Howdy, everyone. We've gotten a lot of requests for our position on Battlefield 2142, so here's everything we know. These answers are subject to change, and we'll update this thread if we change anything. If you have questions please post them to this thread and we'll add them to the FAQ. Thanks!

Q: Will Insomnia365 host ranked Battlefield 2142 servers?
Yes! We are an official ranked Battlefield 2142 server provider.

Q: How can I order a ranked Battlefield 2142 server?
Order a ranked 2142 server just like you ordered a ranked BF2 server. Select the Ranked Cortex option on your server's order form to enable rankings on your server. There is no extra charge for the ranked version of Cortex.

Q: What kind of limitations are there on a ranked 2142 server?
Just like a ranked BF2 server each ranked 2142 server will not come with direct administrative access. Likewise the Cortex filebrowser and FTP server will only allow access to your settings, demos, and parts of your server's Punkbuster directory. Everything you need can be done through Cortex, and if it can't be done we'll make it work.

Also, you may not resell ranked 2142 servers.

Q: Did you just say we can't resell ranked 2142 servers?
Yes. EA is taking the ranked 2142 program very seriously, and only official ranked providers may sell ranked 2142 servers. You may not say on your website that you're selling ranked bf2142, nor that you're an official provider, nor resell bf2142 servers that you purchase from us. If we find that you are reselling ranked 2142 servers or advertising ranked 2142 servers then we may take action up to and including termination of your ranked 2142 server on your account or termination of your account. The only exception to this is if you yourself are a ranked 2142 server provider.

EA learned a few things from the ranked BF2 provider program. In an effort to keep the BF2142 community a little more responsible they tightened up the 2142 ranked program and are expecting much greater responsibility and accountability from their ranked providers. Insomnia365 has a number of obligations to EA in terms of support and uptime that weren't present in the ranked BF2 program.

Q: I'm already an ranked 2142 server provider. Can I host ranked Battlefield 2142 in Cortex?
Please contact us and we'll flip the bits to let you run ranked 2142 in Cortex. You'll have to provide proof that you're a ranked partner, and we may need to verify with EA before allowing Cortex to host ranked 2142 on your servers.

Q: Can I become a ranked 2142 provider?
The ranked 2142 program is a bit different than the ranked BF2 program. EA is not accepting outside applications to become a ranked 2142 server provider and has already contacted those they wished to invite into the ranked 2142 partner program. They may invite other companies in the future or they may not. We don't know of their plans in this regard.

Q: Can I host 2142 beta servers?
Only official EA 2142 server providers may host servers during the Battlefield 2142 tuning beta period, so we won't put it into Cortex. If you're already a BF2142 provider then get in touch with your point of contact at EA for hosting information.

Q: Can I host 2142 demo servers?
Yup! You can download the demo server here. We don't have any plans to put this into Cortex.

Q: Can I still host unranked 2142 servers?
Of course! Unranked Battlefield 2142 will be exist just like any other engine in Cortex when the game is released.

Q: Do you plan on supporting 2142cc?
Yes. 2142cc is supported in Cortex.

Q: Will this change how we can host ranked Battlefield 2?
No. We have no plans for changing our ranked BF2 offerings. If your server can run ranked BF2 then it can run ranked BF2142

EDIT: This thread is now quite a few pages long, and some of the information in our earlier posts to it is now out of date. There is no limitation to what you can run on a ranked server, so long as what you're trying to run is supported in Cortex. This means you can run other games alongside BF2142 if you wish.

As long as you don't tell me I need dual xeons to run a 32 man server that is fine with me. Would be nice to be able to run a TS server on it, maybe that part will change.

I know the GSPs won't be happy though.

I'll leave my comments to the private confines of my emails to various individuals.

Im glad I already said that we are dropping our ranked box. This whole BF2 thing lasted longer than I thought. Oh well, hopefully I'll be in just the Ventrilo business soon™. No more gaymers bothing me about tickrates and fps.

The only reason I went with I365 for our Ranked BF2 server was because of Kevin and the Cortex crew
taking care of our needs. One of my first posts here was about being able to install BF2CC and MBL on
our ranked BF2 server.

If we do not have the proper tools such as a BF2CC program and or are not allowed to run Punksbusted
anti cheating software on the server then I will not rent server for 2142.

You'll have the same access to the pb directory that you had in BF2, so PsB should still work. As far as I know bf2cc is going to support bf2142, so you should see it in Cortex as well.

