Server announcement decision about Fridays vendor issues

#1

As you all know on Friday 11th September we took down the server for a standard server restart due to being up for 7 days, as we do on a regular basis. When we tried to bring the server down it segfaulted and basically crashed before finishing the cycle to shut down properly. This segfault crash was quite severe and wiped out some vendors and items were lost from the database, which resulted in many of you reporting missing items.

We do regular database backups in which a scripted process backs up the databases daily. This process has been running as normal, and recording as completed on checks. However, when we tried to access them it became clear that they have not been saving correctly. We have already resolved the issue and you will all be pleased to know that the backups are once again working as intended thanks to Quandru’s efforts. We are safe in the knowledge that any such issue in the future would mean we can just revert to the latest backup and continue on with a very short rollback.

The Sysadmin, Dev and Admin staff have been frantically working behind the scenes since Friday, firstly see how much damage had been done to the database and what the effects were for the community before making any decisions. We wanted to be sure that the decision we made was the one that gave the best possible outcomes for our community and secured the server in the long term. We are aware that any decision is going to have positive and negative impacts for you all, so we have wanted to make sure every avenue has been exhausted before making a final decision on how we move forward.

This decision rests on my shoulders and I personally take full responsibility for the decision which I’m about to announce to the community here at Sentinels Republic.

Shortly today at 8pm UTC, 3pm EST, 12pm PST we will be taking down the live server and will be restoring the backup from September 1st, the server will remain down until tomorrow (time to be confirmed), This will mean that all progress since then will be lost but we will be giving you all a “goodwill package” to try to compensate somewhat with your losses during this time. The “goodwill package” will be announced shortly but we have tried to be as fair as possible to everyone.

Depending on the age of your account you will receive a different package. The packages won’t be made available for a few days but they are coming to you all as a goodwill gesture. We will also be having a period of double xp (x10 of live). We will also run a programme to help newer players to help them to rebuild specs with admin support. We will release the system for doing this tomorrow.

Now I know you all will have opinions about this, but I have made the decision and the responsibility rests on MY shoulders. The staff have been fantastic through all of this and we should all be very proud of them all. They have all shown what a great team is and have pulled together to get these issues sorted as soon as is possible.

With that in mind, I am also going to state very clearly, that any harassment of staff will be acted upon swiftly. Accounts will be frozen or banned if players contact staff or make public accusations to complain or attack them because of this. All the staff are volunteers and should be respected for the time and energy they donate to give you all a game to enjoy for free. The strength of Sentinels Republic, has always been our community, so let’s all move forward together in the knowledge that we will always do our best for you all.

Desporo