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Aug 26, 2004, 2:26am

I didn't want it to come to this, but I'm afraid it must... I will be
leaving the hosting business and will be shutting down 3D Host for the
foreseeable future.

Payment links have been removed from the 3D Host site because I am no
longer accepting any new orders. Please believe me when I say this: I
didn't make this decision lightly.

I first started hosting worlds and object paths for free back in 1998
under the name Stuff-X. Stuff-X later evolved into 3D Host in early 2002
but sadly 3D Host is now coming to an end. I've been hosting for nearly
seven years now and feel it is time to move onto bigger and better things.

The hosting industry as it is now is too cutthroat, time consuming, and
competitive. People expect everything for next to nothing. More free
hosts keep popping up and demand for paid AW hosting has gone down (as
far as I can tell).

More AW users will find someone that will be able to meet their hosting
needs for free or they themselves will be able to host whatever they
need on a fast broadband connection. Frankly, professional hosting just
isn't worth the time and effort I put into it anymore.

Now, don't take that the wrong way. One of the main reasons I first
started hosting in the beginning was to give back to the community. It
was never about making money or trying to become famous within the AW
community. But realistically, for the amount of time and energy I put
into 3D Host, I don't feel like I am getting an honest return on
investment. In other words, I am putting more into it than I am getting
out of it and it is starting to drain me both physically and mentally.

Please note that 3D Host isn't one those "fly by night" hosts that try
to take your money and run (far from it). I can't even begin to tell you
how many times I've "bent over backwards" to help certain customers, how
many discounts I've handed out, how much time and free (yes, free)
hosting I've given away (not to mention how many hours I've went without
sleep trying to keep everything running smoothly).

Yes, I will still remain a citizen of AW, but no, I won't be doing
anymore hosting. All the worlds, bots, websites, and object paths hosted
by 3D Host will hopefully be moved/sold to other hosts by September 30
of next month. This will be ample time for things to be moved without
any major disruptions.

I will personally be contacting every customer of 3D Host and will make
sure they are "squared away" before I shut down the servers. If you have
any questions or comments, please let me know. I'm happy that I was able
to serve the AW community for so long and I thank you for trusting me
with your hosting needs. I will now proudly pass the torch along to the
other AW hosters.

Sincerely,

Builderz
http://www.3DHost.net

Aug 26, 2004, 3:53am

Shame to see an aw-based business going down the plug hole =\

The show of dedication is how many nights you've spent for people :) *looks
at clock saying 6:40 am and realises I havent slept*

But your moving onto bigger and better things, go kick ass :)

- MR

[View Quote]

Aug 26, 2004, 4:11am

Thanks for your kind words, Strike. Again, it is more about the time
commitment more than it is about money. Seven years of *anything* is a
long time, let alone doing hosting... It has been worthwhile, but I
really do need to let go and move on.

Builderz

[View Quote]

Aug 26, 2004, 9:36am

Sorry to hear you are shutting down, but I can certainly appreciate your
reasons. You've always done a wonderful job and had exemplary service, and
been a good friend to boot!

Broadway and Blupearl bots will sadly miss you bot hosting.

Good luck on bigger and better things. :o)

Regards, Justin


[View Quote]

Aug 26, 2004, 2:19pm

No, I want to thank *you* for all of the great events you and OneSummer
held for the community. The bots just added to the virtual experience. I
will miss hosting them, but I'm sure you'll be able to find them a new home.

While I wasn't a perfect host, I tried my best. There were glitches here
and there but overall I think I did a pretty good job.

Builderz

[View Quote] > Sorry to hear you are shutting down, but I can certainly appreciate your
> reasons. You've always done a wonderful job and had exemplary service, and
> been a good friend to boot!
>
> Broadway and Blupearl bots will sadly miss you bot hosting.
>
> Good luck on bigger and better things. :o)
>
> Regards, Justin

Aug 27, 2004, 12:42am

For all the kindness and hard work Builderz it will never be forgotten! Not
only did you supply a service but indeed a wonderful friendship...... Hope
you will find time to still help me out doing events! With the warmest and
best wishes to you , OneSummer
[View Quote]

Aug 27, 2004, 12:52am

I'm glad someone will remember me and 3D Host, Summer. ;) I'm very glad
you were able to trust me with your hosting needs and I'm happy to have
helped out with the events in the past. I can't promise anything, but
I'll try to help out when I can in the future.