*added to the FAQ*

Now EA has decided to alienate GSP's even more, nice move.
I used to be a big BF fan, that has now just ended; this is the straw that broke the camels back. Outrageous, tsk tsk tsk.

I could say so many different things but I think I keep my frustration to myself and just comment on what others have said.

Like doc said, as long as you guys are fair with what you consider 'worthy' to run a certain amount slots, hopefully we will be okay.

As Bonehead said, I can see how EA is making themselves the overall guardian of everything to do with their games. This type of vertical integration really starts to overstep some boundaries. I see this as another move towards shooing away as much competition that they can.

Next step is only EA Ranked servers? Something to think about.

As of today I refuse to advertise or host any new EA servers period. Wont buy their games anymore either.

Their action infuriates me. Seems quite a few others as well gauging from reaction on the net. Hope they enjoy their good 'ole boys club.

I've added the following to the FAQ based on a few conversations on IRC:

So how can we resell?

You can't, unless you're a ranked provider. I posted the question above because some of our clients got concerned by us selling servers by the "slot" (which we're not ).

Ok, what is EA trying to do here? Loose more than they already did with BF2? Ok also let me get this point straight, if we will get the 2142 Ranked on our server, that means that it can only host the ranked 2142 engine (would be one instance for me), and nothing else? So i would have to buy ANOTHER server just to host teamspeak, and other small things like CSS? If so, then im sorry to say it, but im done with I365.

liltechdude

Another thing I just thought about, is what I365 was all about, and that was the idea that you could host everything on your server, from Ranked BF2, to css, to teamspeak. Well I guess with Ranked 2142, EA has to change I365, to a one game thing. Thats just really stupid.

The difference techdude it that renting an Insomnia BF2142 dedicated server will still be a hell of a lot cheaper than renting a ranked BF2142 game server from someone else. Gameserver.com is advertising $5/slot for ranked BF2142. TS servers are cheap and even if you have to pay for one, you will still come out ahead.

But still, it completely changes everything. Im gonna certainly wait until it comes out, and im gonna see what you have to do, but its all BS. Never thought EA would go this far. Another thing I dont understand, is why EA wants to have the server completely deticated to ranked 2142. What does that have to do with anything?

I assume that the "no reseller" thing applies to all dedicatd server hosts, so Insomnia putting their foot down to EA will solve nothing. All it will do is give other dedicated server providers more business.

Personally, I think everyone's frustations should be towards EA and not Insomnia. Insomnia would be stupid to boycott BF2142 and lose that business since it will most likely be a big game.

Well see, I365 is a BIG ranked server provider for EA. If I365 did decide not to host 2142 ranked, EA would loose lots. Im sure I365 could influence EA a bit because of how much I365 has done for EA.
See, I can completely understand the slot thing. I wouldnt care much if i had to buy 32 slots, and use that. Although loosing everything else like teamspeak, and all the other hosting capabilities is something that could/needs to be talked over with EA. Im sure I365 could do SOMETHING, in a way to get us the ability to do what we can do now with our ranked BF2 servers, just with the slot restricition. If EA would be worrying about lag, then I365 could make it to whereas there would be a limit of instances you could have running on your system to make it fit EA's requirements. Nothing is impossible, and i sincerely request that I365 has another meeting with EA about it. It says in this topic that anything is subject to change, well i Hope that something can be done.

Liltechdude

PS- kevin, post something that will make this a bit more clear. If you can

Insomnia does not pay EA for the right to have ranked servers so Insomnia not having them would not affect EA's pocketbook 1 penny. Other server providers would just make the money that Insomnia would have had.

I see it as us smaller GPS's getting shafted by EA with a little salt thrown in to boot. Yea I am still grumpy about this whole mess

It lasted alot longer than I thought also.

Pretty soon battlefield will be pay-to-play based game with a monthly subscription.

This is not good news to your loyal customers. No sir, not good news at all.

We ran a BF1942 server when we first started with Server Matrix several years ago. The servers lasted us until the release of BF2, which forced us to go with Insomnia365, because of EA’s Ranking requirements. We ended up paying an additional $40 a month for the same exact server we had with Server Matrix. It was still a fair deal, so we continued to rent from you.

Now you tell us that you are not in the business of being GSP, but you say you will be renting servers based on player count, and what "you" feel would be the proper hardware to run the game. I can tell you that some of our players have played on an Insomnia365 Ranked servers, and found at least one of them to be laggy, suggesting that it was over tasked.

