Wrangler
01/24/17 06:14 PM
108.20.178.107
|
Has anyone seen posts on what going on? Everything but the Store itself are down. 
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Akalabeth
01/24/17 09:13 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Probably just the servers are down or they forgot to pay their rent or something.
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Frabby
01/25/17 02:20 AM
79.224.100.77
|
If they announced server maintenance then I missed it. Still, I hope they're just working on their shop and/or the BattleCorps database.
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Wrangler
01/25/17 12:53 PM
74.92.58.193
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Only Battletech related (CGL owned?) sites is MasterUnitList.com, Camospecs, and new Store.
Only think i've seen semi-related to staff was Herb posting on his Twitter "Sorry for the Inconvenience" that's it.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Cray
01/25/17 05:13 PM
72.189.109.30
|
It's alive now, ~4pm EST on 1/25.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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BelleSorciere
01/27/17 11:30 PM
71.35.158.99
|
And down again, at least for a couple of hours.
Seems to be up now, though.
Edited by BelleSorciere (01/27/17 11:31 PM)
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Wrangler
03/29/17 08:45 PM
108.20.178.107
|
Yeah its down again, Shadowrun's tabletop forums are down too. Exactly what happened in January.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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GiovanniBlasini
03/30/17 01:29 AM
66.87.65.153
|
I seem to have been getting occasional 504s the past few days, but hadn't thought much of it. This is also the same behavior as when they bounce their servers each night, so I wonder if the server hard crashed.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Nic Jansma
03/30/17 09:56 PM
68.48.94.39
|
There were some issues with the hosting provider that have again been resolved.
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GiovanniBlasini
05/25/17 08:38 PM
66.87.64.52
|
Went down again this morning Pacific time - about 8 hours ago, I believe?
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Wrangler
05/25/17 11:51 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Yep, no sign of anything going on. I wish there was neutral website that could report or make statements what the issues is.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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GiovanniBlasini
05/26/17 12:40 AM
75.80.182.44
|
Quote:
Yep, no sign of anything going on. I wish there was neutral website that could report or make statements what the issues is.
They've done so in the past on Sarna, and my old site Btechunits, actually.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Wrangler
05/26/17 08:55 AM
131.239.31.200
|
Quote:
Quote:
Yep, no sign of anything going on. I wish there was neutral website that could report or make statements what the issues is.
They've done so in the past on Sarna, and my old site Btechunits, actually.
Where was it posted? Or they sent it to Nic and he relayed it. I'm barely editing here on Sarna these days unfortunately.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Frabby
05/26/17 09:25 AM
84.180.78.224
|
Pretty much everything save the Catalyst online story seems do be down since yesterday. Could be anything from the site being blocked because its data volume for the month was used up, to the long-awaited revamp of BattleCorps et al finally going forward.
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Frabby
05/26/17 10:32 AM
80.187.112.29
|
...aaand it's back online.
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GiovanniBlasini
05/26/17 11:13 AM
66.87.65.43
|
Interesting. Still down for me.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Frabby
05/26/17 03:00 PM
84.180.78.224
|
Same here. But I could access it briefly a few hours ago.
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Cray
05/26/17 05:14 PM
67.8.226.169
|
Quote:
Interesting. Still down for me.
It's up as of 4:15pm EST.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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GiovanniBlasini
05/26/17 06:37 PM
64.171.121.200
|
Quote:
Quote:
Interesting. Still down for me.
It's up as of 4:15pm EST.
Wonder what happened.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Wrangler
07/04/17 09:05 AM
24.34.162.106
|
I don't know what is happening. I hope something not wrong with the website. It seems to be going down alot.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Karagin
07/04/17 02:42 PM
72.176.187.91
|
It's been down for two days, you would think by now they would have folks on top of this, then again...no they don't.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Daedster
07/04/17 02:45 PM
108.75.107.190
|
*sigh* Wish I could say that this surprises me, but it doesn't.
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Karagin
07/04/17 03:08 PM
72.176.187.91
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Oh now they are saying they were hacked and being held for ransom...either they are playing silly games or it's real, but given that this happens every 6 to 9 months every couple of years...yeah not sure what to believe from them on this.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Wrangler
07/04/17 10:37 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Ransom-ware?!!?!? Oh crap. I can't believe this happened. Why do this to them? Their barely making money. Lord i hate hackers.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Daedster
07/04/17 10:44 PM
108.75.107.190
|
If it is the latest "ransomware" going around it's malware hidden as ransomware. I hate hackers.
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ghostrider
07/05/17 03:53 AM
66.74.61.223
|
Viruses like ransomware tend to target those that do things like check email on work stations. Click on the link and you got it uploaded into your system. And when you are at work, or use that system to program on... well it tends to follow the flow of data.
Weither you are making money or not, the programmers don't care. If you can pay, the programmers don't care. The small guy is just collateral damage for them. They are after things like banks and government systems.
Wish I knew where the link was, as an article was on line about one of windows programs, I want to say office, allowed a virus to be transmitted from just passing over the link information.
And anti virus software, being good, does not catch all viruses.
But for most, simple trojan sent thru emails is the easiest way to infect a system.
So make sure your fellow coworkers stop using their internet connections at work to check their mail. It can affect you as well as all the employees, if the hackers get into the data base were your employment records are kept.
