Ok guys, I have shopped around and see some options for a server. The issue now is money (of course). Who all is really committed and has the jack to pony up every month? You pay by number of users and we have the choice of public or private. I am willing to pony up my share and admin the server if I have support. We can setup clan pay where we each take a turn or pay a monthly dues of the total. 32 players is around $130 a month.
Ok here is server bf2info.com and they are begging for players. Quote off planetbattlefield follows:
Ping and all that hasn't been a problem when the server *does* get full. It's actually been quite flawless when it's running with 40 players. The server doesn't crash/reset overnight either.. it just starts dwindling down @ like 4-5am CST and once it's empty people don't care to wait around. (That's my guess)
We run a tight ship and we're there for the community so anything you can do to help get the server back on it's feet would be most appreciated. We're always looking for Clans and Players to call the server "home" and frequently game there. We do have perks set up for those players that do actually game there on a regular basis.
Again, I appreciate any help you and your buds can do to get this server up and running; and that goes for anyone else out there, thanks fellas.
Thats like over $16 a month if we were able to get all 8 of us to chip in. My (ahem) GUESS is that we have a fraction of that 8 (3-5) that would want to rent our own server. Thats like $24-$43 per person. If we can't set up our own free server, then my opinion is lets wait until we have a lot more BF2ers here that play together more like a team. Once that happens, then renting may be more justifiable and economic.