State of the Retro: 2025

Evening,

You may have noticed recently (or indeed, not so recently) that the Retro family of wikis; Sonic Retro, Sega Retro, NEC Retro and Retro CDN are running a little slower than usual. Perhaps pages aren't loading properly, or images aren't showing. Maybe the site doesn't seem to work at all!

Well don't worry, it's not just you!

This is a notice just to say "we're aware". We're aware our software is tempermental and our server is struggling, and we're aware it's been a problem for too long. More importantly, we're aware communication hasn't been good enough - you expect our wikis to work, and are confused when they don't.

The problem

The irony is that our issues... aren't really issues at all. Our wikis get bigger and better every day, which in turn attracts more traffic, and this is great! However it also means we're asking the server to "serve" more people, which for one reason or another, is something it is struggling to do at the moment.

The net result is that the wikis aren't working as they should. You may be seeing error codes like "502" or "504", and we may have had to temporarily turn off image thumbnails to claw back some performance - these are common symptoms of a when a server that's overloaded. Likewise there are also many long-standing bugs we're also aware of, and yes, they're on the to-do list as well. It's a big list.

However, we think Retro working some of the time is better than none of the time, and while these bugs and errors slow everyone down, we're hoping it can be alleviated "soon".

The solution

We can't stress enough, this isn't your fault. We don't want our editors to change their behaviour; to discourage page edits or file uploads. Contributions from volunteers is great, and will always be great, so don't be discouraged by what you may (or may not) see. And we especially thank to those who have persevered through the "unique" challenges Retro has presented over the years; we're just as frustrated as you are that our network isn't as reliable as others.

The good news is our wikis usually do what they're told, just that it can take a while, and while we can't put a precise date on when the sunny uplands will come, the content isn't going anywhere. Retro may be slow and unresponsive, but it's not going to die. Not after 20 years of edits and uploads - that would be beyond tragic.

The future

All four of our wikis are organised via the Sonic Retro Forums and Sonic Retro Discord. For more up-to-the-minute updates, or general answers to wiki-related questions, head on over there.

-Black Squirrel (talk) 18:15, 10 March 2025 (EDT)