Chosing a Game Server Provider
You've decided to rent a game server for your clan. How are you going to chose between the tens of providers available? There are four things you need to consider. Read on.
Location
One of the most important factors that will affect your and your teammates gaming experience is the location of the game server. The geographical distance (and your internet speed) between the player's PC and the game server will affect your ping and hence will determine how smooth your gameplay will be. A ping of anything below 50 or 60 is excellent and, all other things being equal, will offer optimum gaming experience. With a ping up to 100-120, your gaming experience will still be very good while with pings up to 180 you will start noticing "lag spikes" or split-second game freezes. Lag spikes will always be there and will also depend on other factors like the speed and reliability of your internet connection, the number of players connected to a server (more players means more data for the server to process and transfer which ultimately means more lag). Pings of up to 250 are still playable but will cause frustration. In other words, you will be owned not because of your skills but because of your ping! You've been warned!Hence you should chose a server provider who's game servers are geographically near the bulk of your clan mates. You won't be able to please everyone with the location but you should be able to reach an reasonable compromise. For example, London, UK is one of the best locations because it can accommodate acceptable pings for many geographies: most Europeans will have a ping of 10-100 and US gamers will range between 110 and 250. Both depending on location and internet speed (e.g.typical US east coast ping: 120, mid US: 150, West coast: 200). If most of your clan mates are based in Eastern Asia then you should look for providers who offer Asian locations.
Some game server providers have multiple locations which means that you can chose where to base your server and they'll also offer a number of free location switches per month. In other words, one day your server is located in London, UK and the next in Chicago, USA.
Game Server Provider's Technical Support
I'll start by stressing how important this factor is. Do not underestimate the significance of having good technical support for your game server. I prefer to pay a couple of bucks more per month and enjoy great support and uninterrupted gaming rather than wasting hours explaining problems to someone who isn't even listening.
Good support does not only mean having someone on the other side just replying to your questions. The replies you get must be fast, accurate and with good explanations. I've seen replies of the type "there's nothing we can do" once too many. Also, any on line administration tools and facilities that the provider offers do make a difference in your gaming experience. The best providers offer user friendly members websites with a control panel which make the administration of a server much easier. Check my reviews page for an assessment of technical support capabilities.
Extra features
This might not look as important as the rest but it does and will make a difference in your whole experience with a game server provider and eventually your gaming. Extra features offered by some providers include
- Voice servers (Teamspeak/Ventrillo): some providers bundle these with every server subscription or offer them at low prices
- Website: good server providers will offer a free website for your clan which can be used for forums and for hosting your downloads (maps, mods, soundpacks etc)
- Location switch: as explained above, this could be a great advantage to multi-national clans.
- Clanpay: this is a system through which your clan mates can contribute towards the payment of the server costs without you having to collect money from each one.
- Server re-installs: a very useful feature if you want to start your server setup from scratch. This is useful e.g. when you want to change mod.
Price
Of course price is a very important factor in your decision but it should not be the determinant of chosing a game server provider. The reason is simple: you get what you pay. If might be paying less per month with some providers but you might be spending more time administering the server and solving problems. What you should be looking for is good value for money. If you are on a limited budget (and most clans are) then it's better to scale down your server slots and go for a good provider.
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