[Gandalf Parker]

@Saxon: SE is actually more involved than Dom since SE is windows only I found it more difficult to setup hosting. Thats why I only hosted one SE game at a time. By comparison, and for much of the same reasons (having to interface to my windows desktop) I only hosted one mega-game of Dom3 at a time.

@others: any server can run into troubles and backups are standard recommendations. Backups of games were offered and available on my server but unfortunately not utilized by some of the games that were running. In fact, my server was acting as a backup receiver for games on other servers. I would create a mailbox and other hosts would send email copies of pretenders, passwords, games, etc to it.

Llama's server is actually a great example of a host server done right for Dom3 (IMHO). We have all learned from experience over the years.
A) Someone decides to "run" a game
B) They start a thread or a chat and decide on the game parameters, the map, the mods. Sometimes this can take a month of discussion.
C) They contact me, or lch, or llamabeast, or someone else to host the game. With scripts it can be fairly easy.
D) The person who is running the game handles the player discussions and forwards requests for changes. A discussion to hold the game up for a day or two while someone is on vacation can take a week. Or turn a player AI for missing in action. Or even to decide the game is won (and HOPEFULLY send a nice thankyou note to notify the poor server that the game can be deleted and replaced with another)

What kinds of things have we learned?
1) Setting up games with no discussion of the game parameters between the players can be a deadend. Dom3 running in signup mode is actually the biggest hog of Dom3.
2) Doing games setup yourself easily ends up with 30-35 threads that you have to read 5 or 6 times a day to catch the user conversations about game changes because for some reason they expect you to see the conversations without emailing you
3) Let someone else setup and manage each game. That way you only have 30-35 people whose responsibility becomes to let you know whats going on. AND it helps many players get their feet wet with the headaches (loves?) of what is involved with hosting.
4) If you can handle the bulk of standard games, then the players can manage to host the extreme oddballs. Servers dont have to provide all game options.
5) And I think its fairly agreed between the server people that automating game setup such as I have in that example page would be BAD. Its not the hosting of the games that is hard on the server. But starting hundreds and hundreds of games that no one comes back to would definetly kill one. I suppose that setting it up thru paypal to charge would solve that.

Gandalf Parker