Fall 2021 Network Migration and Update Announcement

[Christopher 1,393]

Fall 2021 Network Migration and Update

Welcome to our all-new Network!

We are very pleased to be able to announce and open our all-new site. This site has been a culmination of many months of hard work and dedication put forth to get it into a stage where we are finally comfortable to open it up to our members and beloved visitors. Our next big network began construction in late 2020 before our plans were scrapped, our plans re-imagined, and our progress started over heading in a new direction. The instability that plagued our network on and off between 2018 and 2019 due to improper hardware and software configurations prompted us to attempt another software platform that proved to be extremely limited in comparison to our previous platform. After much consideration, part of our re-imagined plans included the decision to move back to our some of the software that was used on our old platform. The decision was made due to the flexibility we had with the old software along with the comfort that it provided all of our members and visitors for many years. As for the instability, we have largely mitigated these issues by having rid of the old software and hardware that ended up being the main cause of such issues, self-hosting our systems, and optimizing our systems with better software and hardware for optimum compatibility.

New: Gallery System +New

We have introduced a new Gallery system to our network. This new introduction allows everyone to share their experiences with others not only through words, but through images and photos. Whether it's experiences or crazy moments you have while you game, or a cool moment you wish to capture in your life-- all is accepted. Although it should go without saying, let's keep it clean. We are not interested in any phallic imagery anyone might wish to share.

Network Integrated Chat Service (Currently Known as "IMTS")  +New

We have introduced a new integrated chat system available directly via our website. There are multiple rooms, each designated for a particular purpose and with their own delegated access. There are ten (10) channels designated specifically for general member use, which can be used for in-game parties and other similar purposes. Channels 01 through 07 are normal channels that have the standard features. Channels 08 through 10 have a reduced feature-set in order to optimize screen real-estate for maximum message content.

New: ShortLink System™ +New

The New Team of Weapons and Tactics is proud to announce our new custom ShortLink System™: a quick and easy method of finding useful pages that you might want to find without having to manually browse through our site. Although we organize our site in such a manner that makes it easy to navigate, sometimes shorter links can be more memorable and faster to type. Some of our ShortLink System™ links are listed below. For a complete and up-to-date list, please see our dedicated KB article that contains all of our links.

General

• www.ntwt.us/go/policies - Policies Page
• www.ntwt.us/go/terms or www.ntwt.us/go/tos - Terms of Service
• www.ntwt.us/go/privacy - Privacy Policy
• www.ntwt.us/go/aup - Acceptable Use Policy
• www.ntwt.us/go/member-rules or www.ntwt.us/go/member-terms - Membership Terms of Agreement
• www.ntwt.us/go/join or www.ntwt.us/go/apply - Join the New Team of Weapons and Tactics

Game Departments

• www.ntwt.us/go/lcpd - Liberty City Police Department (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• www.ntwt.us/go/fdlc - Fire Department of Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• www.ntwt.us/go/lcms - Liberty City Medical Services (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• www.ntwt.us/go/lcta - Liberty City Transport Authority (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• www.ntwt.us/go/lspd - Los Santos Police Department (Grand Theft Auto Online)
• www.ntwt.us/go/lssd - Los Santos Sheriff's Department (Grand Theft Auto Online)

Games

• www.ntwt.us/go/bf2142 - Battlefield 2142
• www.ntwt.us/go/bf3 - Battlefield 3
• www.ntwt.us/go/bf2042 - Battlefield 2042
• www.ntwt.us/go/gta4 - Grand Theft Auto IV
• www.ntwt.us/go/gtao - Grand Theft Auto Online
• www.ntwt.us/go/nfshs or www.ntwt.us/go/nfsrc - Need for Speed: High Stakes / Road Challenge

Themes +New

As part of this new update, our site is now equipped with several new looks which can be customized to each member's preference:

• Dark: A sleek, simple, and modern theme that is easy on the eyes and can help save battery on mobile devices.
• Light: A sleek, simple, and light modern theme that is easy on the eyes.
• Classic: For those who crave some nostalgia or a trip down memory lane, the theme where the Team of Weapons and Tactics first began in 2012.

Our site sports the Dark theme by default, but members and visitors can change to their desired theme at anytime should they wish to do so, by utilizing the Theme chooser at the bottom of any page.

Former Downloads and Free Products

Since we moved from an older software platform (ie: software A) to a completely different software platform (ie: software B), and later to a newer and updated version of the older software (ie: new software A), a lot of data such as old downloads and purchases have been lost. This was lost during the migration from software A to software B. Although we toyed with the idea of merging our preexisting data from software A to the new update of software A, the decision was ultimately made to not do this. Since all of our old products were free and our old downloads were outdated and no longer supported, we felt it was best to leave the old data behind and move forward. Please note that because of this, old links to files and products that existed on or before December 21, 2019 (such as Extender Information Security 2015) are no longer supported, no longer exist, and therefore the links will no longer be valid.

Finding Fellow Members

Our usergroup system has been drastically cleaned up. Although this is technically more of an administrative detail, we are mentioning it here since it changes how members can find other fellow members that play the same games and platforms. Previously, members were placed into groups based on games and platforms they played. This is no longer the case; members can be found by several means, namely:

• Members Directory
• Members Search

Using the Members Search method, members can be found by a number of criteria such as gamertag, platform, games played, and more. Alternatively, members can use the Members Directory to see a complete list of registered users and members on our site, which can be sorted by miscellaneous criteria.

Spammer Banwave +New

We had a large influx of spammers come in between 2020 and 2021, possibly due to the fact that many people were at home for great lengths of time. They began plaguing our community faster than we could moderate them. Although we implemented a new policy to hide the content of all users until reaching a number of approved content, their presence still made others uneasy, and we luckily have addressed the problem. Thanks to our awesome-sauce, we ran a ban-wave that caught over 1,200 naughty spammers. Going forward, we will be implementing further security measures in our registration process in an effort to reduce spammer presence.

Future Ongoing Updates

Much of the work on our new site has involved a lot of work and organizing on the back-end to bring a smooth experience to the site. While we had more planned, we've decided to prioritize the important stuff, release the site, and continue to work on the smaller updates as and when we can. This will allow everyone to get a chance to enjoy the new site, and access new content that wasn't previously available on our site. While we get situated on our new site, our old site will remain available at https://legacy.ntwt.us/. While the legacy site will remain available for a while, the legacy forums will be shutdown, as all forums and discussions have been migrated to the new site. Further, please note that any information on the old site is considered out-of-date, and that all information on the old site regarding policies, supported games and departments, et al, are all superseded by information available on the new site.

Questions and Comments Welcome!

As always, we love to hear from you. Feel free to post any questions, comments, or suggestions that you might have. Also if you notice a problem, feel free to reply here and let us know!