Running Your Private Server
By Dr. Livingstone
Prologue
Running a private server is no simple task. This is a guide for all of you new up and comers who want to start looking into creating their own private server, but it will also help some of the more experienced developers/owners who haven't had much success in running their servers. I've written this guide not just based off of what I have experienced, but also from talking to other more... important... figures in the private server industry. Not everything in this guide may apply to you. There are plenty of servers who I would say go about everything wrong, but in the end they have real success. The goal of this guide isn't to say, "Hey! Do it this way or you will fail!" It is intended to give you basic instructions and some simple ideas that will greatly aid you and your server. I am completely open to your ideas, comments, and criticisms. So please post your opinions on the matter so that I can possibly change the guide to make servers more successful in general.
Taking The Leap
Making the decision to run a private server should not be taken lightly. I don't have any real numbers for you when it comes to server success rates, but I promise you that the odds are your server will fail. If it happens to the greats it will happen to the person who's first MMOwned post is "How do i make server?" and their second is recruiting for GM's and developers. Now before you decide to launch your server you need to think about some things. Firstly, what will make my server unique? If your server is not unique in any way then your odds of failure have significantly increased. I look at the 40,000,000 funservers out there and in reality I'm only going to play on the one that has something special about it. If you don't have something that is special about your server then you have no hope of competing with the big servers out there. Secondly, what will you bring to the server? If you are going to try to just be an owner then let me tell you this. The only thing people care if you bring is money. Running a server is not cheap, and if you plan to own one then you have got to have the money to pay for it. Now if you are a developer looking to own/run a server things are a little different. You need to create something that will draw others in. You need to prove that you are a kick ass developer who already has a product ready to release to the public. How many inventors do you know that go up to get a patent and say, "Well I don't know what I'm going to make but it will 1337 and everyone will love it! Please can I have a patent for it?" Thirdly, do I have the time to run a server? You can't start a server up and only play on the weekends. Or during non-peak hours even. It's very important that you are active enough on your server, especially early on, that the players feel some connection to you. If you can't provide that connection then don't worry about getting into the business. Lastly, why am I getting into the private server industry? If the answer is "I want to make money!", then leave now. Cause you most likely won't and you will probably end up harming the community in some way. If you have asked yourself all these questions and still want to run a server, it is time to move on to the next step.
Recruitment
Recruiting good developers and staff for your server is possibly one of the most important things you can do, and possibly one of the most difficult things to achieve. Lets look at it this way. You make your post in the recruitment thread, you need to stand out in some way. The easiest way to stand out is to have a colored name. I know that sounds incredibly childish and dumb, but when I'm scanning through the threads, if I don't see orange, blue, pink, or purple in that name I'm probably just going to keep on scanning. So my advice is simple, if you plan to just own a server then you should donate to MMOwned. Prove to possible staff that you are willing to spend the necessary money, and that you care about the community. If you want to run the server as a developer then contribute contribute contribute. It will be far easier to find good staff if people know who you are. Of course there are other ways to grab people's attention. Formatting your post is one of them. Make everything you do look good and professional. My example for this is Stoneharry. Every time he makes a post I go, "Oooh a professional." It makes me linger on his post for just that extra second, and for a new server that is key. You also shouldn't make crazy claims when recruiting. Don't say, "All work 91.4% completed!1!!! Just need 31 more developers to finish!" It shows you have no idea what you are talking about. Be honest. It will take you a lot farther in life. Lastly, don't hire everyone that applies. More often than not that Joe Shmoe that applied and said he has worked in emulation for 4 years yet has no proof really hasn't worked in emulation for 4 years. Too many young servers get all excited and just start hiring anyone they can find. This is a terrible idea and will lead to far more problems in the long run. Oh, and before you start looking for staff. Prove you have something to give them. If you are just an owner then have a server already in your possession! If you are a developer then have content you are ready to share with your new staff! Its the small things that matter! Don't forget it.
Development and The Beginning
When you start developing with your new staff things will look and feel great. More likely then not you this feeling will quickly go away. That one developer you hired that looked great no longer looks so good. In fact he can't do anything at all really. You have to make a decision. Accept mediocrity and go down a long slow road to failure, or you fire him. There are other options, but they require the time of your other skilled developers and I would advise you just fire him. You can always find another good developer, and it is better to be down a developer then have someone on your staff who could possibly be a liability. You should already have a website set up, and be building a community. I would advise taking the approach of not really letting players on your server during this phase. At least not very early on. Start building a community, and start announcing progress with pictures of what you have completed and ideas you are planning to implement. During this time you will not really receive any donations, and as such all the money will be coming directly out of your pocket. This means you are looking at large amounts of money coming out of your pocket, and there probably isn't a light at the end of the tunnel. At least not one you can see yet. This isn't the time to panic. If you can make it through this phase you have some serious balls, and you probably will think its all gonna get better. This isn't true. Things are going to get worse, and you are going to get farther into the red.
The Beta and Grand Opening
I strongly advise creating some sort of public beta. One reason is it draws people to your server, but allows you to continue to make changes without too much of an uproar. The second reason is that it looks professional. You have to do it right, but if you do you can expect people to like it. Don't let everyone test it out. Make people apply, and make them think they are special for getting to play on your server before the other people. Create beta member only forums, and honestly accept their feedback and make the changes they would like. It's a perfect way to test out your content. If your beta members don't like what you have done, I would advise scrapping it and starting over. Close the beta, start the project back from the development phase. It may suck for awhile, but it will be better in the end. Remember you still won't really be receiving donations in this time, and money will probably be becoming tight now. One thing that is far to common with private servers is the push back of the Grand Opening date. You promise your community your doors will open on day X, but when day X comes around you aren't even close to being ready. Inevitably you will push back your opening day. This looks bad for your players, and can kill your fledgling community. This is why I advise you to not really announce your opening date until you have completed at least the core of what you wanted to finish. If your beta players are happy, then you are probably good to schedule a public release in the near future. Remember though, when your beta population is only around 50-100 people total with maybe 5 - 10 on at a time, they won't really discover nearly the same amount of bugs as your full population will. And if you can get a beta population of 50 - 100 people then you are doing very very well. Most beta's will struggle to reach that level. If you reach the Grand Opening and players are happy, then you are doing well. This small, highly important community must be kept happy. Your community will grow exponentially as long they are happy. When a player stumbles on a great server he tells his friends, and when he finds a bad server... well... he tells his friends. The goal is for each player to bring at least 2 friends with them. If they do that you will have significant growth, but that can only happen when you keep them happy. Just like the development phase was to the developers, this phase is to the Game Masters. If your friend that you let be a GM does something stupid... well fire him. You need to make an example of people who make mistakes, and harm your server in some way. It sounds brutal, but it is necessary. Also don't assume you will get donations right when you open! You probably won't be able to pay for the server in donation money for a very long time!
Epilogue
If you have made it through all of the previous phases you are likely seeing some sort of profit come in now. The temptation to spend this money will only grow larger. Save it! Put it in the PayPal and let it sit there. You are going to hit tough times, maybe one month you just won't get any donations. Trust me you'll be glad to have a couple months worth of money saved up in case something happens. If you feel like you have saved enough then pull a little out to reimburse yourself for the huge expenses you have covered alone, but be very careful. If you start abusing this money you will be punished by your population, your developers, and your community. If you can keep a server up until this point then I applaud you, and you deserver the praise and support you will receive. Good luck in your future adventures with the private server industry!