FP GoPinball & PinSimDB: the end is coming

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AlexPSDB

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Hello guys,

I am Alex, the pinsimdb & gopinball server administrator. First of all, I'm very sorry for all the mess and the lack of info, but it just wasn't possible. I won't give you details but my private life was terrible for a few years. That's all I'm willing to say, so please be respectful.

We had to stop the gopinball site because the forum was completely spammed and towards the end, we had suspicions of server hacks with the technical impossibility of updating it. The data is not lost, we have backups.

Regarding pinsimdb, we will also stop it in a few weeks (At the end of July - we will not renew the domain name). It's not a problem of money, we no longer have the desire or the time to take care of it (btw, we started the adventure in 2006 - 16 years!).

What I am going to do :
  • put a message on the site in the banner stating the closing date. Adding tables and comment are going to be disabled too.
  • make backups of databases and clean them of sensitive and personal data. For example: only the login will remain in the database (email, name, first name, ... will be wiped).
  • make backups of files (forum attachments, tables/overviews of pinsimdb).
  • make backups of sources and clean them of sensitive data (server password and other)
  • I would also put the start of a new (functional) version of pinsimdb made with express (server-side javascript) and Elasticsearch as a database for anyone who wants to try the adventure or get inspired.

I will then make 2 large archives (probably split in multiple parts): one for pinsimdb and one for gopinball.

I think I'll take care of this the weekend of June 18/19.

I can be reached at the address fprelease _AT_ free.fr (replace the _AT_ by an at sign).
Stay safe & be cool
Alex
 
Nice to hear from you again. It will be nice to be able to read postings from GoPinball. The main thing I miss are the directions to use Ravarcade's previous BAM revisions. I have been reviewing new tables on pinsimdb and posting them. I have tried to delete span from the comments of the tables on the first page.
 
Hello Alex,
first, sorry for your past terrible years, but happy than you can make archives for both PinSimDB and GoPinball.
But, at least, a big thank for all your (with TheNalex) job since 2006.
And, as i'm a dreamer, if Chris (Black) have also an archive for defunct FPForum, it will great.
 
Pretty sad day, losing gopinball.
It is possible to convert the database over to a new forum software, but not sure how it would affect things as this is a working forum. A fresh install of a different forum would be better. Have to look into it, this site has enough in it already and is/was straining a bit as it is. Maybe see if there can be a archive site set up just so all that info isn't lost, as there was tons of useful information.
Thanks for letting us know, hope things get better and life becomes easier for you and nalex.
 
Sorry to hear about your life struggles. Take care of yourself. That's what matters the most.

While I was only involved in the community since around 2015 (so I never saw the old FP forums), I can remember pinsimdb as far back as around 2007... when I first dabbled in FP and VP. It's always been a great source for FP content, and I was happy to be able to contribute some of my own there in recent years. GoPinball was also a great resource for lots of great information about FP (and other things) that was very helpful to myself and many others who I met there.

Keeping any site running is a huge amount of work, so thank-you for everything you and The Nalex have done over the years.

Also, thank you VERY much for taking the time to give us notice about the site closure, and a big thank you for taking the time to make efforts to make the historical content archived and still available in some form or another. There is a lot of great content in there. Much of it will live on in FP-BAM updates, or maybe as a conversion to VPE one day.

A lot of respect for you sir. Thank you for your efforts.
 
Thanks for running those sites for all those years and thanks for the advanced notice !

What would be involved in your final statement ?
  • I would also put the start of a new (functional) version of pinsimdb made with express (server-side javascript) and Elasticsearch as a database for anyone who wants to try the adventure or get inspired. "
George, Popotte and Myself have been publishing the tables for the past couple years. And I have been dumping some of the spam especially on the more recent tables.
 
@AlexPSDB
I'm Dazz from VPUniverse. If there is anything that I can help you with please feel free to reach out to me. I think we finally have VPUniverse servers stable after a big upgrade this morning.

I wouldn't mind keeping the site in it's entirity in archive mode new/updated submissions going to VPU. I made the same offer to VPinball so making the same offer to you as well.
 
