EQEmu losing hosting
 

We've been informed that we are going to be losing our current hosting for EQEmu.

Very little reason was given, but we will need to find a new home in short order (i.e. 10 days).

This is a call for donations to aid us in finding a new home.

If you are interested in helping financially, visit the sourceforge page to donate funds.
If you are interested in offering other assistance, please contact myself or FatherNitWit via PM.

This project has relied on the generosity of Krusher for a long time in providing hosting services. This situation has now come to an end. Stable, reliable hosting is critical to the existence of this project and we need your help to re-establish this infrastructure.

This isnt good. What kind of hosting is needed for the project to keep going. Like massive Dual Xeon servers with 100mbit connections or what. I will drop what I can in a few days (this comming saturday to be exact, So long as the woman lets me... :-) I am just wondering how much it will take to keep it up and moving month per month.

Furthermore, Its a good time to get the minilogin going few the brief downtime I suppose. /jk

Edit---

Is this site still hosted on DMG, if so, are they shutting down. I am going to be looking around for good hosting tonight so I will get back with my results. I am sure that you are looking for *nix type hosting with Mysql right. Anyhow, anything other I can do minus dontations for the time being I will be happy to do.

Here is just a few I found from Google


Rackspace - $385/month 150GB Transfer/Linux, Mysql, Root Access

Aplus.net - $99/month 1000GB transfer/CeleronD 3.3GHz/1GB DDR2800/250GB HD Linux Mysql root access

ServerBeach - $75/month 900GB transfer/Celeron 1.7Ghz/1GB ram

iWEB - $69/month 1000GB transfer/Celeron 3.0Ghz/many *nix distros - Dont know about MySQL

CompletlyDedicated - $79/month 1000GB/Athlon-XP/1GB Ram/*nix distros - Dont konw about mysql

BocaCom - $119/month 800GB transfer/P4 2.8Ghz/1GB Ram/ Linux w/root access


I will keep searching too, but as far as these go, my money is on Aplus.net one. The processer sucks, but how much processer is needed to run the site, wiki and the loginserver.

Also, I dont know what kind of restrictions the loginserver puts on you guys, or if you even need that hosted on one of these servers.

I'm not sure what you mean, or how much of EqEmu will be affected. Forgive me for being stupid, but the system for donating appears to be a bit complicated and directed towards individuals?
Anyways, I managed to find Doodman's donor section and saw just a few donors in the listing. So few, I felt a little ashamed; There's what, around a dozen donors after all this time?
If this is the case, I don't see where donations will solve this, as it seems you need some steady income in order to keep all this going.
I saw this post in the morning and expected to see the comments here swamping in , by the time I got back from work - more reason to believe donor help will not work.
What comes next, may not be 100% correct, and will not be very appealing to many, but it's a start and might set things rolling again.
I'm taking for granted EqEmu Forums, Login server, (what else?) are closely related.

- One simple, donation button which will be available on this forum and every other site that belongs to EqEmu.

- An option to donate with something other than Pay Pal ( I like many others are "anti-PayPal and anti- Ebay", thus have no account there). A credit-card option would be very helpful.

- Give something back to the donors for their effort. For example, If i donated 10.00. I get all the assistance I want on the forums even if its "Do I have to have Titanium?" 20 times. maybe have some special "Donor" forums.
The donor thing could come in levels, maybe if we can get people to commit 10-20 dollars a month (which would be a lot better than one lump-sum donation). they would be able to have stuff like a "preffered server".
I could almost guarantee you, if you made donor forums - income would pick up.

-Maybe open up a bank account for EqEmu where Doodman, FNW , and whoever else, has access and can view transactions. That way, money can be transfered from donors better, and a server space can be paid for.

I'm willing to pay, probably could arrange for someone else to send you money via PayPal, but I want to see Eqemu always around, not just for another month. I want to commit a hassle-free, monthly payment to you guys which as far as i'm concerned, can stop on the day I die.

Summer's coming up so I'll be able to afford tossing a few bucks to keep my favourite project alive, I'm sure many others will too.

Like Angelox said, it's sad to not see much of a response right now, but if it gets to the point where the money isn't made in 10 days and the loginserver has to actually shut down, then we should see more of a reaction.

There use to be a whole donation system set up and the box that ran eq was paid for by donations for years and years and years.

The decision was made to allow Krusher to host everything, and he could put adds up and keep that $, so the donation system was taken down because we didn't require any.


It may be a simple fix to add a donation button, but the account, tall the splash through to different places would take more time then there worth considering we have a week now.


If we can manage to keep things going, there will be a donation system set up, better support for paying people wont be one of them, this is open source and at would defeat the purpose.