And I guess this thread is not the best place for this.
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Karagin
07/05/17 06:22 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Thing is they should still be on top of things, protecting their site and hey get this their Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook pages are NOT hacked and they could oh you know let folks know hey we are dealing with the outage or something, but nope, we get info third hand about their current problem via folks bugging those they know at the company. Not sure this a good way to run a company but hey this is CGL and they and they still have the FASA business model as an example...
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Akalabeth
07/05/17 03:27 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Quote:
Thing is they should still be on top of things, protecting their site and hey get this their Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook pages are NOT hacked and they could oh you know let folks know hey we are dealing with the outage or something, but nope, we get info third hand about their current problem via folks bugging those they know at the company. Not sure this a good way to run a company but hey this is CGL and they and they still have the FASA business model as an example...
Please, FASA was a much better company.
They didn't try to nickle and dime their customers by splitting essential information like technology between a half-dozen different books. Not to mention much more consistent artwork, plus boxed sets & rules & maps IN STOCK not OOP for ages.
You also didn't hear anything about an owner at FASA mixing 850K of the company's money with his personal account.
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Wrangler
07/05/17 07:58 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Has the company put out any statements or anything?
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Wrangler
07/05/17 08:06 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Ok, here something on Twitter.
"Website update: http://bg.BattleTech.com has been unavailable due to host server maintenance."
"We're in the process of moving the site to a new server which will make the site more secure and stable. Thank you for your patience."
So this was planned or they covering things up? If they were going to do a major redo- they should have announced it.
I'm glad they're bring it back. I just hope we didn't lose anything in the website.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Karagin
07/05/17 11:33 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Funny they posted that they had been hacked and folks shared the crap out of that on Facebook, so which is was the site hacked (yet again), is it a transition to a new site, or was it sever maintenance? I ask this because when I contacted them via Facebook, they tell oh hey check out our site, but wait it's being moved to a better server so you got to wait till then was their answer to my question about Demo Teams.
So this shoddy acting here sounds more like Palladium Games then it should...just saying.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Akalabeth
07/06/17 12:47 AM
64.251.81.66
|
Yeah. Someone said it was hacked, then someone heard they got hit by a ransomware virus and were being held to ransom, now its just a shitty server?
Maybe the idea of Ben Rome are finally coming to pass:
https://twitter.com/bhrome/status/865348894875582469
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GiovanniBlasini
07/06/17 05:37 AM
75.80.182.44
|
That doesn't say new site, it says new server. If their old server asplode, that could explain it.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Karagin
07/06/17 06:36 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Either way they are not being honest about things or forth coming and again this speaks a lot about why folks think the game is a dead one. How hard is it to say they are having issues both external and internal and working to fix them? Hell 80% of us have stuck with this game since BattleDroids and are still here enjoying it. So really all CGL needs to do is be honest and stop the silliness cause this "shadow" running (yes bad pun) doesn't help the image or out look of Battletech or the other games of theirs at all.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Wrangler
07/06/17 08:39 AM
66.87.125.149
|
Give how small the company is. I am not totally surprised. It took the a long time get a new ???? shop. Forums are important but the company hyper focus is making the game. It just to bad they are not able grow enough to be able have q slightly bigger staff to maintain other stuff like the website better.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
Edited by Wrangler (07/06/17 08:40 AM)
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ghostrider
07/06/17 02:57 PM
66.74.61.223
|
If they are like most companies, they are drawing paychecks larger then they should be. Then going along standard lines, most hire others to do the work then get upset when little gets done, even though they stepped out of production of things. Yes, this is generalizing them, and it could very well be they are not drawing the six and seven figures out of a company that only makes five figures.
I suggest this as most people I have seen that worked for others, then started their own business tends toward stupid behavior like this.
And one last thing. They would not want anyone knowing they were hacked or otherwise compromised.
People tend to worry about buying anything from them with credit cards and such. That information can lead to others losing their financial stability as they tend to have fraudulent charges showing up. Even stupid things like customers names, addresses and even were deliveries go could lead to other issues. One time of simply saying send the bill to my new address, and not being the real person could lead to alot more problems.
A small company has a harder time coming back from issues like this then walmart or target.
As a little joke, the childs new car comes before security software. Hell, even the weekend party does.
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Akalabeth
07/06/17 05:34 PM
64.251.81.66
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Five figures? What, you didn't hear?
Back in 2010 it was revealed by Catalyst that an accounting review revealed that 850,000 dollars of the company's money had been "co-mingled" with one Loren Coleman's personal account through transfer by both him and his wife. This revelation came about when a bunch of shadowrun freelance writers discovered they weren't getting paid what they were due.
http://www.catalystgamelabs.com/2010/03/17/catalyst-game-labs-press-release/
Quote:
While we wish the review had only uncovered positive news, we also discovered our accounting procedures had not been updated as the company continued to grow. The result was that business funds had been co-mingled with the personal funds of one of the owners. We believe the missing funds were the result of bad habits that began alongside the creation of the company, which was initially a small hobby group. Upon further investigation, in which the owner has willingly participated, the owner in question now owes the company a significant balance and is working to help rectify the situation.
