Originally posted by Consensus

bleh instancing sucks anyway.

complaining comment about something new, which no one has come up with yet, sucks more. believe me.

This idea shines bright and cool! ...for those who cant wait the queue.

Yeah btw its queue not que ;P

Originally posted by monoth

Originally posted by cali59

Originally posted by monoth

Originally posted by ProfRed

From;

Martin Kerstein

ArenaNet

I see some of you concentrate on the really important stuff.

Let me explain what an overflow server is and what it does. It is a technology we also use as our version of a queuing system. When a map or a world you want to log into is at capacity limit, the game will ask you if you want to play on an overflow server - so you can actually play while you are in a queue. Once space opens on your world, the game will ask you if you want to join your friends on your world. And you keep all the progress you made while you were playing on the overflow server.

 

From : http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1128627&postcount=346

 

These guys really seem to look at problems that plague most games and come up with pretty cool solutions. 

 

How is this not like normal instancing in other MMO's?   other then it auto putting you into the main instance when a slot opens up its the same instance system as SWTOR, AOC, etc.....

There just trying to cover up the fact there using instancing by giving it a different name "Overflow Server" lol

 

 It's not "Overflow Instance" or "Overflow Shard".  It's Overflow Server.  Hence the name of the thread.  Bye Bye Login Queue.

 

Read the statement, unless shards/servers are being called "maps" you guys are misreading what he said.... When you log into a map or world it puts you in a duplicate instance of the one your friends are in, when a slot opens up it then puts you in the main instance.

I don't see where he was talking about a log in server... Maybe the Dev is not being clear (shrug)

Wow, can you not read. It clearly says, if you try to log into the world and its full, you can still play instead of waiting. If you prefer to wait, then by all means, go ahead and wait. They won't FORCE your hands on the keyboard to play.

Some maps are held on servers, like pvp maps. If you try to log into those maps, you will have to play in the overload server if its full.

There is absolutely nothing negative about thus system. This system only adds benefits. Its been mentioned before, if you went to que up like SWTOR, you can. Arena et are just giving you the option to play while you wait.

Its like waiting in line to go shopping. Instead of waiting, you can look through the products in a magazine while you wait in line. Its not as good as actually shopping, but its better than staring at the wall. Just like playing in an overload SERVER is not as good as playing in your server, but sure beats waiting in que doing NOTHING. Now you can refuse the magazine and wait, but in the end, one option to wait is not as good as one option to wait and one option to play.

Alright Creslin, I owe you an apology. Take it for what it's worth because rarely will you see me admit I was wrong.

Apparently there are some that think this is a bad idea.  I have no idea why this is such a problem to them, but I get why you made the other comment I quoted.

In my defense, I was going under the belief that people would prefer something like this to extremely long queues or a game having too many servers diluting populations. Silly me I guess.

Originally posted by monoth

Originally posted by cali59

Originally posted by monoth

Originally posted by ProfRed

From;

Martin Kerstein

ArenaNet

I see some of you concentrate on the really important stuff.

Let me explain what an overflow server is and what it does. It is a technology we also use as our version of a queuing system. When a map or a world you want to log into is at capacity limit, the game will ask you if you want to play on an overflow server - so you can actually play while you are in a queue. Once space opens on your world, the game will ask you if you want to join your friends on your world. And you keep all the progress you made while you were playing on the overflow server.

 

From : http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1128627&postcount=346

 

These guys really seem to look at problems that plague most games and come up with pretty cool solutions. 

 

How is this not like normal instancing in other MMO's?   other then it auto putting you into the main instance when a slot opens up its the same instance system as SWTOR, AOC, etc.....

There just trying to cover up the fact there using instancing by giving it a different name "Overflow Server" lol

 

 It's not "Overflow Instance" or "Overflow Shard".  It's Overflow Server.  Hence the name of the thread.  Bye Bye Login Queue.

 

Read the statement, unless shards/servers are being called "maps" you guys are misreading what he said.... When you log into a map or world it puts you in a duplicate instance of the one your friends are in, when a slot opens up it then puts you in the main instance.

