Server Lists, the Master Server, and NWVault

[Zelknolf]

A new sticky to replace the old one, as we need to update links and information now.

The short version-- the publisher of Neverwinter Nights (2002) and Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006) has ceased to support a number of services which we were, in the past, accustomed to using to facilitate play. However, we're not going the way of Neverwinter Nights (1991), and the community has responded by privately hosting these services. You need additional software to make use of them.

Firstly, links:
-- The Client Extension:
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn ... -extension
This is a wrapper program for Neverwinter Nights 2, which will (among many things) look to Skywing's server lists and allow you to connect to servers as before.

-- Standalone Server Lists:
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn ... er-monitor
This is a standalone application which launches into your system tray, which will, when double clicked, produce a list of NWN2 servers with their IP addresses and current population. If you have installed the Client Extension and run it at least once, you can also double click one of these servers to launch Neverwinter Nights 2 and immediately connect to the server.

-- NWN Scry:
http://www.nwnlist.com/
This is a website which hosts the same server lists as the Client Extension and the Server Lists, if you do not wish to run any extra software on your machine.

You can also direct connect to ALFA servers with aliases by server (e.g. bg.alandfaraway.org, ms.alandfaraway.org). Our portal system is still aware of where all of the other servers are, so if you can find any of our servers, then it will send you to the correct one.


The "What Happened" of it:
When the master server went down for good (in December of 2012), we folk on the technical side of things did not do much to communicate to the community what was happening. This was largely because we were trying to respond to the rather-abrupt loss of infrastructure that had previously supported our community. It seems that this has caused some rumors to fester for some time, and I've only recently become aware of them, which is unfortunate.

So, the master server (which, in the original days of NWN2, managed authentication for GSIDs and provided a list of all posted servers for browsing) is gone, and is never coming back. Though we have heard some unfortunate rumors that this event was due to hacking, such is completely absurd-- the Hollywood portrayal of hacking is simply not possible, and until we start installing explosives in our computers, hackers can only temporarily bring down servers, and the real danger remains that they might gain access to powerful information. The actual reason that the master server went down is that the publisher stopped paying for it; whether they did so because IGN increased its prices without notice or because the publisher just didn't want to pay any more is a matter that the two companies publically disagreed on. Ultimately, though, the service can't run for free, so it doesn't run, so we have to manage it ourselves now.

As of this post, nwvault.ign.com is also down for an extended period. We can be less sure that this one is down for good; people are moving projects to neverwintervault.org currently, in anticipation for if the vault indeed does not come back. We shouldn't necessarily expect the same fate of nwvault, as different companies are involved and it is probably totally unrelated to the master server's permanent outage.

[dergon darkhelm]

Are all servers down right now or is it a PEBCAK issue?

[Arianna]

Are all servers down right now or is it a PEBCAK issue?

I can see 3/4 servers up

Only TSM seems to be down atm

[dergon darkhelm]

Hmm ---

Is the direct connect info provided here correct?

http://www.alandfaraway.info/servers


I can't in.