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Expired Sales, General Post

Halloween Shenanigans – October 2020

Our Halloween shenanigans will begin on
October 1st, 2020.
Updated: 10/25/2020

Remember when I said we would have promotions/sales coming in October? Welp, this is it with a twist of playing a game of hide & seek! *P.S. if you have any suggestions on promos we should use, send them my way please*

~IT HAS BEGUN~
https://news.hostcrate.stream/2020/10/halloween-shenanigans-have-begun-oct-2020/

Here is how it works:

There will be Halloween decor hidden all over the sim at Hostcrate. These decorations will be no copy & transfer only so when you find one, contact me & I will then request you send it my way. ***DO NOT SEND IT BEFORE I ASK OR YOU’LL FORFEIT THE PROMO WITHIN***IF YOU LOSE THE ITEM, IT CANNOT BE REPLACED SO PLEASE DO NOT ASK, SORRY***

It is that simple! Each item will contain a promotion of some sort. These promotions will range from different things that no one will know unless they find an item as none of the promos will be made public or be told to any staff.

You can find & redeem as many as you’d like until October 31st, 2020 at 11:59PM SLT which is when this game will end. However, you can only redeem a decoration once when you find one. Hope that makes sense! Items *won’t* be redeemed after the expiration, no exceptions.

**You have to be a customer to redeem any of the decoration promos, no exceptions.**

IT HAS BEGUN:
https://news.hostcrate.stream/2020/10/halloween-shenanigans-have-begun-oct-2020/

September 24, 2020 by
General Post

Semi-Dedicated Shoutcast Streams (updated 11/13/2020)

Hostcrate will be offering Semi-Dedicated Shoutcast streams.

We are the FIRST & ONLY to offer this in SL & out for shoutcast streams!!!!!

What is Semi-Dedicated?
These stream accounts will be on servers that will have a strict hard limit on the number of accounts on the server. Example: Server PURPLE will have a hard limit of only 50 stream accounts, period.

Why would I want a Semi-Dedicated stream?
Being honest, most won’t. But for those who wish to know there is a disclosed limited number of accounts on a server it would give peace of mind. On regular accounts, the amounts can range from 300 or more accounts on a server which can vary by account type (like space/autodj) and we DO NOT disclose the number of accounts on our regular plan servers.

Is there any other benefits besides the hard limit?
Actually, yes. So glad you asked! Semi-Dedicated streams will be *automatically* restarted anytime there is a reboot whether scheduled or not. This feature is called Premium Support but is included with Semi-Dedicated streams. Custom URL’s are included as well…even if you have/want a stream plan that doesn’t normally include it.

Is the Semi-Dedicated a plan or what?
The Semi-Dedicated is an optional add-on to our plans. The price you pay for opting for a Semi-Dedicated add-on includes the price of the plan you are on.

Example: You are paying for the budget plan at L$99 a week. You decide to get the Semi-Dedicated #100 add-on which is L$500 a week. You are *NOT* paying L$599 a week, you are only paying L$500 a week.

How many on each server?
We will have two options.

—Option #1: A hard limit of 100 or less. L$500 a week / L$2000 a month
—Option #2: A hard limit of 50 or less. L$750 a week / L$3000 a month

Why is this so expensive?
Actually, it isn’t expensive at all given the hard limits put onto these servers. Both still are less expensive given how much streams are in RL. With support staff that actually cares is always a plus, right? 😉😍

A quick search on google would give you an idea of how much streams cost (most start at $19.99 a month for less than 100 listeners!!)

Option #1: L$500 a week is $1.94USD a week / L$2000 a month is $7.75USD a month

Option #2: L$750 a week is $2.92USD a week / L$3000 a month is $11.62USD a month.

When will this option be available?
Pre-order is now available! We are setting up a new server on a new network to do beta testing. When all goes well, semi-dedicated customers will be put onto the server. When it becomes full, we will continue to order new servers. You will be informed along the way and when your semi-dedicated option has been applied to your stream.

We are shooting for Mid October. This will depend on how well the beta testing of the new datacenter will be. We will keep *THIS POST* updated.

How do I get the Semi-Dedicated add-on?
Easy. We will have designated purchase vendors. Click here for the direct vendor location. You would use the vendor.

Will my account details change?
The IP address will change because you will be placed on a different server. Your username, passwords, and port number should not change. Unless there is an issue server side with a port number which is unlikely BUT for full transparency, it may. You will be notified if there is any issue.

What if I have time remaining on my plan?
You would just pay the difference.

Example: You have 1 week remaining on a budget plan. You want to get the semi-dedicated option: L$500 – L$99 = L$401 you would pay in this case. If you have a club stream, however, with 4 weeks remaining: L$2000 – L$1500 = L$500 you would need to pay.

Will I be able to request a screenshot of proof that there are X amount?
Absolutely. Just contact me directly.

Are these the only two options that will be available?
There may be one more added with a hard limit of 25 accounts or less for L$1300 a week ($5.05USD/wk)  / L$5200 a month ($20.14USD/mo) but that will depend on the level of interest given to these two options.