Custom Titles, allowing avatars... stuff like that is doable (as long as they don become porn like before).

I am not to concerned about how the donations are made, so long as they go to the project and not peoples private pockets. Not accusing anyone here by any means, but I have seen it before in other places.

As far as having a dedicated donations spot, I think that would be great. One pool for everthin to go into. If you get 10 people putting 10 dollars in per month, thats just enough to slide by on a decent dedicated host. In addidtion to that, If we wanted to to Ad's, I am not opposed to that. I find absolutley nothing wrong with it, so long as people dont abuse them like they have in the past.

As far as giving a donor special status, there isnt a whole lot to do. I dont want someone putting in 10 dollars only to have the abilty to ask stupid questions so that idea to me wouldnt be a good one. Stupidity does not come at a price. I did not get that 10 dollars J.Smith put in, why should I have to answer his questions regarding wether or not I can send him my
eqgame.exe client.

Things like matt said, like avatars, diffent color names on boards, and possible a little notation(picture, subtitle, ect...) to let people know that that person contributs to their pleasure is a great way to do it. Sourcefourge has the little gear things to indicate dontaions, level of donations ect.. so we could have something like that.

Anyhow, I really dont have much room to speak, as I am technically only a member for around a month now(not including quite a few years ago) so maybe I shouldnt speak.

I just know this, I am going to try to help, any way possible. I love the project, although I dont play a lot of EQ anymore, but the things that people have done here I have much respect for. I dont want it to die, or become a limited little offset that doesnt have anything but a 4 year old release of the emu and absolutly no one moderating the forums.

Blah blah blah, I could go on for days. Oh look candy.........

-------Edit------

Furthermore, I just though of a cool feature if this would be possible. I know not with the current time frame, but something we could work out once we are in the clear again. The abilty for anyone to see the current donation amount that has been put in. SoD has the little light indicator, with could be just a load of ****, but something like that. Like a link that goes to the donation page for donating, and on it it would say

I think that would be a awesome feature so we know how much is in there at all times and we can dontated to a specifc level if need be, or heaven forbid, J.Smith decided that he was going to take $200 for gas money. We would still have enough for the server to keep moving, so who would be the wiser that he did that.

Hey, If the guy pays some money, I'll answer anything I can. If you look good at all this, there are not too many of us; maybe 20-30 active in the forums and maybe 300 players (tops) on the servers.
I'm the first one that gets fed up with same old question that you can find with a search - but if it 's a donor, so be it! We got less than ten days now, before this whole thing goes belly-up and it all poofs! If we let it get to that, it's going to me much harder getting it back together again.
In any case, we have to take immediate action and send money to either Doodman or FNW. I'm trying to figure out how to Paypal him via someone else, I may have to stoop down and make an account. There's nothing else we can do in ten days.
To everone that reads this; This is all going down the drain unless we act now.

You can make a donation via credit/debit card through paypal without being a account holder. At least you can pay through pay pal anyhow. I use paypal for a way to accept credit cards for my business. Most people just pay me in cash, but some have the option to pay via credit/debit without a account. There just limited to $2000.00 transactions. If you are planning to donate more than 2k, you proably have a server solution that can host it at your own house.

There was a lot more to this post, but after thinking about it, anyone that donates is a great person and should deserve some nice perks.

EqEmu needs money! I know it hurts to cough up money, but sometimes you got to! Look at it this way: any crappy-assed game you buy will get you a few hours of happiness and costs around 50.00. Sony charges around 18.00 a month for membership! How long have we been into EqEmu and what have we given it?
I know we all don't have money for this, but some of us do and can donate. So you all know who you are, please donate! We don't want to loose EqEmu.
Thanks for the idea techguy84, I saw how to pay via PayPal and not join, so that's not a rant anymore.

Summer is coming up and once I get out of school, and back to a job, I can contribute about 20-30$ a month.... I think You will have plenty people contribute, I just dont think the people that play on the servers ever go on this website or read the forum, but once the word gets out there will be donations and appreciation for what you guys do.

Thanks again guys!

Peace!

Sadly, I'm on disability..which means im on a fixed income. If i could though, I would certainly donate to this cause. Eqemu has kept me from going out of my mind numerous times, and really I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. I hate that I rely on others that donate but as a whole, I love eqemu. I hope people pull together and keep the project running.

I haven't donated in the past because the methods I've seen thus far on this forum are directed at individuals, and it seems a lot of people come and go here due to life being how it is. I know the main ones (FNW, Doodman, etc.) are recipient options, but I've been looking for an opportunity to put money towards a cause exactly like this one.

