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Crazy idea to solve large queues at launch

KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
edited October 2019 in The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Someone suggested Gamigo was kicking players who had been on for long periods of time to alleviate the large queues in ArcheAge Unchained and I thought...not a bad idea.

It would not be difficult to monitor how long a player had been in game and once the time limit was reached kick them out and block the account from logging back in for X number of hours.

It could even be adjusted for amount of time spent in queue before getting in game, with more play granted to those who spent more time in queue.

As long as this was clearly stated up front that the publisher reserved the right to do so during times of extreme use and players had to deliberately agree to it (not buried in a TOS) I don't think this would cause any legal issues.

"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






Show your colors, fair play and equal access, or leave things as they are
  1. Would you support time limits to give all a chance to play?10 votes
    1. Feck No! Let everyone fend for themselves
      40.00%
    2. Sure! I'm all about fairness & equal opportunity for all
      30.00%
    3. Maybe, but not sure it can be pulled off without some finding a way to exploit around it
      20.00%
    4. Meh, I already use macros to stay logged in forever, other players can pound sand
      10.00%
    5. Uhh, I thought they were serving pie here. (Show me the answers)
        0.00%
sacredcow4

Comments

  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,989
    edited October 2019
    I think a daily play-time limit would be better. For example during launch you can only be online 6 hours a day. Then remove it permanently in a week or two.
    Kyleransacredcow4
     
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    Why not just kick the player after some fixed amount of time, but let them immediately get back into the queue?  There's no sense in blocking people for long enough that the server isn't full at off-peak times or as the initial rush subsides.
    Kyleranbcbully
  • Matthew12338Matthew12338 Member UncommonPosts: 6
    Putting a playtime limit would just create it's own share of complaints and issues. Frankly I'd rather wait in an hour or two queue than be told I can't play anymore today or get booted because I was on "too long".

    The better solutions would be to have better systems to catch afk players, or even simply better technology for the servers and game itself to handle larger amounts of players better.
    Kyleran
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,989
    edited October 2019
    Quizzical said:
    Why not just kick the player after some fixed amount of time, but let them immediately get back into the queue?  There's no sense in blocking people for long enough that the server isn't full at off-peak times or as the initial rush subsides.
    That wouldn't decrease the amount of queuing done. It would just distribute it differently.
     
  • RungarRungar Member RarePosts: 1,132
    they want queues at launch because people are weird. It pushes a success meme that flows over the internet and gets more people to buy in. 
    Kyleranbcbully
    .05 of a second to midnight
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    edited October 2019
    A Discordant Chat

    "Ok the tank is going in" - Group leader
    "Where's me heals, where's me heals!" - Tank...

    ..."Sorry guys I got a 'Your time is up' booted" - Healer

    "OK everyone run for the hills!" - Group leader.
    AmathecheyaneKyleranbcbully
  • btdtbtdt Member RarePosts: 523
    You people miss the obvious solution every time...

    Offline mode and LAN mode,

    Players tend to play solo for a lot of content... they can play offline mode.  If they want to chit chat, there'e Discord for that or you can even have a realtime chat mode... just you aren't playing in game with said people.  No queues.  People aren't getting griefed.  People can play as long as they want whenever they want.  Pure win.

    LAN mode for those who only want to play with friends... technically still not playing with the rest of the world but in a limited group of your choosing.  No one else is in game besides you and your friends.  Again, no queues.  People aren't getting griefed.  People can play as long as they want whenever they want.  Pure win.

    This makes the true online mode less of an bottleneck overall and those who choose to play it get to play queue ball as a feature.  Can't complain about not being able to play because there is the two other modes.  Can't complain about not being able to play with your friends... other mode.  Only thing you can complain about is not being able to play with complete strangers whom you really have no true interest in other than what they can do for you.
    Scotlaxie
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    edited October 2019
    btdt said:
    You people miss the obvious solution every time...

    Offline mode and LAN mode,

    Players tend to play solo for a lot of content... they can play offline mode.  If they want to chit chat, there'e Discord for that or you can even have a realtime chat mode... just you aren't playing in game with said people.  No queues.  People aren't getting griefed.  People can play as long as they want whenever they want.  Pure win.

    LAN mode for those who only want to play with friends... technically still not playing with the rest of the world but in a limited group of your choosing.  No one else is in game besides you and your friends.  Again, no queues.  People aren't getting griefed.  People can play as long as they want whenever they want.  Pure win.

    This makes the true online mode less of an bottleneck overall and those who choose to play it get to play queue ball as a feature.  Can't complain about not being able to play because there is the two other modes.  Can't complain about not being able to play with your friends... other mode.  Only thing you can complain about is not being able to play with complete strangers whom you really have no true interest in other than what they can do for you.
    Indeed why do those who only intend to solo play even need to be online? They could stay in offline play and leave the online server to those of us who actually intend to interact in some way with each other. Would free up the queues and let us play MMOs in an actual multiplayer fashion. :D
    Kyleran
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,989
    btdt said:
    You people miss the obvious solution every time...

    Offline mode and LAN mode,
    In a game like ArcheAge part of the challenge comes from other players in the world.

    If the devs created offline mode/LAN mode, then they'd have to disallow transfers into online mode.

    That in turn would mean none would actually play offline because once you've permanently removed your char from the MMO environment, as a single player or group play with friends the game sucks.

     
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    Scot said:
    A Discordant Chat

    "Ok the tank is going in" - Group leader
    "Where's me heals, where's me heals!" - Tank...

