Anchorage pending closure.

**Bligh** · 03-06-2024, 01:39

The Lord High Admiral contacted me on the 28th Jan re the future of the Drome and the Anchorage.

I asked him if I could make this disclosure to the Admiralty Board.

He has answered in the affirmative. Tha Board have made a decision.

Hello Rob,

One thing that has not come up in the talk about moving the Aerodrome over to the new software and hosting service is that of the Anchorage. Since it is a separate site from the Aerodrome, any price we get for moving to the new system will not cover the Anchorage. In fact, we would have to setup a separate site for it on the new system. This would add thousands of dollars to the overall move. I don’t think we can justify that for a game that is no longer being produced.
My only thought would be to see if any of the active Anchorage members wanted to take the time to copy and paste important threads or resources into a new section created on the Aerodrome before the move happened. It would be a lot of work for those members, but unless someone can come up with a better plan I don’t see a way to save anything from the Anchorage.
I am trying to work out exactly how a migration to the Invision Community site would work. It looks like it will cost $1850 for them to migrate our current forums (I’m checking to see if that includes all our Albums, files, and such). We will also have to have the new site up and running before I shut down the old site to make sure we got everything we needed. That would mean we would need to purchase the new software at $1788 (1 year subscription) before I could get any of the pro-rated funds back when we shut the old site down. That is a total of $3638 that we’d have to come up with. I’m not sure if that is possible or not.
Thoughts?
Thank you,
Keith Upton

We have now decided to open this to the shipmates, as we decided to go along with the idea of moving to a sub forum on the New Drome. We could not come up with that sort of money for a separate forum of our own.
I suggest that you follow me in saving to your home computer anything that you value so that it can be downloaded to the new Anchorage when that is opened. Thus far I have saved all the Campaign briefs and am now working on the How to section, so no need for any of you to worry about those.
Rob.

**Dobbs** · 03-06-2024, 17:16

Is there any idea when the site scuppering will happen?

**lankin** · 03-07-2024, 00:18

For me it would be ok to continue on Aerodrome, a lot of people here are alos members there.

But we should try to have our site(s) saved forever :-)
I am not sure how archive.org (waybackmachine) is working exactly, but we should try to
get a latest update from sailsofglory.org on it. 'Last back up was from 10/09/2016.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240000...*/sailsofglory
(Do not be unsettled by the HTTP error, just wait)

I've just tried to do a "Save Page Now" on archive.org/web but it will miss some info, I am not sure
if it depends on page crawling, same for wingsofwar.org (someone did it on a more regulary base).
If possible Keith or who ever has the rights can try to save the pages with uploading it, to have it completly available,
this will also help when things go wrong.

**Bligh** · 03-07-2024, 01:16

Don't worry Dobbs.
Keith said just that there is no hurry as he has to get the right site to move to and will not close anything down until he is sure everything is working properly.

Rob.

**Diamondback** · 03-07-2024, 12:37

I'd be down to chip in some towards Anchorage migration, but no chance of me coming up with the full four grand or even 10% of it. :( Keith should really take a look at GiveSendGo or GoFundMe, maybe make "Anchorage Too!" a stretch goal.

**Bligh** · 03-07-2024, 13:34

Might be worth it DB.
I could chip in a bit, but for the few who post here now is it really worth it?
Last year apart from myself only 26 people actually posted.

Rob.

**Diamondback** · 03-07-2024, 15:09

Maybe it'll pick up when (if) the promised rerelease Starters drop, especially if they adopted my proposal to add a second version with all new names and decoes.

**Bligh** · 03-07-2024, 15:12

We can only hope so DB.
Rob.

**Dobbs** · 03-07-2024, 17:00

That's a good proposal, DB!

**ShadowDragon** · 03-08-2024, 05:17

Knowing the discussion about this on the Aerodrome, it's no surprise. One has to keep in mind that there's not just the cost and effort of setting up a new site but also the ongoing costs of maintenance and upgrades. I think it's going to be enough of a challenge for the aerodrome to do this, so I agree that a subforum on the new Aerodrome site is the best way forward for the Anchorage.

**Dobbs** · 03-08-2024, 07:27

I agree with you, Paul. I for one am happy that the Anchorage is not going to disappear altogether. I've been wondering about that for years as active membership decreased.

**DeRuyter** · 03-11-2024, 11:21

TBH I have not played vanilla SOG for a number of years now, only Dobbs' version. I still use the ships but with other rules. I still play WoG but have never really participated in the Aerodrome. That said and given the light participation here I think a subforum on the Drome is the best way forward.

**magnoan** · 03-11-2024, 13:45

If there is a need I can support, but I am a bit scared by the size of the effort required.
Cut and past all the thread what does it means?