I would really like to see a price chart with the server hardware configurations you plan to offer. We presently have a dedicated 3.2 P4, and we never run more than 64-players, or 60-70% CPU, to ensure our players have the best game possible. I would hate to pay for a 64-player server, and end up with a weak 1.2 GHZ Celeron chip, or be loaded on a shared duel-processor server.

If you have contact with EA, which I am sure you do, I hope you can convey our concerns about the program. I am waiting to see the price chart, before we decide to leave Insomnia365/Server Matrix, after being faithful customers over the years.

What happens then with our existing BF2 ranked server? I am running BF2 and if I choose to go to 2142, I have to get a different server? Today I can run multiple smaller instances of BF2 just fine and if it was too laggy, then people won't play on it so it is against my best interest to run it overloaded.

I feel like we're moving to a communist state where I can do only that which I am told. In the free market, a laggy server never gets played on so overloading a server is not beneficial to the server admins. I don't need EA to dictate it to me.

I would hope that the gaming community votes with their pocket book and just drops 2142 completely if EA really follows through with this. I can almost guarantee my clan will.

One more note to my question above (DON'T FORGET TO ANSWER MY QUESTION ABOVE! ;-) ... I think I365 just might lose a fair amount of business over this, and not because people are mad at I365.

Maybe my view is too narrow, but I know of a few groups of clans that went in together and split the cost of a dedicated server so each could run their own BF2 instance. It was much cheaper than renting from most other hosting companies. This will push them to other providers at a minimum (Insomnia losing business) or out of a ranked server altogether.

I think Insomnia has enough clout to tell EA to stick it and should.

The last 2 people that posted are afraid that they will get a crappy cpu to run their boxes. What will probably happen is EA will say you need an bigger cpu than you need, and you will pay more for it. The purpose is to stop lag so be prepared to shell out some dough to run those servers lag free.

The only way EA would budge is if most dedicated server providers joined together and stood up to them. Insomnia can not do it alone.

Whew, lets see if I can tackle all the new questions at once.



We're talking to EA to see what kind of leeway we can get with these boxes. They're used to dealing with traditional GSP's, so a dedicated server company like us is somewhat of an anomaly to them.



Actually we do. I won't go into specifics about how much, but yes it does cost us money to be a ranked 2142 provider, much like it costs money to be an AA honor provider.



We don't have one yet, else I'd post it. We're still seeing what will run best on which system. When we have more information in this regard we'll post it. Believe me, we have no intention of leaving you guys with substandard hardware.



Your ranked BF2 server would stay exactly the same. We're not changing a thing about how our BF2 ranking program works. Right now, if you choose to get a ranked 2142 server you'll need to get a separate box.



I'm flattered that ya'll think we have such clout. Unfortunately EA is the one holding the cards. We can make all the suggestions we want, but in the end they're the ones who say how it works. I'm sure that I365 is one of the larger US based ranked 2142 providers, but our business pales in comparison to EA's numbers. Here's a professional looking ASCII chart to demonstrate:

The clout-o-meter


This chart clearly shoes a near 500% clout difference, effectively giving EA the upper hand in clout-based negotiations.

We're really trying to make this work for you. This is new for us too. Our goals are to be able to sell ranked bf2142 servers, make you happy when we do it, and make EA happy when we do it. Its a tricky balance, but we're trying to muddy it out. We know where our money comes from and it'd make no sense for us to drive away our source of revenue all for a single game. Remember that this is just a single feature for a single game, so try to put it into perspective. All of our regular dedicated server product lines are staying the same, and we're still going to keep working on Cortex. I understand your caution, so we're trying to make it work best for all of us.

Yay finnaly a positive post! ok i guess i misunderstood a bit, ooh well, see wht you can do kevin!

liltechdude

Nice clout-o-meter. Do you have a copy in a spreadsheet?

Let me try to get the information I believe everyone is looking for.

If a customer is currently renting a BF2 server, running multiple instances in Cortex, will that customer be able to run the same number of instances for the same price? If the answer is no, are we talking a mild increase or are we talking a drop your pants and grab your socks increase?

I understand the difficulty with balancing the concerns and limitations placed on you by EA with the concerns of your customer base. However, if you run a clan server, you have customers too. Anybody that contributes to help the clan pay for their server is in essence a customer. And just like your customers are demanding, so are ours. We need to be able to plan what to do - all of us will need to make a decision very soon to either A)Look for another provider, B) Decide to switch gears to another game or C) Get the h*ll out altogether.


