-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Battlefield 3 PC Community Meetup
- Thread starter Anton Sugar
- Start date
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
If Gaf decides to get a conquest server, then I'm out.
Rush for life, you get me though.
Rush for life, you get me though.
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
Rush is for heroes.
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
I know I'm in the minority.
Makes sense to go with what is most popular which delivers the full battlefield experience.
RUSH4LIFE.
Makes sense to go with what is most popular which delivers the full battlefield experience.
RUSH4LIFE.
Anton Sugar
Member
LordCanti said:Mr. Snrub, have you thought about how you are going to collect donations yet? If you were planning to set up a paypal account, it may not be a bad idea to do it soon. It would suck pretty hard if you set one up shortly before, got a flood of donations, and then had the account locked on suspicious activity or something(happened to me when I sold a pair of headphones once).
Honestly, haven't given it thought yet and have never done it before. I've never done any sort of server/admin work--did I just get volunteered for that?
I can, unless someone more experienced would like to head up the fund collection/server management.
Mr. Snrub said:Honestly, haven't given it thought yet and have never done it before. I've never done any sort of server/admin work--did I just get volunteered for that?
I can, unless someone more experienced would like to head up the fund collection/server management.
I....I guess I just assumed you were doing it, lol. I have no problem handling the server if it comes to it, but I'd rather not be the person that collects the money (and subsequently feels the duty to cover any gaps in sever costs each and every month, lol. I've seen that happen on IRC all the time.)
If you want to collect the money/handle paying for the server, I can admin the server. Honestly it's going to take more than just two people to run a server anyway.
I would suggest setting up a website where people can go and click one of those big Paypal donation buttons. You could list donors in the OP, as well as on the website. (Pick any free one; Tumblr, Wordpress, Blogger, etc). Unless those Paypal buttons are allowed here.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I think we should look into 6/12 month donations after the first month if everyone is happy.
I don't want to remember to pay x amount every month and it just makes everything easier for whoever is running the server/dealing with the money.
Like I said before, if the ping is good the first month, I'll pay 12 months upfront.
I don't want to remember to pay x amount every month and it just makes everything easier for whoever is running the server/dealing with the money.
Like I said before, if the ping is good the first month, I'll pay 12 months upfront.
Foliorum Viridum said:
Getting people to pay large sums of money in advance could be harder than getting them to pay monthly. What if Snrub (God forbid) gets hit by a bus during month 2/12, and no one knows how to get the money back out of the paypal account
We couldn't guarantee the server would live either. Refunding people for months the server wasn't up would be a nightmare
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
That's true.
Alright, if ever I'm a week late on payments because I forgot, everyone blame Canti yeah? Sorted!
Alright, if ever I'm a week late on payments because I forgot, everyone blame Canti yeah? Sorted!
Anton Sugar
Member
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping maintain the server--I just have no idea how to. Lemme know how I can help.
I can handle collecting the money and once I learn how, help admin the server. Do we have any preference for a site to collect money? Never done a collection and don't know if there is a generally recommended/accepted site.
I can handle collecting the money and once I learn how, help admin the server. Do we have any preference for a site to collect money? Never done a collection and don't know if there is a generally recommended/accepted site.
Mr. Snrub said:
Paypal is the most commonly used site. It has functionality for people to send "gifts" of money (donations, essentially). Most server hosts are likely to accept paypal, but if they don't, you'd need to transfer the paypal funds to your bank, and pay with a credit card or something (or else we'd need to find a server host that did take paypal).
We'll most likely be using server admin tools provided by whichever host we choose. It sounds like they aren't going to be offering that many options to admins, so it will be a choice of server type, player amount, and that sort of thing, as well as a ban list, reserved slot list, etc. We'll all need to learn them at first, but it shouldn't be that difficult.
Edit:
You'd send people to your paypal account using one of these (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_donate-intro-outside)
You'd need to either put it in the op (if it's allowed) or somewhere else.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Setting up the server was the hard bit for CS back in the day, but once it was all ready to go it was easy. You hardly ever had to touch the FTP and there were lots of good admin programs to make various tasks easier.
I don't want to run it or anything and I have minimal experience, but I'll be happy to help out how I can
I don't want to run it or anything and I have minimal experience, but I'll be happy to help out how I can
Foliorum Viridum said:Setting up the server was the hard bit for CS back in the day, but once it was all ready to go it was easy. You hardly ever had to touch the FTP and there were lots of good admin programs to make various tasks easier.