More about it:
https://geek-related.com/2010/04/17/catalyst-games-defiant-criminals/
Did Coleman ever pay this back? This "embezzlement", because that's what it is under most people's definition. I seriously doubt it. So whenever someone on the main forums says "Yeah I wish Battletech had a huge pile of money so they could do product X", just imagine how big a pile 850K would make. Imagine how many extra full time staff that could pay for. It could for example pay for two full time employees at 60K a year for 7 years.
Edited by Akalabeth (07/06/17 06:09 PM)
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Karagin
07/06/17 06:33 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Do Palladium and CGL have the same person giving them business advice cause this sounds an awful lot like what Palladium went through and hasn't fully bounced back from yet.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Akalabeth
07/06/17 09:59 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Dunno much about Palladium except that I'm still missing half my Robotech Tactics figures. They've rotated out the mouthpiece on KS but much the same is being said as has been said the last year or two
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GiovanniBlasini
07/06/17 10:59 PM
66.87.130.71
|
Karagin, what is your source on CGL's statements on the site?
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Karagin
07/07/17 12:13 AM
72.176.187.91
|
My source, a Facebook IM they sent me when I ask about Demo Agents in the Austin Waco area. Also on the Facebook page Battletech customs and painting folks have posted the news about the hacking.
And Akalabeth, they keep trying to say the same thing on the PG kickstarter for Robotech that folks can see through the BS by the second sentence.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Karagin
07/07/17 12:17 AM
72.176.187.91
|
If I can figure out how to add photos to these posts I will share the screen shot.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Akalabeth
07/07/17 02:28 AM
75.155.167.106
|
Quote:
And Akalabeth, they keep trying to say the same thing on the PG kickstarter for Robotech that folks can see through the BS by the second sentence.
Yeah, I saw some of those comments. Until they show some 3d renders of the models I suspect everyone will keep singing the same tune
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Frabby
07/07/17 03:13 AM
79.224.103.164
|
Why the fuss?
To me it seems like good business practice to keep the buzz going and to keep internal problems to yourself.
The BattleTech forum is a fantastic site but it's also a free fan service that CGL aren't obliged to provide. They aren't getting paid for this. And they don't have to answer questions, especially when it's not about their product.
I remember that Loren Coleman/Frank Trollman chaos. The Shadowrun community went full Torches & Pitchforks over it, the BattleTech fanbase was much more Wait and See.
And the whole "scandal" died with a whimper.
Something happened. But I've never been able to glean from the internet what really happened. But I have a hard time taking Trollman's mix of accusations, conclusions and hyperbole at face value.
Catalyst stated there had been "a co-mingling of funds". That's nowhere near stating Loren Coleman had somehow taken the amount named by Trollman, or that the money had even been there in the first place. We only "know" what people with an axe to grind have said, and that was more opinion than fact.
BattleTech is alive and well. No point in bashing CGL.
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Akalabeth
07/07/17 05:44 AM
75.155.167.106
|
Quote:
The BattleTech forum is a fantastic site but it's also a free fan service that CGL aren't obliged to provide. They aren't getting paid for this. And they don't have to answer questions, especially when it's not about their product.
No, the Battletech forum is an echo chamber where dissenting voices are warned and banned while moderator&admin shills defend the company and support abusive behaviour against anyone who speaks out.
Quote:
I remember that Loren Coleman/Frank Trollman chaos. The Shadowrun community went full Torches & Pitchforks over it, the BattleTech fanbase was much more Wait and See.
And the whole "scandal" died with a whimper.
The Battletech fanbase has taken a 'wait and see' attitude with every aspect of Catalyst and the game is about to "die like a whimper' as well. Virtually no innovation. Apparently zero playtesting on major products like Alpha Strike or the myriad of broken rules like Quirks, TacOps optional rules. Outdated game. A laughable 3000 pages of "core rules". Information spread across multiple products.
Quote:
Something happened. But I've never been able to glean from the internet what really happened. But I have a hard time taking Trollman's mix of accusations, conclusions and hyperbole at face value.
Catalyst stated there had been "a co-mingling of funds". That's nowhere near stating Loren Coleman had somehow taken the amount named by Trollman, or that the money had even been there in the first place.
You admit to not knowing and then argue that the amount is less than is claimed. This despite the CGL press release calling it a "significant amount".
Quote:
We only "know" what people with an axe to grind have said, and that was more opinion than fact. BattleTech is alive and well. No point in bashing CGL.
People who don't get paid for their work generally do have an axe to grind.
Quote:
No point in bashing CGL.
Zero print products this year, continual complaints about the storefront, rulebook and introductory boxed set out of print.
There are plenty of reason to bash this company for its failures with the battletech line.
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Karagin
07/07/17 06:53 AM
72.176.187.91
|
They need to do something, we have a new FLAGS in Killeen, they are about 6 months old and I popped in, nice place, saw they had good mix of stuff, so I wonder into their miniature area and they have Warhammer, Pathfinder etc...hell even Dystopian War stuff, but not a single BT product. So I go ask the owner, he is like well I want to, but no one plays it any more and they aren't printing anything and so why care a product that doesn't appear to be supported...I point out that IWM still supports and pushes new miniatures for the game and he is comment back was and I quote "it's not worth my shelf space to carry something that isn't supported on the same levels as 40K with a VISIBLE and VIABLE front end that people can see and touch and know that they are getting something for their money".
