Looks like WotC finally deleted all the 3.X material from their website [Archive]

Rizban

2015-07-28, 11:41 AM

Went to the archive site's Consolidated Lists (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/lists) yesterday to look up what source book a particular monster was located, and it just pulled up a blank screen. Further browsing makes it appear that the entirety of the 3.x material has been removed. I gave it a day before I posted anything, and I can't find any information about it at all.

Anyone know if it's been moved somewhere else yet again, or is it just gone for good this time?

ComaVision

2015-07-28, 11:43 AM

Boooooo.

Did anyone rip all the web pages when they switched to archive?

SovelsAtaask

2015-07-28, 11:51 AM

I was looking for the archive today and I was pretty disappointed that it was gone. At least now I know it's not just me.

MilleniaAntares

2015-07-28, 11:53 AM

Try using the wayback machine?

Morcleon

2015-07-28, 11:54 AM

It's still accessible via a few cache and archive sites. I'm going to go through them and slowly download all of the information eventually.

Renen

2015-07-28, 12:28 PM

I hope it's just a glitch!

The Vagabond

2015-07-28, 12:34 PM

Well that's incredibly worrisome. Incredibly so. Is there any alternative method of accessing the information it provided?

Renen

2015-07-28, 12:42 PM

I remember back when they moved it to archive someone posted a link to dl all the articles as an off line copy they compiled. But I lost the link... *cry*

Xuldarinar

2015-07-28, 12:45 PM

My links to subpsionics and the grim psion, all useless now! At least theres what has been updated, and for now Cached. It was only a matter of time, I suppose, till they decided to be rid of it.

Psyren

2015-07-28, 12:48 PM

Dang that sucks.

I remember back when they moved it to archive someone posted a link to dl all the articles as an off line copy they compiled. But I lost the link... *cry*

It should be in Rubik's signature IIRC.

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 12:52 PM

Renen

2015-07-28, 12:56 PM

Now that psyren pointed out Rubik's fabulous archive, we should be fine. Sure, it's nice to have it online, but it's not the end of the world.

Thought I do agree, WotC should realize that if they suddenly decide to release a new 3.5 splat book it will set a record for fastest sales.

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 12:59 PM

Thought I do agree, WotC should realize that if they suddenly decide to release a new 3.5 splat book it will set a record for fastest sales.
They should release a PDF collection for $250 that contains all of the 3.5/3.0 books with errata for them all. That would make WotC millions, easy.

SovelsAtaask

2015-07-28, 01:07 PM

They should release a PDF collection for $250 that contains all of the 3.5/3.0 books with errata for them all. That would make WotC millions, easy.
Shut up and take my money

MesiDoomstalker

2015-07-28, 01:08 PM

I took a quick look at Rubik's archive. It seems very complete, though I have one issue. It seems as he deconstructed the coding of the pages and saved those files individually, instead of some kind of print out or easily viewable page. Does anyone know how to reconstruct the page?

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 01:20 PM

Shut up and take my money
See! The product isn't even tangible and people are already throwing their wallets.

Renen

2015-07-28, 01:25 PM

WotC doesn't want our money. They want our souls to belong to the dark overlords of 5e.

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 01:27 PM

WotC doesn't want our money. They want our souls to belong to the dark overlords of 5e.
That doesn't seem like a very viable business strategy.

Morcleon

2015-07-28, 01:29 PM

That doesn't seem like a very viable business strategy.

Indeed. Most people only have one and can't get another. :smalltongue:

OldTrees1

2015-07-28, 01:30 PM

No! That is terrible news. I wonder when WotC will realize how popular 3.5 still is. I also always wonder if there are WotC people here on GitP that see how we feel about them slowly bringing down the 3rd edition giant...

Gotcha covered. (https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5Q9O1xtidQ5aVhaUXlZc1B3Zkk&usp=sharing)

How do I see the content?
I was able to download the file(say the Savage Progressions.rar) and open the .rar file but when I click on a .htm file I get a webpage not found error. How do I fix this?

Telonius

2015-07-28, 01:36 PM

That doesn't seem like a very viable business strategy.

I don't know, do souls count towards crafting XP in real life? :smallbiggrin:

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 01:40 PM

I don't know, do souls count towards crafting XP in real life? :smallbiggrin:
You know... suddenly I am a little uncomfortable with all the things I've purchased from WotC...