If I have missed something and my questions were already answered, I sincerely apologize. And since nobody is really posting prices yet, I understand if you can not tell us...but would it be possible to give us a date when you can?

Thanks for your time.

I understand that EA is trying to get "lag" free servers for BF2142. Lag was not an issue with BF2. It was Server Crashing due to the Stat Server System and the ever present Memory leak.
So it looks like they are silently shifting "lag" issues onto the GSP's by dictating you can only run so many "slots" on specific hardware configs.

So, when word of this gets out to the "pubs" they will all clap thier hands and think EA is "doing us right" by "making" the GSP's only host BF2142 on "lag free" boxes.

I,for one, do not for an instant think that BF2142 will not have horrible issues like BF2. And by EA forcing Insomnia into this position has just insured that I will not buy 2142 let alone host a server.

Whats sad is it really makes me not want to have anything to do with EA's games. And I was looking forward to Crysis, which EA has just obtained the publishing rights

Last I heard that was a no go.

When you say customer, if you are currently selling ranked servers for profit, your done in BF2142 unless you are a ranked server provider (and I seriously doubt any GSP using Cortex for Ranked BF2 would be a 2142 ranked provider)

If your a clan customer, you will buy a certain box that will let you run a certain amount of slots of 2142. If limit on the box you buy is 96, then you can only run the number of instances that total slot count equals 96. You could run 4 24 instances or 2 48 instances or 1 64 and one 32.

As Kevin said before, you may not sell servers at all even if you just sell space your box to help balance out your box. I'm sure Clan members donating to clan servers to help run a box is exempted but I'm not official.

The price for your current server won't change at all. The whole slot-hardware thing is going to be for new ranked 2142 orders only. We don't know our pricing yet, and I can't really say when we will. Don't worry, when we know we'll tell ya'll.



Its not exactly that. They deal with things on per slot and per game server instance basis, while our business is based on phsical hardware. "Slot based" hardware is our compromise between the two outlooks. How many slots can run on what hardware is chosen by us, not EA.



Yup!

NICE!

Klaude's a dork.

Fighting words!

His name is not klaude! Back on topic ... ... I realize our current server price won't change. What I want to know is; 1) will we be able to run RANKED BF2142 on our existing box or, 2) will we have to purchace another one specifically for BF2142?

Right now the plan is you'll need to purchase a separate box to run ranked 2142.

Klaude, it would be nice if I365 would allow existing customers to convert their boxes over 2142 if they meet the server specs and player count. All we would want to run, for example, is our P4 with 64 slots. That way we know our server would not be over tasked. If you have a better deal, we would also like to do that as well.

The BF2 website quotes the Product Manager as saying that BF2142 will be released next month, October, and not November as you previously stated. We really need to know as soon as possible what you are going to do. I don't know about anyone else here, but our group needs to coordinate our decisions, so it is important we make plans early. Plus, if we get a BF2142 server, you need a week’s notice I believe o shut the old server down.

These matters are very important to us, so the sooner the better for pricing and structure.

I think is just a another conspiracy device by all EA rank server provider and EA to alienate all other and small GSP's who give all GPS with RSP run for there money.

Remember when BF2 Rank Came out all GSP with RSP charging ($5 to $8 per slot) and we as a small GSP reduce to dwn to $2.25-$3.50.


This action taken by EA totally indicate that whatever rules they provided in BF2 totally failed to make more profit to its Offical Rank server providers companys.
Now this new sets of EA rules are just to make totally one sided market for there offical rank server provider for bf2142.

So i think guy just get ready to pay redeculas ammount of money to get a rank server for BF2142.

The issue is bigger. We have a box to run BF2 Ranked servers, including a non-ramked instance for TWL/CAL matches, and even another small slot game server or two that are not related to BF2/BF2142 (CS:S).

This means, that we'd need two separate (and expensive for a small clan) boxes because it sounds like you either run a BF2142 ranked server ALL BY ITSELF or the others, but both can't co-exist. That by itself might be acceptable and would again make sense to split the cost of the 2142 box between 2 or 3 gaming clans, but that also is now "illegal".

So unless we can multi-task our current system and run BF2142 on it along with some of our other stuff just like we can with BF2, then I will not be purchasing BF2142, and when BF2 dies out, so may our tenure with I365.