So with the change in platforms of the CGL boards, you know the ones they operate for free, where you know the fans talk and share and act like small children, yeah those do mean something, and if CGL would push their Demo Agents to host games and IF CGL would actually do some advertisement about the game and push a could of products a month, both the PDF and dead tree format and link things together ala the 40K model, funny how with that game system you can almost always get the starter stuff without an issue and their super cool stuff is the hard to find vs CGL where the cool stuff can be found but the starter stuff is out of print or on back order odd that...
And for awhile Battletech had novels...then poof those went away, and you can tell that once you cut things that show off your product folks will not notice it, the die hards sure we know it's there and alive but it's kind of like that old dog, lies there only moving when it has too. Other wise folks think it's dead cause well they haven't seen it move in ages. 40K has new novels out every few months, their big push currently is the Hersey setting, folks are eating it up and yet no one seems to try and follow the example and do something similar, hell Battletech can easily borrow for the model and run with a similar event that they plan out and offer tons of stuff for, the Civil War in the FedCom could have been used or even the silly WoB attack on everyone could have been better modeled and used to push more products and get folks back into the game as well as allow the older eras support like Randal was giving them, which seemed to be popular enough.
CGL needs to do something, this world wide event, as poorly promoted as it is, might be the push needed, but with the server down and the lack of effort, yeah I don't see it going well if at all. And really right now CGL is starting to act like Palladium Games where "glowing" look isn't from the products but from the amount of backtracking and finger pointing and down right silliness as to the direction of the games and company. It comes down to this, either their main games, Battletech and Shadowrun are important to them still or they need to cut the chaff and focus on one or the other and stop diluting their efforts with all the other stuff.
And as said above I do have to agree the CGL ran/offered boards are indeed an echo chamber, where the mods are good friends with the folks putting the game out and can't seem to realize that nothing is perfect and fans will complain and offer ideas etc...but any word or comment that goes against the party line and boom you get banned. Hate to say this but there are plenty of evident postings here on Sarna that show just how folks who at one time or another who were connected with the folks running the game took their friendship and position to levels that ego got in the way of thinking and attacked anyone who didn't just jump and say wow great job over everything. Folks notice stuff like that and many will walk away.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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ATN082268
07/07/17 11:09 AM
69.128.58.222
|
I quit posting on the official Battletech site about 5 or 6 years ago because of moderator bias. It was pointed out by other people on the official forum and by me to TPTB, that one of the main problems of the official forum is that posts that get warnings/bans were always removed, so the proof of what violated the rules disappeared. I suspect that if all the posts were left in place (except for stuff like spam or pornography) that the number of warnings and bans would drop significantly. And if they wouldn't drop significantly, then why not leave the posts in place?
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Akalabeth
07/07/17 01:35 PM
75.155.167.106
|
And the bias is front and centre on a daily basis. One of the forum rules is to be constructive and actually contribute to the discussion, but one of the BMasters, Kit, posts 50% utter nonsense. Any discussion where someone speaks out all he will do is ridicule the person, and yet he remains on the board. His forum signature apparently even celebrates his nonsense.
The most recent example of bias of another nature though is in the 10th release thread where a guy named Ramseti was expressing some concerns, and sure enough in comes worktroll defending the company. If Ramseti continues to argue his point do you think he's going to escape without a warning? Do you think the person on the either side of the discussion will do so? The best outcome is that the thread gets locked and no one gets a warning, the more probable outcome is that Ramseti does and no one else because to be one dissenting voice means you're a "troll" and just causing problems.
Moderators & Admins should recuse themselves from any and all discussion about the company or its products & services.
That said, I think it's too late. Most of the people on that board seem cynical about the line. Forum activity seems to be way down, people either banned or just left. Most of the "general discussion" is just rolled into one big thread, even the super big news about a new line director got rolled into that one thread. Even were they to change it would be too little too late.
Edited by Akalabeth (07/07/17 01:37 PM)
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Wrangler
07/08/17 08:58 AM
24.34.162.106
|
For some reason, the server move announcement has disappeared from Twitter....
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
Edited by Wrangler (07/08/17 09:00 AM)
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Karagin
07/08/17 10:00 AM
72.176.187.91
|
They can't seem to be straight forward about things, I do understand it looks bad if they admit to being hacked, but at the same time hiding it is just as bad.
Given how poorly they run their forums, and yes again many of the same folks in charge over there have attacked folks here and if Nic still has the older postings up those attacks can be found, it's no wonder all they have at the main forums is the rabid fanboys who drool when they are told.
The Battlecrops model of paying for canon stories and such AFTER you join the club was a bad move across the board and when it came time to drop that they didn't, they just tossed a store front on it to sell new game books and older stuff.
All in all I am wondering why TOPPS haven't came in and set things straight.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Cray
07/08/17 01:07 PM
67.8.226.169
|
Hey, folks, general moderator comment: there's a lot of valid criticisms in here, and that's cool. But please take a moment to police your word choices when you start talking about people at the root of your criticisms. Pointed terms like "rabid fanboys" tend to snowball into more anger and specific name calling, which leads to violations of rule 1.
No biggie at this point, just keep things on an even keel.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Wrangler
07/08/17 01:26 PM
75.147.0.106
|
Cray, have you heard anything about if their still going move to a new server?
