UPDATE: Open Letter to Goob about NSwiki.net

by **Todd McCloud** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:37 pm

An Open Letter to Goobergunchia About the State of NSwiki.net

For years, NSwiki.net had been used by thousands of nations to document information on roleplays, national information, sports, World Assembly Proceedings, gameplay events, regions, etc. If it happened on NS, chances are it was recorded on the wiki. The owner of NSwiki.net, Goobergunch, had faithfully maintained and supported the wiki, and helped countless nations.

We thank Goobergunch for his efforts. We continue to applaud Goobergunch via his commendation, too. We now ask Goobergunch to consider our concerns. On November 16th, 2013, NSwiki.net went down without any prior warning or justification. When the site went down, the data went with it. Yes, some of it is still accessible through archive sites, but the available information is but a sliver of what was once available. A database file was presented to some individuals, but the file is apparently incomplete and missing article text, rendering it unusable. Consequently, most of the data remains lost to this day. We truly hope it's not permanent.

We, the undersigned, kindly ask Goobergunch to provide a means to access this data again. We are willing to help you restore this data, which can be discussed at your convenience. Exact details can be outlined, publicly or privately, on how an appropriate solution can be met.

If no means of obtaining this data exist, we instead ask for an explanation as to why the data is now unaccessible. It is our hope this is not the case, but if it is, we will accept it and move on.

We once again thank you for your time and efforts.

Signed
Todd McCloud
Kringalia
Farfadillis
The Orson Empire
Tim-Opolis
Saugeais
The Republic of Lanos
District XIV
Sanctaria
Keventle
Applebania
Sargossa
Firstaria
East Malaysia
North East Somerset
Feux
Arekrya
Jeckland
Estenia
Erathore
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec
Yttribia
Tuva SSR
Commerce Heights
Zaolat
Toronina
Vladislav Federation
Ikania
Anumia
Ridersyl
Gladio
Dalimbar
The Leningrad Union
Darwinish Brentsylvania
The Sapientia
Mournivalia
Funkadelia
Adab
Lingang
Renzynistan
Sciongrad
Annimalia
Titaniumland

by **Kringalia** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:40 pm

I will gladly sign this.

by **Todd McCloud** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:41 pm

To everyone: If you agree, go ahead and sign in a reply. I'll update when I get around to it.

by **Farfadillis** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:41 pm

I'll sign it, but wouldn't it be better to post it in a new thread?

by **Todd McCloud** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:41 pm

Farfadillis wrote:I'll sign it, but wouldn't it be better to post it in a new thread?

Yeah. Might be. But where should it be posted? Technical?

by **Farfadillis** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:43 pm

Todd McCloud wrote:
Farfadillis wrote:I'll sign it, but wouldn't it be better to post it in a new thread?

Yeah. Might be. But where should it be posted? Technical?

I'd post it in technical, yes. I mean, that's where this thread is after all. It's the only forum I can think of.

by **The Orson Empire** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:43 pm

I'll sign it. NSwiki is a treasure trove of information, and I don't want it to be gone forever.

by **Tim-Opolis** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:44 pm

You've got my sword... or I guess my signature, in this case.

by **Saugeais** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:45 pm

I'll sign it. I've been calling for its revival in full since the went down back in early November, so getting the proper files in order to get a full restore would be great.

by **The Republic of Lanos** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:08 pm

I'd like to sign this too.

by **District XIV** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:23 pm

I'd love to sign it.

by **Sanctaria** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:48 pm

Count me in on this too.

by **The Dark Star Republic** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:53 pm

If a direct communication to him hasn't worked, why would an "open letter"? I was a sysop on NSwiki for several years along with Frisbeeteria, Pacitalia, Jey, Swilatia and others, and in all that time we never saw very much of Goobergunchia. That's not a criticism: I loved NSwiki and it was a fantastic resource. But Goobergunchia's enthusiasm for it, and NationStates in general, clearly waned. This seems ill advised, in that there is a small chance (though I never thought Goobergunchia petty) it will have the counter-effect of annoying him so much it pushes him away.

by **Todd McCloud** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:57 pm

The Dark Star Republic wrote:If a direct communication to him hasn't worked, why would an "open letter"? I was a sysop on NSwiki for several years along with Frisbeeteria, Pacitalia, Jey, Swilatia and others, and in all that time we never saw very much of Goobergunchia. That's not a criticism: I loved NSwiki and it was a fantastic resource. But Goobergunchia's enthusiasm for it, and NationStates in general, clearly waned. This seems ill advised, in that there is a small chance (though I never thought Goobergunchia petty) it will have the counter-effect of annoying him so much it pushes him away.

Do you have a better idea? If we do nothing, it looks like the data's going to stay lost. This letter is an attempt to show that people do still care about the wiki site and would like to have the data somehow. The people I've spoken to over the past few months are willing to help however they can.

by **The Dark Star Republic** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:02 pm

I'm sure many people are willing to help - including me! - but there is nothing we can do without the database. MediaWiki does not store the data of individual wikis. Only Goobergunchia would be able to help. So writing a passive aggressive "open letter" whining at him is, at the very least, a bold strategy.

by **Keventle** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:05 pm

I gladly sign for your cause.

by **Sanctaria** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:08 pm

The Dark Star Republic wrote:I'm sure many people are willing to help - including me! - but there is nothing we can do without the database. MediaWiki does not store the data of individual wikis. Only Goobergunchia would be able to help. So writing a passive aggressive "open letter" whining at him is, at the very least, a bold strategy.

If you don't want to sign it, don't sign it.

by **Applebania** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:30 pm

I would like to sign.

by **Sargossa** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 3:43 am

As would I.

by **Firstaria** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:28 am

Signed, I remember I actually put a lot of effort in my nation history there when it was on.

by **East Malaysia** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:03 am

Yup. I agree Todd. Signed.

by **Frisbeeteria** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:16 am

Sorry, Todd - there's nothing Technical about this split topic. Moved to Gameplay.

Honestly, folks, I seriously doubt Goob would be swayed by a petition. He knows that NSwiki was a valued resource - that's why he created it. I haven't spoken to him since well before NSwiki went off the air, but the simple fact was that he had other constraints on his time. Also, he was spending an inordinate amont of time attempting to prevent wiki-spambots and other technical issues.

Goobergunchia isn't refusing to cooperate. He's probably just got a crappy backup (as explained elsewhere in the other thread) of a site that no longer exists. A petition won't restore bad data. You're most likely wasting your time.

by **North East Somerset** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:18 am

by **Feux** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:34 am

I support this.

by **Nierr** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 11:40 am

Good luck with this. I'm sure Goober will read a letter on a site he no longer frequents and will suddenly release information to you.

UPDATE: Open Letter to Goob about NSwiki.net

UPDATE: Open Letter to Goob about NSwiki.net

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