**Diamondback** · 03-11-2024, 14:20

Basically that means highlight the content of your target post here, copy it, go to a new thread on the Aerodome once we can get Keith to set up the lifeboat, and paste the copied content there. I'm REALLY hoping Keith can just merge the memberlists and post databases all at once, like have some kind of conversion script.

**Bligh** · 03-11-2024, 14:35

As a stopgap measure I am copying threads I deem inportant and saving them on my home computer in a word doc so that I can then reinstate them once the changeover is complete.
Thus far I have copied all the Scenario briefs for the Campaigns and am about half way through the How to section.
Then I will start looking at the files section.

If you have any favourites I suggest you save them now because I will not be doing everything. For instance any games you have reported on will not be saved nor general conversations or the painting threads or pictures.

Rob.

**Diamondback** · 03-11-2024, 18:24

I need to start moving my research over... BW, just found this gem in Lavery's The Ship of the Line 1650-1850.

**Bligh** · 03-12-2024, 02:07

Nice find DB.
Rob.

**Dobbs** · 03-12-2024, 10:07

Interesting, I noticed in #2 that apparently Mr Lavery counts the ports on both sides of the foredeck of the French ship, but only on one side for everything else.

**Diamondback** · 03-12-2024, 11:46

Originally Posted by Dobbs

Interesting, I noticed in #2 that apparently Mr Lavery counts the ports on both sides of the foredeck of the French ship, but only on one side for everything else.

Easy mistake to make, happens to me occasionally too. :o Main point is, would the community accept a single shared sculpt for all of those? Admittedly, Simon and Henry sculpt not just class or family but "specific ship and fitting," but... if Ares is to ever pivot back to Napoleonic after they get the new pirate line out it needs to be worth their while - maybe we don't particularly need them for ships anymore but they are a BIG help for maneuver decks, bases, logs, and terrain accessories. We can get ships, but ships alone are only a small fraction of the components to make a full game rather than just a display.

**Dobbs** · 03-12-2024, 14:59

You know, if Ares produces the paper products and licenses a designer to make 3D ships, it's a win for everyone.

**Dobbs** · 03-12-2024, 15:04

That being said, I favor 'style of' rather than a specific ship. For instance, I like the more elaborate quarter windows on the French ship above for French ships. I like the rounded taffrails of Spanish ships. If ships feature design features of their nationalities (captures aside), I'm happy.

That's why I was asking for pictures of Bahama. I wanted to see that she looks distinctly Spanish.

**Bligh** · 03-12-2024, 16:20

Originally Posted by Dobbs

You know, if Ares produces the paper products and licenses a designer to make 3D ships, it a win for everyone.

The added beauty to that scheme Dobbs is that the production could be better tailored to customer demand more quickly than the lengthy process of making moulds. Modifications would also take far less time.
Rob.

**Dobbs** · 03-12-2024, 17:32

What would be really sweet is if the 3D prints could be colored like the planes made for WoG! Ares could get a percentage on every licensed print and there could be a multitude of different ship color patterns to choose from.

**Diamondback** · 03-12-2024, 18:27

Never happen, too much "giving up creative control."

**SkeenaH** · 03-23-2024, 00:57

Late to this thread with a stupid question... I assumed there would be a file server somewhere with the entire website living on it. Can not this file and contents be copied onto a hard drive? How many Terabytes is this site?
Otherwise, how can I help, Rob? I'm recently taking a break from work and have spare time...

**magnoan** · 03-23-2024, 09:49

The best solution, I presume.

**Bligh** · 03-29-2024, 01:52

Only Keith can answer those questions I'm afraid.
It is beyond my pay grade.

Rob.

**Diamondback** · 03-29-2024, 19:25

Originally Posted by SkeenaH

Late to this thread with a stupid question... I assumed there would be a file server somewhere with the entire website living on it. Can not this file and contents be copied onto a hard drive? How many Terabytes is this site?
Otherwise, how can I help, Rob? I'm recently taking a break from work and have spare time...

Keith thought it to be too much time, effort, cost and code skill for him to do but I had proposed taking all the Anchorage member and post ID's, and writing a script to give them an offset. Say, if the Aerodrome has 1000 members make member #1 right now member #1501; similarly if the Aerodrome has 100,000 posts remap post #1 here to #200,000. Then run another script to compare Aerodrome and Anchorage users by registration email and merge the duplicates under Aerodrome account numbers, then another to assign the Anchorage subforums new Aerodrome-compliant forum ID's and finally just merge the entire Anchorage database into the Aerodrome.

**SkeenaH** · 03-31-2024, 02:03

I have saved all the Blog entries under the Blog Section as htm files, as well as any attached files. Several of the earlier posts have expired links, but I have everything that we have now. I have also saved all the individual medal pages as htm files.

A small drop in the ocean but a start.

Rob, do we have any better idea of progress on saving the data and any timelines?
Thank you

**Bligh** · 03-31-2024, 03:28

That will be a great help. Thanks Howard.
Rob.