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Karagin
07/08/17 05:42 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Would over zealous fanboys be better wording?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Karagin
07/08/17 06:22 PM
72.176.187.91
|
So I did a Google for the BattleCrops store for Battletech, since no other link would even open and got this:
BattleCorps:/
battlecorps.com/
This site may be hacked.
Shop BATTLESHOP! Shop now for the all of your BattleTech product needs! ... Renew here! Click here for features and pricing for BattleCorps.com!
First option via Google and Webroot and AVG both tag it as may have been hacked...so I am going to trust to the theory that there is more going on then CGL has made public.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
Edited by Karagin (07/08/17 06:30 PM)
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ghostrider
07/09/17 02:19 AM
66.74.61.223
|
If this is true, then CGL might no longer be producing anything new for a while.
Not only the loss of their store security, but what if they lost all their information for things like new products, or even old information? Some companies are not good about backing up their sites and such.
And for those that did shop at their store, or knows someone that did. Make sure they keep a good eye out on their accounts that were used for such purchases. Shouldn't be needed to say it.
And tell them DO NOT believe any emails coming from the company. I would suspect they will be getting asked to confirm their account information like the credit card numbers, as well as other personal information. Just a precaution.
|
Bad_Syntax
07/09/17 01:45 PM
70.122.170.173
|
*Surely* they have a backup. Maybe not from this week, but *surely* there is one from at least a week or two ago.
I did offer to host a server with unlimited bandwidth for a free a few years ago, as well as my 20+ years of IT experience with securing more important sites like match.com, but it fell on deaf ears
I'm sure they'll fix it, but if they have to start over from scratch that'd be very unfortunate.
But, if that does happen, maybe I can become un-banned for a few days 
|
Karagin
07/09/17 02:28 PM
72.176.187.91
|
I doubt they have anything backed up and from stuff I am seeing and reading else where on the net, this isn't going to go away and the internal issues at CGL are even crazier then the FASA days. Being sure that CGL will do anything is like betting on the 10th horse in a race, sure it can and could possible win, but odds are it's not.
And as much as I hate to say it, the game is sinking, I watch GW put out tons of stuff and they just did a big new release of things that sent everyone in fits and rushing to damn and buy it all at the same time, PLUS they have novels out in different formats and they aren't scared if one isn't a top seller, they still put them out unlike CGL. Then even Palladium Games, yes I know they are like the bottom of the gaming company world but even they have new stuff coming out and have updates and even with their asinine mess they have made of the Robotech Tactics Tabletop game kickstarter, they are at least doing something, where as CGL puts out some PDFs and one new novel and never can seem to update their main website pages but hey they will be at Origin and GenCon and they will spend tons of money on glossy artwork in the rulebooks and...yeah one would think that they could see that they need to get their house in order, fix the issues, fire or remove the folks who are holding things back and move forward with things to the point that the gaming world sees that BT is alive and kicking not rolling around cough and gasping and having seizures.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Karagin
07/09/17 02:30 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Unbanning from the main BT forums at CGL...yeah, I have been living with the threat of permanent life time ban over there since Warner and his cohorts were the ones running things, so yeah nothing has changed on the nepotism that prevails there.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Cray
07/09/17 07:40 PM
72.189.109.30
|
Quote:
Would over zealous fanboys be better wording?
Rule 1 is about not insulting the person, so try to avoid applying adjectives to people. Discuss events or behaviors rather than people. For example, "I was put off by the overzealous behavior of the fans on the CGL website," would work.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
|
Cray
07/09/17 07:53 PM
72.189.109.30
|
Patching together a couple of posts:
Quote:
Not only the loss of their store security, but what if they lost all their information for things like new products, or even old information? Some companies are not good about backing up their sites and such.
The CGL website is not involved with writing. I'm currently reviewing and fact checking one new product about [sooper sekrit stuff - shh non disclosure agreement], and writing another Touring the Stars planet mini-book. The only issue I've run into is that the official email address I'm supposed to send fact checking notes to ain't working, but I'm having no issue communicating by other routes.
I mean, the CGL website problems didn't hit Facebook, GMail, or...ooph, old memories, whatsit called...telegraphy? telephony communications? Something like that. 
Quote:
Cray, have you heard anything about if their still going move to a new server?
Something about "in progress, send fact checking comments to email X.ycom". Otherwise, nope, haven't heard much. But it's not like the website is critical for writing, or even involved in it.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
Edited by Cray (07/09/17 08:01 PM)
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ghostrider
07/10/17 12:12 AM
66.74.61.223
|
Postal service comes to mind, or even older tech. Smoke signals.
So they did not run all of their stuff off one server or website. Or so it appears.
Having the official email having issues may well suggest even more damage done, or being done though.
I would still be leery of any thing coming from there for a while. Paranoid thinking.
It just sounds odd they would spring for different websites/servers for a website. But then that is accepting the barely making a profit comment as being accurate.
I would ask about the store info, but doubt anyone had info on that.
I might dislike some of the stuff they are doing, but losing the entire worksite means a good chance of losing battle tech entirely.
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Karagin
07/10/17 12:30 AM
72.176.187.91
|
No the website's not need beyond letting fans know about their products or showing that game isn't dead, but hey why would anyone want to do things like that when it's easier to ignore problems and hope they go away.
