Data Center Travel System - Can we remove restrictions now...?

[Jeeqbit]

I really hope so, I'm wondering if it's possible to merge data centers the way they were splitting data centers up, like I know initially there was no Light and we got seperated.

You're right that some data centers used to have more worlds than they currently do. For example, JP had more than 8 worlds on each data center and it caused massive issues that NA and EU did not have.

You can think of data centers as, literally a book case full of computer towers (the technical term is server racks). Then imagine that each book in the row is a separate computer tower hosting several zones (ie. Azim Steppe, Sea of Clouds, 6 wards), while each row is a world.

https://www.pcinvasion.com/wp-conten...ata-center.jpg

Adding more worlds to the same data center is possible, but it seems the overall amount of network or database traffic from that would cause problems. Although I do not fully know their server setup and issues, each data center seems to have a different IP address and thus I assume a different wire to receive traffic. The heavy duty wires they will use will likely handle a lot, but at a certain point it's going to reach its limits and so are the server machines themselves. And let's not forget people test that regularly with very effective DDoS attacks.

Thus, to split the traffic and support the growing population of the game, they had to create separate DCs. Older players will remember Aether and Primal splitting apart into Crystal and there was probably a similar story for Chaos' split into Light. There was no DC travel then so friends were lost, FCs broke apart and people quit. JPs also split although I think these happened closer to the time we got DC travel.

Most likely some games handle this using cloud servers or otherwise being less strict about it. They chose against cloud servers because they are technically slower, but in the cloud test they performed (which I participated in), it was fine. Cloud servers are basically less strict. They can move around location and increase/decrease hardware requirements through the power of virtualization to stretch over the differing requirements needed on a given day and potentially split up the traffic depending on the person's region (this probably isn't good for a game that depends on fast updates from a central server but can work for websites and thus help with DDoS attacks).

I was thinking about it and honestly I think if they found a way to merge DCs or make a mega DC they won't have to think of a cross DC PF?

Although I think making a mega DC would go counter to all the work they have done splitting them up, I have often thought they could try to break down the barriers twixt data centers in specific cases - for example, putting duty servers and housing servers each in a separate data center and coding the game in a way that switches data center to the region's duty/housing data center, without logging out.

This would require them to rework their whole data center instructure setup, and add a lot of code to make it as seamless as possible for the player. I wouldn't rule out that it's something they do in the future because I used to think "they could do world visiting and DC travel but they won't", and they surprised me by actually doing it. These were things I thought MMO developers were too old fashioned to do tbh, and they actually did it.

[Andanie]

Coming to this because WHY is this still a thing?

It wasn't even necessarily after the first week of the new expansion. It's certainly not necessary now. It's even more frustrating because some of the rp events and venues I really like are on "congested" servers. I at least don't play this game to any serious capacity so raiding isn't a big thing.

[strigiformes]

If the population numbers are as low as the Steam charts, etc. purport them to be, it's absurd that these restrictions are still in place. All of the fears we've discussed in the original DC travel restriction thread have basically come to pass: social activities becoming harder and harder to maintain, players quitting due to lack of mobility between DCs, Dynamis not really "improving" at all in the way SQEX seems to want...

I'm coming at this from a roleplaying perspective, certainly, but I miss my friends on Aether. More accurately, I miss being able to visit their housing builds and attend events tied to those builds. It's been six months without any sort of update from the devs on this issue, aside from a tiny section of patch notes dedicated to "informing players why their destination world can't be reached." It's maddening.

[NanaWiloh]

A possibility to consider is that worlds may not be congested. But the number of players currently visiting combined with those trying to visit would push them to congestion. It would be a very good reason to leave the restriction in place as you would just have to put it back. We can't see how any players are visiting any world or DC, or how many are trying. But this could be one reason the restriction is still in place.

[Clockworks]

A possibility to consider is that worlds may not be congested. But the number of players currently visiting combined with those trying to visit would push them to congestion. It would be a very good reason to leave the restriction in place as you would just have to put it back. We can't see how any players are visiting any world or DC, or how many are trying. But this could be one reason the restriction is still in place.

Yeah dont mind the 400 000 players that have left, surely none of those were on balmung or aether, surely thats why the congestion is still in place.

Lmao.

[NanaWiloh]

Yeah dont mind the 400 000 players that have left, surely none of those were on balmung or aether, surely thats why the congestion is still in place.

Lmao.

Thank you for not reading or using a single brain cell to understand what I said.

[Doopliss]

It's been six months and there's hardly been any improvement brought on by this. There's more party finders in Crystal PF, but at the same time Crystal players still just as readily move to Primal when it's convenient, and Dynamis players still readily move to Crystal or Primal. This sort of "solution" drives me nuts and rings of the familiarity of the worst parts of free-to-play games; I absolutely can't believe they've continued to keep this. The only real solution to their issues would be a cross-data center PF & DF, but they're so afraid of a "culture clash" that they're constantly trying to make their cake and eat it too--which is to say they keep coming up with aggravating, half-functioning results.

Since this is the first time in actually like, 11 years, I've found my main PvE job entirely unfun, I've mostly kept subbed for RP plotting and so on. But, man, this change sure has been making the social aspect of the game difficult to stomach, too.

[NanaWiloh]

It's been six months and there's hardly been any improvement brought on by this. There's more party finders in Crystal PF, but at the same time Crystal players still just as readily move to Primal when it's convenient, and Dynamis players still readily move to Crystal or Primal. This sort of "solution" drives me nuts and rings of the familiarity of the worst parts of free-to-play games; I absolutely can't believe they've continued to keep this. The only real solution to their issues would be a cross-data center PF & DF, but they're so afraid of a "culture clash" that they're constantly trying to make their cake and eat it too--which is to say they keep coming up with aggravating, half-functioning results.

Since this is the first time in actually like, 11 years, I've found my main PvE job entirely unfun, I've mostly kept subbed for RP plotting and so on. But, man, this change sure has been making the social aspect of the game difficult to stomach, too.

DC DF and PF should have been part of DC visit. I don't know what route SE is taking for this. But the simplest route is instance servers that all DCS in a region tie into.

[Doopliss]

DC DF and PF should have been part of DC visit. I don't know what route SE is taking for this. But the simplest route is instance servers that all DCS in a region tie into.

IIRC in a somewhat recent live letter (correct me on this, I'm going off of memory here) they actually stated they had the ability/technology for data center-wide PF & DF, but are hesitating on implementing it because data center cultures can differ so greatly from one another. The same reason they continue to give for not allowing NA, EU and JP to freely visit one another. Like, they can do it, but they won't. It's maddening how little they trust their mostly adult userbase, and so they just keep giving us solutions that often times just lead to worse outcomes.

[NanaWiloh]

IIRC in a somewhat recent live letter (correct me on this, I'm going off of memory here) they actually stated they had the ability/technology for data center-wide PF & DF, but are hesitating on implementing it because data center cultures can differ so greatly from one another. The same reason they continue to give for not allowing NA, EU and JP to freely visit one another. Like, they can do it, but they won't. It's maddening how little they trust their mostly adult userbase, and so they just keep giving us solutions that often times just lead to worse outcomes.

Will need a JP player or someone who has played on jp DC to confirm this. But I heard jp players use PF for random groups and normal runs. While DF is used by established groups for things like savage, extremes, and so forth. If that's true ya that would a be culture issue that could come into play.