Renen

2015-07-28, 01:40 PM

That doesn't seem like a very viable business strategy.

RAI, it is indeed a terrible strategy. But RAW, it's all good!

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 01:48 PM

RAI, it is indeed a terrible strategy. But RAW, it's all good!
I knew RAW would would be WotC's downfall!

Ashtagon

2015-07-28, 01:53 PM

Are the art and map galleries archived anywhere?

nonsi

2015-07-28, 01:53 PM

.
Found this (http://web.archive.org/web/20131127181153/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/lists)

Rubik

2015-07-28, 02:06 PM

How do I see the content?
I was able to download the file(say the Savage Progressions.rar) and open the .rar file but when I click on a .htm file I get a webpage not found error. How do I fix this?I used Firefox to download them, and it seems to be able to open them okay -- at least, from what I have stored on my computer. I haven't tried downloading what I have archived online and opening those.

Try opening with Firefox?

Flickerdart

2015-07-28, 02:08 PM

They should release a PDF collection for $250 that contains all of the 3.5/3.0 books with errata for them all. That would make WotC millions, easy.
How do you figure? The only people who would want this are people who already have the books, or at least a vast majority of the books. And if anyone actually did buy it, it would cannibalize 5e sales.

WotC's best move right now is to focus on a game that both caters to their core consumer (the grogs) and makes it easy to introduce newbies (so they can expand the market). 5e hits both points. 3.5 does neither.

ComaVision

2015-07-28, 02:12 PM

How do you figure? The only people who would want this are people who already have the books, or at least a vast majority of the books. And if anyone actually did buy it, it would cannibalize 5e sales.

If the PDFs were searchable and indexed, it'd be worth the money just for the sheer amount of time it'd end up saving me.

Extra Anchovies

2015-07-28, 02:17 PM

I used Firefox to download them, and it seems to be able to open them okay -- at least, from what I have stored on my computer. I haven't tried downloading what I have archived online and opening those.

Try opening with Firefox?

They work in Chrome, too. Thanks for compiling them all in one place; if this doesn't turn out to be a temporary outage it'll be very useful.

Morcleon

2015-07-28, 02:18 PM

their core consumer (the grogs)

What is a grog? :smallconfused: (the only meaning I can think of is that of piratey alcohol)

Psyren

2015-07-28, 02:20 PM

What is a grog? :smallconfused: (the only meaning I can think of is that of piratey alcohol)

I assume it's short for "grognard" but not 100% sure.

Rubik

2015-07-28, 02:23 PM

They work in Chrome, too. Thanks for compiling them all in one place; if this doesn't turn out to be a temporary outage it'll be very useful.I'm recompiling them into a single file; would it be handier to just have one downloadable file or each individually? Someone PM'd me and asked for the single file, but I wanted multiple opinions on the matter.

Also, I know there are a few pages that are corrupted, but I don't know which ones they are. If anyone finds one and can find an uncorrupted page to replace it with, let me know.

Double-also, don't hesitate to download and cache it online for yourselves! Store it on Google Drive, or anywhere else online (and on your computers) so we don't have to worry about just having a single archived copy in existence (just in case).

Flickerdart

2015-07-28, 02:26 PM

What is a grog? :smallconfused: (the only meaning I can think of is that of piratey alcohol)
Grognards (from the French grognard, grumbler, later used to refer to veterans of the French Imperial Guard because they weren't afraid to complain to Napoleon) - players of old editions. The playtest made it abundantly clear that 5e is aimed at recapturing this audience, with survey questions phrased as "does this feel like D&D" rather than "is this balanced" or even "is this fun." WotC is trying to avoid fragmenting its base again.

AmberVael

2015-07-28, 02:38 PM

I'm recompiling them into a single file; would it be handier to just have one downloadable file or each individually? Someone PM'd me and asked for the single file, but I wanted multiple opinions on the matter.

Also, I know there are a few pages that are corrupted, but I don't know which ones they are. If anyone finds one and can find an uncorrupted page to replace it with, let me know.

