Hey everyone,

As webmaster I feel I need to let you know we are obviously aware with the load issues on the site lately. It's not fun for any of us, but it's all part of the process as a site's traffic increases to new levels each and every day. We'll be honest, in some ways we are over our heads with this site. The ammount of traffic coming in, to put it blunt.. is amazing. However a few things need to be clarified:

• Don't let the online user number fool you, if there is for example, 60 users online, there could be anywhere from about 1,000 guests trying to reach us as well.
  
• The reason the site gets server busy messages is because the code for the current "Version 6" software is old. In fact it has been recycled and rehashed since we first introduced our userbase system back in 2002.
  
• We have plenty of bandwith. The problem is our two year old scripts were NEVER designed to handle this much traffic. If we removed the forums and our userbase system, the site would run as fast as a train.
  

So you're probably wondering what we are going to do about it. Well I'll state some short and long term goals.

Short Term: First of all we need your patience. We understand the Server Busy messages are annoying. They even drive us nuts. Second, we will continue to provide temporary fixes to the code that will help till a long term solution is finished. Right now our Administrator, CCShadow, is out of town until around the 24th. When he gets back we will take some efforts to increase the load. I wish we could make it faster, but just hang in there. If we removed the "Server Busy" page all together, the site would crawl 24 hours a day.

Long Term: Version 7. Obviously, we've kept a very tight lip on the project. I can't go into details of any sort of release date, but it's safe to tell you a few things. Besides having a new layout and features, Version 7 is a complete code rewrite of our forum/userbase software. All of our scripts are being rewritten to be able to hold the strain that is put on this website by all of the traffic. Relieze we are a lot more popular than two years ago. Version 7's code will be able to handle it where our two year old code couldn't. The day will come for V7, but until then we must all try to be patient. We haven't let you down, and I guarantee the wait for Version 7 is going to be worth it.

As far as making this site a paid site. We will never charge to post on our forums. To take away the very part of MK Online that makes us who we are, a Community, would be rediculous. However, we are researching some sort of paid membership or donation integration into Version 7, where premium users would have a few special benefits.

That's about it guys. Just understand we are working to get around these issues. Soon this will be an issue of the past. Until then we just ask for your cooperation in this matter!

Sincerely,