[dev1031] Truly "Hardcore-friendly" NMs. Make us HUNT them.

[Abriael]

@Gifthorse: I'm not in a terrible hurry. It could come "soon" or whenever they're not "stressed" anymore (or obviously, it could not come at all, but hope is good to have nowadays).
After all innovation pretty much always takes time to implement.

I'm quite sure it's not so burdening server-wise, as the game already has environmental collision detection (that ensures that mobs won't be stuck in the environment) and random pathing. The server load wouldn't be much higher than that of any normal mob (unless I'm missing some very big detail here, but I doubt it). I'm actually inclined to say that restricting a mob to it's territory may actually cause a higher burden on the server than letting it roam free.

[gifthorse]

@Gifthorse: I'm not in a terrible hurry. It could come "soon" or whenever they're not "stressed" anymore (or obviously, it could not come at all, but hope is good to have nowadays).
After all innovation pretty much always takes time to implement.

I'm quite sure it's not so burdening server-wise, as the game already has environmental collision detection (that ensures that mobs won't be stuck in the environment) and random pathing. The server load wouldn't be much higher than that of any normal mob (unless I'm missing some very big detail here, but I doubt it). I'm actually inclined to say that restricting a mob to it's territory may actually cause a higher burden on the server than letting it roam free.

I didn't mean that the mob itself would cause the server stress but that the server would have to keep track of not only where the NM is, but also where it has been. Footprints and other trackable signals would need to placed in the zone and they would congest those zones (depending of course on how far apart the footprints are) just like any other mob or item would. I mean, I'm sure in this day and age, a developer could compensate for this. But I've come to distrust the FFXIV network coders.

[Abriael]

I didn't mean that the mob itself would cause the server stress but that the server would have to keep track of not only where the NM is, but also where it has been. Footprints and other trackable signals would need to placed in the zone and they would congest those zones (depending of course on how far apart the footprints are) just like any other mob or item would. I mean, I'm sure in this day and age, a developer could compensate for this. But I've come to distrust the FFXIV network coders.

Eh, if we distrust their coders and their ability to create content in the future, we really have no reason to be here, or to even post proposals for evolution.

Even considering that they have to keep track of multiple footprints, that would just be a set of coordinates and a timer (for despawn of the track), per track. I doubt it's much of a problem, server-wise.

[gifthorse]

Eh, if we distrust their coders and their ability to create content in the future, we really have no reason to be here, or to even post proposals for evolution.

Even considering that they have to keep track of multiple footprints, that would just be a set of coordinates and a timer (for despawn of the track), per track. I doubt it's much of a problem, server-wise.

Well my distrust stems from the whole UI-lag and loading-in issues of other players and NPCs that was so rampant during the first few months, and I always got the feeling that SE were trying to milk their servers for all they were worth, going so far as to minimise sent-data wherever possible (and that might include unique NM pathing and whatever extra data such a feature would entail).

And sorry to rain on your parade, by the way. If I was in charge I would say "hang the servers, give me dynamic NM hunts at any cost."

Whats the point of having servers anyway if you dont have features that attract players?

[Abriael]

Well my distrust stems from the whole UI-lag and loading-in issues of other players and NPCs that was so rampant during the first few months, and I always got the feeling that SE were trying to milk their servers for all they were worth, going so far as to minimise sent-data wherever possible (and that might include unique NM pathing and whatever extra data such a feature would entail).

This is partly true, but now each area is made by multiple servers (separated by the "bottlenecks" in the maps), and I personally don't have any more UI lag, so I think that at the moment the problem is solved.

This might actually cause an issue as a mob would have to "migrate" between a server and the other as it passes the bottlenecks. But hey, it's their job to come up with a solution

I prefer to think that they can. Whatever is the ability level of their network engineers, they know better than me for sure, and have more experience.

[gifthorse]

This is partly true, but now each area is made by multiple servers (separated by the "bottlenecks" in the maps), and I personally don't have any more UI lag, so I think that at the moment the problem is solved.

This might actually cause an issue as a mob would have to "migrate" between a server and the other as it passes the bottlenecks. But hey, it's their job to come up with a solution

I prefer to think that they can. Whatever is the ability level of their network engineers, they know better than me for sure, and have more experience.

I'm sure they are capable, but they might weigh up the time-to-develop and decide they can't be bothered and just slap some more FFXI NMs in there. I hope they do go the extra mile though.