Double-also, don't hesitate to download and cache it online for yourselves! Store it on Google Drive, or anywhere else online (and on your computers) so we don't have to worry about just having a single archived copy in existence (just in case).

The option to download all of it in one go could certainly be handy! I'd say having both would be pretty good, though if its a choice between them probably putting each file individually is better (since if you want all of them you can just download them all, and someone who doesn't want all of them can just download what they want).

Endarire

2015-07-28, 02:42 PM

Remember, the Giant Enemy Crab ("Crabber" as I called him) is in the archive Far Corners of the World under Monsters of the Tides.

Crabber shall live on in our hearts and minds. We shall have fond memories of finding ways to get our GMs to include him in our campaigns, just so we could kill him from afar with no harm to us.

Troacctid

2015-07-28, 02:49 PM

The option to download all of it in one go could certainly be handy! I'd say having both would be pretty good, though if its a choice between them probably putting each file individually is better (since if you want all of them you can just download them all, and someone who doesn't want all of them can just download what they want).

Personally, I see value in only having to unzip one .rar file rather than a bunch of different ones, although that may just be because I never bothered to check for the existence of an "Unzip everything" button.

It would be convenient for me if everything were compiled in a PDF so I could put it with my other PDFs, I guess.

Rubik

2015-07-28, 02:58 PM

Personally, I see value in only having to unzip one .rar file rather than a bunch of different ones, although that may just be because I never bothered to check for the existence of an "Unzip everything" button.

It would be convenient for me if everything were compiled in a PDF so I could put it with my other PDFs, I guess.Agreed on the .pdf point, but there's no way in hell that I'm going through the time and effort of converting all of that. It took long enough just to download them all.

It's also been brought to my attention that there are a few pages missing; there were so many links to trawl through that it's no surprise that I missed some. However, I do regret that fact, and if anyone finds anything missing from the archives and has a copy, definitely let me know.

So far, the Eberron Clockwork Wonders seems to be among the missing pages, and I'm not sure which others might be gone.

OldTrees1

2015-07-28, 03:00 PM

I used Firefox to download them, and it seems to be able to open them okay -- at least, from what I have stored on my computer. I haven't tried downloading what I have archived online and opening those.

Try opening with Firefox?

Firefox didn't solve my problem but I did find my problem. I was opening the .rar file but I needed to extract the contents before I could view any of the .htm files. So problem solved. Yay!

Rubik

2015-07-28, 03:33 PM

Flickerdart

2015-07-28, 03:44 PM

I'm currently uploading "!WOTC ONLINE ARCHIVES (ENTIRE ARCHIVE).rar." It contains everything I currently have. (Note the "!" at the front of the filename. This is so that it remains at the beginning of the list, regardless of whatever else might be added later.)
You should watch out for that - you might need a file that's even higher than that one, so you use !! and next thing you know you're floating in punctuation.

A Tad Insane

2015-07-28, 03:44 PM

*currently playing a binder*
NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo.....

Rubik

2015-07-28, 03:47 PM

You should watch out for that - you might need a file that's even higher than that one, so you use !! and next thing you know you're floating in punctuation.Multiple exclamation points are a sure sign of a diseased mind.

...which would, of course, segue rather neatly with you, by all accounts.

MesiDoomstalker

2015-07-28, 03:50 PM

Can someone help me? I'm not very tech savvy, so when I download any of the articles, all I get is a ton of .jpegs in a folder. How do I get it to display something thats readable/useable?

OldTrees1

2015-07-28, 03:54 PM

Can someone help me? I'm not very tech savvy, so when I download any of the articles, all I get is a ton of .jpegs in a folder. How do I get it to display something thats readable/useable?

Back out a level and you should see a bunch of .htm files (aka a bunch of webpages). Now I couldn't access those from the .rar folder so first I had to extract to a new folder. Once extracted I click on an .htm file for my web browser(chrome in my case) to open the webpage.

Troacctid

2015-07-28, 03:55 PM

The site is back up now, FYI.

AmberVael

2015-07-28, 03:55 PM

Can someone help me? I'm not very tech savvy, so when I download any of the articles, all I get is a ton of .jpegs in a folder. How do I get it to display something thats readable/useable?

