Devn00b, I honestly have heard no exact dollar amounts, but I wouldn't be surprised if donations were already reaching $1000+. I will personally be sending $100 from my server funds as soon as I get enough in the paypal account.
I think having paid dedicated hosting is the best way to go, because we don't have to worry about someone who offered free hosting to lose interest in the project and tell us we have 1 week to move it before they shut it down. Or maybe they get upset for whatever reason and just wipe everything without letting us get new backups first. I just don't think it would be a good idea to take anyone who isn't well-known and trusted up on an offer for free hosting. Of the 2 offers that So_1337 linked, 1 is in Sweden, which I think means it can be crossed off of the list. The other didn't give any specific hosting stats, but did sound a bit more promising. If Daxum can vouch for them, it might be worth considering. I think I also saw someone offer to host it, but it was on a VMware session, which would never happen. Not that we don't appreciate the offers, because we do, but I think they are still going over the options before making any final decisions.
There are multiple reasons why hosting relying on donations didn't work in the past, but those issues could be resolved with minimal effort IMO. One reason why doodman was stuck with the bill was because he was too busy to keep the service available with high enough uptime for people to appreciate it and want to help out. Another reason was because he was not actively asking for donations. If we have nearly enough to pay for the first whole year of hosting right now, then I think it would take minimal effort to ensure that it stays paid for until the project dies. I give minimal incentive for people to contribute to my server, Storm Haven, and even then I average more than enough to pay the $100 per month that KLS suggested was the range they were looking for. My server gets less than 1/10th the total players that use the emu, so I am confident that it would be no trouble to get the funds we need for the Login Server and keep them constant enough. If needed, myself and some of the other servers that take contributions could handle a large amount of the hosting costs on our own. I know a few others have offered decent sized donations for the Login Server from our server funds.
Also, if needed, I am sure with us having direct access to the host via KLS or whatever, we could add some new features or do something special for donators that would give just a bit of extra incentive to make sure donations keep coming in as time goes on. Really, I doubt anything like that would even be needed, but it is an option to consider if we did need it. I wouldn't be surprised if we could reach 2 years worth of funds for the new hosting before much longer. I think there are alot of people holding off on sending anything in right now, because they want to know the details first. Once the details are set, they may send some in as well.
If all else failed, considering the multiple offers for free hosting, hopefully if paid hosting via donations were to ever run out, we could just ask for free hosting offers again and take what we can get. There isn't really much other options than that other than hosting in someone's basement or having everyone use Private Login Servers only. With the best interest of the project in mind, I think the paid hosting is just the best route to go for now and if changes are needed in the future, we will just need to make that decision when the time comes.
The new mini-login you guys made is great and definitely has the potential to be an option in the case that the Public LS ever has to go away for good.
Also, So_1337 mentioned the current hosting expiring in a day. That is no longer the case. They missed the cut-off to cancel Doodman's current service and so it is now paid for another month. Hopefully things will be settled into the new hosting long before then, but at least that gives them more time to prepare and do the move right and to the right host.
Another thing; while I am trying to answer as best as I can, I had/have no say in the decision to go to paid hosting via donations. I am just trying to share what I know and what I assume to be true with the people here so they aren't completely blind to the situation. I have been trying to follow this whole situation as best as I can and I know there are plenty out there who have no clue about what is currently going on with the Login Server. So, I am just trying to fill in info where I can. I am also backing the decisions that have been made by the leads of the project, because I have faith in them and I know things will be worked out soon.
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