AW: [bf1942] Ranked Server Provider program details

[Götz Klingelhöfer [KGN]]

Hi guys,

yep it's true, we're still on our own here in germany. Of course that's in
part because it makes sense to have only one partner in germany while it
doesn't in the US. Because of the long coast-to-coast connections it would
hardly be possible to have only one partner for the whole of the US. Get a
smaller country and you can have it as well ;)

As for prices: Don't envy us too much. Our public servers are still running
full to the rim up to 80% of the time which causes quite some expenses in
traffic. And we have to pay a good deal more for that stuff than you guys
for two reasons: First of all its expensive in germany anyway and second
K-Play is a high-quality service-provider, meaning we don't just buy "any"
traffic but some with good routings, good international peerings aso. Also
we provide a 24/7 customer support via phone, irc, email and whatever else
you can think of. Human ressources necessary for that kind of stunt are also
much more expensive in germany due to our tax-system aso.

Wish I could tell you we're sitting on heaves of cash here but we don't. 
If you take a look at the prices K-Play is asking for other games you'll
find that we're not dictating prices in any way. It's as normal and low a
K-Play price as they come.

Best,

--Goetz
Krawall.de // K-Play.de 

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Christoph Nothegger [mailto:bf42 at nothegger.com] 
> Gesendet: Sonntag, 14. August 2005 15:42
> An: bf1942 at icculus.org
> Betreff: Re: [bf1942] Ranked Server Provider program details
> 
> 
> On 14.08.2005 bf1942 at icculus.org wrote:
> > I sympathize with you, believe me.  The only thing I can 
> say that may 
> > make you feel slightly better is that you're not alone.  EA not 
> > responding to requests is par for the course because that's the way 
> > they are.  What I find interesting is that none of the 
> ranked server 
> > providers on this list have really said anything of 
> substance either.
> > That is most interesting indeed.
> 
> For us, two of our reps talked to Ben Smith and others from 
> EA at the E3. That's how we made contact. So I can't help you 
> with any email contacts, sorry.
> 
> Basic program outline:
> You need to have 10 free servers to become a partner. As soon 
> as you have 10 free public servers up, you can start renting 
> out servers. For every 10 servers you rent out, you need to 
> put up one more free public server.
> 
> So for 50 rented servers, you need to have 15 free public 
> servers hosted as well.
> 
> To be honest, I would be majorly annoyed if EA added even 
> more trusted partners in the US. Almost all EU countries only 
> have one exclusive partner (Germany: Krawall, UK: MP etc.). 
> The US has loads of partners (I'd say about 15), which means 
> an over-abundance of ranked server slots, really. We have 
> many clients who have a hard time keeping their servers full, 
> simply because there are way more available slots than 
> players. And I assume others have the same issues.
> 
> Additionally, companies like MP or Krawall (no offense guys 
> :) ) can pretty much dictate the prices in their country. On 
> US turf, it is much more of a competition, which isn't 
> necessarily bad, but profit margins are way lower than in 
> other countries for sure. Sure, you have to figure in the 
> different bandwith costs in different countries, but when I 
> see that Krawall is selling 16 slot ranked servers for IIRC 
> 98€ in Germany (which equals about 125$ US), I can only envy them.
> 
> Greetz,
>  Christoph
> 
> --
> aka JohnnyK
> WOLFGaming.net - where the gameplay is teamplay
>