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As fast as your game server might be, there will come a day when a problem arises. Perhaps your server will become laggy, maybe it will get hacked, or it might not work at all. When these things happen, your line of defense will always be your game server provider’s support team. Any decent provider will offer free support with your server, and some even offer 24-hour support! Good support is the key to having a good game server, and you shouldn’t give any provider that doesn’t offer it a second glance.

So, just what is good support? A good support person will answer all your questions fully and completely, be polite at all times, and fix your problem in a reasonable amount of time. Preferably, all issues should be solved in less than 24 hours. Most gaming server companies offer support via special online ticket systems, but some go as far as to offer instant message support, email support, and in some cases, even phone support.

To have your problem fixed as quickly as possible, it’s important to open a support request as soon as the problem is first noticed. When filing a ticket, tell your provider exactly what the problem is. Give details about when the problem occurred, what you were doing at the time, what game your server runs, your server’s IP, and how the problem specifically impacts you. Doing these things will not only get your problem solved faster, but will make life easier for support personnel.  Read more...

Many clans or gaming enthusiasts working to get a game server popular run into a problem: they don’t have enough admins. Though admins may not be necessary all the time, any game server of decent size will need one around. The admins you have on your game server will be crucial to its continuing success.

Though your friends who play on your game server may not cause trouble, other players who come along might. Trouble makers need to be dealt with smoothly and quickly if you plan on keeping your server’s popularity. It can take months to build up a game server’s status in the gaming world, but a trouble maker or cheater can clear out a server by simply annoying everyone else. No one likes playing with cheaters or annoying whiners, and players won’t hesitate to find another server to frag on for the evening if someone else is ruining their game.

You should have enough admins in your gaming clan so that at least one is at all times, or at least during the server’s busiest hours. If you can’t get enough admins, you can give players a way of contacting you if a player is causing havoc. Posting your email or AIM in a scrolling message in a scrolling message on the server is one good way. Another is getting a few trusted gamers on your server to keep watch for and inform you if any problems crop up.

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So, just what is a game server? Before answering that question, it’s important to understand how online gaming works. Many popular games today, first person shooters in particular, support online play. Such Internet-based play expands the game to whole new levels, and provides an experience not possible in single player environments. Players ranging in numbers from half a dozen to as many as sixty-four can all join what’s called a game server and play on the same map (game level) at the same time. Gaming servers work much like web servers, but instead of hosting websites, host game matches that others can join. Though the game itself is not loaded from the server, important game information such as player scores and rules are. Think of them in terms of a soccer stadium. The stadium provides a scoreboard and a field to play on, and the players come to the stadium to play.

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