search

for FORUM issues, complaints, requests, bugs, etc - - not game related...
Post Reply
User avatar
~nyx~
Forum Expert
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:05 pm
Alternate name(s): CleoCatra, Temptress, Femme Fatale, Nyx, Cleo

search

Every time I go to use the search function on here I get an error message about too high a load

been an issue for a few weeks
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true;
the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

Image
No one is more hated, than they that speak the truth ~Plato
SGW player since 11 Oct 2005 memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5707
User avatar
Bernie Sanders
Forum Regular
Posts: 736
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:05 pm
Alliance: Democratic Socialists
Race: Jewish
ID: 1907203
Alternate name(s): Bernie Sanders
Location: Eastern US

Re: search

^

Months, actually
First she was like...
Support wrote:Thank you, Bernie.
Then she was all like...
Support wrote:Damn it Bernie.
Then they were all...
Mercury Rising wrote:Damn it Bernie!
Affirmation wrote:Damn it Bernie...
MajorLeeHurts wrote:Damn it Bernie
Spoiler
Bernie Sanders wrote:One of the biggest mistakes our government made after the financial crisis was not prosecuting the people responsible for the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior that crashed our economy and ruined the lives of millions of Americans. It is not acceptable that many young people have criminal records for smoking marijuana, while the CEOs of banks whose illegal behavior helped destroy our economy do not.

I talk in this color when corporations pay their fair share of taxes and don't evade US taxes by stashing profits overseas.

I talk in this color when the wealthiest top 1/10th of 1% don't own 50% of the nation's wealth.

I talk in this color when the wealthy, influential elites of this country don't have unbalanced influence over the economy, media, and government - allowing to regularly further their own interests.

I talk in this color when the US joins every other industrialized nation on Earth and guarantees healthcare for all people.

I talk in this color when 98% of all new income doesn't go into the hands of the wealthiest top 1%.
User avatar
~nyx~
Forum Expert
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:05 pm
Alternate name(s): CleoCatra, Temptress, Femme Fatale, Nyx, Cleo

Re: search

ongoing :'(
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true;
the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

Image
No one is more hated, than they that speak the truth ~Plato
SGW player since 11 Oct 2005 memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5707
User avatar
~nyx~
Forum Expert
Posts: 1056
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:05 pm
Alternate name(s): CleoCatra, Temptress, Femme Fatale, Nyx, Cleo

Re: search

Information

Sorry but you cannot use search at this time. The server has high load. Please try again later.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true;
the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

Image
No one is more hated, than they that speak the truth ~Plato
SGW player since 11 Oct 2005 memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5707
User avatar
Support
Site Admin
Posts: 1401
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 3:22 am
ID: 0
Alternate name(s): Juliette

Re: search

tl;dr: Search is 'temporarily' limited to prevent automated abuse. It has been since massive spikes in May 2025 and in the two years prior to that. Until PHPBB comes up with a decent countermeasure, it will remain limited.

We’ve had to restrict the search function due to a sharp rise in automated traffic (AI-driven scrapers and bots) hitting the forum. These systems can generate significant load and may attempt to harvest large portions of the site.

This isn’t unique to our forum. Many websites are currently dealing with similar issues. Modern AI crawlers collect large amounts of content and, unlike traditional search engines, don’t always send visitors back to the original site or respect access controls.

As a result, even relatively small spikes in automated queries (like search requests) can have a disproportionate impact on performance and availability for actual players.

Search will remain available in a limited or throttled form, and we’ll continue adjusting the safeguards to balance usability with stability.



I recognise that this impacts usability based on your reports, and I'll review whether the 'high load' definition is set too strictly.

Update 25/04/26: I have changed the definition to give everyone a bit of space to search, while remaining strict on automated processes and guest searches.
Post Reply

Return to “Forum Specific Issues/Requests/Bugs (NOT GAME ISSUES)”