That said, how can I put money towards hosting these forums? I'd prefer it not go directly to any one individual (as I don't know anyone well enough to show any favoritism :)), but if there isn't a method in place for donating directly for the hosting then I'll settle for one person who gives their word that that's what my money will go towards.

Donation inbound, pending the response. This is such a fantastic project to be (even a small!) part of, let's keep it going :)

the whole project is run by individuals, so no ,atter what the donation will go to an individual.


Send donations directly to Doodman, he is the one thats is going to need to pay for everything, and everything will end up being in his name anyway.


Even if there was a donate to the project link that didnt name names it would still go to the same people.

Wow, this really bites... i agree with Angelox and techguy84, we need to keep this going... i may not play very much, due to work, but i always jump on when i get a little free time on my hands and see what kinda mess i can get myself into... so once things brighten up for me i will be sure to donate, curently unable to as i have no money cuz i had to get surgery done, so i havent worked about about a week, but once the big pay check comes back ill be sure to drop $20 or $30 every now and then.

You've got mine :D

Well, I am going to start a fund rasier with T.V. specials. I got a guy that can play the tuba using is left ear while simultanously picking 15 locks with his feet, with shoes on I might add.

Operaters are standing by.......

Donate now and I will even throw in this free ultra portable refigator that doubles as a back pack, fishing rod, cable tv tuner, GPS tracker, car alarm, golf caddie and toothpick.

Also, if you call in the next 12 mins 34.55 secs we will also give you a deluxe coffee pot capable of storing 19GB of your favorite MP3's.


Anyhow, my donations on the way here in about 3 days. I know I am cutting it close, but thats the best I can do at the moment. May only be 10-20 dollars at the moment. But I can keep it coming hopefully.

partial hosting
 

if push comes to shove, i offer my pipe for hosting, i have 3 public addresses that i'm not using right now ( i have commercial grade cable model access that provides 5 dedicated static addresses, of which 1 is my web/email server and another is my eqemu server.

obviously a dedicated rack situation would be optimal, but worse case, this would buy time until such a situation appeared.

if anyone in the dev team is near portland, oregon, we could meet over a beer and discuss issues/details/etc.

anyway, count me among the crowd that would be most upset if this "all went poof".

== sfisque

Got some OT for this check incoming... I will try and throw $100-$300 IF I can figure out the damn pay-pal thing... never used it and up until now have NOT ever been interested in it...But I SURE AS HELL dont want to see EQEmu gone. I am like Tech, in that, I dont play much any more but I like to set up a server when the emu changes just so I can come here and help support other people to get their problems solved....:)

P.S. BTW what kind of figures are we talking about here to get re-located?

I love the project. I used to love EQ, but that time has long come and gone. I still play from time to time, but only for testing purposes, or to blow off some GM style steam (Come here Sleeper, you *******.) I like making a difference, as why I am writing my guide. In the past month I have gotten about 15 thank yous for the guide and I am just simply amazed with it. I like helping, when and where I can. I am all for keeping things going for us here, although I dont play. Its just the concept behind it that I want to stay alive.

I like sfisque idea. Something like this will buy us some more time. We could just host the fourms there for the moment. Update SF with the latest compiled binary for downloading. I have a awardspace site up so I could put my server guide up there for veiwing for the moment.

All we really need mainly keep things somewhat moving for the time being. If the loginserver is down why we find a new host, thats fine by me. Its better to lose things for a little bit, then all together. Buying more time is the key right now at this moment if we can't raise enough money to move everything at once.

hosting
 

In the past did the hosting also used to have a problem. I beleive not just any hosting company will due. I think did SOE have a couple other server sites shut down thru there hosting comapny. It has to be a foreign hosting company i believe but could be wrong.

This link will lead you straight to Doodmans paypal donate;
http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?user_id=1113174
select what ever amount you want to donate, and you will get to an option for credit card, or if your a PayPaler, sign in and pay.

Doodman is the one to donate to , he carrys the bills.
You can view who already donated here
http://sourceforge.net/developer/use...ser_id=1113174
Thanks a lot for you help everyone!

For the "nobody" donors: say who you are in the comment line - but I think I see two more donors already. If so, say who you are here. I'm hoping Matt will re do the forums and include donor privs.
Sourceforge is an old and trustworthy institution, I just joined very quickly and easy.

uummm no..... 100% wrong.

Just donated also. Not much sorry but that's the most i can give atm.

I, myself (proper english hehe) am not looking for any props (nor have I ever wanted them), or special priveleges, I am doing it simply to keep this project alive :)

I am still curious as to the estimated figures we are talking about to keep things alive, though....

