New server!

👍 71

Posted 18/Jun/2019 22:04:51 (4 years ago)
Edited 04/Jul/2019 23:33:52 (4 years ago)

Quick update: we had to change which PHP version we were running, and this means having to tweak configuration settings all over again. So some things broke that had previously been fixed. It's being worked on and should start working fully again soon.

Welcome to Ho-oh! While I still have not received an official statement from tsohost about what happened, I have heard from other sources that there was a critical security vulnerability in the operating system, which resulted in our server - and many others hosted by tsohost - being hacked (or "pwn'd"). Thankfully, no data was lost, as all data is held on a separate database server, which has no access point from the web and therefore was safe. It's also worth noting that this was not a targeted attack. Nobody was trying to take us down. They just exploited a vulnerable server and used its processor for their own needs. We had been planning on moving to Rackspace, however it came to light that it would take 10 days just to provision the server, never mind setting it up afterwards. However, I was approached by some former colleagues, who have their own hosting gig, Stablepoint. Thanks to them, a new server was set up within 30 minutes, although it then took several hours to transfer all the data and rebuild the databases... But we did it! And now here we are. Now, I'm well aware that over a full week has passed without PFQ, so here's what we're doing about it: - For anyone whose birthday fell between the 8th and 19th, Sally will pretend that your birthday is the 19th. This will allow you to get a full week of birthday bonuses. - "Online chains" have been rephrased as "5-day online chains". This update was actually done years ago on the code-side, but now the wording matches more consistently. Online chains have not been lost, you only lost the most recent 5-day chain you were working on. Most notably this affects the Stats page. - The Tournament ("Fishing") has been rescheduled to begin next week, and things will continue as normal from there. - Bonus Counters have been activated for the 20th of June. - The Type Race has been adjusted so that anyone who scored as little at 1 point gets prizes, although 10 points are needed for maximum prizes. Which means I get nothing because I was too busy to get even a single point T_T - Anyone who had Hypermode active at the time the server crashed, even those who were just on the free 7-day trial given out as a rank reward, has had their Hypermode extended by 1 full month. I just gave out almost 15 years of Hypermode for free! - Anyone who didn't have Hypermode gets one free week of Hypermode. That's another century of free Hypermode given out, if we're only counting active users. Please note that if you buy your own Hypermode during this time, it will end up forfeiting the free week - not much I can really do about that for technical reasons, so if you're looking to buy, you should wait for the free week to end. - Anyone who had a contest running at the time of the server going down gets a free extension period - Please add up to 2 weeks, as you see fit, to your contest. No need to contact a member of staff! :) There are, however, a few things that won't or can't be done, including recovering Z-Crystals that were used in the minutes prior to the crash, extending Übercharms, re-creating Bonus Counter bonuses, etc.. But I hope that the compensation above more than makes up for this. Please be aware that moving servers is a massive ordeal. While I have checked to make sure that major systems are working, it's entirely possible that things may be broken in subtle ways. Hopefully not, but if they are, please use the Bugs forum. Thank you!

Voltorb Flip will remain open until June 21st. Instructions will then be provided for submitting your Access Code to enter the leaderboards and become eligible for prizes if you did well enough. Prizes will be given out July 1st. Even if you don't think it's good enough, submit your scores anyway - you never know, it just might get you a Melmetal! EDIT: Voltorb Flip has closed and submission for scores is now open here. Make sure you submit your access code by July 1st!

The Wiki is still down at this time. I'm working on transferring it over, but it will need some time. Thank you for your patience on this.