@Devs: Please allow us to travel at will between servers.

[ptcg]

What I think is that I don't like your arrogant, condescending attitude. No it doesn't "magically appear". It's most likely sent to an "instance" server, separate from the world servers. Which would be efficient, as opposed to having 10 copies of the same data all which require updating. So again, it's completely different from what you propose.

The framework for character data communication is already in place, and this system is an evolution of that.

Just because servers talk to one another, doesn't mean the hardware or software is in place to handle what you propose. That, as said by others in this thread, could take months. In my opinion, the world transfer option is sufficient and "travel-at-will" is unnecessary.

[ptcg]

It works more like this, your character data is being saved to 1 server that manages that stuff, your items,levels, exp position ect. When you go to another server your client is just being fed the info from that world, your character isn't moved there but just being fed info on whats happening on that world and sends info to the server on how you interact with that world, character data is still being saved to the characters original server.

Um, no. Your character info needs to be on the server you are playing on for calculating damage, positioning, etc.. The result is what gets fed to the clients.

[Abriael]

What I think is that I don't like your arrogant, condescending attitude. No it doesn't "magically appear". It's most likely sent to an "instance" server, separate from the world servers. Which would be efficient, as opposed to having 10 copies of the same data all which require updating. So again, it's completely different from what you propose.

Wherever it's sent, it is sent, and received. Meaning that the server framework is obviously designed to handle this kind of communication, which is exactly the base of this system.

Just because servers talk to one another, doesn't mean the hardware or software is in place to handle what you propose. That, as said by others in this thread, could take months. In my opinion, the world transfer option is sufficient and "travel-at-will" is unnecessary.

Your opinion is noted, but with all due respect, it doesn't really matter. Me, you, or anyone else on this thread can't gauge how much it'd take to evolve the framework that is already in place to have this feature fully implemented. Only the development team can. Might it take months? Sure.

I believe it was quite clear that no one asked it to be ready for launch.

Though I have to see with a certain degree hilarity how much some people are adamantly against any proposed feature that would enhance convenience and gameplay just because they would take work to implement (like everything) chanting the mantra "what we have is enough!"

Don't worry. I'm quite sure Yoshida and company don't really need any help in balancing their workload.

The market will dictate whether this feature is important or not, and Yoshida already demonstrated that thankfully he's most definitely not blind to the market like Tanaka was. "sufficient" does not "world class" MMORPG make.

[ZakarnRosewood]

You talk as though data storage is cheap and easy. You do have a wonderful idea but look at the instances where we do have this style of server and the quality of the game. There is a difference between displaying a place holder on other peoples machines that use the resources already on your machine, and having every server store everyone's data on the off chance you might change servers. when you see other people in the game you are not seeing all of their data, all you see is a place holder.

not to mention backup storage and how long it take to back up your data per server. It would be more feasible if everyone's characters were on a single server but the dont make hard drives that big. Have you seen what one of these server rooms look like?



in each of those black boxes you have hard drives, switches, routers, server hubs, PFsense boxes, etc. this is what one might look like on the inside.



It might sound nice in theory and look good on paper but to put it in motion might not be realistic for this particular project. In the end they need to look at cost over convenience to the players. before they take on something like this they need to either
1) make sure they are very successful, recoup the losses they have already sustained, then make sure their business is sustainable and profitable
2) have the game bomb so badly that the entire player base can fit into a single server and world. at which point it probably wont matter.

just my opinion.

[strallaalaa]

how did you get a pic of my pc

[Eekiki]

That reminds me. Someone tell Fernehalwes to sneak into the data center and get some pictures of our worlds for the ARR blog.

[ptcg]

Wherever it's sent, it is sent, and received. Meaning that the server framework is obviously designed to handle this kind of communication, which is exactly the base of this system.

Sending and receiving data is the base of the system? hmmm. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure ANY system is designed to send and receive data. Exactly how much and where is where efficiency comes in to play.

