Death Before Dishonor! :: Server Setup Guide

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     I'll be honest with you, folks; game server hosting is not an inexpensive thing.  When you get into larger server sizes, you may be paying $60+ a month.  Because of this, it's important to shop around for the best game server to suit your needs.  I'm going to start right off the bat and recommend GameServers (which is the host that we at DBD use).  I'll explain why a bit later.  It can all be a jumble to sort out - just have a look at the first 8/10 results from Google when typing in a search of "game server" (the other two aren't server hosting companies):

GameServers.com
LeetServers.com
ArtofWarCentral.com
FPSGameServers.com
UltimateGameServer.com
ClanWarzGamingServers.com
VSKGamingServers.com (actually bought out by Art of War)
GameServerNetwork.com

     So, which is right for you?  Well, it depends on what you want specifically, as every host has their own pros and cons, but let's just take a look at the prices for the above hosts in a table.  This information is based on Natural Selection non-dedicated server prices, and may change in the future:

     If you're following the DBD story, you'll realize that we were left with three choices - the top three in the table.  Well, we didn't want to try to cough up $70+ a month for 16 slots, so we took a chance with GameServers.  As it turns out, the chance we took was well worth it.  In the time that we've been customers, any problems with our servers were fixed within hours, if not sooner.  It also became evident that the control panel and extra features met or exceeded our needs in all areas.

     There are a few things that I really like as an administrator/manager about the GameServers system.  First, the control panel allows you to reset or stop the server at any time.  This may seem elementary, but the last server company I had to deal with (when I was with the Myth Clan [RIP]) didn't offer such services, so we had to get in touch with their support staff just to reset.  Second is the ability to accept clan member payments through a service called ClanPay.  This service is a free way to allow your fellow clan members to pay for a chunk of the services you pay for with no middleman - it goes straight into the clan GameServers account.  Finally, the set of features that GameServers provides is intuitive and practical.  My favorite extra is the ability to change your server's geographical location to any of their open locations at any time.  Not to mention the 50% discount on voice servers with a game server and free basic web hosting package.  Did I mention full FTP access to your server?

     It's obvious that I'm a bit biased, but based on my experience in other clans, GameServers is definitely the best choice for us.  Like I said above, every server company has it's vices - what's GS's?  Well, if I had to come up with something negative, it would definitely be the support.  This may seem contradictory to what I said earlier about all of our server problems being solved very quickly, but follow along here; I promise I'll make sense. You see, while most of the time the support team is responsive and helpful, there was one (and I emphasize, only one) occurrence in which I asked for our server to be upgraded to a higher tick rate (which is free at GameServers, by the way - from 33 to 66 tick is free, 100 is extra on source engine servers - older HL-1 based games start at 100 already), and the reply to my support ticket was "Ok, would you like this to be done now?"  Perhaps I'm a bit of a nitpicker, but I thought to myself, "Nah - let's do it some time next week.  I'll get in touch with you then."  Seriously, though, their customer support is very good in my experience, and that's the only thing that's ever been wonky about them.

     After you've chosen a host, it's time to look at ways to make administration easier on yourself.