[Suggestion] Regional datacenters: an alternative implementation
Instead of what Yoshi-P described in the live letter:
Server 1 [JP]
Server 2 [JP]
Server 3 [JP]
Server 4 [EU]
Server 5 [EU]
Server 6 [EU]
Server 7 [US]
Server 8 [US]
Server 9 [US]
on login, they should present you this:
Server 1
Server 2
Server 3
After choosing one, you get into the game.
In the game, give the player a dropdown menu to choose a channel:
Global
English [UK]
English [US East]
English [US West]
French [FR]
German [DE]
Japanese [JP]
Pros:
- still using regional datacenters
- no community segregation
Cons:
- you tell me.
Basically, the system GW1 had. It worked quite well, imho. The Global channel would probably be on the JP datacenter, or maybe US.
The labels on the servers/channels show where the server is located physically.
Since servers are usually split into login/character db/area servers, having a "global" character db and a "regional" area server should not be an issue. Whether updating the character db takes 80 or 400ms, it doesn't have a noticeable delay for the player.