Though I have to see with a certain degree hilarity how much some people are adamantly against any proposed feature that would enhance convenience and gameplay just because they would take work to implement (like everything) chanting the mantra "what we have is enough!"

I'm not against the idea of increased work, I'm against the increased load on the servers that could bring back the lag that ruined 1.0. Even one extra byte per person, per second causes exponential bandwidth requirements, both internally and externally to their systems. I'd much rather be stuck on one world and have a lag-free experience, than stuttering and pausing because people are world-hopping "at-will".

I'm not going to list my credentials, but suffice it to say I have many years of experience dealing with "chatty" servers and the havoc they can wreak on response times. It's not as simple as you're trying to make it out to be.

Oh, and no, what he have is never enough. I always want something better, but quality > quantity no?

[Abriael]

Sending and receiving data is the base of the system? hmmm. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure ANY system is designed to send and receive data. Exactly how much and where is where efficiency comes in to play.

Sending and receiving *character data* *between servers* is the base of the system. Didn't think I needed to spell every single world to make it sufficiently clear. [

I'm not against the idea of increased work, I'm against the increased load on the servers that could bring back the lag that ruined 1.0. Even one extra byte per person, per second causes exponential bandwidth requirements, both internally and externally to their systems. I'd much rather be stuck on one world and have a lag-free experience, than stuttering and pausing because people are world-hopping "at-will".

And of course you're able to gauge how and how much sending character data one time per transfer to another server is going to affect bandwidth, right?

Too bad that the game in which this system has been already implemented suffers absolutely no lag problems, and has one of the fastest battle systems around. Fast enough to support directly aimed reticule targeting.

I'm not going to list my credentials, but suffice it to say I have many years of experience dealing with "chatty" servers and the havoc they can wreak on response times. It's not as simple as you're trying to make it out to be.

I'm not the one "trying to make it out to be" simple. We have a working example, and it works flawlessly. If Funcom can do it with a game that is more data intensive due to more complex encounters, direct reticule targeting and completely free character builds, what makes you think that Square Enix that has a *way* bigger development team and much more resources can't?

Oh, and no, what he have is never enough. I always want something better, but quality > quantity no?

Yes, and being able to play with every single one of my friends regardless of their server is a massive improvement in the quality of the game.

Mind you, both you and ZakarnRosewood massively overestimate the amount of data stored and transfered. Character data in any MMORPG is designed to be *extremely* compact. It's compact enough that the servers can *already* send it out whenever someone wants via an API, complete with all the character's history and achievements.

You know that nice thing called Lodestone or the equivalent in other MMORPGs? Where do you think that data comes from?

In the end they need to look at cost over convenience to the players. before they take on something like this they need to either

As stated before, no one here is able to properly gauge the cost of this system because no one here knows in detail the structure of their servers, their resources and technology, so I'm not exactly sure why you go into the exercise in futility of cooking up cost assessments based on nothing (and pictures).

I'm quite sure that Yoshida has a well staffed financial department doing this kind of assessments for him without needing any help from the forums.

Besides that, what I quoted is absolutely lopsided. Convenience for the players is one of the primary things that makes a MMORPG retain subscriptions, and in turn recoup the costs and make a profit.

If Square Enix was into the business of saving money we wouldn't be here waiting for ARR, but we'd be playing an overcooked and free to play version of 1.0 for a few years until the game died completely.

You don't make a "world class MMORPG" by "looking at cost over convenience to the players". Yoshida and Square Enix quite obviously want to compete with the "big boys" in the industry, and you don't do that without investment into innovation.

[ZakarnRosewood]

You appear to have some extensive knowledge of how games like this are built. I guess i have no choice but to concede to your wisdom. Maybe there is a big difference between creating an MMO and running a server system for a local school district that makes MMO's much simpler.

[Abriael]

You appear to have some extensive knowledge of how games like this are built. I guess i have no choice but to concede to your wisdom. Maybe there is a big difference between creating an MMO and running a server system for a local school district that makes MMO's much simpler.

Yes. I can tell you without the slightest fear of being proven wrong. There's an enormous difference.