Counter Strike Servers » DarkStar Communications: A Review of Counterstrike Server Options

DarkStar Communications: A Review of Counterstrike Server Options

March 25th, 2008

Of the plethora of Counterstrike server companies in existence, DarkStar Communications has one of the most aesthetically pleasing and user-intuitive webpage design. Outstanding designs usually indicate a prosperous and stable Counterstrike server company- but can DarkStar’s servers please the masses as much as their stunning website design?
DarkStar Communications Pricing
DarkStar has several options in pricing for both Counterstrike 1.6 and Counterstrike: Source. The pricing is competitive, although higher “tick rates” are slight more expensive. (Tick rate simply refers to the amount of information processed per second by client and server; higher tick rates demand more processing power, and cost more on average)
Pricing details for current DarkStar plans can be seen below.
Counterstrike: Source
33 Tick Rate: $0.99 Per Player Slot
66 Tick Rate: $1.25 Per Player Slot
100 Tick Rate: $1.49 Per Player Slot
Counterstrike 1.6
Standard Rate: $0.99 Per Player Slot
“True 500 FPS” Rate: $1.32 Per Player Slot
Free Counterstrike-Specific Benefits
DarkStar Communications offers three free extras with each Counterstrike server purchase. Modifications such as AMX Mod, Admin Mod, Zombie mod, Mani, Gun Game, and CSS:RPG can be installed on demand. DarkStar also gives clans free webpage and website space to host their clan information on. Lastly, anyone who purchases a Counterstrike server obtains a 50% discount on voice servers.
The AMX, Admin, and Mani modifications all provide extra functionality for administration of the server. In addition to many included features, plug-ins can be installed that extend functionality further. Yes, finally more ways to use obnoxious sounds, player models, and punish flamers from one simple administrator menu.
Zombie Mod, Gun Game, and CSS:RPG are three game-play enhancing modifications. Each one offers a unique experience that is quite different from the formal game of Counterstrike you are likely accustomed to playing. Nevertheless, they spice up long days on a Counterstrike server when things start to get tedious.
The website space given to server customers includes 5GB of storage space and 50GB worth of bandwidth. PHP and MySQL are both enabled, so that clan owners can use interactive scripts such as forums or clan ladder scripts. Because of the healthy size of disk space and bandwidth made available, clan leaders will have no worries in surpassing their quota each month.
Lastly, DarkStar Communications offers a 50% discount on voice servers with a Counterstrike server purchase. Voice servers run from $3-$35 each month, depending on the amount of user slots purchased. In most cases, clans can get by with the $5 per month plan- which comes down to $2.50 after the discount.
DarkStar Server Performance and Technology
DarkStar Communications boasts support of 325,000 gamers across 90 different countries connected each day. Even with the massive amounts of bandwidth that so many gamers eat up each day, the network stays at record lows in ping measurement.
DarkStar states that common datacenters use what is called Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP. This routing protocol counts the “hops” between each router in order to determine the best connection. But BGP doesn’t take bandwidth into account in its measurement, which makes most servers incapable of offering low pings. Instead, DarkStar uses “Force10 sFlow”, a technology that takes bandwidth into account while calculating the best route to send data.
DarkStar Communications also attests that they do not oversell their servers. When server companies are looking to maximize profits they hope that their customers won’t use all of their bandwidth and disk space, and instead take on more customers than what their server can handle. This can lead to a staggering amount of latency, something DarkStar claims they have no part in.
And of course, it helps to have servers that are claimed to have quad-core technology under the hood. The result: minimal jitter, unexplained high ping, packet loss, and other networking connectivity problems.
DarkStar Technical Support
What’s a Counterstrike server company without great support? DarkStar promises support every hour of the day, every day of the year. They are humorously quoted saying, “We answer support tickets when even Santa doesn’t.”
Because they have locations throughout the world, customers around the globe can enjoy technical support- even on holidays. Staff monitors connections at all times- so they might even fix a problem before you notice it. And if catastrophe strikes, the staff will be notified by mobile phone: so there will be no problem gone unnoticed.
Referral Programs: Making Money from Friends
The only thing better than getting a great Counterstrike server at low prices is making money off of your friends who want the same thing you do. DarkStar offers one-time bonuses for every signup made under your name.
Bonuses are included for top referrals of the month and good sales records. From a typical 10 slot server, expect to make an easy $5 that can go towards your own server fees or straight into your pocket. DarkStar offers a series of banners and buttons that can help you bring the cash in; and since there is no limit to what you make, it’s up to your own popularity as to how much money and bonuses you achieve.
Extra Server Features Included
Last and certainly not least, we have a nice array of extras and benefits DarkStar throws in for good measure.
Free codecs are included for Mac-compatibility. Whereas other companies force extra costs onto the consumer for this, DarkStar offers it free.
DarkStar’s control panel and ClanPay systems are also renowned among clan leaders. ClanPay enables costs of the server fees to be distributed amongst a clan- not just by the clan leader.
All of the following features are maintained under a 99% uptime guarantee. Out of the entire year, DardStar pledges to keep their network running and available for 99% of the time on an annual basis.
Conclusion of DarkStar Communications as a Counterstrike Server Provider
It seems our original conviction was correct: a great web design does indeed signify a great game server provider (Ok, so far at least). It seems that over 300,000 gamer worldwide have found their services to be alright, and that accounts for something.
DarkStar offers very competitive rates on Counterstrike server hosting on a per-slot basis, and offers great features to boot. Out of your selection of game server companies, consider DarkStar to be near the top of your list.
(And not just because you can call them on Christmas to make sure they are still offering technical support.)