**Bligh** · 03-31-2024, 03:33

I will establish a sticky for any downloads as a list we can add to so that we do not duplicate each others work
unnecessarily.
Rob.

**SkeenaH** · 03-31-2024, 19:53

That's a great idea, thanks Rob.

If the website cannot be downloaded in it's entirety from the server, there are web scraping/copying options using software such as HTTrack or Cyotek Webcopy (never used them just Googled how to copy download an entire website). Normally this is not done, but would the Committee allow this to be tried given the circumstances? I can see this taking a long time otherwise...

**Bligh** · 04-01-2024, 01:37

Give Keith a PM and see what he thinks. Obviously we can't save any personal information without the members permission. I would be very averse to my info being stored on any source with unknown security.
Rob.

**SkeenaH** · 04-01-2024, 02:49

Absolutely agree Rob, hence the cautious approach. I don’t see any public facing pages with personal info though. My understanding is that these tools just scrape what is available to the internet viewer. I’ll certainly tread carefully.
Will pm you and also Keith as suggested.

**James Wilmore** · 06-05-2024, 22:21

Is this business with closure and movement to another place still happening? If so, what's the timeline? I hope we can keep the domain name and "Anchorage" brand, because that is really awesome!

**Bligh** · 06-07-2024, 01:17

Yes Stian.
No time line as yet but it will most likely combine with the Drome in its new place when that has been set up. A lot of info will be lost in the transfer so if you want anything inparticular download it now. I have a post open for shipmates to add what they have saved to let everyone know, and to prevent us all duplicating each others work.
Rob.

**James Wilmore** · 06-07-2024, 01:44

Well, I think the most useful from the top of my head may be the campaigns? Those seems brilliant!

**Bligh** · 06-07-2024, 07:56

I have copied all the scenarios but not any of the actuall player's AARs. Some of the story lines are worth a book!

Rob.

**Diamondback** · 06-08-2024, 10:15

Originally Posted by Bligh

I have copied all the scenarios but not any of the actuall player's AARs. Some of the story lines are worth a book!

Rob.

I might suggest just printing the Player AAR's as PDF's. That way any surviving-to-now images are preserved.

**ShadowDragon** · 06-08-2024, 19:06

Originally Posted by Bligh

I have copied all the scenarios but not any of the actuall player's AARs. Some of the story lines are worth a book!

Rob.

While not "worth a book" - unlike those of a certain swaggering vagabonde - all of the original material (text and photos) for my AAR are still on my home computer. Although uploading the photos kinda makes me shudder.

However, preserving the campaigns is well worth it.

**Diamondback** · 06-09-2024, 08:03

I really wish we could get some numbers about how much we'd need to raise for various preservation options. :( Not that I think we have a big enough or deep-pocketed enough community anymore, but just understanding the scope of the requirements would be useful.

**Bligh** · 09-05-2024, 00:59

I have spoken to Keith about this DB and here is his reply. As you can see it is probably a none starter.

What he said regarding the raising of money is this:-

As to raising money for the Anchorage, I'm all for that especially since the community has been so giving to save the 'Drome. One issue with moving the Anchorage over to the new system is going to be on going expenses. It will take roughly about $2k a year to keep it going on its own. I'm not sure if there are enough users to support that and I'd hate for us to spend the $3k to move it over or it to only close down a year later.

Rob.

**James Wilmore** · 09-05-2024, 05:38

Maybe there is something I don't see but I really don't understand why we would need $2k a year to host and run it? That sounds overly expensive to me, but perhaps that is due to large amounts of content? Still, I think it sounds very high?

**Bligh** · 09-05-2024, 09:29

Sorry Stian, but that is what Keith has sent me. I can't clarify any of the numbers. You would need to ask him direct about that, but I'm sure he is correct. We cover the Drome's yearly running costs with our Gold and Silver Membership, plus other donations from the members.
Rob.

**Diamondback** · 09-05-2024, 13:18

I'd suspect a lot of it's the custom stuff like the files section, the defunct site store, things like that.

This is why I suggested the costs-more-upfront but long-term cheaper alternate of having a code guy get into the database and do scripts to remap the ID's of every user, section and post to conform with vacant ranges in the Aerodrome DB and just merge them.

**Baxter** · 09-05-2024, 18:00

Well so long as the brilliant work you guys have done is not lost it is not the end of the world if it appears as a sub forum of wings I guess.

**Cochrane** · 09-06-2024, 11:34

Meanwhile, is it just me, or is anybody else having trouble accessing the Drome? Neither my desk top nor my phone will allow me access because, says a note, the certificates have run out, and access therefore poses a security risk.
I really would appreciate somebody confirming that one way or the other :)

Also, if anybody needs any help moving files from here, please say so and let me know which files I should download here. :)