And actually yes the website is needed, just like it was needed for them to be on top of things and announce that they have had some issues, but again honest answers seem very hard for the folks at CGL.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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GiovanniBlasini
07/10/17 12:53 AM
66.87.64.153
|
MX record for catalystgamelabs.com still points to GMail, which makes sense. Was the site hosted by rackspace.com before? That's where their DNS points as of today.
Member of the Pundit Caste
"Which side are we on? We're on the side of the demons, Chief. We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go. I'm surprised you didn't know that." -- Col. Saul Tigh, BSG2003
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Wrangler
07/10/17 06:44 PM
24.34.162.106
|
I am not a facebook person. That said, I kinda feel homeless on the net without the Battletech forums. I hope they get the site to come back soon.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Karagin
07/10/17 08:29 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Well Wrangler, you can always share ideas and topics here.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Nic Jansma
07/10/17 10:33 PM
68.48.94.39
|
I'm not a CGL employee and don't speak for CGL, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.
Regarding the bg.battletech.com (and related) websites / forum / server and when they'll be back online:
There have been reliability and security issues with the current server, which is hosted at Rackspace. The server had issues last week, was taken down due to this, and is actively being migrated to a new hosting environment by a company that will now (finally) be responsible for their maintenance. Up to this point, the server had been maintained entirely by volunteers (primarily, myself).
There was no ransomware threat, and as far as I know, all of the data will be restored.
As you've probably seen, some of the sites are online, and the rest are actively being restored.
The http://battlecorps.com website was rebuilt a while ago as https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/, though I'm not sure if everything was migrated off it (e.g. subscriptions).
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ds9guy
07/11/17 12:47 AM
68.52.87.34
|
I understand them having issues.
What's the reasoning behind them not getting on facebook or other social media and letting the fans know what's going on?
Seems strange.
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Akalabeth
07/11/17 02:22 AM
64.251.81.66
|
Quote:
I understand them having issues.
What's the reasoning behind them not getting on facebook or other social media and letting the fans know what's going on?
Seems strange.
Evidently not a priority
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Karagin
07/11/17 06:37 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Which seems to sum up a lot of things for them when it comes to Battletech and such in general.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Karagin
07/11/17 06:42 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Can someone tell me when does it take 9 days to change servers and when does a company NOT reassure fans and supporters that all the rumors and such hitting social media about hacking and embezzlement and other issues are not true?
And when it takes others who aren't linked to the company to run around and put out fires, sorry Nic, that to speaks volumes for things and shows more is going on then they are letting out. If internal issues are causing problems then they either need to fix them, acknowledge them and make it clear to the fans or admit that the current business model isn't working and revamp things. And why hasn't TOPPS stepped in and fixed things?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Frabby
07/11/17 08:17 AM
80.187.108.81
|
Thanks for the update Nic. I understand you're not speaking in any official capacity, but at least you're less uninformed than the fanbase at large (judging from myself here).
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Baldur_Mekorig
07/11/17 12:16 PM
190.2.5.155
|
@Nic Jansma: What is your opinion on the time they are taking to migrate the server? From the little some friends with IT experience told me, it would not had to take soo much time.
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Daedster
07/11/17 02:17 PM
108.75.107.190
|
Priorities. Rather low.
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Frabby
07/11/17 04:49 PM
79.224.103.164
|
Forum back up and running. No loss of data as far as I can see. Unread Recent Posts went back to 27 June.
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The_Purist
07/11/17 07:08 PM
68.150.62.22
|
Can't log in and my last post or two is missing. Anyway to find out if they are working on this?
I get "an error has occurred" and "Session verification failed. Please try logging out and back in again, and then try again" message.
Since I cannot log in I cannot follow the log in/log out instructions nor access the forum for tech support.
Cheers.
Edited by The_Purist (07/11/17 07:16 PM)
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ds9guy
07/11/17 07:46 PM
68.52.87.34
|
I'm having the same problem Purist
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Akalabeth
07/11/17 10:07 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Quote:
Forum back up and running. No loss of data as far as I can see. Unread Recent Posts went back to 27 June.
They lost a week or so of posts, the release thread was on the 10th iteration previous whereas the current forums are only up to page 48 of the 9th.
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Baldur_Mekorig
07/11/17 11:00 PM
181.166.213.238
|
From Worktroll
Quote:
Short form, semi-official response.
All the Catalyst sites went down due to a major hack. The BT forums were just one victim.
Professional web providers were brought in to manage the rebuild - we've been burning too many volunteers who've given of their time, skill, and blood, to keep the old stuff working, and it was time for a change of approach. This did slow things down while the new folk came up to speed on the 'historical curiosities' aspect.
And then we hit problems with the restore of the BT forum backup. After a number of attempts to restore the most recent backup, they made the call to fall back to an older copy, which we're now running on. Yes, less than ideal, but it's the first major data loss since 2011. For a volunteer-run forum, that could be much worse (eg. how many times did we lose the whole forums between 2000 and 2010? Five times? Six?)
Remember - CGL pay for the site & storage, but (until now) all forum work's done by volunteers - both front-of-house & back-of-house. The handful of people actually employed at CGL are not web gurus, nor do any do any tech stuff - they're too busy trying to get books out the door.
