Hi,

I am planning to run an MMORPG on my server and need some help deciding the plan. My site will be low on graphics, bandwith etc. but will it is pretty database intensive and might need a lot of SQL connections. What plan would you recommend?

Also, if I go with a basic hosting plan and decide to upgrade it to a Dedicated Server later on, would that possible? If so, will the balance on my basic plan be used against the dedicated or the money will be lost?

PHP, MySQL, Apache and sendmail....

That would be all i need.

Yup, I realise that i might need a dedicated server and wont have to worry about it until a lot of players actually start playing. That wont happen for a few months.

What about the balance transfer?

It wont be any more intensive than say running a forum. Every page load will have to go to the database and fetch data from the same 5 tables. There is not much graphics to speak of and until I have loads of users, I wouldnt really need a dedicated server. Now a dedicated server goes way beyond what I can afford at this moment...and unless money comes in from my game, I cant go in for it. So the players donate...or they get a slow server. If I do start getting enough money...I will definitely be interested in upgrading. Hence my question...does the balance transfer?

The game is a modified version of this www.gostones.net

The guy who created the original game made it opensource. I asked him about the hosting yesterday, after Mitch's replies here. He says currently he is running the business hosting of inmotion. He did mention that he used their semi-dedicated hosting (I am guessing VPS) while the game was at it's peak. So, I am guessing I wont need a dedicated and I will need to switch to VPS once the players come in.

The game itself will undergo major revamp and two rounds of testing before I aggressively start getting players. I will do that after I switch to VPS of course. But I dont see more than 50 or 60 players for a couple of months or so.

I personally want to go with Lunarpages. I have heard some really great things about Lunarpages. I am one step away from joining actually. All I am waiting for is a confirmation that the balance can be transferred if I switch plans

EDIT: TROY was it by any chance LoTGD?

Legend of the Green Dragon - Thats where I heard about LunarPages for the first time. Its quite a popular game actually. I initially planned to host such a game myself....but then decided not to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotgd

Lots of people who run such games are big fans of Lunarpages...so I was wondering if that was the game you had hosted.

Thanks for the help guys.