I don't see where he was talking about a log in server... Maybe the Dev is not being clear (shrug)

Martin is pretty clear, but some people apparently don't want to believe or understand what he wrote.

When your server is full, most games would put you in a queue where all you do is stare at the screen waiting to get in the game. GW2 asks you if you would like to go to an "overflow server". Not an instanced copy of a zone, an actual game server designated for overflow of players from full servers.

They don't specify this, but given the way the game is designed and the fact that they have already promised quick, free, painless server transfers, (with possibly a few lose restrictions and World vs. World limits to prevent abuse), it's a very, very good bet that an "overflow server" is actually a standard game server with a lower population. When you chose to go to an overflow server, you end up in the same location you would have on your own server. When your queue is ready, you can head back to your home server, with all progress and loot you earned intact.

If this is just the same as other games do, why do other games have queues that leave you stuck staring at the server select screen?

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

I'm sure they would have another one.

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

There will be another overflow server... and another one for that one.

OVERFLOWSERVERCEPTION!

You know I was sitting here thinking back at a certaint release, it's sort of funny IMO, all that when you just needed this kind of set it's really funny if you think about it.

Example like best launches being spread out to limit queues when only to be top'd by highly possible none at all too funny.

This is a good idea.  But frankly its pathetic that some other company wasn't doing this 5 years.

This is not a new idea.  This sort of stuff has been done on business servers for decades.  The fact of the matter many of the people designing your MMOs are fairly technically ignorant.

Conversely Jeff Strain was one of the three founders of ANet and he wrote the original net code for WoW and BNet.  He is (or was) a real developer with actuall experience dealing with stuff at the hardware level (which is actually somewhat rare ).

Basically other MMOs ways of persistenting your character data and where it resides are extrememly primitive and locked down and are done by brute force.  That is why other MMOs basically hard code you into a server.  This sort of stuff has been a No-No in software development since before EQ came out.  People forgive games like EQ because they had so many hard problems to solve. 

But here we are 12 years later and you get only two companies where the design aspects are done in a way where the game play is also capable of properly accounting for how they should cluster stuff.  Two because EvE is clustered in a very novel way for a good reason.

how have other companies not been doing this for years!!! Honestly this is such a great idea and can't beleive other games have not done this.. especially for high profile games like swtor..  I honestly don't see how ANYONE could possibly say anything bad about this if it works as intented... I mean really what in the world bad could come out of this if it works? 

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

This question is why I'm confident that the "Over Flow" server designation is a dynamically determined one. If overflow is redirected to less populated servers, there would only be a problem if every single server was full, which woth a proper launch roll out strategy should never happen.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

how have other companies not been doing this for years!!! Honestly this is such a great idea and can't beleive other games have not done this.. especially for high profile games like swtor..  I honestly don't see how ANYONE could possibly say anything bad about this if it works as intented... I mean really what in the world bad could come out of this if it works? 

One could say low pop overflow servers but then the counter to that is free transfers and your notified when you have able to get into the actual server by a pop up notification so you must have patience.

Originally posted by DJJazzy

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

I'm sure they would have another one.

Its a cluster or well more properly you won't even know about any hardware.  You will never be able to tell that the "overflow server" is full because its not a single server and you will have no idea where you "reside".

"Server" is a logical abstraction in this case.  Its the same as a Chat room.  Your logical placeholder for your character and all the pointers to the backing data will be passed around some kind of infrastructure until they find something that has the appropriate load.

This is load balancing.  Nothing more really.  The key difference between GW2 and other games is in the other you are STUCK on one cluster of machines.

GW1 was one massive cluster of servers where you could choose which dynamic chatroom(instance) your were in to associate with whomever you pleased.

This would be the same thing in reality.  But they are monkeying around with definitions so that you can play on a "server" whose playerbase is well defined so that it suits your(our?) psychological needs.

Basically you can dyanmically server transfer on the fly because its coded well.

Originally posted by gestalt11

Originally posted by DJJazzy

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

I'm sure they would have another one.

