in real life) and each server only cost us about $3,500-$4,000 (more or less) to purchase.


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## Aries_Omega (Aug 30, 2004)

*Web Site Access*

I use to think that it was always the web site that was the problem. Now that I work for the local cable/internet/telephone company I know that it isn't the case. I have only had issues ONCE with this site that dealt with it not being up. I am glad that EN World is up and I I love this site. Russ does a bang up job with this site and I salute him for his efforts.


Aries


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## Joshua Randall (Aug 31, 2004)

No one is saying that Russ should spend all $20,000 on a server. Please. That's a straw-man argument.

However, I think that for those who have paid $35/year to become community supporters of EN World, it is legitimate to complain about the ongoing site sluggishness. Why is there no fix in the works? Why is there no public timetable for getting a fix?

I pay an average of $10-$15 a year to belong to a fantasy football website, and it's plenty fast. Ditto for two fantasy baseball sites I belong to: $10-$20 membership fees and no connectivity problems. (And no, these are not the ESPNs of the world -- these are mom'n'pop sites.)

So I'm paying twice or three-and-a-half times that to belong to EN World -- and every month we go through the same thing: Site takes forever to load. Replies time out when being posted. Site grinds to a halt near noon Eastern time. Site goes down for days at a time. Etc. etc. It's getting old.

One other thing. There are 20,635 people on the members list. If even 5% of them are community supporters, that means EN World is bringing in $36,085 a year *just from community supporters* -- not counting advertising or sales through RPGShop. Surely some of that money could go to upgrading the servers?


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## MerakSpielman (Aug 31, 2004)

It's been slow for a while now. Just too many darn members. 

If people don't like the slowness of the site, I highly encourage them to go elsewhere (and thus speed it up for the rest of us!)


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## Nyarlathotep (Aug 31, 2004)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> Second, the ENnies are expensive, especially if you factor in that we had to pay for shipping submitted products to the judges.




Did money from the donation drive go to this at the expense of getting a new/improving the server? I'm not going to complain too much about this, but, *if true* it will certainly affect whether or not I donate again. The point of donating was, of course, to keep EN World alive and pay the outstanding connection fee, but I was under the impression that there was a new server or improvements in the pipeline for the website. So I guess the question is: are there any improvements planned for the server?

I know that I *donated* the money and don't expect an accounting or anything ridiculous like that, but if the money is going to go to support an EN World booth and not improving the site I can't see myself donating again in the future. An update on this would be nice if any admins (or Morrus) get an opportunity.

Disclaimer: Please don't take this as complaining or me telling you what to do, or anything like that. I'm just curious about what's going on.


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## DaveMage (Aug 31, 2004)

When I donated last year it was to keep the site going.  At some point, it was announced that with the money raised, a new server would be forthcoming.

That sounded great to me.  I hope it's true.

However, as I have said before, Morrus can choose to spend the money I donated however he wants to keep the site up and running.  I didn't donate with strings attached.

Previously I have said that I will not donate again unless a new server is in place, but, heck, even with things as slow as they are, it's still my favorite place on the net to visit.  I'll probably re-up when it's time.


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## MerakSpielman (Aug 31, 2004)

Morrus - I know you read these threads with dread and annoyance, having addressed the gripes being brought up many times in the past. As a bit of advice, it couldn't hurt (could it?) to sticky a thread in Meta with your responses to the "Where's the New Server" and "What Happened to my Donations" questions. 

If nothing else, it might keep the complainers quiet. er.


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## DaveStebbins (Aug 31, 2004)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> Morrus - I know you read these threads with dread and annoyance, having addressed the gripes being brought up many times in the past. As a bit of advice, it couldn't hurt (could it?) to sticky a thread in Meta with your responses to the "Where's the New Server" and "What Happened to my Donations" questions.
> 
> If nothing else, it might keep the complainers quiet. er.



I have to second this idea. For evey person who asks or complains, there are probably dozens more wondering the same thing. Every time you answer with how much the monthly fees are and the laundry list of other expenses and the lists of things that must be worked out before the server can be bought and put online, I think to myself "that makes sense and sounds perfectly reasonable." But without the occasional update, the answers are forgotten and the questions resurface.

-Dave


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## Grazzt (Aug 31, 2004)

Joshua Randall said:
			
		

> No one is saying that Russ should spend all $20,000 on a server. Please. That's a straw-man argument.




Dont know if this was directed at me or Wickett, but I for one don't expect a $20,000 server (which is why I posted what I did). 

Whether its a new server or more bandwith that is needed (or both)...something for sure is needed. The site is just too damn slow more often than not.


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## Grazzt (Aug 31, 2004)

Aries_Omega said:
			
		

> I use to think that it was always the web site that was the problem. Now that I work for the local cable/internet/telephone company I know that it isn't the case. I have only had issues ONCE with this site that dealt with it not being up. I am glad that EN World is up and I I love this site. Russ does a bang up job with this site and I salute him for his efforts.
> Aries




Yep Russ does a great job with the site, no one's doubting that. Its just slow quite a bit (I run DSL at home and a dedicated T1 at work and this site is the only site that gives me "fits").


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## Piratecat (Aug 31, 2004)

I think Morrus is already pulling together a page to show folks what got spent how, because Dave and Merak are right that it's been answered a few times but not seen by everyone. We'll announce it in this forum when it goes up.

And thanks for caring about this site, folks. Knowing that makes it a lot more fun to be here.


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## Morrus (Sep 1, 2004)

Yep, there's a web page on the subject coming so that people can be pointed at it.  As you suggest, it's much easier than having the same conversation every other week.


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## Psionicist (Sep 1, 2004)

I used to be pretty vocal about this issue, but then I found a perfectly reasonable explanation at Nothingland. I don't know if there is such thing as a first rule of Nothingland so I will not give you a link, but If you find the thread read the whole thing, it's hilarious.


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## Morrus (Sep 2, 2004)

The web page is now up - you'll find it here:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/news.php?page=fund


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Sep 2, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> The web page is now up - you'll find it here:
> 
> http://www.enworld.org/forums/news.php?page=fund



 Thanks Russ, that was very helpful and informative.


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## DaveMage (Sep 2, 2004)

Yes, very informative.  I would suggest the link be made sticky in the meta forum.


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## Thornir Alekeg (Sep 2, 2004)

Thanks for the information.  I will become a Community Supporter as soon as my wife's paychecks start rolling in.  It was an expense I was unable to justify when I was the only one earning income.


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## Morrus (Sep 3, 2004)

DaveMage said:
			
		

> Yes, very informative. I would suggest the link be made sticky in the meta forum.



I've added an announcement to all forums for the next month or so; it's also in the main menu on the news page, so hopefully people should be able to find it.


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## RangerWickett (Sep 4, 2004)

Russ, it might be worthwhile to edit the statement that the ENnies don't benefit ENWorld so that you say the ENnies don't benefit ENWorld financially.  It can be misread to sound like the ENnies are a bad thing.


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