Additionally, I think it is a little cheesy of EA to blame it on trying to be LAG-FREE. There are a myriad of reasons for lag that exist between the server and each client that will always exist and the assumption that dictating server hardware/slot count ratios will fix the perception that EA sucks is a bit far fetched.

If they really want control, then they should do something like Blizzard did with Battle.Net and just provide all "ranked" servers themselves, otherwise, to limit who/how ranked servers are sold just pisses off the consumer and make their "trusted partners" not trust them ... dumb!!! Let the market deal with the lag.

I suspect it is a monopolistic effort on their part and lag is just the excuse. I hope people don't buy into it. Sounds like something Microsoft would do ... taking their "clout" out for a spin as it were and force this on us. So, as long as Kevin Laude does't use his clout to go into the game publishing business, we might actually have a case! I'm done for now ... .

I have clanmates considering cancelling there BF2142 pre-orders because of this. EA is shooting themselves in the foot and ticking alot of people off about this.

I like the versatility of the box we have now because we dont resell. We also like putting up games to break the BF2 gaming.

This stinks....BAD!

Do it, the only thing that will get EA attention is lack of sales. Otherwise you can bitch all you want, the money you pay them is all upfront and the money they see from servers is just gravy.

Just to clarify at this time.

To get a ranked BF2142 server from here you must rent a full dedicated server which will be capable of X number of slots and that server can only run BF2142.

Under no circumstances the server or any of teh servers/instances be resold.

All the other stuff is basically like BF2 ranked servers.

I see 3 major issues:
1/. All the small GSP's reselling BF2 ranked using cortex will say 50% of there busines wiped out and a knock will be 50% of the cortex boxes they rent getting returned.
2/. How many clans/teams can afford to rent a full dedicated box just for one game? not many.
3/. Price fixing, every ranked host is selling at $5 per slot or $4.99. I fear they always will.

Its very poor form from EA and I am worried they will start this with all there games. I don't play Battlefield I think its rubbish but I am looking forward to MoH:A and if they do this trick with that game they will kill MoH for every.

I also fear insomnia will loose alot of dedicated rentals because of this; due to small GSP's not being allowed to operate and clans/teams not being able to afford the servers. The only things they will be able to afford are servers from a few large providers where they will be getting screwed on cost. Plus think of the number of extra boxes that will have to be put online if the thing actually takes off.

Also correct me I'm wrong but if people can't resell instances or servers then what exactly is insomnia doing? to me it means indirectly and through no fault of there own they are forced to be a GSP but have the restriction of having to sell boxes unlike the large GSP's who can sell by the slot virtual servers like a GSP would normally do. So Insomnia is being screwed also.

well my clan will not be getting 2142. we will not touch it for the restrictions and poor patch support they showed us in bf2.i know of a couple of other bf2 clans that are doing the same.

thankfully graw will be added to cortex soon. so we have bf2, americas army, fear, graw and moh. between those games that will tie us over untill quake wars comes out. i have heard quake wars might be a disappointment. even if it is it looks alot better than 2142.

i can't see paying per slot. not being able to use whatever rules we want to admin our server. we had a rule that was challenged by the bf2ers police. we had a rule not to punish our members for tk's and no we dont tk on purpose for you flamers. well that was an issue. with an ea game now a days you pay to play by their rules. pretty soon they will send someone to admin your server for you. the bf die hards will still get the game. the people who play to have fun wont. i think the whole ranking system on any game needs to go. people get so hung up on stats they forget to have fun.

2142 is a joke, don't buy into there corporate BS.


Is Insomnia365 a gsp?

If that's your question then yes they are. They have been since day 1 in my book. I have came to the conclusion that gsp is defined as a "game server provider". Now Last time I checked Insomnia 365 provides game server's.

Now they haven't provided them by the slot, but they still provide game server's.

Okay, so I found a GSP called Hypernia (http://www.hypernia.net) that also sells dedicated server boxes.

I e-mailed them and asked how they are handling BF2142 and they said that they will continue to sell dedicated hardware that will run BF2142 ranked servers ALONG WITH OTHER GAME SERVERS. Either he was clueless or i'm missing something.

Kevin Laude .. I've PM'd you the e-mail conversation. I'd appreciate any insight on what the differences might be between what Insomnia is doing as compared to Hypernia. Maybe they are slipping EA a few extra bucks under the table?