Thinking about renting a server...

[Cisyouc]

Originally Posted by Yisasben

It wouldn't really be charging for the game, it's charging for the server as a community... no profit involved, was just a suggestion. It would kind of be like a clan renting a server to plan Call of Duty on, same thing, just with EQ, which, if we're going to get on the legal side, EQEMU isn't exactly legit (not that SOE cares), but once again, it was just a suggestion.

Yeah no, you can take donations, and that is done on many servers, but as soon as you start charging to play (in most circumstances), thats a big no. And EQEMu, afaik, but I'm no legal expert, you can search the forums for more answers for legal questions about this, is fully legal under international law. The DMCA was enough to shut down bnetd, but that was outrageous.

[gottasummer]

Hell I have a dedicated Windows Server 2003 box... I had a hard time setting up the new Emu ver.

I will give you hosting on it if you would like.

Also, what is CentOS?

[Doodman]

I'll tell you this.

A lot of people have tried to run servers based on donations. Out of all that have tried (including GuildWars), only two have ever made it.

Scorpious2k and Winter's Roar. Both have custom content and are very actively expanded/maintained.

If you wanna to run a server and rely on donations to keep the server running, be prepared for one of a couple of things:
1) Your server won't last.
2) You'll be footing part/all of the host bill yourself, which will lead to #1.
3) You need to be spending -a lot- of time actively doing custom content and custom code or you'll lose your player base, which will lead to #2.

I'm not trying to be a nay-sayer. If you can pull it off, more power to you. But many have failed on that path before you, so watch for the bodies if you tread that path.

[Oxalic]

Guildwars did good with expansions, i know tons of players who donate $20-40 for a nice "donator's" ranged slot

[Oxalic]

Got a question for Krusher, how much would hosting be for a 20 person or so server with your company? I'm some-what considering opening a server, if i do i might as well repay the person who funds all of this.

[phasepuma]

How many players could a server handle over lets say, a DSL or cable line?

if yo u are a good coder and tweek the code, 20ish on busness cable.