Hi Stuie, we're renting space on a shared server right now, and though it should be up all the time, there's currently a bug in the server software which is causing it to crash pretty regularly. We're working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible, but in the meantime it's going to be a little dicey whether or not the game will be online.
As for your raid suggestion, we're certainly planning to (eventually) incorporate such things.