The Anchorage website appears to be out of action again.
The Anchorage website appears to be out of action again.
The Anchorage is back up...at least for the moment.
I sent Eric a PM earlier, around 2PM my time (8:30PM now), suggesting that it's past time for the Admiralty to find a new Harbormaster...
Lucky for us the Aerodrome is more stable.
Good luck with the Anchorage.
Any one able to log on to the Anchorage at present?
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. ― Plato
Hier auch ist Alles kaput...
Still as dead as a doornail
And still down.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Sorry folks, as of Saturday, Dec 13th, 2014 @ 14:25hrs ET, the site is still down.
I guess we will have to wait until Monday to get some help.
I was somewhat active on the site but haven't been in a very long time. Spending all my time in here now.
Right now, part of me is asking myself why I even bother trying...
Guess I haven't missed much for not getting there
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
The Anchorage site is still out of action.
Maybe it's time for the Anchorage to be merged here or just shut down entirely? No acknowledgement that there's a problem is depressing?
Maybe you chaps should have a sub-forum or a single thread to air your feelings about 'the other place' when it doesn't work.
Have we been given any suggestions as to what may be causing it? I don't get on there much myself.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Seems like "Anchorage Down" should be sticky...
(sorry for bitter humour)
Seems it's up and running @ 20:18 CET
I will now try and catch up with everything I have missed then.
Thanks for the tip off Mau.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
WoG Forum is on Server A, and rarely if ever goes down.
SoG Forum is on Server B, and is constantly going down.
Question: Why is _SoG_ Forum not also on Server A?
That's funny.
I imagine it is cost. With the amount of members on the 'Drome, there was a sufficient number willing to subscribe to underwrite the cost of the new server. With the Anchorage, we barely manage a consistent dirty dozen these days. Hopefully, that will change in 2015.
I know the chicken and egg argument applies: new server = better chance to attract new members and keep current members active = greater opportunity to offer subscription for underwriting cost of sufficiently good server.
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. ― Plato
The other thing that doesn't help is, the chronic extended outages chase people away too.
anyone having problems accessing the Anchorage today?
Me too. Looks like another down day or weekend.
Alles Ist Kaput from here, too... A-FREAKIN'-GAIN.
Pretty soon, it won't matter....
Wow, that's rather pessimistic.
Here's hoping he's wrong.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
I'll be honest, I have my pessimistic moments too--Ares inherited *major* Bad PR Problems from Nexus, and has added a few of its own... but I really do think if they can become more consistent and more reliable that things can be turned around.
The question is... well, there are a lot of questions.
1. How big a company can a Five-Man Band effectively run? If I were them, I would be inclined to consider partnering with a larger firm for better logistics. (Not NECA Wizkids for sure, and both FFG and WOTC are OH F*** NO!s... maybe Mongoose or Battlefront.)
2. Given that they're a very small company competing for production time in China with a zillion much larger manufacturers... well, over there Money Talks, More Money Talks Louder no matter what the signed contract says. If Hasbro comes in and puts in a higher bid even if you're scheduled in ink, they'll eat whatever penalty clause there is (if they can't weasel out of it) and screw you over in favor of the 800# Gorilla every time.
3. Docks and Customs issues--it would seem to me that if they know the factory is always X weeks late, the unload is X days late and Customs takes a month to get their thumbs out of their sorry asses and clear things, then they need to start dialing in an offset of at least that long into their delivery-date estimates, rather than making us take their "optimistic date" and figure the extra 2 months or so ourselves.
Yes, the ship IS taking on water and is drifting toward some big scary rocks... but I think she can still be patched up, pumped out and set back on course with a LOT of hard work. And while I understand their logic in relying on David and myself to be their "community liaisons," well... that's the kind of job that requires somebody in-house, full-time and kept in-the-loop at all stages to do it right. Not to mention that there are people that *want* to see Ares fail... it sounds like there are still lingering issues between them and FFG.
"Your task will not be an easy one."
--Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, addressing Allied troops on D-Day
"We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard!"
--Pres. John F. Kennedy
I don't think things are as black as that, but a couple of points there were noteworthy.
Who wants to see Ares fail.
And what lingering issues with FFG? Do you think FFG falls into the "want them to fail" category?
Isn't Ares committed to producing the Sails Of Glory game? What are all these "rumours" that people are mentioning above?
Yes, the Anchorage is down again, but it's most likely the ISP backing up the server. Wasn't the Drome down about a week ago, for a day or so? Honestly, I think it's the same thing.
As for the future of Sails of Glory and Ares (or even Wings and Ares) I don't think it's as bad as some would like suggest. Overseas production can be, and often is, a nightmare for companies. It's no different for Ares, Catalyst Game Labs or any of the new start ups from Kickstarter trying to get their games and components produced and shipped in a timely manner. As DB points out above the way things work over there are not the way they work here. More money means more leverage, regardless of 'contracts'. Even big companies get shoved aside at times. FFG has had some of the same problems with their X Wings line and their big box games.
