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How do they do?

DragzonoxDragzonox Member Posts: 2

I was in the E3 of this game, and I really love that... image

 

And I can't imagine how they can keep the server running? do they get enough money for that?

Admin of evil cry, there need a webpage host....

Admin of evil cry, there need a webpage host....

Comments

  • AdminAdmin Administrator RarePosts: 5,623

    The greatest cost of running a MMORPG is bandwidth.  Guild Wars gets around this by not allowing more than 16 or so people in a zone...which cuts down DRASTICALLY on bandwidth costs.

    For example, assuming that the amount of data needed to relay a players x,y,z coordinates as well as current direction, velocity and chat text data was 50K per minute (just a rough guess).  Then you have to realize that this data has to be sent to all the players in the zone for each player.

    2 Players = (2x50K) =  100K/minute
    4 Players = (16x50K) = 800K/minute
    10 Players = (100x50K) = 5MB/minute
    25 Players = (625x50K) = 31MB/minute
    50 Players = (2500x50K) = 125MB/minute
    100 Players = (10,000x50K) = 500MB/minute
    250 Players = (62,500x50K) = 3.12GB/minute

    See a scary trend here?  If you look at the data above you can see that you can run 25 zones with 10 people in each (250 players) for the same amount of bandwidth that it takes to run 50 players in a single zone.  Or even more impressive is that you can run 100 zones with 10 people in them (1,000 players) for the same amount of bandwidth needed to have just 1/10th that many people in a single zone (100 players).

    Granted, Guild Wars has the staging areas where hundreds of people are in the same zone - but I am guessing they are banking that players won't spend a lot of time here compared to the instanced areas.

    For anyone who has ever looked into the cost of bandwidth, you would know that at best you will pay $0.10 per GB (and you have to be a BIG user to get that rate). 

    I think that explains a large part of how they do it image


     


    - MMORPG.COM Staff -

    - MMORPG.COM Staff -

    The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

  • OminisOminis Member Posts: 1,015
    Probably the best post I have seen about how ArenaNet plans to make Guild Wars free after you buy it. As long as they stick to this they shouldn't have to much of a problem with keeping everything running. Great idea of theirs. And oh yeah, good job at explaining it to everybody.

    Testing Currently:
    Alpha: Guild Wars
    Beta: Saga of Ryzom + Risk Your Life
    Playing: City of Heroes
    Interested: WOW & EQII (yeah, both... deal with it)

    image
    Currently:
    Playing: WOW & GW

  • tu_uilwentu_uilwen Member Posts: 794

    You know not only do they have all the money that they'll have left after the finished product....imagine how much they'll make from all the people that will buy this game.........

    and if they later need money.......they will just put prob a low monthly fee and maybe work it up.....

    Uilwen

    ---------------------------------------------
    WoW
    -Rhalon 85 B.E. rogue
    -Rhalon 81 UD Mage
    -Doneski 85 Orc death knight

    "Everyones life has a beginning and an end, No one can change that."-Hiko
    "If you wish to taste the ground, then feel free to attack."-Kenshin Himura
    ---------------------------------------------
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  • DragzonoxDragzonox Member Posts: 2

    okay... I got a good answer to my question... Thanks

    I understan what you mean, and I can't do more then agreed with you image


    Admin of evil cry, there need a webpage host....

    Admin of evil cry, there need a webpage host....

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