Alright. I don't know how plausible this idea really is, so I want you guys to tell me if it's impossible to do or what. Money might also be another issue, I don't know. Well, I was trying to imagine how MMORPGs could work with permadeath. (Let's not start a permadeath discussion here though.) What could a person carry on from one life to the other that would keep them playing? Experience. Not data experience in game, but just being a player who has played the game before. This would work well on an MMORPG with an intense fighting system, without character levels (to get rid of grinding), and just skill. Fighting games, like Super Smash Brothers for example, use skill to win at. If an MMORPG could use a fighting system of pure skill and not levels, it would be great. A person that dies in a permadeath game would come back as a new character being better at fighting, as he has been practicing with another life. But anyway, the main part of this topic is the idea of fight servers. To have a fighting system as intense as the one I mentioned above, lag would be fatal to anyone that might suffer it. Now, would it be feasible to have seperate servers, one that handles the main game, and one that handles pvp? For example, the main server handles everything a normal mmorpg server would. Players in towns, NPCs, etc. Now, if players wish to PvP, they could enter an arena. Upon entering, your connection is basically transfered to another server. Sort of like re-logging, but to a new connection after the logoff. The fight server would be focused on only PvP. It would reduce lag, as it does not worry about players in town, and it is dedicated to just different PvP arenas and the duels of players. With this reduction of lag, perhaps it would be possible to have an intense fighting system with little lag. Feel free to ask questions on anything unclear. And please leave your thoughts on how plausible something like this could actually be. It might just be a lame idea that would never work out, it might be an interesting idea to roll around. And please, let's not turn it into a permadeath discussion. EDIT: Just to clear it up, iblimb helped me by describing it as "I think what hes trying to say is have the PvP Zones on a seperate server to allow for the PvP battles to not be affected by the rest of the zones. In other words, if 10,000 people on the main land are logged on and that server is causing lag, the PvP battles would not be affected because they are on a seperate server, dedicated soley to the PvP Action." That better describes what I was trying to say. [Edited by - Lucky Ace Card on July 30, 2006 11:58:15 PM]

Im not sure why you're using the word server...more specifically "fight server."

A server is either the software or the hardware that runs the program.

It sounds to me like you mean a special area just for fighting...which is already done with PvP only zones. I guess technically you could run those pvp only zones on a separate server, but I dont know why you'd want to.

Just my 2 bottlecaps.

Running the pvp zones on a separate server, like you said, that's what I meant.
And the reason would be to have dedicated servers for PvP to reduce lag in PvP. That way, a combat system of skill and reaction speed is possible (as there is little lag), rather than just point and click on someone and let your hours of grinding speak for you.

But wouldn't your players need to use the same fighting system for the PvE zones in the MMO? Lag is as much of an issue versus NPCs as it is other players.

So Im still not understanding. Do you mean server as a whole, contained world by itself? Or just an area for PvP?

PvP doesnt create more lag nor does it need more bandwidth than PvE areas.

Perhaps if you took all over NPCs out of PvP zones already you might reduce lag, but at the risk of sounding condescending, I dont think you're understanding the terminology of the application thereof.

"Put PvP on a separate server to reduce lag" might sound cool, but it doesnt really do anything.

Quote:

Fighting games, like Super Smash Brothers for example, use skill to win at. If an MMORPG could use a fighting system of pure skill and not levels, it would be great.

You mean like Puzzle Pirates where character skill is directly equivalent to player skill at various puzzles/mini-games?

I mean, all would play like a normal mmorpg. You can leave town, fight monsters, sure.
But when you enter the pvp arena, your character data is then transferred to a different server. I mean a whole new piece of hardware that processes what it's in charge of. These PvP arena servers aren't in charge of handling the whole fighting aspect of the game...
It just gives arena PvPers a dedicated server to play on.
Maybe I'm explaining it all wrong. I don't know.

I think what hes trying to say is have the PvP Zones on a seperate server to allow for the PvP battles to not be affected by the rest of the zones. In other words, if 10,000 people on the main land are logged on and that server is causing lag, the PvP battles would not be affected because they are on a seperate server, dedicated soley to the PvP Action.

Quote:

Original post by ibelimb I think what hes trying to say is have the PvP Zones on a seperate server to allow for the PvP battles to not be affected by the rest of the zones. In other words, if 10,000 people on the main land are logged on and that server is causing lag, the PvP battles would not be affected because they are on a seperate server, dedicated soley to the PvP Action.

Gah, that's what I mean. Thanks.
I always have trouble explaining things over the internet.
Any thoughts on it though? I wonder how plausible it is.

Quote:

Original post by Lucky Ace Card Quote: Original post by ibelimb I think what hes trying to say is have the PvP Zones on a seperate server to allow for the PvP battles to not be affected by the rest of the zones. In other words, if 10,000 people on the main land are logged on and that server is causing lag, the PvP battles would not be affected because they are on a seperate server, dedicated soley to the PvP Action. Gah, that's what I mean. Thanks. I always have trouble explaining things over the internet. Any thoughts on it though? I wonder how plausible it is.

That's how MMORPGs with arenas work now. And sure, you can have 20 or so people without being affected by lag and have decent twitch gameplay, so you could do that in an MMO, but what exactly are you doing when you're not in the twitch gameplay arena? That's what I asked earlier. If you use Super Smash Bros style combat in PvP, do you use some other sort of combat when fighting monsters? If you use the twitch-based combat everywhere, then you need the fast servers everywhere, not just for PvP arenas.