Split the spoiler section.

ponx

I'm pretty sure this issue has gone from annoying to extremely irritating (especially for our resources: Aohige, CCC, Redon, etc). And in case u don't know what issue I was talking about, every Wednesday when new spoilers are out. The forum went super slow, and the spoiler thread becomes hardly accessible. And it's ridiculous that our own info providers can't even post the raw or script or translation due to the traffic.

I'm not a web-savvy guy so the ones that are might have a better solution. But what I have in mind is this: Create 2 different spoiler threads. 1 is a closed thread, only editable by several people that have actual updates (script, pics, translation, whathaveyou). The 2nd thread is for discussion purpose. This way, any updates won't be drowned by hundreds of other posts.

Now, like I said, I don't know the inner-workings of a website. So I'm not sure that this will stop people from hitting f5 every 5 secs and slowing the forums down. But if it can help our info providers, then it might be worth considering.

tl;dr: Even if my idea isn't useful, I just want to call out on this issue and hope other, more web-savvy members, have a better solution.

Kaoru

Server resources are the same for the forum as a whole system, so its not the thread itself being afected, but the server the forum's hosted into that feel the stress of so many users

Servers, like any system, have memory and processors, and forums like this are database based, so when people update over and over, what they are really doing is making a new SQL consult on the server's database

multiply that for 300 people x the X ammount of times they refresh with F5 (each refresh makes the server make a new consult)

So it wouldn't matter how many threads you create, its the ammount of traffic the reall issue, the only way to help in this situation would be to stop the server load, be patient and do go around refreshing every second.

In fact the error error number 500 is a database related error on server overload.

So lets each contribute by holding back a little.

ponx

Yeah, I was kinda afraid it was something like that.

But if we can't do anything about the server load, can we at least help the providers? Because every week it's the same thing. They wanted to post pics, scripts, etc. but got hindered due to that massive server load. So I just thought that a separate thread might help them in some way.

valiantt

Yeah…this is getting ridiculous.
I feel today has been one of the worst it has been in terms of how slow the site has been running.
Maybe the following would help (if possible)?

1.Remove the email notifications regarding spoilers (everyone rushes AT THE SAME TIME once they get it)
2.Only allow mods/translators the ability to contribute to the spoiler thread (besides, pretty much everyone says the same thing 1.thanks for the spoilers 2.hah I'm right your wrong 3.some generic observation about the spoiler).
3.Limit accessibility of the spoilers to active members of the forum. That might cut down a lot of the folks that merely show up and f5 the site to death just to read the spoilers and disappear for a week (which seems to be a fair percentage of folks that show up on Tuesday . This might sound unfair, but they're going to get the chapter in a few hours (or heck a day later at most) so it shouldn't matter.

Khainiwest

The only way to really fix is not to give them a refresh button at all. Kind of hard to do so, so it be better to simply not to release it until the entire process is completed.

Robby

1900 people from around the world showing up and hitting F5 constantly to get the latest scoop is going to slow things down, on the entire board, no matter what. Site is just gonna go super slow at 3AM on Wednesdays, and slow Wednesday mornings. A couple years back we closed the spoiler threads off from anyone who wasn't a registered member, which helped some, but obviously sheer time has gotten a bunch of leeches here.

I've been talking to the rest of the staff and Aohige about it, and while there's really not much we can do about that many people showing up, in future weeks we'll be trying a few things.

CCC

I don't actually need access from the very start. Aohige takes care of spoilers while I start on the script immediately (via a raw that gets pm'd to me, which isn't posted in the thread at first). …But it wouldn't hurt to include me on the "guest list," or however you're thinking of doing this, just in case there's a week when Aohige can't make it for whatever reason.

Jackermeister

Would it be possible to make the spoiler section inaccessible to users with the title "Stowaway"? As far I understand, the title depends on your activity and "Stowaway" is the lowest. So that might decrease the traffic somewhat.

