I've been running my own private Ark server for months now. Never exceeded >10 daily players, but I've invested probably a couple of hundred hours into setting up, maintaining and running the server, and players must have put in a combined 1000+ hours at this point.
When I first started this server I expected it to be hard and often a thankless task, but I wanted to try it anyway.
Well, it was fun for a while. I've had a bunch of fun, learnt some stuff, and invested a lot of time and money into this server.
That said, the novelty has now worn off and I never really play Ark anymore except for running my server (which I no longer enjoy).
But I don't see any way of closing it down without going back on my word; I said I planned to keep it running for years. I meant it at the time, but I no longer want to do this.
When I look at the cost of continuing to run the server, I could be buying a full priced game every month instead of playing this server, and I'm yet to receive a single donation.
I'd love to hear what experience any of you have had in running your own private server and what it was like if/when you shut it down.
>>321859205
Plans change, anon. Most people never start a server because, yeah, it can be shitty and thankless unless you make it big by a stroke of luck. Shut it down, and next time try not to make promises like that before you know what you're getting into.
Haven't they reset characters?
Speaking of this game, do you still need a NASA computer to run it or have they optimized?
>>321859689
It's still unoptimized
>>321859429
It was my first time hosting a private server so I was naive and inexperienced going in.
Still, I've spent a lot of time looking at other private servers and I feel like I've done a pretty good job of running it so far.
I'm very fast with updates, restarts, and responding to questions from players. I host regular server events and go out of my way to help teach new players and help them in game (replacing stuff lost to glitches, helping them find their lost dinos, etc).
I've had the option to donate for a while, but never explicitly asked for donations. I would guess players would rather I reach out and ask for donations than just abruptly close the server.
I've been wanting to add a donator perk system but have been too lazy to figure out how to do it. Maybe something like creating custom skins for dinos (as I've seen other servers do).
You're right that I shouldn't have promised to keep the server up for years if I wasn't absolutely sure I'd be doing that. I just wanted to convey to players that I was committed to the server, and I was at the time. Still, it is going back on my word.
If I ever did close the server I'd probably make the server gamestate files publicly available to other people can continue running the server from the most recent state if they want.
>>321859205
Did you list on /vg/'s general?
>>321859921
No. I normally list on the relevant steam forum and subreddit regularly (once daily/weekly respectively). Though I haven't done this for about a week now.
>>321859921
Do you think this would be worth doing? Is there interest in a PvE Ark server there?
I normally come on 4chan as a form of venting or cathartic release. Little bit worries desu that listing on 4chan would only attract teenage memeposters..
>>321860067
Well you could try it. I don't think you'll get much in donations but as long as you keep out shitters I'm sure they'd be happy to play on it.
>>321860239
>Do you think this would be worth doing?
It's worth trying at the very least. /vg/ is a very mixed bag, some of the generals are alright, some are pure fucking cancer. The ark generals are a bit in the middle.
I know nothing about ARK but normally there are two options:
You either make the gamestate available to everyone (make sure to not include anything related to security like login/passwords where applicable) by uploading it to a file hoster and running a MOTD for a few weeks to inform people
Or you give select few people rights to kick/ban and put up a donation counter on a website (there are free and premade solutions for little hassle, usually catering towards MMORPG guilds but you can just disable the social feature bullshit) and have a clear MOTD that says if not enough donations are coming in the server will shut down at the end of the month. Hosters normally give you 30 to 60 days to resume payment before deleting any files so there's almost no effort required on your end besides checking if you received enough money and then extending the lease for another 30 days.
>>321862365
Thanks for the response. I do still hold out hope that the server will be partially or fully donation supported in the future.
I find it difficult to compel myself to work on incentivising in-game donations when I could just work a couple of hours to make enough money to pay for the server for a month. By comparison, it could take a very long time to convince people to donate.
I should probably work on creating a donator perk system, get the website running (I already have the domain) in addition to just the current steam group, then make a request for donations at that point.
I think it would be a bit harsh going from not having asked for any donations (the current situation) to issuing an ultimatum that is primarily driven by cost (donate N amount or I'll shut down the server)
Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Hosting ARK Real Hahahaha Nigga Just Walk Away From The Game Like Nigga Close Your Server Haha
>>321864541
>I Was Only Pretending To Be Retarded
Nice random and pointless blog.
retarded thread.