And yes, we're looking at options for better comms in the event of any future outages. Things like a splash screen from Word of Blake, at least. But concentration is currently on restoring service. And as the blessed Blake says, "Behind our efforts, let there be our efforts."
W.
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Karagin
07/11/17 11:03 PM
72.176.187.91
|
So where did they post this cause it's not on their BT site and I didn't see Worktroll post this on Facebook...come on folks, they go down due to a hack and claim sever issues etc...and now we see it was a hack but hey they don't come out and say anything...what is really going on here?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Karagin
07/11/17 11:06 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Quote:
Thanks for the update Nic. I understand you're not speaking in any official capacity, but at least you're less uninformed than the fanbase at large (judging from myself here).
Uniformed? How so Frabby? I find that a bit color hit the rules there kind of hard, hey Cray you check this one out?
Could you explain your post Frabby? Since everything I have posted I went and looked to see what CGL was actually posting or saying and every BT Facebook page that cared enough to talk about the site being down ALL had the same thing, word of them being hack. Plus several folks well know, like Highball among others, pointed out internal issues that seemed to many not to be news but to others it was, like owe...folks not being honest about where money was coming from or how they were paying the bills, Coleman name came up numerous times. But uniformed...right okay. So please explain that remark.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Karagin
07/11/17 11:15 PM
72.176.187.91
|
It is showing me still logged in, but I haven't tried to post or open the forums and NOTHING on the main page even hints at issues or problems nor anything offering an idea as to why they were down, not sure if that is a good way to run a company or keep your customers and fan bases happy or supportive.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Daedster
07/12/17 02:23 AM
108.75.107.190
|
Well, it's up but it won't let me post or sign off.
|
Wrangler
07/12/17 08:31 AM
199.46.249.147
|
It's still down for me. I just check a website status (Is it Up or Down Now) and the thing says bg.battletech.com is still down.
As it gravely pains me, I think they should forget restoring the old data for sake of trying the site up again.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Baldur_Mekorig
07/12/17 08:51 AM
181.13.81.230
|
@Wrangler: Looks like its down again.
@Karagin: It was in the Board Technical questions board.
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Moonsword
07/12/17 09:28 AM
24.241.53.185
|
Quote:
It's still down for me. I just check a website status (Is it Up or Down Now) and the thing says bg.battletech.com is still down.
As it gravely pains me, I think they should forget restoring the old data for sake of trying the site up again.
It was restored (missing a couple of weeks of posts) last night, although there were issues with posting and logging in. At the time, an announcement was put on the front page of bg.battletech.com.
Now there's something else going on and we can't even reach the site again, although it's a different set of errors now. The appropriate people have been contacted and it's just going to take some time to finish bringing everything back online properly.
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Wrangler
07/12/17 10:33 AM
199.46.249.147
|
@Baldur_Mekorig & Moonsword - Thank You keeping us updated!
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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ghostrider
07/12/17 10:46 AM
66.74.61.223
|
Well most tend to overlook the fact that not all hacks do things now. Some are in the system for years before they go active.
I have the feeling their older back ups might have the virus in it as well. It could well be with them losing all the information in 2011, as pointed out in baldur's post, they had issues then, which might be what is playing havok now.
I want to say the CIH(?) virus back in the day only activated on the 26th of each month.
And from the new issues, is was more then just the server having problems.
Wondering if it was a security hack, for funds, or if someone took offense with a moderator/worker. Might be after effects of something like the wannacry virus that took out the hospitals and such in england.
That was microsoft's mistake. They knew the systems were flawed and refused to fix in until afterwards.
Anyways.
Is there a site or some such thing for those to send in word they are having issues with the site? Other then the 2 nic posted. Sounds like they are having issues with log ins.
|
Akalabeth
07/12/17 03:16 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Quote:
So where did they post this cause it's not on their BT site and I didn't see Worktroll post this on Facebook...come on folks, they go down due to a hack and claim sever issues etc...and now we see it was a hack but hey they don't come out and say anything...what is really going on here?
The post about the hack is in the Site Support forum:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=58005.msg1334446#msg1334446
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Karagin
07/12/17 10:34 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Quote:
Quote:
So where did they post this cause it's not on their BT site and I didn't see Worktroll post this on Facebook...come on folks, they go down due to a hack and claim sever issues etc...and now we see it was a hack but hey they don't come out and say anything...what is really going on here?
The post about the hack is in the Site Support forum:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=58005.msg1334446#msg1334446
But not on their main page or the BT main page and nothing on social media, sounds fishy and a but under the table.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Karagin
07/12/17 10:35 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Quote:
@Wrangler: Looks like its down again.
@Karagin: It was in the Board Technical questions board.
Thanks, but again that is NOT the main boards OR the main pages or even their social media accounts, odd that this has happen before and they just keep on blowing it off. Or so it seems.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Karagin
07/12/17 10:50 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Oh and now this from Worktroll:
Quote:
Known: forum issues with posting & logins
« on: 11 July 2017, 22:24:42 »
http://bg.battletech.com/news/forum-issues/
Still having some issues. Please don't create a second account if you're having problems; give the back-of-house guys a chance to see what needs fixing.