I don't want to run it or anything and I have minimal experience, but I'll be happy to help out how I can
It's a lot easier when the client is server side, from what I've read. You simply connect using a program like BF3CC (BC2CC for Bad Company 2) and handle admin chores that way.
http://www.bc2cc.com/
It's pretty intuitive, from the looks of it. I have no doubt that the BF3 version will be similarly full featured.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
That does look super easy.
Hopefully our server won't need much kicking/banning anyway if it's populated with GAFers.
Hopefully our server won't need much kicking/banning anyway if it's populated with GAFers.
Anton Sugar
Member
Thanks for the info, Canti. I'll try to get the donation site set up tonight or tomorrow.
Foliorum Viridum said:
We're probably going to need to let the public in to keep the server filled. GAFers would be on the reserved list of course, with donors taking priority (if it comes to that). Hopefully we won't need to use the ban list ever though, but realistically speaking, it could happen.
@Mr. Snrub - I would do the following:
1. Set up a paypal account, using an e-mail address that isn't your main one (you'll need to give out this e-mail address, because that is how people send money)
2. Check to see if the paypal donation button is allowed on the front page of this thread, and the other BF3 thread. If it's not, we'll need to figure something out.
We should set a deadline for collecting location data for everyone. This thread has kind of stalled out, and the balance of US to Euro players is unlikely to change, but we should give it a while longer probably.
Once we have a final tally, we need to ask everyone what their likely monthly commitment is to a server in the location that has won based on numbers. After that, we need to look for server hosts.
Mr. Snrub said:
Sorry to make so much work for you. It's really appreciated. I'm not the best coder, but I could throw up a basic tumblr page if it helps you out.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Oh yeah we'll definitely need randoms and such, so we will get the odd jackass, but with a solid group of people it's not going to be too bad like joining a random server
If worst comes to worst we can always give all people who donate the ability to kick/ban, since it wouldn't be abused by anyone who is paying.
But yeah, this thread is definitely the same old faces. I think we should pimp it more in the other BF3 threads. Nobody checks Community.
If worst comes to worst we can always give all people who donate the ability to kick/ban, since it wouldn't be abused by anyone who is paying.
But yeah, this thread is definitely the same old faces. I think we should pimp it more in the other BF3 threads. Nobody checks Community.
Foliorum Viridum said:Oh yeah we'll definitely need randoms and such, so we will get the odd jackass, but with a solid group of people it's not going to be too bad like joining a random server
If worst comes to worst we can always give all people who donate the ability to kick/ban, since it wouldn't be abused by anyone who is paying.
But yeah, this thread is definitely the same old faces. I think we should pimp it more in the other BF3 threads. Nobody checks Community.
There was a huge surge as people got onto the list, and then everyone kind of went away. It's not surprising, since there hasn't really been any BF3 news in a while, and I'm hoping interest will go back up when the beta finally hits.
Right now, if every single red named person donated, we'd be at $5 a person or so. That's definitely possible (for me anyway; I can't speak to the fact that everyone would be willing to put in $5 a month to make this happen), but it would make sense to grow the donor pool as large as we possibly can.
Anton Sugar
Member
LordCanti said:By all means, donate however much you want per month
Check your PM's, dawg. Pretty close to getting this show on the road.
The_Inquisitor
Member
Will be playing on PC. Pretty stoked. Looking forward to playing with GAFers. May be a little inactive toward late October as I will be studying for my FE.
BrLvgThrChmstry
Banned
abuC said:
Never heard of this mouse until now. Read a few reviews myself.. sounds alright I guess. Not a fan of it being tethered to a big mousepad. I'd opt for a 'traditional' gaming mouse if you don't mind spending some extra cash ( may I recommend the Logitech G500?), otherwise, you did essentially get it for free, so... try it. Might like it.
Anton Sugar
Member
Canti and I are making progress, will have a Paypal donation site up later tonight/tomorrow morning.
I've priced out a couple of 64 player servers, and I'm looking for feedback on the companies involved. If anyone has any feedback (good or bad) for any of the following hosts, I'd be grateful. I'm also all ears in terms of other potential hosts. All the following information about location assumes that the balance of where everyone lives won't change between now and closer to launch (all of these hosts have Euro and US servers, or at least the first two do).
i3d
multiplayservers
gameservers
I'm trying to jog my memory of the alpha server list to come up with more hosts, but this is all I've remembered at this point. Pricing is as follows:
i3d: 64 man server, $101 (http://www.i3d.net/battlefield-3-ranked-game-servers.php)
Special offers:
Complete debranded servers (own hostname!)
