The Average Life Spawn Of A Server?

[Guest]

so wat do u guys think the average life spawn of servers now a day are?.....
i dunno they only seem to last 4 - 5 months imo.....
but i dunno thats just wat i think so tell me wat u guys think?

[Kaid]

Depends on 2 things
Number of players & Profession of admin

[Ansuz Isaz]

Anywhere from a sad, depressing month, to a good three years. ^^ Some servers can last a fairly long while.

My fair assumption, in average, is about a year and a half. Then again, this is me being generous. xD A year is a safer bet. I think I've seen most servers last for at least six months, before closing down simply because the server never got enough people flowing through to make it worth it. [ When you have a TOTAL - not average online - of twenty players after six months, it's kind of sad. D= ]

[Rbread]

1 day - 1 month.  Most people quickly bring up a server and advertise/spam and expect people to join when they're just doing it for kicks.  They then shutdown the PC and there goes their server never to be touched again until 2099.

[sineas]

Home-brew servers often die a quick death.

Depends on 2 things
Number of players & Profession of admin

I have a full time job when I opened my server. When I took some part times on the side, I have to leave my server to trusted admins. Had few ups and downs with the people who managed my server... but I'm not the type of person who gives up easy. I can take a hit and can still smile seeing it coming. Almost gave up on it it as monthly dedicated server dues were going to waste... guess what? my server is still up and has been relaunched and is doing much better than ever 

My server went public April 2007 btw 

[NikitaDarkstar]

Well it really depends, but a few months seems to be the average nowadays.. but then thats why you have to be abit picky when choosing a server. The server I play now has been around since 2005 or 2004, I'm not sure which honestly. I joined it in 2006, then it wiped early 2007, went into an almost dead state, but due to a VERY dedicated admin, and a few dedicated players it's now back with a decent player base. (I can't really take any credit on the dedicated player.. when it hit "0 pepole online" I considered it dead and left.. now it averages around 30 =D)...

But well, honestly, eAthena is to easy to understand for it's own good, and seriously, you only need basic reading skills to be able to set up a server nowadays, meaning ALOT of pepole do it on a whim, and then get bored when they realise how much work it is trying to maintain one, which leads to alot of servers dying after a few months.

[bentheexo]

Surprisingly I decided to check back in on a whim and I found something worth talking about. My server was up for almost a year when I had to take it down due to monetary issues and not having anyone capable or knowledgeable about running my server. My user base was averaging 15~20 people for a majority of the day. I didn't have any money coming into the server in the form of donations because I offered everything in game through quests. I have full intention to bring it back to life but in the mean time I am working for someone who doesn't have the monetary issues that I ran into.

[Ansuz Isaz]

The interesting part is that people are generally picky in looking for different places. o.o A lot of people do in fact enjoy finding the servers that have been around for a year or two, and have a fair amount of players. However, there are also those that prefer to find the very new servers, and like them better. I find this sadly tends to leave the middle-aged servers in a bit of a hard spot when trying to gain other players. D= Which might be the slight reason why a lot of servers start dying at four or five months, according to most.

By this point, it's not exactly a new server anymore, and those who joined have generally all ready made their bonds. Despite people saying that the server is friendly and willing for new players, a lot of people do tend to net themselves in their own group after a while, so it gets harder for new players to join those groups, and resort to making their own. Sadly, making their own is often kind of hard in lower populated servers that have lived for a few months, since there aren't a lot of people who haven't all ready found their spot in the server, so they give up and find somewhere else to go.

People like the small servers because they can make those bonds, and they like the larger populated servers because they can easily find new people to meet who are willing to become part of a friendly group of people with them, thus forming their own little circle.

[Itakou]

1 month.

Theres just too many servers that opened today and died tomorrow.

[mark_sanbeda]

When it comes to picking a Server pick the oldest one  [coz it means it went to a hell of problems and managed to get it up coz of them being dedicated(maybe like those which already started since 2004 or around those years)] The Average is about 3 months or so..

[Ansuz Isaz]

I think of it a lot like the stock market. Going with the older, stable service will often get you more secure profits. On the other hand, the new servers will not be worth much in the beginning, and you could well get more bang for your buck if it ends up becoming one of those larger companies. Of course, this isn't a literal reference to money. However, if you start in the beginning, you can be much better off when the server has grown. You'll have known more people, gotten better items, higher levels, and the server will simply feel more like home if you're there right from the get-go.

So, new servers are a gamble, but worth a shot at times. xD The older servers are a sure-thing to go to, but I always feel like I get less out of it if I don't grow with the server. Personal taste have a lot to do with the survival of some. MouRO is, in my personal opinion, the best current low rate server out there. All the same, it's far too unique for a lot of people, and the lack of a PVP / WoE aspect, in preference to PVM / MVP, is a concept most people just can't seem to sink their teeth in. What someone wants to "invest in" will also affect the outcome of the server. =P

[mark_sanbeda]

Its true that sometimes playing a server that just got started is an okay.. since if the server have grown then you'll have the lead to be the strongest for a little moment.

but the fact that its still a gamble is very risky i for instance pick the server w/ the most decent site[since it shows how dedicated they are by putting a lot of effort on it usually they are the one's who's server last 4~5 years(admit it people the GM's will get tired and eventually turn down the server)]

[Kylee]

Until the admin logs off the first day. Sad but true. It all goes downhill from there.

[mark_sanbeda]

Well its like opening a kioske and of course you'll be happy since getting a little income and selling a product of your own hobby but as time goes own you'll eventually get bored and turn it down then look for another hobby that will satisfy you.. 

[well cheer up by the time they turn down the server people might have grown and already stopped playing RO]

[Skotlex]

You must also consider the "aid" factor.
When you join a new server, there's a chance there's several people joining at the same time, and there is the hope of having a party with all of them and having a blast at first.
When you join an old server, there's a chance that the server is already flooded with its own social circles, and people are unwilling to spend their time helping an "unknown" person.

MouRO is pretty different, though... because it has been up for the longest time, it just doesn't has a "rush of people" joining at the same time to party up, but the server is designed around partying, which makes it easier for veterans to help lower level people up to their level to party together. So... some of the older players actually had it harder as they had less help back when there were less people around, and some of the newer people actually receive a bit of too much help (items, extra-equips, party-based exp boosts and so on).
To illustrate, the first person who ever reached the max level (150) was Bulbasteve, and it took him a few months to get there playing from time to time (mostly because there was no one high level enough to party with, and he gained most of those levels with lower level parties where he just played support - he is a priest). Some months later, when we got a bunch of people doing high level parties, lv150 chars start showing up everywhere. This is true to the point where the "char Top 50" ranking became useless because it was filled with lv150 chars :v
Now the problem is that sometimes new people are helped too much, to the point that in a single day they have level 100+ and a bunch of stuff, but they were helped so fast they didn't really learned what they are doing or how to effectively play around, compared to those that slowly climbed their levels xP
Anyway... enough history, that kinda should illustrate how the server's age can play a factor in the party-making process for new people, and that can be a big deciding point for some (what is a MMORPG if you are not going to be partying with others?)