"Highly scalable" is subtly different from "Infinitely scalable".
It used to be different.
If there are 1000 players - you needed 1 rack of servers, if there are 1500 players - you'd need another rack... so you need dell (or whoever) to ship those servers, then install and configure/test them.
But, AFAICT, in 2014 a lot of MMOs are cloud hosting the instances. As your population moves around/subscribes/unsubscribes, you spin up/down virtual machines. There's a theoretical limit for "number of instances", but it's not something you're realistically going to hit.
The most likely point of failure (for scaling purposes) in a modern MMO is the account system.
"Highly scalable" is subtly different from "Infinitely scalable".
It used to be different.
If there are 1000 players - you needed 1 rack of servers, if there are 1500 players - you'd need another rack... so you need dell (or whoever) to ship those servers, then install and configure/test them.
But, AFAICT, in 2014 a lot of MMOs are cloud hosting the instances. As your population moves around/subscribes/unsubscribes, you spin up/down virtual machines. There's a theoretical limit for "number of instances", but it's not something you're realistically going to hit.
The most likely point of failure (for scaling purposes) in a modern MMO is the account system.
Agreed, login servers are usually the ones that crash at launch, either because of the server, not enough bandwidth for unexpected volumes, or like at my work the carrier Verizon/Sprint/Whoever is like "Nope" and the incoming lines or their systems go down. At that point your screwed until the carrier comes back up.
You can certainly buy the physical edition on GAME; I suppose it depends how many retailers and how many countries you want to check ....
And I would be surprised if they were to run out of CEs if only because there will be a CE for consoles - with the same books, statues etc. So if the demand is there and retailers ask for them - which is the key - then they can be supplied.
A lot of retailers have reduced the PC games they sell though - consoles, tablets, increasing digital sales ... not unusual for WoW to be the only PC game sold. Retailers simply don't want to be left with stock after the initial rush to buy has subsided - Gamestop is still "trying" to sell SWTOR for example ... and there are several "big" titles launching at the moment: Titalfall; Thief; Darksouls 2; Batman; D3 ... and they know they will only sell so much.
Hmm.....do we know how many ppl played the Beta Events already? I mean do we have any Numbers just yet?
On the Digital Editons. Sure, technially they can't run out of these. But, if they decided to Limit them (for whatever Reason) then, yes they can run out of that. Perhaps after XXXX are sold, they will go on and just sell the normal Edition at one point. Or perhaps another one later on like an "GOTY Edition" or so. I think that's the it fits more or it is meant that way. And that is possible. If they stop to create Keys, they are gone.
Comments
It used to be different.
If there are 1000 players - you needed 1 rack of servers, if there are 1500 players - you'd need another rack... so you need dell (or whoever) to ship those servers, then install and configure/test them.
But, AFAICT, in 2014 a lot of MMOs are cloud hosting the instances. As your population moves around/subscribes/unsubscribes, you spin up/down virtual machines. There's a theoretical limit for "number of instances", but it's not something you're realistically going to hit.
The most likely point of failure (for scaling purposes) in a modern MMO is the account system.
Agreed, login servers are usually the ones that crash at launch, either because of the server, not enough bandwidth for unexpected volumes, or like at my work the carrier Verizon/Sprint/Whoever is like "Nope" and the incoming lines or their systems go down. At that point your screwed until the carrier comes back up.
You can certainly buy the physical edition on GAME; I suppose it depends how many retailers and how many countries you want to check ....
And I would be surprised if they were to run out of CEs if only because there will be a CE for consoles - with the same books, statues etc. So if the demand is there and retailers ask for them - which is the key - then they can be supplied.
A lot of retailers have reduced the PC games they sell though - consoles, tablets, increasing digital sales ... not unusual for WoW to be the only PC game sold. Retailers simply don't want to be left with stock after the initial rush to buy has subsided - Gamestop is still "trying" to sell SWTOR for example ... and there are several "big" titles launching at the moment: Titalfall; Thief; Darksouls 2; Batman; D3 ... and they know they will only sell so much.
Hmm.....do we know how many ppl played the Beta Events already? I mean do we have any Numbers just yet?
On the Digital Editons. Sure, technially they can't run out of these. But, if they decided to Limit them (for whatever Reason) then, yes they can run out of that. Perhaps after XXXX are sold, they will go on and just sell the normal Edition at one point. Or perhaps another one later on like an "GOTY Edition" or so. I think that's the it fits more or it is meant that way. And that is possible. If they stop to create Keys, they are gone.
Aerowyn's Video Compilation of ALL things Guild Wars 2