    ..."Sorry guys I got a 'Your time is up' booted" - Healer

    "OK everyone run for the hills!" - Group leader.
    Yeah, but, like anyone actually groups anymore. 

    ;)

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    I, too, have a crazy idea to solve large queues at launch.  It's called, don't play games at launch.
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    Quizzical said:
    I, too, have a crazy idea to solve large queues at launch.  It's called, don't play games at launch.
    Well yeah,  that is my solution but many find that not a practical solution. 

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • bcbullybcbully Member EpicPosts: 11,843
    Every 1 hour so you get sent to a duel instance! Lose you go win you stay! 
    Kyleranlaxie
  • Arkade99Arkade99 Member RarePosts: 538
    Crowfall is on AWS. They can spin up new campaigns whenever they need them. Games of the past maintained their own servers. The future of gaming is cloud services.
    laxie
  • anemoanemo Member RarePosts: 1,903
    It's part of the release day experience.   I would be wary of an old MMO re-re-re-release if it didn't have login queue problems on release, since it would be underpopulated in what's supposed to be the busiest time.  (ArchAge's tech has got to be over a decade old by now, and has had at least 4 or 5 different release attempts).

    ___________________________

    I would personally be wary of a developer that relies on the cloud.   Leasing a cloud server will easily end up somewhere between 1.5 to 10 times more expensive than leasing a normal server.   (though probably still a small expense compared to another developer, or a nice bribe to your developers to get them a chance to put a new technology on their resume).

    Even worse would be an MMO that relies on something like SpatialOS from Improbable.   Since they have you even more shackled to their tech stack than even a normal cloud provider would have you tied to them.

    Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.

    "At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."

  • AsheramAsheram Member EpicPosts: 5,078
    If there are really long que times for really long periods then yeah.
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    The easy solution for other MMOs is some form of phasing or megaserver tech. But Archeage is stuck in the old fashioned individual server mess with all of its problems due to the non-instanced housing/farming design. They dole out servers based on their projection of the eventual stable pop and that always means queues at the start.

    However, WTF is stopping them from giving you something to do while you queue instead of just watching a count down timer? They could easily have temporary phased servers where you could do anything other than land-related stuff while you wait for your real server to be available. It's not rocket science. GW2 did this 7 years ago.

    But of course, the company has to give a shit in order to give you a better queue experience.
    bcbullyKyleran
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  • sacredcow4sacredcow4 Member UncommonPosts: 249
    edited October 2019
    Imagine the implications of that from a business sense.

    It would be like McDonalds saying, "Hey, you already ate here for breakfast! You can't come here more than once a day."

    BurgerKing would be like, "Lol, here's a discount, come all you want."

    I don't say this often, but it's simply a bad idea that no business smart enough to REMAIN in business would ever adopt. It's an absolute no-go for many reasons.

    You don't solve a problem by creating a bigger one.
     I've been here a while...
  • iixviiiixiixviiiix Member RarePosts: 2,256
    I don't ready understand they logic
    ArcheAge Unchained is a B2P game and they know the number of players who buy 2 play this game so i don't ready understand why  they let queues happen this time


  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    sacredcow4 said:
    Imagine the implications of that from a business sense.

    It would be like McDonalds saying, "Hey, you already ate here for breakfast! You can't come here more than once a day."

    BurgerKing would be like, "Lol, here's a discount, come all you want."

    I don't say this often, but it's simply a bad idea that no business smart enough to REMAIN in business would ever adopt. It's an absolute no-go for many reasons.

    You don't solve a problem by creating a bigger one.
    It's already being done, let's look at private golf courses. 

    Members pay a one time initiation fee of tens of thousands of dollars plus annual dues of several thousand for access to the course. 

    Yet if there is a shotgun start tournament, play that day is limited only to the 180 members who paid extra to play in the tournament.

    The other 300 or so members are out of luck and have to sit out despite being paying customers. 

    If the course decides to hold a city tournament, its possible few or even no members may get access to the course for an entire weekend.

    Limiting scarce supply is not unheard of in the business world, in fact your internet provider now has the right to throttle high band width usage if they so desire. 

    Cell phone companies regularly throttle data when a particular cell gets over loaded, very visible when near a local campus in my town especially during morning drive time as everyone floods into the school.
    Mendel

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Extra charges for peak hours and less charges for other times. Works for traffic control. Of course real money would work, but there can also be in-game solutions to encourage people to play  during less crowded times. Set incentives instead of kicking the players out. 
    Kyleran
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    edited October 2019
    Extra charges for peak hours and less charges for other times. Works for traffic control. Of course real money would work, but there can also be in-game solutions to encourage people to play  during less crowded times. Set incentives instead of kicking the players out. 
    Not a bad idea, long distance phone service and early online services like Genie used to work this way.

    To take it further,  could do it like those new paid expressways do, the price varies based on capacity,  during peak times some of those roads are $35 to travel on while off peak is more like $2.

    You want to play, be prepared to pay.

    ;)


    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • ChildoftheShadowsChildoftheShadows Member EpicPosts: 2,193
    iixviiiix said:
    I don't ready understand they logic
    ArcheAge Unchained is a B2P game and they know the number of players who buy 2 play this game so i don't ready understand why  they let queues happen this time


    There’s typically a substantial difference between active accounts and concurrent players online. If you account for every player in the beginning you end to with extra servers later which is a hefty cost. 
    Kyleran
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