Free 10 slot Teamspeak 3 server (Pre-Order only)
Free 16 slot Battlefield 3 game server (Pre-order only)
Free domain and webhosting XL (Pre-order only)
Full control over your server with BF3CC
Choose your location: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Virginia, Texas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney
The best hardware: Intel Xeon E3-1230 + 16 GB DDR3
A full CPU core reserved per game server
Complete control of the gameserver through the controlpanel (start/stop/restart/reinstall/support)
10.000 mbit connections with the internet
Flexible support - phone, mail, forum and through tickets
Support in Dutch, German and English!
Stability: i3D.net is one of the largest hosters worldwide!
Summary: We'd have a 64 man conquest server, and a free 16 slot server to do whatever we want with (deathmatch?). We don't really need a domain name, but it couldn't hurt. I'm liking that they specifically mention that our server would have an entire core dedicated to it (other hosts seem cagey about this).
multiplayservers: 64 man server, $97.60 (http://www.multiplaygameservers.com/game-servers/bf3-battlefield-3/)
Special offers:
Instant Setup (When Released)*
FREE Mumble or 1/2 Price Teamspeak, Ventrilo voice comms server
FREE Web hosting
Unlimited Profiles
Industry-leading Clanforge control panel
Fast, efficient support
High quality network and server hardware
Public as standard
No setup fees
Location: Herndon, Virginia, USA
Summary: Pretty much the same deal as i3d, without the bonus 16 man server. No mention of what kind of hardware our server would be on.
Gameservers: No pricing yet (though I'd like feedback anyway)
We still need to know the location of a lot of people on the list.
i3d
multiplayservers
gameservers
I'm trying to jog my memory of the alpha server list to come up with more hosts, but this is all I've remembered at this point. Pricing is as follows:
i3d: 64 man server, $101 (http://www.i3d.net/battlefield-3-ranked-game-servers.php)
Special offers:
Complete debranded servers (own hostname!)
Free 10 slot Teamspeak 3 server (Pre-Order only)
Free 16 slot Battlefield 3 game server (Pre-order only)
Free domain and webhosting XL (Pre-order only)
Full control over your server with BF3CC
Choose your location: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Virginia, Texas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney
The best hardware: Intel Xeon E3-1230 + 16 GB DDR3
A full CPU core reserved per game server
Complete control of the gameserver through the controlpanel (start/stop/restart/reinstall/support)
10.000 mbit connections with the internet
Flexible support - phone, mail, forum and through tickets
Support in Dutch, German and English!
Stability: i3D.net is one of the largest hosters worldwide!
Summary: We'd have a 64 man conquest server, and a free 16 slot server to do whatever we want with (deathmatch?). We don't really need a domain name, but it couldn't hurt. I'm liking that they specifically mention that our server would have an entire core dedicated to it (other hosts seem cagey about this).
multiplayservers: 64 man server, $97.60 (http://www.multiplaygameservers.com/game-servers/bf3-battlefield-3/)
Special offers:
Instant Setup (When Released)*
FREE Mumble or 1/2 Price Teamspeak, Ventrilo voice comms server
FREE Web hosting
Unlimited Profiles
Industry-leading Clanforge control panel
Fast, efficient support
High quality network and server hardware
Public as standard
No setup fees
Location: Herndon, Virginia, USA
Summary: Pretty much the same deal as i3d, without the bonus 16 man server. No mention of what kind of hardware our server would be on.
Gameservers: No pricing yet (though I'd like feedback anyway)
Menelaus said:
We still need to know the location of a lot of people on the list.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
The free server is a nice bonus. We could use it for something...
Good work, by the way
Good work, by the way
Anton Sugar
Member
I'm kinda liking how i3d looks. I think I was on their site earlier and for some reason thought it was EU only. I think the euros scared me.
That 16 player server would be nice for TDM.
That 16 player server would be nice for TDM.
Mr. Snrub said:
I have a feeling that most of the servers out there are going to be very near the $100 for 64 player price point (I've seen three so far at that price. I can't remember the third...I need a screenshot of the alpha server browser pretty badly)
It's all going to come down to server performance, and any extras that they are willing to kick in with pre-order. For what it's worth, multiplay claims that we'd be getting a 50% discount on the server by pre-ordering (down to $95 from a ghastly $190 I think). If they can charge that much for a server, it makes me think the quality is pretty high. Or they are just out of their minds on pricing.
