Using a script / refreshing program on the Store will result in banning

[Jennifer]

Hi everyone! I know I have posted this warning before, but it still seems to be a problem as a few people (I do not know who) are still doing this. I realize it is entirely possible that they don’t know it’s hurting us, and may not even read the forums, so I am looking into getting a little notice put on the store page as well.

HOWEVER…. as of this morning I have been notified and asked by our host (this is the person that tends to the physical computer server that runs the Windstone website [and other websites], and is NOT part of Windstone Editions) to post this warning again: any user who runs scripts on the Store will be automatically banned starting later this week.

To be clear: Checking the store a few times a day is not harmful. Having an automatic program running to check it hundreds or thousands of times a day is. Unless you or someone you know set up an auto-refreshing script or program on your computer to check the Windstone Store you are okay!

This is an important announcement, and while it will probably only effect 1% of our users, we need to make it just in case!

Some of our more computer-savvy users have discovered how to write a script (this is a mini computer program that runs by itself after you set it up, more or less) that automatically refreshes the Windstone site (store) at a regular rate. We are guessing this is a way to see when new items are added to the store. We also understand that none of you would do this to intentionally harm Windstone and that you are just excited about collecting our pieces. That means a lot to us! 🙂

Unfortunately… running these auto-refresh scripts ARE creating a drain on the server, impacting the infrastructure, and have to be stopped before it affects not only our site but the others that are hosted by our host server. When a script auto-refreshes it requests information from the site and server each time it refreshes, and when it does this often enough it causes a problem! It’s actually seen as a low level attack on the server.

If you are running a script to auto-refresh the store, your IP (your computer, more or less) will be blocked by our host and you will not be able to use any part of the Windstone site. This is NOT us trying to be mean or punish you! This is our HOST trying our site (and his entire server and other clients) from going down or causing problems for all of our users.

If you find you are blocked, please cease use of your script and write or call Susie so she can coordinate with our host to get you unblocked.

What is okay: Refreshing the store manually (by clicking reload/refresh on your browser) a few times a day is okay as long as you are not doing it hundreds of times a day. 🙂

If you have any questions please let us know!

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