10 years later... it's time for a change. There have been hundreds of servers in that time and almost all of their owners were very happy with the service. However, over that time things have changed, I have less time to dedicate to some aspects of this service and the needs of the market have changed.
You may think that this hosting service is being run as a "business", when in fact it runs like a non-profit. This service always aimed to take a regular experience of having dedicated resources and elevate it with fully configured environment suited for OTS. No mainstream provider has ever offered such a service and it's not not surprising, this is a niche application and requires a very specific knowledge. The price point has always been balanced to offset the cost of the underlying infrastructure. You may have noticed that all the tools necessary to set up a server like that has been released open-source, for free, for many years. If you are willing to spend a few moments, you can get very far not even knowing Linux.
This hosting service always attracted a loot of people unfamiliar with Linux or used to running an exe from 10 years ago, who now want to run it "seriously". There's nothing wrong with that - that's what this service is for, because it made it possible to run Windows-compiled exes on Linux for years now (most of them work, not all). The problem of this service, however, is its sustainability. You probably realized that for a price of cheap VPS server, you are getting (here) dedicated resources, tweaked and pre-configured server, DDoS protection and unlimited support for server issues and questions. Yes, that was unlimited support for possibly as low as $25 a month. Essentially, the support is free, because the infrastructure costs money. Why? Because this service was always aimed at helping people run servers without many newbie pitfalls for the lowest price possible.
Unfortunately, the times when I can dedicate enough time to deliver all that help and support, for free, are gone. Furthermore, there have been instances where individual users would consume hours of my time only to later proceed with a PayPal chargeback. Or users who complain that they don't have enough money to pay for another month of server costs (45 EUR) because... wait for it... they paid over 600 EUR for advertisements on some popular otserv list and didn't make enough cash!
What changes?
I have, for many years, offered this hosting service entirely for FREE if you were running a non-profit server. The minimum requirements were to have a number of players online already, which was a requirement many couldn't meet. But many have, and there are still servers running with the free non-profit server. This time, I am going to try something new. I will be offering this service entirely for free, but without personal support. There will be certain conditions, of course but they are meant to be a formality. This service has always been a non-profit one, and I can as well provide it for free. Furthermore, I will no longer require that your server doesn't accept donations.
Yes, the service is going to be FREE.
Here are initial and ongoing requirements to be able to use this service entirely for FREE from now on:
- You must be a member of Otland with no active criminal record (warnings), clean history and good character (assessed individually)
- Your server must not be dormant for prolonged periods of time (servers with no players for several days straight or not OTS running will be terminated without warning to make room for others)
- You must use the service only to host an OTS
- You can accept donations but your server must not be run purely for profit (i.e. if you're raking in the millions, don't expect a server for free)
There may be additional conditions added later on and obviously, you are not guaranteed to receive a server, depending on availability.
What about the paid service?
You can still purchase this service for money to help cover the costs of running the infrastructure to provide free servers to others. By doing so, you are able to keep your server without the conditions listed above (i.e. your server does not need to be running or active at all times and you can run it for-profit). Keep in mind, that I will not be providing the unlimited level of support directly. There is, however, extensive documentation available (always has been).
In addition, to make it more fun, I will be accepting Tibia Coins as a payment!
How do I set up a server now with no support?!?!?!?
Fundamentally, it is unlikely that I was providing the kind of help you won't find anywhere else. There are many knowledgeable members in our community who help entirely for free, and help a lot! You simply will have to channel your questions into the Support Board. It may take longer but you will learn more.
TL;DR;
- There is no direct support provided by me anymore, even if you pay for this service.
- Free servers are now offered to everyone, without the need to have a currently active project before qualifying.
- You are still welcome to pay for this service to help run it in a non-profit way and are expected to contribute (by paying) if you run strictly for-profit server.
I will be posting instructions on how to get a free server soon. It will be a semi-manual process to limit potential abuse.