So is the site up and running or is it still broken?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
Edited by Karagin (07/12/17 10:51 PM)
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Akalabeth
07/13/17 02:59 PM
64.251.81.66
|
Quote:
But not on their main page or the BT main page and nothing on social media, sounds fishy and a but under the table.
I think it's less that it's fishy and more that they just don't give a ****. What's that famous saying? "Don't mistake malice for incompetence"?
Battlemasters on their forum will continually pull out the excuse that CGL is a small company and run by volunteers, etcetera. But hell Amarillo Design Bureau, a company which I dislike, is like 3 people and has better customer service than Catalyst by a mile. The developer, Steve Cole, is on the forums EVERY day. They're on FB every day. When's the last time that Randall Bills was on the CGL forums? Has he posted there this year?
If a small shop like ADB with less people and probably as many or more product lines can do these things then CGL sure as hell can too.
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Karagin
07/13/17 05:45 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Agreed. Somewhere they have lost touch with how things should be working and relied to much on friends and fans doing the work vs the company doing the work. I keep hearing how the forums are fan run etc...yet without the forums then what would CGL actually be gauging things on what is being asked for or needed? Cause they clearly can't even update their page to tell us when things are out and you happen to catch it when folks talk about it on a forum or maybe something is said on a BT Facebook page...I own a small company, a massage therapist school and my wife and I are always looking for ways and places to advertise the school and what we can offer, and she or I are on the Facebook page daily answering questions or on the website checking the messages there, and it does it old fast, but hey it's part of having a business in this day and age, you have to be active and proactive to keep the customers happy and coming back, the days of reactive business model are long gone.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Wrangler
07/16/17 08:47 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Sadly there having trouble again. Any idea what happened.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Wrangler
07/26/17 11:41 PM
24.34.162.106
|
It looks like the site is going to be touch a go for a while. Seems data is intact while we keep getting this 504 Gateway error.
I'm NO WAY expert on this, but sounds like the server the forums is maybe damaged from the hacking or incomplete and missing some parts.
Either case, i'm surprised the company that suppose to be handling the issue hasn't done anything by now. I can't imagine they haven't reported the issue yet.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Karagin
07/27/17 06:41 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Depends on who you ask, they aren't that tech savvy when it comes to websites and taking care of them, hence a lot of the issues we have seen over the years. But for it to be still going on...yeah there are bigger issues then just the webpage though.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Wrangler
07/31/17 09:30 AM
137.71.220.54
|
I think they need get another company. Unless the causes is them trying retain everything of the old forums (data-wise).
These cut off are murder sometimes.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Wrangler
10/13/17 10:59 PM
24.34.162.106
|
Here we go again...I hope it didn't loose data from this crash or other wise.
Does anyone know if this was a plan maintenance thing? :/
Edit: Oh. Good (sarcasm) Gateway Error 502...I guess they didn't fix that.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
Edited by Wrangler (10/14/17 08:25 AM)
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phobos101
10/14/17 06:23 PM
27.33.30.232
|
All I seem to be able to get is a database error, and that's been the case for just under 24 hours now.
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Cray
10/16/17 05:01 PM
50.88.162.46
|
Quote:
All I seem to be able to get is a database error, and that's been the case for just under 24 hours now.
It's back up as of 10/16. No, I didn't hear what the issue was.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
|
Akalabeth
10/16/17 07:14 PM
75.155.167.106
|
Quote:
Quote:
All I seem to be able to get is a database error, and that's been the case for just under 24 hours now.
It's back up as of 10/16. No, I didn't hear what the issue was.
I think the issue is "business as usual"
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TigerShark
10/17/17 06:28 PM
12.130.166.32
|
I'm waiting for the news article explaining that they'll be moving their HQ because someone forgot to pay the rent. lol
"Please excuse the delays while we move into our new space above Dunkin' Donuts in Cheboygan, MI."
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Wrangler
01/08/18 10:24 AM
12.151.138.194
|
Here we go again. 503 Error code. I hope this service taking care of it will get on it soon. :P
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
|
Karagin
01/08/18 12:12 PM
72.176.187.91
|
Might help if they actually were on there enough to catch issues BEFORE it goes down. Like oh updating things and such.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Wrangler
01/22/18 08:12 AM
50.199.229.75
|
Now they got some kind of error going on just the forums themselves. I hope heck the data wasn't lost.
When it hits the fan, make sure your locked, loaded, and ready to go!
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Fallguy
01/22/18 09:33 PM
104.3.227.94
|
Getting the following error:
Table './bgbtl_390irja/cbt_messages' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed
Don't comment much anymore (yes I'm THAT Fallguy) but I still lurk. Anyone know what goes on?
--
"Luke, you'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." Obi-Wan Kenobi
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Karagin
01/23/18 01:00 AM
72.176.187.91
|
Well it looks like their issues are back or they got hacked again or someone didn't save the last update right and it crashed. Or they didn't pay their bill.
WoB and Mechanicum might have joined forces with the Cyclons as their ground troops and Skynet as their first wave of attackers.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
|
Akalabeth
01/23/18 03:55 PM
209.153.201.178
|
Quote:
Don't comment much anymore (yes I'm THAT Fallguy) but I still lurk. Anyone know what goes on?
What's going on? Business as usual. Having the forums or website down is a normal state of being for bg.battletech
|