Its a cluster or well more properly you won't even know about any hardware.  You will never be able to tell that the "overflow server" is full because its not a single server and you will have no idea where you "reside".

 

"Server" is a logical abstraction in this case.  Its the same as a Chat room.  Your logical placeholder for your character and all the pointers to the backing data will be passed around some kind of infrastructure until they find something that has the appropriate load.

 

This is load balancing.  Nothing more really.  The key difference between GW2 and other games is in the other you are STUCK on one cluster of machines.

 

GW1 was one massive cluster of servers where you could choose which dynamic chatroom(instance) your were in to associate with whomever you pleased.

 

This would be the same thing in reality.  But they are monkeying around with definitions so that you can play on a "server" whose playerbase is well defined so that it suits your(our?) psychological needs.

Basically you can dyanmically server transfer on the fly because its coded well.

Ahh ok interesting.

Originally posted by RizelStar

Originally posted by Aerowyn

how have other companies not been doing this for years!!! Honestly this is such a great idea and can't beleive other games have not done this.. especially for high profile games like swtor..  I honestly don't see how ANYONE could possibly say anything bad about this if it works as intented... I mean really what in the world bad could come out of this if it works? 

One could say low pop overflow servers but then the counter to that is free transfers and your notified when you have able to get into the actual server by a pop up notification so you must have patience.

 

but who cares if the overflow server is low pop? I would rather play in an empty server by myself while waiting for my server que than just sitting in que twidiling my thumbs..

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

Alright Creslin, I owe you an apology. Take it for what it's worth because rarely will you see me admit I was wrong.

Apparently there are some that think this is a bad idea.  I have no idea why this is such a problem to them, but I get why you made the other comment I quoted.

In my defense, I was going under the belief that people would prefer something like this to extremely long queues or a game having too many servers diluting populations. Silly me I guess.

 

People are nuts. 

Originally posted by RizelStar

Originally posted by Aerowyn

how have other companies not been doing this for years!!! Honestly this is such a great idea and can't beleive other games have not done this.. especially for high profile games like swtor..  I honestly don't see how ANYONE could possibly say anything bad about this if it works as intented... I mean really what in the world bad could come out of this if it works? 

One could say low pop overflow servers but then the counter to that is free transfers and your notified when you have able to get into the actual server by a pop up notification so you must have patience.

 

You should get out of the mould of thinking server transfers mean anything.  The fact that these games have been treating server transfers like they were really hard is just so much BS.

I am sure they were a "bid deal" for thsoe games.  But that is because they were not coded that well.  These games are not made in an enterprise manner.  Even though they are some the biggest enterprise applications around.

Each server is its own standalone thing.  But the user's and their character are an enterprise resource that all servers should have dynamic access too. 

However they do not.  Because in some ways this industry is ridiculously primitive sometimes.  Mostly because they brute force stuff out the wazoo.  Both technically and in game design.  When you have a problem just get a bigger hammer!  Taht should be the motto of 90% of the MMO industry (well sadly 50% of developers in general)

Originally posted by Aerowyn

Originally posted by RizelStar

Originally posted by Aerowyn

how have other companies not been doing this for years!!! Honestly this is such a great idea and can't beleive other games have not done this.. especially for high profile games like swtor..  I honestly don't see how ANYONE could possibly say anything bad about this if it works as intented... I mean really what in the world bad could come out of this if it works? 

One could say low pop overflow servers but then the counter to that is free transfers and your notified when you have able to get into the actual server by a pop up notification so you must have patience.

 

but who cares if the overflow server is low pop? I would rather play in an empty server by myself while waiting for my server que than just sitting in que twidiling my thumbs..

I know I was throwing out what someone could bring up lol.

@Gestalt oh I agree.

Originally posted by pharazonic

Originally posted by spankybus
What happens when the overflow server is full?

There will be another overflow server... and another one for that one.

OVERFLOWSERVERCEPTION!

Seems like a good idea but we'll have to see how much of the game is actually playable on these OF servers. If you can only quest, for example, then it won't do you much good once you've reached max level.