Current Estimated Wait Time and Future Projections

[boundbooks]

I already have an AO3 account, but I'm trying to set up an FAQ for an exchange. Does anyone know what the current estimated wait time is for an AO3 account, and are there any projections as to whether or not that will increase or decrease around Yuletide? I.e., is AO3 going to start rushing out invites (I understand that it's currently a problem of server load or some such), or will invites simply start to back up further?

Mostly, I want to give participants an estimated time as of October 2011, so that they don't wait until 10 days before sign-ups open (or when sign-ups open!) to request an AO3 invite.

Comments

[bridgetmkennitt]

I believe (don't quote me) that as a mod for an AO3 challenge, you could request a bulk of invitation codes for your would-be participants. I think that's what musesfool did for her Remix Redux? As I haven't done a challenge on AO3 as a mod or participated in Remix, I can't say it's for certain, but I think I recall seeing something like that.

[boundbooks]

Hm. Maybe I should inquire in that direction. I know that I'd definitely already requested a few, but I was leary of requesting something in the order of 150 or 200. I'll go ask musesfool how she did it! Thank you for the suggestion! :D

[zooey_glass]

Yes, we're happy to give out invitations for challenges. If you go to http://archiveofourown.org/users/YOURUSERNAME/invitations you can request invitations - just say how many you need and what it's for and we'll do our best to oblige, servers willing!

Zooey (AO3 staffer)

[boundbooks]

Sweet! Okay, I will go and put in a request for 200 invites. I'd put in a baby one for 30, but now I'll go in with the full number. :D

[zooey_glass]

Heh - I should have said that we encourage people to ask for them in smaller numbers and then to ask again when they start to run out, just so we don't wind up with loads floating about. (Usually challenge mods tend to find they don't need as many as they think, because quite a few people do have accounts now.) So 60 might be a good number to start, then more if you need them.

Zooey

[boundbooks]

Ooops. XD

I already submitted the request for 200!

Uh, if it helps ease your worries, I gave you money yesterday? XD

(<---points to new icon)

[zooey_glass]

Heee, that's fine, just note that the full number might not get approved right away. :D If you get given fewer than 200, then rest assured we're happy for you to ask for more at a later date.

[boundbooks]

I can totally work with that! I am new to those whole 'large request for codes' thing, so I wasn't sure how it worked! Thanks for answering my questions! :)

[zooey_glass]

Anytime! Although I must put in a plug for our Support team, who are also more than happy to answer any questions (and thanks to their AWESOME hard work they are now caught up on tickets, so they are pretty swift at getting back to people).

[boundbooks]

Oh, that's fantastic! I thought they only did tech support for some reason (actually, I guess I just assumed that, and so never actually bothered to look at that page about them! D:).

I have a HUGE number of questions about setting-up sign-ups for exchanges, so I will go fill out a support ticket in the coming month! Thanks for the info! :D

[zooey_glass]

W00t!

[zooey_glass]

PS Thanks for donating! :D

[boundbooks]

No need to thank me! I donated out of pure selfishness. I like using AO3 too much, and I wanted less 502/500 errors. XD

http://boundbooks.dreamwidth.org/91707.html

[zooey_glass]

Heee, that's an awesome post! :D

Selfishness is a pretty good motive - we pretty much volunteer for the same reasons, haha! We want a shiny archive we can enjoy. We very much appreciate all the various kinds of support people can give, though.

[boundbooks]

Weirdly enough, HP fandom seems really resistant to AO3 in certain ships. I put up a post in the biggest LJ community for that particular ship, and most people had never hear of Archive of Our Own or had any clue what 'AO3' meant. It was quite surprising to me. O_o

[zooey_glass]

Fandom is like that! People exist in the own little bubbles - I think if you are happy in your particular corner of fandom, then you don't feel motivated to move. Probably just as well - if everyone jumped at once the servers really would melt!

[boundbooks]

So true, re: bubbles!

Ah, the poor servers. They suffer! I'll keep my eye out on the OTW posts, so I know if you have fundraisers in the future. My impression is that the servers are just vastly being crushed by our fannish enthusiasm!