[RenderSettings]

On a network that I play on most everybody is fed up with the staff and new updates, and the only reason we still play on there is because its the only network that offers what we want to do. So I have a group of people willing to merge to a network that I plan on starting, and I have a few questions before I purchase hosting.

Should I go dedicated server for hosting, or purchase hosting from someone like HostHavoc just to start off.

Who is a reliable advertising network for MOTD Ads? (Need to get money to feed back to the server somehow)

Who do I go to for help when I need it? Any particular forums out there? I've run a successful Minecraft network but never CSGO.

How do I find maps for the BHop/Surf servers? I would like to throw in some classic maps such as Arcane and also maybe have map competitions for users to submit their own maps.

Recommended plugins?

Any general tips?

[Snaggle]

1: This depends entirely on what you want. Shared hosting is all managed for you, you just configure the game server and that's it. Dedicated servers require more work but are overall better if you plan on hosting multiple gameservers.

2: I would say it varies for everyone, so take a look yourself based on where your traffic is coming from and what rates you like the look of. Off the top of my head, I know of MOTDGD, Pinion and VPP.

3: Help with what? Sourcemod/plugins etc would be on this forum. You can also get help with SRCDS and general server stuff here as well. There is a site dedicated to SRCDS that may help as well.

4: Google and Workshop

5: N/A

6: Don't go crazy with 100s of useless plugins.

[ninncore]

Seems like that SRCDS forum is totally crap and flooded full with spam. No one is taking care of it anymore.
Basically what Snaggle said is already more than enough to know about CSGO servers.
Another quick tipp if you want bhop/surf maps is joining one of such servers and getting their fastdl link to download maps from there.
To the plugins: There arent many timers out, but they are quite good and usefull so the choice would be simple.

[RenderSettings]

Thanks for the tips guys, and by the way I suspect most of my traffic will be coming from US or Canada.

[aexi0n]

out of curiosity which network was the one that you used to play on?

[VPPGamingNetwork]

I think surf communities are the only one staying alive in csgo. Most of the normal competitive communities are all shutting down or barely staying alive

[pcmaster]

Originally Posted by whosurdaddy972 I think surf communities are the only one staying alive in csgo. Most of the normal competitive communities are all shutting down or barely staying alive

^ That