Shards

Naos

If you were to consider a future mmorpg you wanted to play and had the choice of a single server or shards what would you choose and why?

For myself I think that a single server provides an element (or feeling of interaction) that is unique for a community of a mmorpg, theres an interest "ingame" to news and events that is totally absent in any sharded game.

gpett

The technology is there to make players play in the same persistent world shard.  I wish more games would persue this.  To all of those people that say "but it is too laggy" I thumb my nose at you.  It is possible to do with out bad lag.  All that it takes is efficient netcode, solid decisions by the developers, and non twitch focused gameplay.

It is possible to do without noticeable lag.

 

Xpheyel

My only issue with the single shard design is the question of population density over the game area and content created. Games that manage to create enough "land" to get away with it are often buggy or have relatively low content density. Anarchy Online probably made enough map zones to have a lot of people on a single shard but it probably set a record for bugs at launch. Vanguard was, from what I understand, a less extreme example of the same type of problem.

Budgets and (possibly more so) time are finite, if the world design and mapping teams get all the time and money budgeted to their endeavors, there is none left for QA, scripting, and all those other little details.

EVE can do it, obviously. But there is a lot of empty space in space. The ships and space stations and probably the rocks and the backgrounds all have to look great. But it isn't the same as people running over a landscape on super-high settings inspecting graphics as closely as possible.

Obviously if someone can make a huge world that isn't painted with too broad a brush without skimping on the other important factors in the game's design, then sure. That would be great.

Not a technological impossibility but a financial implausibility. At least within a personal perspective.

Naos

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Originally posted by Xpheyel
My only issue with the single shard design is the question of population density over the game area and content created. Games that manage to create enough "land" to get away with it are often buggy or have relatively low content density. Anarchy Online probably made enough map zones to have a lot of people on a single shard but it probably set a record for bugs at launch. Vanguard was, from what I understand, a less extreme example of the same type of problem. Budgets and (possibly more so) time are finite, if the world design and mapping teams get all the time and money budgeted to their endeavors, there is none left for QA, scripting, and all those other little details. EVE can do it, obviously. But there is a lot of empty space in space. The ships and space stations and probably the rocks and the backgrounds all have to look great. But it isn't the same as people running over a landscape on super-high settings inspecting graphics as closely as possible.Obviously if someone can make a huge world that isn't painted with too broad a brush without skimping on the other important factors in the game's design, then sure. That would be great.Not a technological impossibility but a financial implausibility. At least within a personal perspective.

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great post! ty!

vajuras

only problem if we're talking hardcore PVP game or any game where players can alter the universe you'll find they're more likely to suffer from uber guild problems. players gain an ironfist and run it all downhill. cause a big huge uber has like tons of members

small server can also promote small community where we all know each other and make friends

 

 

I dunno I really liked how in guild wars it was single server. havent played EVE enough yet to really say much. cant really vote just yet