Builderz

[View Quote] > For all the kindness and hard work Builderz it will never be forgotten! Not
> only did you supply a service but indeed a wonderful friendship...... Hope
> you will find time to still help me out doing events! With the warmest and
> best wishes to you , OneSummer

Aug 31, 2004, 4:29pm

I just wanted to make another post to clear up some lingering questions
I've been getting. Yes, I'm still an AW citizen and won't be leaving AW.
No, 3D Host itself is not for sale. The only thing that will change is
that I won't be doing hosting anymore. I won't be able to host your bot,
world, object path, or web site.

In the month of August, 3D Host hosted seven bots, sixteen worlds in the
AW and MP3D universes, six domain hosting clients (web sites), eight
object paths, and four subdomain clients. In total, that comes out to
forty-one things that need to be moved to another host.

As you can imagine, moving that many clients is a daunting task. Here is
an update of how the worlds are coming:

AW Uni:
Allusion - files returned to owner
Aura1 - hosted by JerMe
Borg - files returned to owner
Celeron - hosted by TheMask
Eterna - needs to be moved
Intrepid - my personal world
Maddness - hosted by Chicago 3D
Maya - hosted by TheMask
MixAW - hosted by TheMask
Nepture - hosted by TheMask
Québelle - needs to be moved
Shades - hosted by TheMask
T-1 - hosted by Unknown Galaxy
TunersCK - hosted by TheMask

MP3D Uni:
Macs - files returned to owner
Voodoo - needs to be moved

As for the bots, here is the current status:

Barman and Greeter in BluPearl - hosted by Andras
BW Guide, Taxi1, and Taxi2 in Broadway - hosted by Andras
Collective in Borg - files returned to owner
Disco2 in Allusion - files returned to owner

"Files returned to owner" means that the owner wanted to host their
world or bot, I couldn't find them a replacement host that they were
satisfied with yet, or they abandoned their AW project.

The reason TheMask is now hosting so many worlds is because they were
worlds I either hosted for free or acquired from Brock's IceFlare
Hosting several months ago. TheMask does free world hosting and he was
kind enough to give me access to his server. I thank him for his help.
If those clients want to move to another free host (such as Ry), all
they need to do is contact TheMask.

I would also like to give a special thanks to Andras for hosting a few
of my bot clients. I had trouble finding someone with a Windows server.
As for me, I can now see WS_FTP Pro (my FTP client) and the remote admin
tool in my sleep (that is, when I get the chance to sleep). :P

The object paths and web sites I will be moving last. Some object paths
have been moved, others still need to be. I'll post more info in a few days.

Builderz

Sep 27, 2004, 3:54pm

This will be my last post regarding this matter unless anyone has any
further questions or comments.

I've moved all of the customers I was able to contact in time to another
host. I've tried to repeatedly telegram and/or e-mail all customers
about the move. For those that did not get back to me, I will backup all
of their data (including any databases) for safekeeping.

I tried to give everyone advance notice of the move (one month in
advance), yet there are still some who haven't moved yet. Obviously,
either they are extremely busy, broke, died, or couldn't care less about
their hosting anymore.

When I get the time, I will be editing the 3D Host site. Yes, the
3dhost.net domain will still stay alive, but I won't be taking anymore
orders. I will be making a note on the important pages of the site
saying that 3D Host is no longer in business and that the pages will
remain in place for historical purposes.

I've exchanged links with other sites and the site has won awards in the
past. If I take it down, there will be many broken links on other pages
on the Web.

Another reason I am keeping the 3dhost.net domain alive is because I
plan to redirect the sub domain clients to their new host. None of their
e-mail will be lost (it will be forwarded to another address) and people
going to their old site should be redirected to their new site. As I
said in a past post, I'll be moving the 3dhost.net domain to my own
personal hosting space (different from the 3D Host servers) to make this
all work.

So on or around September 30 (a few days away) I will be shutting down
the remaining 3D Host servers and will be changing the DNS settings for
3dhost.net to point to my personal hosting space so that all of the
redirects will work. It may take 24-72 hours for the DNS update to
propagate around the world.

Well, that's that. I've given refunds for periods of hosting that
customers have paid for that I won't be able to cover and all of the 3D
Host servers will be shut off soon as I won't be taking anymore orders.
If anyone has any final questions or comments, please let me know.
Thanks for your time and understanding.

Builderz

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