SE reps: Will we need to use the torrent-like system to download patches in ARR?

[Cedri]

Non P2P, seems like a great idea...

[ispano]

Neither DDL only nor p2p only is a good idea. One breaks down easily, the other is not available for everyone. It has to be a mix of both, and both components have to be done right. If someone starts patching a game and it doesn't work, chances are, they will just give up on the game altogether. First impressions matter and the patching process is part of it

I "think" that's how Blizzard does it. I say think because i've not looked into it too much. It seems to prefer P2P, but if the rate is too slow from your peers it tries to prioritize you from one of the main seeds. Effectively being DD at that point. Don't quote me on it though.

[GinTama]

Another reason i prefer P2P is i can download all patches and make a back up in case i need to reinstall and dont want to update forever.

[Ruisu]

Yeah it worked great and I got to play within 30mins to an hour. Not 19 hours later.

...wat. That patcher took hours. Even FFXIV's patches are much quicker than XI's.

There's nothing really wrong with a torrent system

Except anyone staying in a dorm is pretty much fucked because most colleges think that torrenting is only for illegal downloading. So those players have to wait for an alternative patch to be released.

[ispano]

Yeah the thing is it's not a problem with torrents. The problem is the people blocking it. Now, I know they all can't easily get around it, and that's why a hybrid system is what we need. For the people that CAN use torrents, it works better, but if you can't, it can leech directly.

[Soukyuu]

I "think" that's how Blizzard does it. I say think because i've not looked into it too much. It seems to prefer P2P, but if the rate is too slow from your peers it tries to prioritize you from one of the main seeds. Effectively being DD at that point. Don't quote me on it though.

Yes, blizzard uses both p2p and ddl in one. The DDL part is not a torrent seed though, as it would be blocked by the torrent block too.

There is a way around traffic shaping, and that is to use encrypted traffic. Our current patcher sends the packets unencrypted, so the ISPs can just check if it's a BT packet and block/throttle it.

[GinTama]

Yes, blizzard uses both p2p and ddl in one. The DDL part is not a torrent seed though, as it would be blocked by the torrent block too.

There is a way around traffic shaping, and that is to use encrypted traffic. Our current patcher sends the packets unencrypted, so the ISPs can just check if it's a BT packet and block/throttle it.

so encrypted packets is the solution?

[Soukyuu]

so encrypted packets is the solution?

From what I know, it's not guaranteed to work 100%, so the solution is encrypted P2P + DDL. An option to be able to continue to seed would be nice to have too. Bittorrent lives from it's seeds.

edit: they could even go one step further and host downloadable self-extracting patch files for those having problems with the patcher. Better get that from SE directly than from 3rd party sites.

[Vespar]

edit: they could even go one step further and host downloadable self-extracting patch files for those having problems with the patcher. Better get that from SE directly than from 3rd party sites.

This sounds like it would definitely be helpful!