demagogue on 15/9/2019 at 12:19
This is kind of depressing. Their response doesn't really give any indication that they have any idea that there is this awesome community around Thief and forums mean more than just "game support", like it's only good for advertising patch updates. :sweat:
FenPhoenix on 15/9/2019 at 15:46
I remember, several years ago, reading the very first ghost threads. Where the style was invented, and the first ghost reports of Thief 1 and 2 were made. Far from mere descriptions, those early reports were nothing short of works of art. Banner transmigration told as though by keepers, with drama and suspense: "But we're not just going to pass your feet through something, we're going to pass all of you through two things." I read the post where nudging was invented, engine exploits and potion use being debated... I should have archived it all myself at any one of a million points in time. But argh.
Square-Enix is also perfectly happy to allow executables compiled from leaked source code updated for free by fans to be included in commercial distributions of Thief so they can keep profiting from selling it, but I guess writing a single sentence telling Le Corbeau they can release the source code would just cost them too many manmilliseconds of lost earnings potential. [/rant] :nono:
New Horizon on 16/9/2019 at 11:51
Square Enix doesn't care. They have no clue about the importance of those forums. They have probably just been deleted and lost to time. Back when that Dreamcast copy of the Thief source code was put into the wild, it was given to Eidos interactive in hopes they would take the time to get it into a ready state and make it available to the fans. The community manager at the time said it would be passed along to the right people...months went by and nothing. That community manager left, and after contacting the next one they knew nothing of the source code and whoever it was supposed to have been given to, never got it. They lost it....so it was given to them again. I remember following up with several Admins on their forums and every time they would act like it was news to them...even some that I had spoken to previously. They were given the code no less than 3 times and appeared to lose it every time.
They don't care, about the game, the community, the history. Not a wink.
It's infuriating.
klatremus on 18/9/2019 at 05:28
I saw Athalle's links from the webcache last week, but didn't have a chance to look into it. I just saw that most of them were working. Today I finally had a chance to go back in order to download them, only to realize that most of the links are now dead. Ugh!! I managed to salvage some, but sadly only a fraction of the full amount. If I can gather all of them then I would revamp them some and host them on my site, to make sure they never get lost again. The following is a list of the pages I currently have for the 'FMs Ghost/Perfect Thief Results' series:
Part 1 - Complete (3 pages)
Part 2 - Complete (3 pages)
Part 3 - Page 4 only (of 4)
Part 4 - Pages 1 and 4 (of 4)
Part 5 - Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10 (of 10)
Part 6 - Pages 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 (of 10)
Part 7 - Pages 1, 5 and 7 (of 12)
Part 8 - Complete, and currently running on TTLG
These I acquired from Athalle's links and from a quick search for cached pages through Google, Yahoo and Bing. If anyone else could help me acquire a more complete set, I would be eternally grateful. I am currently missing 20 pages (with approximately 25 ghost reports per page). Please post the links here or PM me and I will save them instantly.
Thank you!
prengle on 18/9/2019 at 06:27
lol im not surprised by squeenix being completely incompetent and not knowing what the hell theyve actually shut down - that seems to be their m.o.
im glad the community (or at least klatremus) seems to be making a genuine attempt at preserving this shit though. godspeed
Bucky Seifert on 18/9/2019 at 21:10
What even is Thief to Square-Enix anymore? I already went over the only reason it turned a profit several times, so I'm wondering what Thief is to Square in 2019. I doubt they would sell it for pennies but I still wonder if it's something that would be viable for a company like Night Dive to purchase the rights to, and maybe just let Square have a small stake in the IP like they do with Hitman.
klatremus on 22/9/2019 at 03:21
I just received this response from Square Enix following another customer support request:
"Unfortunately, the official Square Enix Forums are currently deactivated. However, there are official forums for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. We currently have no further information on the Square Enix Forums, but you are welcome to leave any feedback, which will be forwarded to the appropriate parties.
Thank you,
Agent Kerry
SQUARE ENIX Customer Support"
klatremus on 22/9/2019 at 23:45
Just giving you all the steps of my conversation with Square Enix.
Me:
"Thank you for your reply. Could you give me information on whether it is deactivated temporarily or permanently? If permanently, is there anywhere I can access an archive of those forums? There is a lot of important historical information in those threads and in posts therein that would be devastating to lose for many gaming fans. Especially archived threads from the old Eidos forums that Square Enix absorbed in 2014. If I could access the old threads then I could save at least some of the important information and it could be hosted and made available elsewhere for those interested. I just find it strange that it would be deactivated without anyone getting a chance of salvaging some of the information first. Hopefully you understand, and thank you again for your response and for your time."
Square Enix:
"At this point in time, it appears the forums are deactivated, whether temporary or permanent, has yet to be determined. We understand that there is quite a bit of information that would like to be recovered, but as of now, that is not possible due to the deactivation. The Support Center will follow up on this deactivation to see what can be done, and forward the feedback further to the appropriate department. We apologize, but not much more information can be garnered about this issue at this moment."
At least their last response leaves me hope the forums will be reactivated at some point, or at least the information be made available.
Yandros on 23/9/2019 at 01:10
At least it sounds like they didn't just wipe the server, although I still wouldn't hold out much hope of ever seeing it again.
klatremus on 21/10/2019 at 03:10
Just bumping this thread to see if anyone has any more information on where the Square Enix forums have gone, or if there are archives of any of the older threads anywhere. I am in the process of salvaging the pages from the 'FMs Ghost/Perfect Thief Results' series, parts 3-7 (the others are complete). If anyone could help me search for cached copies or knows of any tricks in that regard, I would be eternally grateful.
The following pages are still missing:
Part 3 - Pages 1, 2 and 3
Part 4 - Pages 2 and 3
Part 5 - Pages 5, 7 and 8
Part 6 - Pages 2, 4 and 7
Part 7 - Pages 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12