The only server I've been able to demo thus far is a 32 man BC2 server from Gameservers. It was located in New Jersey, and completely filled with people. My ping was 50ms I think, and the performance seemed really good. All of these hosting companies are likely buying new servers just for BF3 though, so it's not the same hardware (apparently a BF3 server takes a lot more power to run than a BC2 server, hence the high pricing for servers).
Oh, and yeah, i3d only takes payment in Euro's apparently. I'm sure that Paypal handles that conversion, but I'm still hunting to see if they'd charge us a fee for doing so (not sure why they would on a wire transfer, but you never know).
Anton Sugar
Member
Hmm, wish I knew more about how to judge a server/host. Is the best way to judge them, just to play on them?
Mr. Snrub said:
Short of investigating their business practices, I don't really know of any other way. Since people can re-name their servers to anything they want, it's kind of difficult to find servers from a host in the location you'd like to test out.
The three I listed are supposedly really huge server hosts. Multiplay hosts the EA UK servers, that is how into bed they are with EA.
I'm trying to crowd source this, but I doubt many people have a ton of server hosting experience. Running the server won't be a problem, but picking one is like Sophie's choice.
Edit: Found the third $100 host I was looking for. It's myis.net (myinternetservices). Hunted them down through a youtube video with footage of Battlelog, lol. They had maybe one server for every five or six that i3d and multiplay had. If you played on a server during the alpha, there is a pretty good chance it was either an i3d or multiplay server, it looks like. Myis doesn't offer any extras, which is a bummer, but not a dealbreaker if they are a good host.
SUBZERO-08
Member
My Origin ID is already on here as SUBZERO-8K, but my location is North America - West.
Spl1nter said:
Fair enough. If no one has any positive feedback for myis, we can scratch them off the list. They weren't the cheapest or the most fully featured anyway.
Anyone have any experience with i3d or multiplay? I played on both of their servers during the alpha (pretty sure everyone did) and I never encountered any problems that I would have pegged as relating to the quality of the servers.
dangerbyrnes
Member
both those server companies have terrible websites...
anyway, i like how i3d sounds. went to the website and looked around. i might not know much about servers but their prices don't seem all that bad. and those bonuses are tempting.
anyway, i like how i3d sounds. went to the website and looked around. i might not know much about servers but their prices don't seem all that bad. and those bonuses are tempting.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I know I've played on a lot of Multiplay servers and they're very good.LordCanti said:
Foliorum Viridum said:
I'm really assured by how good both multiplay and i3d were during the alpha, despite being European based companies, and my playing from the U.S. I don't know where they were hosting the servers, but wherever it was, they seemed fantastic to me, for both companies.
It may come down to whether or not one is willing to budge on their price a little bit, unless some other companies show up with mind blowing deals.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Well on a selfish note I get amazing pings on Multiplay servers, so if we're not bothered about the extra server etc, that'd probably be my top choice.
I mean a free small server would be cool for TDM or whatever, but I'd rather know I had a solid ping for 64 conquest
I mean a free small server would be cool for TDM or whatever, but I'd rather know I had a solid ping for 64 conquest
dangerbyrnes
Member
multiplays prices seem worse, sure they have the preorder bonus. but what if we ever need to buy a second server after the game has launched? or we need to drop our 64 player server and go for a 32. (we'd have to pay the same amount, but for less slots)
I suppose a second/new server could be with i3d at that point (if we ever get to that point)
I suppose a second/new server could be with i3d at that point (if we ever get to that point)
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I think a second server is unlikely. Maintaining one server should be our one and only goal right now.
dangerbyrnes
Member
Foliorum Viridum said:
let me see if i can explain better.
what if we ever need to drop a 64 player server due to low population, or less donators? can you downgrade a server? or do you need to cancel your current one and buy a new one (at non-preorder price).
dangerbyrnes said:
Their "full price" is outrageous and quite frankly a little bit pie in the sky. I have a feeling that a day after the retail game comes out, they will revert to the $100 price everyone else is charging (down from $190 right now, with a 50% off for life pre-order bonus).
dangerbyrnes said:
I'm not sure if you can downgrade a server. If you can, that would probably cancel out any pre-order bonuses, or anything like that. They are likely conditional on your server remaining up.
If it comes to that, we'll have plenty of other server hosts to choose from. I don't think we'll have a problem filling a 64 player server for the first few months at the very least though (since the game is likely to sell in the millions).