I think that if we can keep a central location alive (such as the forums) then things will work out... I guess we would always have IRC to discuss how to get things back to normal....hehe

Thanks for the link Angelox that will help (me anyhow)....

Thanks for the donation link - makes it a bit easier.

Threw in my donation today and I hope it helps.
I have been here for years and years and follow emu devolpment like a cult.

GeorgeS

How much, how quickly?

Donated. Keep it alive!

This thread gave my heart a jolt... I hope we don't lose support for this project. I have offered web and server space to Doodman, if no other options can be arranged.

Been missin you guys! So damn busy tho, I can barely find time to sleep. I need a vacation!

Well, Im really glad to see the response now (was worried for a while) - I hope it's enough to help Mr Doodman make some positive moves.
Just to make sure everone knows where I'm at - I 'm not asking Matt for props and special priveleges for "the fun of it", I just think that just as anyone else in this project that has put in his time in work under Dev, to the Forums, or Database, We can all now see money-donors are just as important - they too need a tag, and privileges, just like the mods, devs admins do.
They support EmEmu just like the rest do and we cannot function with out them.

I'm dropping my donation this weekend. Wont be alot at the momemnt as I was not expecting things come up so sudden. Heck, I didnt even know donations were needed until now, as no one has mentioned it lately. Prob @ 20 or so. I got a nice job coming up to build 10 pc's for a local powerplant. That should fill my pockets quite nicely and I will be able to put up a little more.

Hey Doodman, hows things looking? We're all as ansy as little school girls in here wanting to know how things are going.

Well, I was really happy to find EQEmu and it would be a shame to lose it after finding it; so I will do what I can. As a few other people have mentioned, it would be nice to know what the $ goal is to sustain the project is, but of course that could also work against donations (oh, we're almost there, I don't need to donate...).

Since the project is under 10 days to raise the funds, I can't pitch in at this time, but I'm scheduled for 2 raises in the next 2 months, which will give my finances a healthy boost.

I was originally going to go live, before finding this project and if my donation in the future will help everyone enjoy it, them I know where my coins are going.

Hope others can help the project out until those who are not in a position at the moment, can get ready.


Mr. Mook.

How about for the mean time, get a virtual server. It's cheap and should work as a temporary solution for the mean time... I have a dedicated 100mbit box in Chicago but it's windows and i'm quite sure the developers want to keep the LoginServer as private as possible!

Don't worry about how much you donate, If you look at the history, very few people have even donated at all, I think we already broke the donation record with what we have done.
I really appreciate you all helping out with what you can. I know Doodman works long hours and is always pressed for time. He'll get here and post also.

I am not the the only one "carrying the bills". FatherNitWit and I cover any expenses that we do incur. Most are minor since Krusher has graciously donated hosting services (and server) until now.

Below is FatherNitWit's donation link:
http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?user_id=997843

Sending to either of us will have the same result. We try hard to not outright ask for money. But in cases like this, covering this kind of expense with only our personal funds is not something we wish to do.

Thanks to all who have donated thus far.

i wish i could donate but i have a ton of bills =/ sorry folks but i wish you luck i love eqemu

Don't wory about it, that's why it's called "donations" (not an obligation).

Sometimes I wonder why even try? A few dry words when you feel like it is not a solution. If i had a "pet" and got tired of him, I'd give him to a friend and let him take care of it so he wouldn't become abandoned and improperly cared for.
I guess I just get too carried away , and expect more than I should.

Just a thought, but when people start donating money consistently, it might be a good idea to post reciepts and whatnot about where the money is going. Not so much to please those who donated, but when people see this they will be more likely to help out. I've seen other emu servers ask for donations and then just take off with the money and shut their server down and close their forums. Not to say that that will happen here as I'm sure you're all reasonable people that are working towards a common goal, so 100$ wouldnt be enough money for you to throw it all away. Sorry if somebody else posted this idea but i was too tired to read all the replies =P

Just my 2cp,
Rocksteady

Wow. Glad I decided to check the forums today rather than waiting a few more. I'll get around ~$16 off to you guys within the next 24 hours. (heh, rather pay you guys the normal subscription fee than SOE)


Though unnecessary (hell, I'll sign in to do so once a month).. I seem to recall someone telling me that paypal offered a subscription payment feature. If so, that'd certainly aid consistent payments/donations.

I really couldn't care less about perks. If they'll help pull in donations, and if they're as harmless as special titles/etc... why not? But if they'd take much any effort whatsoever to implement.. I'd much rather see that effort invested in the emu.


Here's hoping our efforts will be sufficient to keep this running.