Perhaps the item that bothers me most is the inconsistent communication, which at times is no communication at all. That also has a detrimental impact on vendors and merchants who are trying to carry and sell Ares products. That's an area which would benefit from some added attention, but as has been pointed out before Ares is a small company. Many jobs probably fall on single individuals. I was surprised to learn via Kickstarter comments that Roberto recently had a bad bicycle accident with broken bones, etc. So, their office loses a person for several weeks, which puts work on others or delays things happening entirely. I imagine Ares does a lot of juggling and as they add more games to their catalog it's probably only going to get more so.
Right now I'm looking forward to the USS Constitution and HMS Victory, the Wave 1 repaints and the new stuff coming for Wings as well.
David, my recollection is that FFG tried to smack Andrea A. with a rather thuggish "you might as well sell Wings of War to us, or we're gonna rip it off and use it to relaunch Blue Max anyway" if the version I heard was correct. As for the other, there have been some conversations with other members I'm not really at liberty to discuss. (I'll listen to anyone's gripes, in the hope of trying to figure out how to help Ares chart a less troublesome course and see the rocks and shoals ahead.)
Of course, that may partially be my default "Once a Buddy F---er, Always a BF'er" bias too...
And with everybody having to at least double-, triple- or more-hat, losing Roberto for his recovery time only adds to the overload as Jim observes.
It does seem a bit concerning that much of the worry about the future if SGN seems to be based on rumour and conjecture. And i have my doubts as to whether the apparent ongoing gripes between FFG/Ares/Andrea have any real substance now or whether its actually an itch that isn't healthy to scratch
We do have the FACT of Wave 2's mast breakage, plus the ongoing consistent extended delays and communications issues that have cost them retail outlets, though. They're trying to make the best of an awkward situation, but... there's still some uphill battle ahead.
Let me state for the record, if I didn't think things were salvageable I'd have cut my losses already, and started reallocating my research data analysis time to paying clients--I am *losing money* (both in potentially productive time and reference-material investment) trying to help them steer a course on SGN, and I wouldn't be making that investment in lost potentially-billable hours if I didn't expect to see a return of some kind worth my time, whether tangible or (more the case) intangible. (For the record, the back-end payoff I'm aiming for is hoping to see a naval minis game longer lasting than War at Sea, less cheeseball than WK Pirates, and quicker and simpler than traditional sailing-minis rulesets--hopefully something of longevity and quality enough that once I claw my way into a professorship I can use them as educational tools.)
I agree the wave 2 issues and distribution issues are well known, I was more concerned about the rumours and conjecture regarding deliberate acts
All this talk is very "unsettling". I like the "Game's Of Glory" systems and it would be very disappointing if Ares disappeared from the market.
Be that as it may nothing is forever. Now I need to decide if I should hold and turn my gaming attention to other options. So sad. What say you?
Thanks for the vote of confidence chaps.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Personally I don't think Ares is disappearing, nor any of the "..of glory" series. We are all aware that Ares have a few "niggles" to deal with in distribution, hitting deadlines and with the actual product in a few cases, but TBH no worse than many wargaming companies and most customers are pretty relaxed about those. I'm just worried that frequent talking down of the company (usually with good rather than malicious intentions), talk of deliberate hopes for failure and the endless "FFG ate my hamster" comments (which are a bit self destructive) could well precipitate the exact situation that we don't want to see.
And the current non-accessibility of the Anchorage isn't the end of the world. I remember the good old days where wargaming managed to survive and flourish very nicely without 24/7 to the internet
Keep positive chaps!
Do we have any idea why the Anchorage is down?
Solution to the delay is easy..... .do what Wingnut Wings does. DON'T BLOODY TELL ANYONE WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON AND WHEN IT WILL BE RELEASED!
example; WnW has three models it is working on the AEG G.IV, Bristol Fighter (Post War), DH.9a 'Ninak' (Post War).
We have been waiting for some time on these and the AEG was having tooling issues - gripes moans lamination all around.
Then BANG out of the blue they release a W.12 then 3 weeks before Christmas BANG, 3 types of Felixstowe including a duelist set that contains the much sort after W.29.
We had absolutely no idea that they were working on these - some of the top professional builders had been working in secret to make the models for the image work (Under threat that if they told anyone an Orkish army would descend on them)
So why doesn't ARES do the same????? Just not bother telling anyone what they are working on, that way there is no disappointment no dropped of prolonged estimated times just a product that is "1 week off hitting your local stores and here it is!"
Say what one will about FFG, at least they can make an in-store date. *How many times* has the "_Constitution_/_Victory_ Pick-A-Date" been run?
Hell, I'd take Zvezda as a possibility as well. I mean, look at Lada; it's a Fiat built by Russians, so what could pos-- OK, bad example.... ;)
Or, god help us: Imagine if Herr Oberst, D-B, and a couple of the more-competent folk on this site managed to take it over (see #3 below)....
Yup -- and that couples to...
*You* figured this out. *I* figured this out. *Pretty much everyone on this Forum* has figured this out. Who's the one group who keeps repeating the same actions and expecting different results?
And you wonder at my cynicism?
Honestly: If a way could be figured out to make the minis in the US (think "farmshoring"), or Canada, or even Mexico, it would be a *drastic* improvement over having to deal with China, and all the Bovine Scatology involved therein. But keeping on like this... "I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going", and I'm not holding out much hope.
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