Asking about the web hosting

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kenobihiro
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Asking about the web hosting

#1 Post by kenobihiro »

Hi all,
Could you please help me in this problem?

I'm using Renpy and make a visual novel. It should be around 600Mb~1Gb in size when i finish. And i want to sell it online. I want it has a function like Mangagamer or Steam site, a customer go in, view, and pay and then get a link to download the game. So should i use what e commerce service and web hosting site for this? . Anyone who already use these services please leave me some advices.

It may be early but i really want to think ahead of time and make a good plan.

So please help me.

Thank you all very much.

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ScottySeng
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#2 Post by ScottySeng »

I use a webhosting company named Inmotion Hosting. They are really reliable and I really recommend using them.
If you need to host a website, I can host your website for you. (Probably @ $2.50 a month)
On my hosting plan, I can host up to 6 websites, but I only have used two of them.

I recommend OS Commerce as your e-commerce system, as they work fine with PayPal and it's not too hard to set up. It is open source, and doesn't cost you anything to use.
Zen Cart and Cube Cart are good, but they're not free to use.

I would very well before buying a web hosting service. They demand payment upfront (Usually) for the whole contract term.

The plus side of having your own web host is having your own domain e-mail, unlimited space (At least for me), the ability to make multiple blogs (I use Wordpress), and install add-ons and services as you please.

I hope this helps.

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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#3 Post by sciencewarrior »

First question: Where are you? If you live in the US, you have literally hundreds of options to choose. In Europe, there are handful of good companies. In other countries, a lot fewer. In some countries, your only viable option is Paypal.

Second question: do you have an audience? If you don't, it may be a good idea to sell through a portal like dlsite, or approach other game developers who can sell you product alongside their own. They will take a larger percentage of the sale, but you will sell a lot more copies.
Keep your script in your Dropbox folder.
It allows you to share files with your team, keeps backups of previous versions, and is ridiculously easy to use.

kenobihiro
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#4 Post by kenobihiro »

ScottySeng wrote:I use a webhosting company named Inmotion Hosting. They are really reliable and I really recommend using them.
If you need to host a website, I can host your website for you. (Probably @ $2.50 a month)
On my hosting plan, I can host up to 6 websites, but I only have used two of them.

I recommend OS Commerce as your e-commerce system, as they work fine with PayPal and it's not too hard to set up. It is open source, and doesn't cost you anything to use.
Zen Cart and Cube Cart are good, but they're not free to use.

I would very well before buying a web hosting service. They demand payment upfront (Usually) for the whole contract term.

The plus side of having your own web host is having your own domain e-mail, unlimited space (At least for me), the ability to make multiple blogs (I use Wordpress), and install add-ons and services as you please.

I hope this helps.
Thank you!

Actually i'm creating an adult game so are those e-commerce safe to use? I mean, i won't get into trouble with law when i store the adult item?

kenobihiro
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#5 Post by kenobihiro »

sciencewarrior wrote:First question: Where are you? If you live in the US, you have literally hundreds of options to choose. In Europe, there are handful of good companies. In other countries, a lot fewer. In some countries, your only viable option is Paypal.

Second question: do you have an audience? If you don't, it may be a good idea to sell through a portal like dlsite, or approach other game developers who can sell you product alongside their own. They will take a larger percentage of the sale, but you will sell a lot more copies.
Thank you. I think dlsite is good for these kinds of game. And i'm living in Laos which is not very good for internet i guess.

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ScottySeng
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#6 Post by ScottySeng »

@ kenobihiro
Using a Webhosting company means that sometimes you cannot host any adult content on the site what so ever.
You can try using a computer as your own server, but that gets a bit messy.

On a side note, hey, I found another Laotian on LSF. Awesome. I'm Laotian by the way.

Edit: Some hosts allow you to host adult content. Thanks to the posters below.
Last edited by ScottySeng on Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

kenobihiro
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#7 Post by kenobihiro »

ScottySeng wrote:@ kenobihiro
Using a Webhosting company means you cannot host any adult content on the site what so ever.
You can try using a computer as your own server, but that gets a bit messy.

On a side note, hey, I found another Laotian on LSF. Awesome. I'm Laotian by the way.
Oh great then =D. Nice to meet you.

So i can't make a site like getchu? I Only want to show screenshots of my game, and a way to purchase.

Then may be worldpress or blogger blog will help since i did see some adult site of them. They ask before i enter to know if i'm 18+ or not.

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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#8 Post by sciencewarrior »

Some companies host adult content. Some only accept it for specific, slightly pricier plans. Even those that accept adult content will have restrictions on what they will host.

Getting a blog is probably a good idea. It is very simple to set up, and the format lends itself very well to constant updates. In fact, I'd say it is more important now for you to start drumming up interest for your game and collecting addresses from potential buyers, than deciding how you will sell it, but if you go this route, you will see you can find shopping cart plugins for the most popular blogging platforms. Alternatively, you can have one site for your blog, with links to portals that handle the e-commerce side.

I can't give specific information about how to get paid in Laos, but it seems even Paypal is a bigger hassle than it should be. My advice is seeing how other people in your country who make money on the Internet (through ads or products) are doing it.
Keep your script in your Dropbox folder.
It allows you to share files with your team, keeps backups of previous versions, and is ridiculously easy to use.

kenobihiro
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Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:36 pm
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#9 Post by kenobihiro »

sciencewarrior wrote:Some companies host adult content. Some only accept it for specific, slightly pricier plans. Even those that accept adult content will have restrictions on what they will host.

Getting a blog is probably a good idea. It is very simple to set up, and the format lends itself very well to constant updates. In fact, I'd say it is more important now for you to start drumming up interest for your game and collecting addresses from potential buyers, than deciding how you will sell it, but if you go this route, you will see you can find shopping cart plugins for the most popular blogging platforms. Alternatively, you can have one site for your blog, with links to portals that handle the e-commerce side.

I can't give specific information about how to get paid in Laos, but it seems even Paypal is a bigger hassle than it should be. My advice is seeing how other people in your country who make money on the Internet (through ads or products) are doing it.
Thank you very much for your information =). I will give a serious thinking about it =).

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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#10 Post by ffs_jay »

ScottySeng wrote:@ kenobihiro
Using a Webhosting company means you cannot host any adult content on the site what so ever.
You can try using a computer as your own server, but that gets a bit messy.
Not true, there are hosting services that allow adult content without having to pay over the odds. I've used Surpass Hosting for years and not had many problems with them (they explicitly allow legal adult content in their TOS, or they did last time I checked a few years back). Even ended up recommending them to a friend who set up a dedicated server with them for a major porn forum, and they're still using them after several years. I think pricing starts around $7 or so a month. Bear in mind though that your content has to comply with american law, so anything that's a bit of a grey area (like loli) might get you in trouble.

For payment, I'd be wary of PayPal. They don't allow adult content and will freeze your account the first chance they get. Also, myself and several friends have had our accounts frozen for random, non-adult-related reasons during eBay purchases and the like, and the net is absolutely full of horror stories about them, especially from sellers. They are the standard though, which sucks. Hell, even after all my problems, I still use them for a lot of payments, as there's often no alternative.

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ScottySeng
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Re: Asking about the web hosting

#11 Post by ScottySeng »

@ffs_jay
Thanks for the information. I never knew some hosts allow adult content (The professional business website only ones anyway)
I like Inmotion Hosting, but they don't allow adult content.
I'll look at that your hosting company. I sort of need a place to host artwork (figure drawings).

I also hate PayPal, but it's the perfect payment monopoly. I have also had my "fun" experience with them suspending our account at some point in time.

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