Idk but I feel I have to donate to play on this server andrews I guess wants more donation why he needs them, why would he need them all I know is i'm getting tired of this Donators above non donators this is just getting stupid and If I didn't get scammed by 3 different people for a Donation I could actually play right now. This is just becoming a P2P server (Pay to Play)

 

Just by some cheap donation.

 

Guys chill the mods are saying that 1 theres alot of lag and theyre testing some stuff i dont know what it is... so dont freak out

 

Ok for everyone that is saying andrew is greedy and is only thinking about donators, here's the real reason only donators can get on now.
First I think everyone has noticed that the server has been very laggy since 1.3. Second many may have noticed the server restarting a lot of times and everytime the user limit changed from 125 to 200 to 100 to 150 to 1.
The reason it is 1 now is firstly to reduce lag while they fix the problem and secondly (and here come the complaints) to make the server playable without massive lag to at least part of the users. Now I know they happen to be donators, but at least they did something to keep the server going and they deserve a reward for that.
I myself am not a donator and I find that this situation does annoy me, but it is perfectly logical.
Don't complain to and about the people that are trying to fix a problem so that all of us can play minecraft in a fun and lagless way.

 

the server has to pay for vent, website, irc, server, advertisements, and more just to allow us to play, its around 600-900 dollars a month just for all this.

 

I'm surprised that the upkeep only requires 600-900 dollars a month. The amount of bandwidth required as well as multiple server hosting, as well as machine rentals, can potentially cost a lot more than this if you don't know your providers.

 

Does anyone know how long I should expect to wait for it to be back to the 200 player cap?

 

So a little perspective. Just so you know it does not cost $100s of dollars to host a game. The hosting costs are actually quite low, I won't post examples, but you can do a google search for minecraft hosting costs. I also don't think that Andrew is purposefully keeping non-donators out. The rationale is that those that have not donated are the population that will want to donate in the future. I honestly think that there is probably too much customization in the ECC set-up. One that while 1.3 has caused issues for many servers has had issues even before the launch. I think that it is possible that a more simple set up could reduce many of the issues that exist. I think that many ideas.. such as clearing abandoned towns, allowing more standard features etc. might make the game more stable. I am sure that there is a cost associated with losing some features, but if it is at the gain of an easier to manage more attractive server with less downtime then it might be a reasonable solution.

 

To be quite honest here i'm getting tired of your posts about donations and accusing Andrew of making his server donators only just to get more donations. In the behind-the-scenes crew channels on IRC and Ventrilo you can hear his frustration everytime he has to do this... if it was a business tactic he would keep the server open constantly to get more new users who will potentially donate to him. The fact that he is makes is for donators only at times is to make the game more lag free (not totally lag free) for the people who have spent their hard earned money to support our community.

Please stop talking about things you know NOTHING about.

 

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27362 <---Read now! Quit your complaining!

 

What you are seeing is shared hosting on a single machine. Tons of servers on 1 machine all using the same resources. None of those hosting plans could handle the user load that ECC has. Now go do some research on a dedicated server with the kind of hardware ECC has.. not to mention the VPS for the web site and the other costs associated with putting all of this together into one big community. It costs much more than a few hundred dollars every MONTH.

 

Was I like the only person never EVER NOT EVEN ONCE TO lag on this server. (sorry my caps lock key is BrOken)

 

Aye, glock is right. Small, teeny-tiny servers (no more than 35 players, I imagine) for Minecraft, and many other games, will be fairly cheap. And if the server hosting is specifically for one type of game, it may be even cheaper. But, when you go dedicated, can buy hardware/software/any kind of updates, get good support, good hardware on the machine, etc., prices will...skyrocket. 6-12 months ago Andrew said he was paying $800+ for the server, Ventrilo, and the forum. Nowadays, he buys upgrades to increase performance, and probably has better hosting. He's also added on any costs IRC might have, and any costs for possible forum upgrades. Total combined costs monthly are probably a lot higher than $800+ now. Who knows what he even pays for the upgrades he does. :/

 

Plus he also has the cost of personal salary.. I am not saying he takes advantage of it, but he does need to pay himself a salary over the year, just like a small business or large business owner has to do.