Argent Archives bugging out?

Pretty much the title, I keep getting error 502 when I try to access the page, which doesn’t even let me sign in or access properly on phone? Is it just me, or is anyone having this issue as well. Does anyone know how to fix this?

1 Like

It’s an extremely scuffed website in general
but according to https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/argentarchives.org.html it’s down and has been for a while.

1 Like

The domain is ancient, and has been slowly breaking down for a while now. This is the first time in a bit that it’s properly gone down, though, so it can’t be a good sign. Best case scenario is that the team can get the current profiles to a more modern domain; otherwise, might be up to someone else to make a new character profile website.

Tried to access it 2-3 days ago. Still unavailable today. I hope it manages to come back online somehow.

1 Like

It’s been having time outs for about a week or two now. There are moments when it comes back up but you’re look at it being close to late in the afternoon.

I’d really love a more updated version of a website like that. I don’t really use AA as often as I use for a lot of reasons this one being one of them. There’s RPFind, but that’s dedicated towards not just wow and not just one region for roleplayers.

3 Likes

It’d funny I was just discussing this with a friend the other day, I feel their website is very limiting (no offence to any of the AA team if you’re reading). There’s far more you could do from a design perspective. Sure, BB code works to an extent put stuff like music embedding or HTML5 animations just for simple examples.

I don’t know, with other sites around it just feels a bit outdated IMO.

I get not everyone is website savvy and it was more designed for RP’ers with little knowledge in mind, but point still stands.

Edit: Since learned the service was volunteer based.

3 Likes

The problem the AA team has is they are all volunteers who work the website off their own backs, they aren’t paid, they don’t really get much funding or donations as far as I’m aware and they are trying to handle a huuuge amount of people using the site than it was intending originally. I hope they get it up and running again because I think it’s a really nice effort and I for one appreciate a place to put up a page with all the details of my characters.

22 Likes

Ah you see, I wasn’t aware it was a volunteer-based thing, that adds a new light to the website and it’s design.

3 Likes

Hi, one of the AA admins here.

Unfortunately (as you have noted), there is indeed some (technical) trouble with the Argent Archives site. We’ve tried various things which didn’t solve the problem. We also noted some issues with the underlying platform. We’re working with the hosting company to see if they can help, while considering other options.

For now I’ve put up a maintenance page.

Please remember that the AA is not the “main job” of any of the admins.

I will try and keep you informed of any progress in this thread and on that maintenance page.

Thanks for the support!

49 Likes

Do you have any idea of what it is at all? Like you’re not being attacked (hopefully)? Or the host is just struggling to keep up for whatever reason?

1 Like

Thank you for the update guys, you are as always doing an amazing job and I hope it can be fixed

2 Likes

Unfortunately the tools available to us are quite limited, so we’re heavily reliant on the hosts themselves for any useful info. Starstone knows his stuff, so if it was “in our hands” I’m confident it would already be resolved!

Re: some earlier posts - we’re aware that the AA is dated, and we’re not remaining idle on the background with regards to bringing it “up to date”. Minus the recent stability issues however, it’s continued to serve its purpose to the realm quite well and remains surprisingly active!

22 Likes

Ah I had a feeling that may be the case, as said I wasn’t aware (initially) that it was a volunteer based site, so it does bring things into perspective now.

Hopefully your issues move off some point soon.

Wasn’t there a suggestion in the past, where some the realm of the people on the realm were happy to offer funding towards assisting in bringing a more updated version of AA.

1 Like

Indeed. Serving the roleplayers of Argent Dawn since 2007 :blush:

10 Likes

I’d argue this is due to the fact there is no viable alternative for the service it provides. Don’t get me wrong, everyone on the server appreciates the efforts the staff take to keep the staple of the server up for so many years; but the traffic has certainly been dying down due to its instability, compared to earlier years (coming from a daily visitor since 2012-ish). I contacted the team about concerns but sadly never heard back. Is there any update on plans to reinvent/“move” the site any time soon? I understand the reluctance comes from the fact it must be hard to let go of over a decade of Argent Dawn history, but I assure you it’s a better alternative than losing it all forever.

You’d be surprised at the amount of people who would be willing to donate to a cause like that; I was in a guild of very dedicated AA-heads who would have all been happy to donate any amount to assist in preserving this legacy of our server whilst also having the option to utilise a domain that isn’t stuck in 2007. Hell, it took thirteen years for the site to develop past its archaic “banner + description + background” profile structure, and the creativity since that restriction was lifted is insane.

8 Likes

Basically this - it is also in fact my burning question

AA has been cool + epic for many people over the years, and while I still occasionally dabble on the site if I find myself particularly bored or looking for a creative outlet, I really don’t use the site as much as I previously did because of how aged and past its time the site often feels. It’d be nice to hear if there’s any plans for this or similar intentions

4 Likes

We’ve always gone against the idea of accepting donations/ taking money as it adds its own challenges, but as discussions are ongoing in the background regarding the work required to “update” the AA, the option is on the table. Nothing concrete to discuss yet.

We have analytics that suggests otherwise (unless, of course, you refer to the very recent instability issues, i.e. the last couple of months, in which case of course traffic has dropped - the page hasn’t been accessible for hours at a time). The last time we saw a drop like the current one was back in 2014-2015 when the site was experiencing similar issues.

This thread is possibly the first place we’ve actually openly suggested that these plans exist. They are just plans at the moment - as discussed previously, the team are entirely volunteers, we only have one (extremely awesome) technical expert, and there’s a surprising amount involved in this kind of update.

When we think we have a decent plan scoped out, we’ll let you know. It’s obviously important that we let the realm get involved - the site is everyone’s after all - but do please understand that the aim will be to provide the best solution we can to cater for the majority, and there will be some elements that we’ll likely leave out as other services provide them better (e.g. - no chat rooms, forums, a focus on IC over OOC). We want to make sure people still feel like they’re in the Archives, not just browsing someone’s character’s personal website or blog.

Without giving too much away, one thing we’re really looking into doing is better registration/character management. At the very least, no more “Can’t register Dávë because Dave is taken”…

28 Likes

Best of luck guys, fight the good fight.