Can I do the same if I have an RL account with you?
Yes. Just contact me directly. RL accounts pricing typically will be higher than SL pricing.

More Questions may be listed if they arise. Don’t be afraid to ask if you have any questions yourself.

Thank you!!

September 17, 2020 by
General Post

Sick Notice: Please be patient

I am sick in rl so my response time is going to be a little longer than normal so I ask please be patient.  Or contact our staff directly.

See staff members at: https://news.hostcrate.stream/officialstaff/  under support avatars.

Thank you,
LustyLexxi Larimore

September 4, 2020 by
General Post, Maintenance Notices

Updated Schedule For Maintenance (9/2/2020)

Hello all,

Customers have approached me on several occasions about switching the time frame at which we do our scheduled maintenance. After careful consideration & conversations with others on the time, we will be switching the scheduled maintenance to the following:

SERVER IP ENDING IN 147 WILL BE RESTARTED ON THE 1ST MONDAY OF EACH MONTH AT 3AM SLT

SERVER IP ENDING IN 242 WILL BE RESTARTED ON THE 2ND MONDAY OF EACH MONTH AT 3AM SLT

**Please note that it will be done on Tuesday or the next non-holiday if the scheduled date is on a holiday – For example: This coming Monday September 7th, 2020 is Labor day so the maintenance will be done that next day on Tuesday at 3AM SLT.**

This information will be posted on the dedicated scheduled maintenance page so you are well informed. Please bookmark this page & check the site often as this is the *main* place to find updates/important information as well as our facebook page & our discord (contact us for an invite). We update in our inworld group via notices & chat plus we have an inworld notice subscriber kiosk so it doesn’t take group space but the other options listed above are more reliable than SL’s system so make sure you follow us (you can subscribe to notices on our website, inworld via our subscriber kiosk, like/follow our facebook page, & get added as a customer on our discord).

Please also be aware that I am human so there may be instances where maintenance is reschedules or skipped – This may be for many reasons including RL situations or feeling unwell for one reason or another. I will do my absolute BEST to inform in advance. But please don’t be upset if I can’t in a decent time frame.

Thank you for understanding.
—💖Lexxi

September 2, 2020 by
General Post, Maintenance Notices

What happened: scheduled reboot? My Lifetime License?

Hello everyone,

I apologize that I was unable to do the scheduled reboot for server ending in 242 this past Monday at the last minutes. I took a tumble that day onto concrete and hurt my knees pretty badly. It’s hard to walk and it is also hard to bend them (especially my left). I thought I would be able to tough it out but ended up being way too painful to sit at my computer so that is the reason why I canceled the reboot. I GREATLY apologize!!! I know I said I would schedule it for this upcoming Monday but we will just do this reboot next month so I don’t inconvenience anyone further and by then I should be healed pretty well.

For those waiting on their lifetime license streams, please please please be patient with me….I will do my very best to get them done for you this weekend so I can let my knees heal a bit before trying to sit at my computer for too long & hurting them moreso but if I can’t I’m so sorry and I will get them done AS SOON AS I CAN, I promise just bear with me just a bit.

Thank you to everyone who sent me a private messages making sure I was ok – very much appreciated!

Thank you again for understanding.

July 14, 2020 by
General Post, Maintenance Notices

147 Server: ALL CLEAR (7/6/2020)

SERVER ENDING IN 147 HAS BEEN UPDATED/TWEAKED & REBOOTED SUCCESSFULLY! IF YOU HAVE PREMIUM SUPPORT, YOUR STREAM HAS BEEN STARTED FOR YOU! IF YOU DON’T HAVE PREMIUM, YOU MUST LOG INTO YOUR CONTROL PANEL & CLICK THE GREEN START BUTTON TO BE ABLE TO BROADCAST ONCE AGAIN.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE & I’M SORRY FOR THE CAPS LOL
<3 LustyLexxi Larimore

July 6, 2020 by
General Post

Grace Periods in SL – Terms of service Updated

Grace Periods have been added to our services. They are as follows:

UNDER SECTION #24: https://news.hostcrate.stream/tos/

DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS TO LustyLexxi Larimore. Staff cannot answer TOS questions.

Suspension/Termination Policy
As of June 26th, 2020, we now have a small grace period as follows:

-Regular streams: 2 day grace period then it will be removed without further notice.

-Lifetime Licenses: 3 day grace period then it will be removed without further notice.

-Premium Support: If you have premium support and your stream rental becomes overdue/removed, your premium support will NOT be put on hold. However, you can put your premium support onto another account at anytime given it has time remaining.

When you rental reaches the above grace periods, you risk losing your account. ALL regular streams are recycled once the account is terminated. IF you have a Lifetime (VIP) Licenses, you can reactivate your license at anytime using the appropriate reactivation vendor for the license plan you paid for initially. If you’re unsure of which license you have, contact us! Staff does terminations/suspensions multiple times during the week. It is NOT our responsibility to contact you when you are in late status, the rental box sends out notices via local chat AND direct from our bot (Hostcrate Classito). You can also click on your box to find out your remaining time.

