Server consolidaiton suggestion.

[BeerHunter]

I was looking for some place to play the other night and noticed in the server browser so many sitting empty , a couple full and a few about 1/2 full or less.

I am already a supporting member of a server but hardly ever play there because its always packed so I'm thinking the odds of getting into a decent squad are slim and there's no use starting your own as you need at least 3 members to be able to function half ways decently.

Got me to thinking , as these servers are all costing someone a fair amount of change and players are spread thin through so many servers , what if there were an umbrella organization that provided one or two servers from various providers in the different areas (east,central and west..hell could even take over Europe too :wink .

It would have no specific clan affiliation but all clans would contribute a portion of the costs and contributing clans could provide server admins.

Clan members would be classed as "contributing members" and receive all the benefits.(it would be the clans responsibility to collect from its membership).Individuals could also join and receive benefits.

The "administration" (responsible for finance, site maintenance , memberships etc.) could come from the contributing clans/members.

It could offer other online services as well such as web hosting , file downloads etc (yea-I know-stole that idea from someone else ) to contributing clans or individuals.

Advantages I see are :

-Fewer servers so players would tend to congregate on them.
-Since they are spread all over the continent you should always be able to find one with a decent ping.
-BIG savings to clans currently financing their own server.

Might be impossible to organize (sort of like trying to organize farmers to fight the UFA :wink

Did I overlook something??

Thoughts??

[mammikoura]

not a bad idea.
But the current system works fine too. Good servers usually get players. And I'm not sure about the situation in the US, but at least in europe there are quite a few good servers.

And the bad thing about that kind of system would be that basically there would be a huge amount of people (say for example 10 clans = at least 100 players) deciding about stuff. Everyone has a different opinion so not everyone would be happy because they would be spending money on a server that they don't like. (bad maps etc) Also people usually want something in return for their money, for example admin rights.
Now if you have 100+ admins it's going to be pretty likely that at some point some a**hole is going to get admin rights and ban everyone.

[Alex6714]

Fine how it is tbh as has been said. The good, well admined servers get the players.

[Rudd]

Each server seems to have a particular time of day when ppl play, but if this idea increases server performance and puts money back in the clan coffers- its a good idea.

[ryan d ale]

I think the idea is good. Another advantage would be that server admins could be present alot of the time.

[BloodBane611]

I think the way servers are currently working is pretty decent. Even if you can't find a great server, you can generally hop on a decent one and get a good game going. In the future if servers start dropping off I would definitely consider paying to get a good spot on a server, and splitting the server costs 60 ways seems like a very good proposition to me, but it just isn't necessary yet.