Each file you download is a folder. In that folder there is a larger selection of folders, but there should also be a list of HTML documents. Ignore the folders, they're just a bunch of files (mostly the images you noted) that the HTML documents use. Just double clicking one of the documents should load a webpage in your browser, that's what you want.

MesiDoomstalker

2015-07-28, 03:56 PM

Back out a level and you should see a bunch of .htm files (aka a bunch of webpages). Now I couldn't access those from the .rar folder so first I had to extract to a new folder. Once extracted I click on an .htm file for my web browser(chrome in my case) to open the webpage.

OH! Amazing, it works now. Thanks a bunch!

bekeleven

2015-07-28, 03:58 PM

I'm currently uploading "!WOTC ONLINE ARCHIVES (ENTIRE ARCHIVE).rar." It contains everything I currently have. (Note the "!" at the front of the filename. This is so that it remains at the beginning of the list, regardless of whatever else might be added later.)

Rubik:

I downloaded your archive last year a few days after you made it. Has stuff been added since?Thanks!

LoyalPaladin

2015-07-28, 04:00 PM

The site is back up now, FYI.
It's probably a good thing everyone worried themselves though. Now we can unite and form our own directory of WotC material!

LogosDragon

2015-07-28, 04:02 PM

The site is back up now, FYI.

Well that was anticlimactic.

Rubik

2015-07-28, 04:03 PM

Rubik:

I downloaded your archive last year a few days after you made it. Has stuff been added since?Thanks!Only insofar as the condensed archive is concerned. Otherwise, no.

Rizban

2015-07-28, 05:16 PM

My friend nijineko did a full site rip awhile back, including all PDFs and some other things. He's got the lot of it up on Dropbox. I'll get the link and post it up in the first post.

IronicGentleman

2015-07-28, 06:34 PM

The site is back up now, FYI.

And now, unless I'm having computer issues, it's down again.

Cyphrus

2015-07-28, 07:49 PM

Troacctid

2015-07-28, 08:10 PM

And now, unless I'm having computer issues, it's down again.

It's up for me.

OldTrees1

2015-07-28, 08:24 PM

Um, Hi guys. If it helps, I've got a compiled set of text highlight able PDFs available at this link.
Pardon the source, but I can guarantee the file collection itself is clean.

http://www.4shared.com/zip/HRY2A_1Gba/Wotc_website.html

Nice! Thank you. Now there are 2 backups in this thread(with all necessary instructions) such that even our backups can have backups.

atemu1234

2015-07-28, 09:01 PM

It's up for me.

Darn. How long was that, from OP to end?

Curmudgeon

2015-07-28, 09:17 PM

Darn. How long was that, from OP to end?
The outage was 16 hours or so.

Rizban

2015-07-28, 11:18 PM

The outage was 16 hours or so.It was longer than that. I gave it a good 12 to 15 from when I noticed until I posted. Maybe longer.

Curmudgeon

2015-07-28, 11:25 PM

I think there was some intermittent performance near the start. I got a blank page, reloaded, and got the content.

Buufreak

2015-07-28, 11:35 PM

RandomMissy

2015-07-29, 12:03 AM

This might be out of line, and feel free to tell me so and I will drop it, but they forced that one website which shall not be named to shut down, and then they move everything into archive, then finally yank it altogether? They are kinda being jerks at this point.

Well, the website actually just moved to a different domain (that we are not allowed to name due to rules). But I do agree that making it hard to play 3.5 JUST so people go play 5e, is just not nice!

Necroticplague

2015-07-29, 12:09 AM

Morcleon

2015-07-29, 12:24 AM

Yes. Because it's such a horrible thing to protect your IP, and decide your own bandwidth is better spent than just collating a bunch of information almost anyone who cares about can get in other ways.

Said IP is also no longer being printed, and so is not something that can be obtained in a firsthand fashion anymore.

Bullet06320

2015-07-29, 12:32 AM

looks like they back up and running for now

Necroticplague

2015-07-29, 12:38 AM

Said IP is also no longer being printed, and so is not something that can be obtained in a firsthand fashion anymore.

The IP in question is D&D, which, at least legally speaking, I don't think is separated by edition. So protecting the IP involves making sure that all versions of the information not spread by the IP holder (WOTC) need to be stamped out, beyond what Fair Use allows for (which the site which must not be named definitely is beyond).