***WE ARE LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION TO GIVE OUT NOTICES AS AN EXTRA SERVICE WHICH WOULD BE ADDED TO THE PREMIUM SUPPORT OPTION – WE WILL ANNOUNCE THIS ONCE WE HAVE ONE***

Thank you

June 29, 2020 by
General Post, Maintenance Notices

Upcoming Maintenance in July 2020

As usual, we do reboots every 1st & 2nd Monday of each month. The next reboots that are scheduled will take a tad bit longer because I am doing a few tweaks/updates. It shouldn’t take that long at all but if it does, I will send out notification via OUR DISCORD GROUP so please add yourself to it as this will be the EASIEST & FASTEST way for me to immediately update you with this upcoming reboots. I will send out notice after the reboot has finished to all other of our sources of communication (Facebook Page, Subscriber Kiosk inworld, inworld group notice, etc)

Here is the Discord Group Link. Once added, please messaged inworld AND on Discord to be verified as a customer: https://discord.com/invite/hSPxkmQ

The next reboots are:

Server ending in 147 will be rebooted on Monday, July 6th, 2020 at 5PM SLT

Server ending in 242 will be rebooted on Monday, July 13th, 2020 at 5PM SLT

Side Notes:

  • We will be releasing new sales on July 4th, 2020. I am considering a video format for this post as well to help them be less confusing. If you have any suggestions at all, please send them my way! Sales ideas are sometimes difficult to come up with.
  • After my short week hiatus, I have decided to have a side hobby-like project to help the stress & [un]diagnosed depression I’m struggling with in my life which caused me to take that break. With this project I am looking for writers. Serious applicants only. This is a paid position. If you’re interested & experienced…Applications are located at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawton/48/156/47 (copy/paste in SL)
  • We are in conversation with our datacenter looking into another server. We may need time to figure things out in the backend and we may request help from customers to give it a good ol’ test run. We are also looking at other datacenters for backup stream services. It is difficult to find the same high quality that we currently have with our datacenter at other datacenters. We’ve been with numerous disastrous places or had horrible pre-sales conversations with so I am quite picky – I apologize but I want NOTHING but the absolute best in server quality, network quality, and customer service – there is no exceptions.
  • I’m also spending my time writing a book of sorts. I have been asked for years & years: how I started Hostcrate, How do I start this kind of business, where do I get servers from, how do I get cheaper prices…so on, so forth so I’m writing it all down. It’s more-so a guide than a book in my eyes. I never thought I would release this kind of information but writing seriously helps me lower my stress levels so with this project and the food niche website project, I am seriously hoping to lower my stress and help decrease the depression that I endure everyday … specifically from the loss of my mom in January 2019 – I don’t discuss this much but I’m definitely NOT over it. I try not to spit out my insignificant personal issues especially with so many others in the world who are having a much more difficult time in life than my minuscule problems.With all that said, that is it for this update. I KNOW, I write long ones. I’m so sorry. I seriously love to write and it helps me when I do so. But I understand if you couldn’t make it through all of this post! BUT if you happened to of made it to the end, I applaud you with a week free – Just send me a message in world saying “Read it” to claim 🙂 Thank you for listening…err…reading.

 

June 27, 2020 by
General Post

I’m back / Updates

I’m back / Updates

Hiya! I am officially back from my short hiatus. Thank you for allowing me to escape and breathe. I appreciate it very much!

We have some updates coming shortly.

1: We will integrate a grace period inworld for streams. We know the world is in rough shape right now & sometimes you need a little extra wiggle room.

2: Our website, www.hostcrate.stream, is getting a long overdue makeover.

3: We’re putting in proper support areas in each of the rental box locations just in case you need help. We will also be posting about tipping staff & how to do that because they work their butts off so they deserve some L$/$ love…and coffee!

4: We will be offering Semi-Dedicated Streams. What does this mean? It means that these servers will have a strict hard limit on the number of accounts on the server. Example: Server PURPLE will have a hard limit of only 50 stream accounts, period.

5: We will be ordering more servers over the next few months.

6: We are looking into backup streams if ever there is an issue so no one is left without their streaming services from us. This may or may not be included. This will depend on the pricing of these servers as they will be at a different datacenter altogether & strictly available if ever our main datacenter goes down.

7: July 4th we will be releasing new sale offers. If you have any suggestions, let us know!

8: I am currently working on a How To Guide for starting a shoutcast business….something I never thought I would do but I have been asked a million times by people over the years so I have finally broke down & decided to write how to.

9: We’re working so hard to get Hostcrate verified on Facebook (a blue badge) but we need your help. Interaction with our page helps greatly…Searching for our page, liking our page and posts, leaving comments, leaving reviews so on & so forth really helps. We were informed having articles written about us helps?..Anyone know that to be true? Let me know!

That is all the updates for now! Thank you again so much for all of your support! Allowing me a much needed break meant the world to me! Without you, we would be nothing and I am FOREVER GRATEFUL to each one of you who makes Hostcrate what it is! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

June 18, 2020 by