Urouge

I'm usually not up during the spoiler window, so I actually had no idea that it had gotten so bad. Anyway, I have some ideas that I think could be more effective than this stuff. We'll see, but either way we won't sit on our hands about this. No worries.

Aohige_AP

Spoke with redon, since it's usually him or me that starts the thread.
On the weeks where spoilers are late, or weeks following a break, is when it gets really bad.
This week was the former.

It's a case-by-case issue, so on weeks like this where expected traffic is going to be insane, we're gonna hold off from starting the thread until either I have the summary ready to post, or if T and/or others had a summary first, the translation is done.
Obviously the thread will probably immediately collapse and the server will crumble as soon as I open it, at least the summary or translation will be up…. for a few min.... for all to see.

Urouge

Well, I'll try to do some things to minimize the server load during those days, and there's a chance it could help a lot. So hopefully you won't wind up needing to go to such lengths.

If it's still dragging after that, then there might be merit in having separate threads for spoilers and discussions, if only for the fact that a lot of people are probably uninterested in the discussion part. If those people have one thread to worry about which only gets a few posts, then it would in turn reduce the number of requests they place on the server. It'd be really easy to do by closing that thread so that only spoiler mods could post in it. But that sort of change can be considered another day, since hopefully it doesn't even have to get that far.

I'll try to keep an eye on it next week and see if I can get it under control.

Don Quichotte De Flamingo

You cant do much about so many people visiting this site at those times, but when only moderators could post in the spoiler thread until its okay for the server.
That should at least make it easier for our providers.

ponx

Well, u know. It doesn't really matter how we do it, the important thing is that the issue is addressed and is dealt with. I do hope Urouge's solution can help a great deal, and @Aohige: I actually made this thread because this is the 2nd week I've seen u complained about how hard it is to even post ur translation.

And if all else fails, Aohige & Redon's plan sounds good enough. Let them translate the script before creating a new thread, and probably make it so that not everyone can create a new thread in the spoiler section (u know, to stop people from posting just the raw script wherever they might get it from)

bepo

can you make something so you can only open a page once in a half hour or so. this way baching your F5-button wont work anymore.

Supernova

Idt you should stop from people viewing the thread. Because that's not going to work out. Everyone wants to see them, it wouldn't be fair if only a few have access to it.

However you can make it to where no one else, but mods, and translators can post in it. That way it would help the lag.

asm00200

Anyone who go to the thread gets temporarily banned for an hour, so they can't get in there for another hour. This way you limit people in there and the amount of F5s.

jpunk

Can't we use auto update Flash (Just like Live commentary)? So, user don't need to Reload the page instead if there's new summary then it'll update automatically. While There's no new info, Thread still close and will open when full Summary/spoiler coming.

Khainiwest

@RobbyBevard:

1900 people from around the world showing up and hitting F5 constantly to get the latest scoop is going to slow things down, on the entire board, no matter what. Site is just gonna go super slow at 3AM on Wednesdays, and slow Wednesday mornings. A couple years back we closed the spoiler threads off from anyone who wasn't a registered member, which helped some, but obviously sheer time has gotten a bunch of leeches here.

I've been talking to the rest of the staff and Aohige about it, and while there's really not much we can do about that many people showing up, in future weeks we'll be trying a few things.

@jpunk:

Can't we use auto update Flash (Just like Live commentary)? So, user don't need to Reload the page instead if there's new summary then it'll update automatically. While There's no new info, Thread still close and will open when full Summary/spoiler coming.

I like this idea, by putting it off on a seperate server in a livestream like format, you get the comment box for people to squeel like school girls while they can translate and post the content in peace. It feels like it's the easiest solution. Make an "APFORUMS SUUUUUPEEERRR SPOILER".

John Smith

Even with the server slow downs, I think it best for there to be two separate threads. One would be just for the posting of the spoilers, and the other would be discussion.
Sometimes the spoilers get buried by a wall of comments, it would make it cleaner this way to access and discuss them.

DoctorPhil

T-up to this suggestion.