Guild hosting
Encyclopedia
A guild hosting or clan hosting service is a specialized type of web hosting service
designed to support online gaming communities, generally referred to as guilds or clans
. They vary from game server hosting in that the focus of such companies is to provide applications and communication tools outside of the gaming environments themselves.
Guild hosting services address a guild's basic need to have an online presence and allow guild members to communicate with each other outside of the game. While it is possible for any guild to do this on their own, setting up and maintaining a site requires constant maintenance, upgrades and integration of new software. One of the key reasons for the popularity of guild hosting services is their focus on relieving the guild from this overhead and freeing them up to spend more time playing the game.
and phpBB
on traditional web hosting services. However, as the complexity of online games increased, many guilds sought after more advanced management features and turned to specialized services to accommodate their needs.
One of the earliest such companies was GuildPortal, formed in 2001. In 2006, competition increased with the launch of 3 new services: GuildCafe (now GamerDNA), GuildLaunch and MMO Guildsites (now Shivtr). In 2007, Guildomatic launched as the first game-specific guild host, paving the way for even more specialized services tailored to individual games. In 2008 a large share holder known as Ejeet Networks< took a massive amount of stakes directly to the guild hosting world and made a press release to Tech2 Gaming which was then published in the Mumbai Times and placed in a top social media spotlight to this day they offer to the minute technology for guilds. With guilds increasingly playing more than one game, Enjin launched a new CMS
in 2009 with the ability of creating multiple gaming divisions on one website. The number of guild hosting services continues to grow with the rising popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games.
Web hosting service
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet...
designed to support online gaming communities, generally referred to as guilds or clans
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
. They vary from game server hosting in that the focus of such companies is to provide applications and communication tools outside of the gaming environments themselves.
Guild hosting services address a guild's basic need to have an online presence and allow guild members to communicate with each other outside of the game. While it is possible for any guild to do this on their own, setting up and maintaining a site requires constant maintenance, upgrades and integration of new software. One of the key reasons for the popularity of guild hosting services is their focus on relieving the guild from this overhead and freeing them up to spend more time playing the game.
Typical Features
The services typically offered by such a service include:- Public and/or private forums for members to communicate with each other, or other tools for communications such as instant messaging or chat servers.
- Tools for tracking the roster of characters that a player might have in an MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
. - An application for scheduling and organizing raids, tournaments and other gaming events.
- Applications for tracking treasure, items, or points accrued toward redeeming treasure (often referred to as a DKPDragon kill pointsDragon kill points or DKP are a semi-formal score-keeping system used by guilds in massively multiplayer online games. Players in these games are faced with large scale challenges, or raids, which may only be surmounted through the concerted effort of dozens of players at a time...
system).
History
Originally, most people who decided to create a website for their guild used bulletin board software such as vBulletinVBulletin
vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software produced by Jelsoft Enterprises and vBulletin Solutions, both subsidiaries of Internet Brands. It is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database server.-History:...
and phpBB
PhpBB
phpBB is a popular Internet forum package written in the PHP scripting language. The name "phpBB" is an abbreviation of PHP Bulletin Board...
on traditional web hosting services. However, as the complexity of online games increased, many guilds sought after more advanced management features and turned to specialized services to accommodate their needs.
One of the earliest such companies was GuildPortal, formed in 2001. In 2006, competition increased with the launch of 3 new services: GuildCafe (now GamerDNA), GuildLaunch and MMO Guildsites (now Shivtr). In 2007, Guildomatic launched as the first game-specific guild host, paving the way for even more specialized services tailored to individual games. In 2008 a large share holder known as Ejeet Networks< took a massive amount of stakes directly to the guild hosting world and made a press release to Tech2 Gaming which was then published in the Mumbai Times and placed in a top social media spotlight to this day they offer to the minute technology for guilds. With guilds increasingly playing more than one game, Enjin launched a new CMS
Content management system
A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...
in 2009 with the ability of creating multiple gaming divisions on one website. The number of guild hosting services continues to grow with the rising popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games.