The "MEGASERVER" and Issues : Othor Games

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:31 pm

Hey guys! Hope all is well. I want to bring up some concerns regarding the "megaserver" which was discussed in the new ESO Introduction Video.

What is Megaserver? 1 GIANT shard/server that automatically assigns you into a "gamespace" with your guild and Friends.

Essentially meaning, A system in which you are placed into an instanced version of the world with your friends/guild. So what does this mean?

Hundreds of instances in which CAN get FULL. So what happens when an instance is full and players from your guild or friends log on and can not join you? Will you have to instance hop? Will that even be possible or will you be stuck waiting for open spaces?

I bring this up because Star Trek Online did this exactly. Hundreds of instances in which players from the whole world had to compete inorder to join up with their friends. It was HORRIBLE to say the least.

I also want to bring up "SERVER COMMUNITY". Most of us are accustomed to playing with players who may not be in your guild or one of you Real Life friends. Yet you still enjoy grouping up from time to time or pvping etc. Also, server community promotes friendly competitions between guilds etc.

SInce they did not give out enough details regarding megaserver, As of right now I am inclined to believe that there will be NO server community.
Why? Well, If I am being placed into a random instance with guild members and friends then so are you and everyone else. Therefore you will be playing with new and random players everyday. it's basically a giant version of LFG , LFD, LFR.

With that said; I am hoping that we can get more information from the devs about this. Their brief description of their technology doesn't discount any of the issues I mentioned above. And those issues helped drive STO into the ground.

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:43 am

I was thinking of putting all players I met on my ignore list, till I ended up on a server all to myself :banana:

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:58 pm

Actually, the format at which players are "divided" is not entirely random. You choose what kind of people you want to play with, what age scale, what are your gameplay preferences (RP, PvE, PvP, etc.), and the system will put you in the same "pocket" as people with some - or all - of your preferences. These preferences are changed when you want, however, and if you suddenly feel you want to play in a different kind of environment, you can just change your preference.

As Atropos, from Tamriel Foundry, describes in his http://tamrielfoundry.com/2012/10/eso-media-event/ about the press event he took part in:

"Players will fill out a questionnaire that describes their own preferred playstyle to assist the megaserver in allocating similar players to their game space. You can specify preferences for roleplaying, age groups, and degree of socialization. By flagging your character as “I want to meet new people and join a guild” you will be put into spaces with other players who are also interested in meeting new people, and with guilds who are recruiting new members. Alternatively, you could specify “I want to play solo tonight”, and the server will place you into a game space with other people who are interested in soloing, so you won’t be pestered with frequent group invitations."

Everyone plays on one server, and one network, everywhere. So your friends are always available to you […] No shards, just create a character, click play, and get in the game, the game will figure out where to put you. No more ‘server full’ and no more ‘ghosttowns’. We’ll never have to close shards because they are empty, and there will never be server queues.

Moreover, the game intelligently places you with your friends, guildmates, and other gamers who have similar interests within the world. Naturally, the entire player population cannot coexist within a single world instance, so the megaserver technology creates multiple copies of zones as required, and groups together similar players in order to naturally create an optimized social gaming experience.

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:00 am

Thanks for the post Targ! While some of that helps with a few of the points, it still doesn't clear up the INSTANCE FULL issue. If I am the 600 /600 player on instance 15, and 4 of my friends get online, do they have to wait to join me? Will I be removed mid game/quest/ and put into another? Will I be in charge of instance hopping (Like STO). I'm sure no one knows yet but I'm hoping by posting some of these concerns, zenimax may address the Megaserver a bit more in detail in future videos.

Also, there are still a bit of Loop holes as it states "the technology will place you among players you recently interacted with"

Keyword there is RECENTLY. Let's say I play with you sat night.. enjoyed grouping with ya but you are not in my guild or a RL friend. I log on sunday, Monday tuesday and then you finally log online on wed. If that doesn't fall under their view of "recently" then you won't be placed in my instances, and probably very likely I wont see you in the same instance for a while. You gotta remember the world is essentially playing on this one megaserver. There are thousands who will share my same game preference.

So yes, I'd be playing with even more players than a server would allow me to, but it will be nothing like a server (consistent) community.

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:19 am

Thanks for the post Targ! While some of that helps with a few of the points, it still doesn't clear up the INSTANCE FULL issue. If I am the 600 /600 player on instance 15, and 4 of my friends get online, do they have to wait to join me? Will I be removed mid game/quest/ and put into another? Will I be in charge of instance hopping (Like STO). I'm sure no one knows yet but I'm hoping by posting some of these concerns, zenimax may adress the Megaserver a bit more in detail in future videos.

Personally, I do not think "Instance full" -issue will be very present in TESO, really. 600 players in one instance would be a terribly small amount, not nearly enough to cover the whole world instance you are in. I would say one pocket server can host at least 10 000 players, maybe a lot more. It's all down to the quality and size of the server mechanics they utilize.

Also, there are still a bit of Loop holes as it states "the technology will place you among players you recently interacted with"

Keyword there is RECENTLY. Let's say I play with you sat night.. enjoyed grouping with ya but you are not in my guild or a RL friend. I log on sunday, Monday tuesday and then you finally log online on wed. If that doesn't fall under their view of "recently" then you won't be placed in my instances, and probably very likely I wont see you in the same instance for a while. You gotta remember the world is essentially playing on this one megaserver. There are thousands who will share my same game preference.

So yes, I'd be playing with even more players than a server would, but it will be nothing like a server community.

Do keep in mind that it is not entirely random who is placed in which instance. The people you meet and interact with can most likely be met again at a later point of time, by my understanding, due to you belonging in his range of preferences, and due to the server recognizing you two having spent some time with each other.

The exact mechanics have yet to be cleared out. But from all I've read and heard, I can say, establishing "server communities" matters a lot to ZOS. Which should work as a relief to anyone's worries for now. The question for now is: When will they release the exact details about the system, and examples of its work.

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 10:19 am

Ahh I suppose! I guess right now it is all speculation and I am def not claiming that it won't work out the way you are saying. I just want to make sure I bring it up somewhere so that maybe Zenimax will take a bit more time to discuss the details a bit more.

I'd love nothing more for this game to have everything in which you are stating. I just had horrible experiences with STO which tried to do something similar.

Thanks for the posts though

» Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:16 am

Targ brings sanity to a panic thread. Please dont panic people, we dont know much yet and new doesnt mean bad. There is surely reason why Firor is so proud of the megaserver concepts and it shall be revealed in time