Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The EVE Performance Group]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/the-eve-performance-group/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/the-eve-performance-group/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/the-eve-performance-group/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


"CCP fix lag nao!!" That's essentially what this writer has been hearing from players since he began EVE Online, and most assuredly it was being uttered long before that. Whether it's a typical forum whine or something much more clever, the message remains the same: Players really want to have fleet battles with several hundred people at once. After all, the shardless galaxy that players populate, in theory, should allow for that. But in practice, lag can turn such engagements into a slide show. Is it unrealistic to assume that 1000-player fleet battles will ever be a reality in EVE? Time will tell. Still, you'd think that CCP Games didn't care about wiping out lag from much of what you read on the forums.

They're making some inroads with their new server technologies and ongoing initiatives to improve performance, but players still wonder what goes on behind the scenes. The latest in the recent blitz of dev blogs from CCP Games comes from CCP Tanis, "Introducing: the EVE Performance Group," and is an attempt to explain how this group of developers works to make EVE "run better, faster, and smarter." CCP Tanis lays out how they using monitoring, profiling, and debugging tools to try and reduce server load and increase performance.

Continue reading The EVE Performance Group

MassivelyThe EVE Performance Group originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-gamesccp-tanisdevdev-blogdpseveeve-onlineeve-performance-groupforumsgame-mechanicsinfinibandlagmmo-industrynpcnpcsperformancesci-fiserverserverssingle-serverweapon-groupingFri, 17 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: EVE Online's server model]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/28/eve-evolved-eve-onlines-server-model/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/28/eve-evolved-eve-onlines-server-model/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/28/eve-evolved-eve-onlines-server-model/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,


Almost any time a discussion about EVE Online comes up, one way or another we end up talking about the server. EVE Online is unique among today's most popular MMOs for its single-server approach. While most MMOs deal with large number of users by starting up large numbers of separate servers with identical game universes, EVE maintains only a single copy of its game universe on a massive cluster of servers. CCP's decision to go with a server model that doesn't use any sharding or instancing whatsoever has had a major impact on in-game activities and how the game has developed.

Server woes:
Unfortunately for CCP, maintaining their vision of a single game universe has proven a lot more difficult and costly than anyone anticipated. Working with IBM, the EVE server cluster is maintained in London and is currently the largest supercomputer employed in the gaming industry. Even with this massive power behind the EVE universe, there are still problems as CCP tries to keep the server upgraded ahead of its ever-expanding playerbase.

In this article, I discuss the unique gameplay that is possible thanks to EVE's server model, the problems the server currently faces and what CCP is planning to do about it.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: EVE Online's server model

MassivelyEVE Evolved: EVE Online's server model originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpclustercrashdevdev-blogdevblogeconomyeveeve-evolvedeve-onlinefeaturedinfinibandjoystiqfeatureslagmarketnodepvpserverterritorywarSun, 28 Sep 2008 17:30:00 EST