JK2/3files kick the bucket

[Jango40]

http://forums.filefront.com/announcements/459284-network-sites-now-permanently-offline.html

[Ping]

Never used the site, so I'm entirely indifferent to them shutting down, but I do know that the site was quite relevant to the modding scene and that a lot of people here liked it. Given that it was down for a while a few weeks ago and then went up again, I would have thought that people made backups of all the most important stuff from there so as to minimze the negative impact a complete shut-down could have.

[Circa]

Figured that was going to happen soon. Unfortunately the only main mirror that exists of jk2files is corrupted. Unless someone else had a local back up of everything that I'm not aware of.

 

If someone is going to back up the files, it'll need to be done ASAP because those files will be deleted soon, from what I understand. Network sites are gone but the files on GF's archive are still there.

 

It's good that we have the majority of JK mods hosted here on JKHub, but there are a lot still needing to be uploaded, if ever. Only reason they aren't is because of the authors' wishes.

[z3filus]

It's good that we have the majority of JK mods hosted here on JKHub, but there are aot still needing to be uploaded,

 

who are you trying to fool with this fantasy?  It's like. jkfiles had a thousand files, jkhub only a hundred  --  majority of mods are/ were there.

[Circa]

who are you trying to fool with this fantasy?  It's like. jkfiles had a thousand files, jkhub only a hundred  --  majority of mods are/ were there.

We have over 2000 files. Let's face it, there were a lot of reborn and HS Anakin reskins that took up a lot of the numbers jkfiles had. BUT you took my sentence out of context. Read the second half of it and you'll see I would agree with you.

[afi]

It's good because now people can't use that terrible page anymore and are forced to come here. And who will miss those 61246 jawa reskins anyway?

[Raz0r]

Unless someone else had a local back up of everything that I'm not aware of.

I believe @@mrwonko has that covered.

[mrwonko]

I believe @@mrwonko has that covered.

I share your belief.

[Circa]

I share your belief.

Any plans on hosting it somewhere? How big is it total? @@Syko was keeping a backup on Box.com where he has a 50GB account, as do I. Would be good places to keep it.

[Raz0r]

I heard it was > 60gb

[mrwonko]

I plan to upload it to my website, but at 63GB that in itself will take a week or so. I then need to put a more user friendly frontend to it than a 40MB file with 10'000 json lines.

 

I've been thinking about how to upload it, and a torrent seems like a robust way of doing it. I suppose I might as well share that in case someone wants the whole package... I don't plan on seeding it for very long though.

[Syko]

I'd be interested in a torrent for the whole package. I will also seed the torrent and will completely replace my Box.com backup with whatever @@mrwonko has, I don't know how he got all of the files successfully, but I'm grateful.

[Circa]

Yeah, there should be an easy way to access it, as a public folder like Box.com or Dropbox. But if it's more than 60GB then any solution will cost money.

 

I'd be interested in the torrent as well, though I won't seed it. Would be a good way to download the whole thing though.

[Onysfx]

We need to back it up in multiple places. All those files are history. Art. Creations that people put hard work into. We must not allow them to be lost forever.

 

Also, I'd like to thank @@Caelum once more for starting this site. Had he not, we may never have started this conversation, or even backed up jk3files at all.

[DrXann]

Hasn't this happened before when Filefront became Gamefront.There needs to be back ups of all these mods.

[Cerez]

If we're going to launch a torrent, it needs to be promoted around the net. Otherwise we'll end up with a poor download performance and a torrent that will die out pretty quick. Past JK3Files users need to know about the availability of this torrent for it to work.

 

On the other hand a browsable simple online directory of these mods would probably be more effective, and remain lowcost to maintain (~$100/year). Crowdfunding?

 

However, the legal question remains with both these options. The fact is that this would be done without the authors' permissions. The authors agreed to have their files hosted on JK3Files, not elsewhere. I'm not sure that everyone would be happy to see their mods transferred to another site/location without their knowledge.

 

Edit: Perhaps if the online directory had a take-down option?

 

But being an active JK3Files user for all these years, I would have to completely agree with @@Circa in that the process of selection here at JKHub has been great, and that not many quality mods will be lost when the JK3Files content is wiped. JKHub has grown into an excellent resource, and a sort of filter for all the junk (less prominent, beginners' creative mods) that has grown to clutter JK3Files over the years. It's a worthy successor for the JK modding community.

[mrwonko]

I plan to host them on my website and blacklist on request; it's not super ethical, but I don't think I'll get in trouble as long as I don't include the reviews. The torrent won't be up for another couple of hours, turns out most clients don't seem to handle 40'000 files very well and I have some business to attend before I can look into it more.

[afi]

However, the legal question remains with both these options. The fact is that this would be done without the authors' permissions. The authors agreed to have their files hosted on JK3Files, not elsewhere. I'm not sure that everyone would be happy to see their mods transferred to another site/location without their knowledge.

I fully agree with that. But that's the same problem with Syko's mirror. In the long run I think only the big, important mods should be kept and the original authors should be asked to host the files here on JKHub.

[z3filus]

Im actually more concerned about the models and maps, than the jawa reskins.  It's impossible to save all the files, that's understandable,
but sadly, there is no universal guide to "the most important files".. something I'd like to keep can be something you wouldn't care less for.

One file, that I still cry after, is the Auron model, (FinalFantasy) it was compareable to HapSlash models. But It's been almost 7 years since I last had it.

[Syko]

By the way, I have a full HTML site backup of the site that is hosted on Google drive, if there's anything you can't find on Wayback Machine, it's probably on there. https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=no_antivirus&id=0By8DC9_fcWrLanFybGZWbnhHRkU

 

(For clarification this does not contain mods but is a browsable local copy of the site.)

[Onysfx]

@@Syko AH NICE! I thought you only had the files, but you have the site too? Wonderful, thank you so much!

 

You have brought peace, freedom, and security to my our new empire.

[Link]

All of the funny reviews by so many people...That was one of the best parts of the site.

 

Agreed, whilst JKHub might have most of the files (And the others backed up), we lost a treasure trove of great reviews. That's probably the biggest loss unfortunately...

[mrwonko]

Agreed, whilst JKHub might have most of the files (And the others backed up), we lost a treasure trove of great reviews. That's probably the biggest loss unfortunately...

I do have all the reviews, I probably just can't legally share them.

[Ping]

TIme to embrace that life of crime m8. For the greater good.

[Syko]

I know, it's not like anyone cares. No one is going to sue you for sharing a mod or review that someone made 10 years ago. Not only that, but mods for a Star Wars game are a legal gray area to begin with.