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Building Scaleable Middleware for MMORPGs
CowboyRobot writes "ACM Queue has an article exploring the challenges of developing a reliable platform for an MMORPG, specifically looking at Wish by Mutable Realms. From the article: 'A common scalability problem for distributed multiplayer games relates to managing distributed sets of objects... A player may not be a member of more than one guild, or a guild may have at most one level-5 mage (magician). In computing terms, implementing such behavior boils down to performing membership tests on sets of distributed objects.'"
and here's the solution:
- Don't buy the game (it's cheaper that way)
- Don't play the game (you can't get spammed/cheated if you're not a player)
- Don't install the game (you'll save lots of resources this way)
- Dont' wait for it to come out (you can spend the time with your loved ones or go on a hike)
Shalom
Will it be a Super Duper Ultra Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (SDUMMORPG) when a single application server supports tens of millions of users?
I haven't found one yet that allows real-time combat; it's always "click on the guy you want to fight and press the 'attack' button", then sit back and watch.
Yeah, that's always bothered me too. Why do you have to click to attack? Surely the computer can take care of the attacking all by itself. I'd rather just sit and watch, or maybe go grab a pizza and sit in front of the TV while my Half-Halfling Organist decapitates some Hair Elementals in the Killing Fields. Good times.
*PLOP*
Summs up my opinion of "design patterns" nicely, yes it does.
Right. Rather than by physical skill or some other merit, the combat is decided based on which fat guy spends more of his free time sitting in front of his computer, levelling up his character.