It's a bit old now and not in the best network location, but I have a server colo'd in the datacenter of the company I work for that might be able to give us another game server.

I kinda want to get some feedback before testing anything out.

I'm thinking L4D 1 or 2 might be a possibility since, as I understand it, it's co-op with a max of 8 players. That'd help with the bandwidth limits of being hosted in Phoenix. But if there's a lot of AI/scripts, CPU/memory might be strained.

Another option would be to use it as a "special use" TF2 server: limited players but usable for screwing around on unconventional maps, map testing, and so forth.

Lastly, if there's a niche for it, maybe classic gaming; Counter-Strike 1.4, TFC, DOD.

So... I wouldn't expect it to compete with dedicated game server boxes hosted in ideal network locations, but maybe it's something we can use as a clan. And hey.. it's free.


Keeping in mind it was foremost put together just to serve email and webpages... here's the rough specs:
2x Intel XEON 2GHz 512K HT CPU
4x 512MB PC2100 DDR 266MHz RAM
2x 500GB hot-swap SATA drives (mirrored)
2x 80GB hot-swap SATA drives (mirrored, used for backup storage)

It's 5 years old or so but.. game servers aren't always that needy, and some of these games are old now.

P.S. I installed and ran L4D2 with default settings and... I think people are playing it. Heh.

I can see where a second server would spread the clan thinner but having only one that cycles through every playstyle and a lot of maps, I can't see attracting many folks. A lot of people don't like all the playstyles and all the maps, so will simply leave for another when those styles/maps come up.

I've spent some time on Tempest but honestly only because it's the clan server. If it weren't the clan's then it would hold no interest for me. Most of my time has been spent on another clan's 24/7 2Fort. I even ran into Nerf Jihad there tonight.

Special nights might be fun for those in the clan and the regulars, but most people clicking on Tempest will be expecting a normal game. Some might stay but I'd imagine many would move along when they discover zero gravity, etc. What's fun for the clan isn't always fun for passer-bys that could have member potential.

I tested out running TF2 on my server tonight and, as expected, latency was higher. The extra hop from California to Phoenix will probably add 40-50ms to everyone. So far it's still playable, though. We could, as mentioned, use it for special events, while Tempest remains the "flagship" server to attract attention.

But I digress... the feeling around here seems solidly for branching out. As has been said, it's likely the only way the clan will survive long-term. But that does include risk. Expansion will mean spreading the current folks thinner, but it's likely the best way to attract new ones.

This is the poor man's way of doing it, and my offer still stands to rent a server in addition to this. If you all really want to branch out... now's your chance.

Which again assumes people enjoy all the play styles and maps of that game. TF2 has diverse styles, some of which people like, some of which people don't. The old Tempest setup was perfect, IMO: one for official maps, one for PL (Goldrush and something else), one for 24/7 2Fort, and I think even another for screwing around with arena and custom maps. There was plenty to attract newcomers and clan members never had to go to others' servers to get their fix. Could we have that many now? No. But I do think it'll benefit us to either move Tempest #1 into a more specific focus, like 2Fort, or have a second server that does.

Now not only is the clan spread thin across multiple games, but the one server we do have might be ignored in favor of others'. That ain't good.

I can rent a server for whatever the "in" game is right now, but the above still stands in regards to TF2. You attract people by giving them what they want.. and a lot of people continue to like 2Fort over a lot of other TF2 maps. Within minutes of bringing my server online yesterday--even with bad pings and default settings--several people hopped in. I can only assume it's because 2Fort was my default map.

I didn't mean to imply they were always full, but the clan itself had whatever it needed. From what I recall the 2Fort server was always the most full with the PL server close behind it. The more maps a server had, though, the less attention it seemed to get.



Which I'd say is the same as 2Fort today. At the very least maybe we should look for a map weighting mod or something; have Tempest 1 favor the maps that are traditionally the most popular. That way it can retain a long list of maps but it won't be as detrimental.



I don't think any TF2 map will sustain as much now as it did in the past. But like the past, I think "theme" servers will attract more people than a server that tries to be everything for everybody.

You admit the clan is spread thin, yet you think that by introducing another tf2 server, it will be spread less thin? Just putting up a server does make people join it. The server browser is full of empty servers, and there are a ton of specialty servers where people are playing already. To get random people to start wondering you have manually it 30%-50% full. To make it so you don't have to do that, you have to get people playing on it for long enough that they add it to their favorites so that the people joining it out of habit keep it at a self-sustaining mass. We aren't their yet, although recently we've been getting a little better as Drahken and I (well, mostly drahken) have been working hard to get people to play. I don't think that a L4D(2) server would be a bad idea because it is a different player base and is more popular and with they way that players get assigned servers, it would be more likely to be played on regularly, and help introduce new people to our clan. As for specialty modes in TF2, you seem to be the only one seriously demanding it, and we do have specialty stuff on the server. We had pophunt on it for while before it started to break things, we recently had a 2fort night, and we often do weird things like low gravity. And you can always vote for things using source mode.

I can't stop you from starting another TF2 server, but I don't think that it is in the best interests of the clan.

Battlefield servers are notoriously expensive though, furthermore you can't host it yourself you have to rent out one from a server provider. Alternatively though, the game is uber popular, its almost impossible to find a server that doesn't have people in it.

Like I mentioned before though if people who currently frequent this place and the Tempest want to jump on a Bad Company 2 server, they will most likely need to upgrade their computer. BC2 is very demanding and a quad core CPU is RECOMMENDED by the devs. Though recently some dual cores have been able to play it at pretty stable frame-rates if you're video card is anything less than a 8800gt you won't be playing it very well.

Pricing: Art of War (First Provider that came to mind) Offers a 32 man ranked server for 52.80 a month. If you want to add ventrilo Teamspeak options, back-up service or redirect service you will end up paying more.


Edit: Ya know what, I'll fraps some game-play pics to give people here an idea of how this game works and offer some explanations. There seems to be a perception that Bad Company 2 is a 'hardcore' game that is not user friendly and puts off casuals.

In-Game VOIP is currently broken in BC2. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Next patch will address it though. It's definitely more intense but it requires good teamwork and cooperation to do well. Again, a good player does not need to be an ace shot to help out their team, medics, recons and engineers all have different roles that don't involve killing.

I've played on some Game Servers hosted servers and everything has run smoothly so no problems there. I think WDF has had experience with Art of War though so thats why I mentioned it.