Thank you for all you've done and for letting everyone know what to expect. This is the right way to retire a valuable resource. Thank you for being good stewards.
 
Still pretty new to virtual pinball but pinsim was my go to site for fp tables. It will be missed. Thanks
 
I hope all the personal problems are behind you now and I want to thank you for all you've done for this great hobby! Wishing you many years happiness.
 
It's very sad to read this, it was from there that ... without any knowledge ... I made my first pinball, it took me a long time to marry BAM with FP lol ... it was more than a learning experience, it was a battle lol , not even my children believed that I would do it .

I'm really grateful to PinSinDB and a site called Circuito Maker, which teaches how to configure an Arduino for my Pinball commands
 
I see this with regrets, I begun from scratch with FP, in these early days PinSimDB was my only source to get tables. Whoever stands behind this site .... you have a good job, thank you for all.
 
Thanx for bein there for as long as 16 (!!!) years......you did a tremendous work there......Sorry to hear your "background" .....hope you will find hapiness again in the end.... i used your site and forum more than once to play a new or updated table......pinball is one of my favo games...will miss it in the end......but respect your decision !! Live Long.........and prosper...... ;)
 
I'm amongst the ones who got their first contact with digital pinball in pinsimdb. I may have created an account at gopinball but i'm not even sure of that.

But at that time I had other priorities so pinsimdb was enough to download the ocasional table. Funny how until it went down there were still tables being uploaded there and quite regularly too. That does mean something.

In the wise dolphin words before they left Earth about to be destroyed "so long and thanks for all the fish" and I do mean this in the best possible way as it is sad seeing a landmark going down.
 
Sad to see this go. Good luck Alex! I hope you take Dazz up on the offer, he's good company and it would be great to have this in archive mode for the future.
 
Sorry to see this site go. Thank you for the notice as well as keeping everything archived. I'm new to this awesome hobby and I got my first few FP tables here so in essence, I got my start here so Thank You for that as well!
 
I'm sad about hearing this, I hope things get better for you Alex, that's more important than anything else.

I needed to mention that Pinball Nirvana isn't straining or being overloaded since changing servers last month, let us know if you think we can help you in any way that might be needed.
 
I'm sad about hearing this, I hope things get better for you Alex, that's more important than anything else.

I needed to mention that Pinball Nirvana isn't straining or being overloaded since changing servers last month, let us know if you think we can help you in any way that might be needed.
@Dazz
@AlexPSDB

I am delighted that VPUniverse and PinballNirvana have the bandwidth to archive the PinsimDb resources.

I am sure all of us are pleased / relieved by this news.

Having the archive at VPUniverse may increase the FP exposure further , while having it here makes sense as this is now the de facto site for FP development with the GoPinball Tutorials and with Ravarcade, Shiva, GeorgeH. Popotte, Gin , JLou, AnonTet, Wild, TerryRed etc.. engaged in this site regularly

But Potato / Pototo either / both are awesome !
 
@Dazz
@AlexPSDB

I am delighted that VPUniverse and PinballNirvana have the bandwidth to archive the PinsimDb resources.

I am sure all of us are pleased / relieved by this news.

Having the archive at VPUniverse may increase the FP exposure further , while having it here makes sense as this is now the de facto site for FP development with the GoPinball Tutorials and with Ravarcade, Shiva, GeorgeH. Popotte, Gin , JLou, AnonTet, Wild, TerryRed etc.. engaged in this site regularly

But Potato / Pototo either / both are awesome !
Agree with @Gimli !
 
OLA ESTOU MUITO TISTE PRA MIM TUDO COMECOU AQUI.SOU DO BRAZIL AMAMOS PINBALL DERDE A TAITO.ABRIGADO POR TUDO AMIGOS.VOCES FORAM UNICOS.HASTA LA VISTA, BABY
 
A great site that literally changed my life. So many great games by so many talented creators. Thank you for all the work you've done.
 
Sad to see you go, but glad you were here.
Thank you so much for all you did.
👍
 
Such as shame was one of the 1st sites i used to get tables when FP was played a lot more.
We thank you for the last 16 years of joy :-)
 
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