Number of Servers at Launch?

[NCLynx]

Have the devs said anything about max # of people per server? I did a quick search but everything that came up was from 2003.

Also I'd like to know everyones guess on how many servers there may be.

There were 5 total (IIRC there were 6 in beta, but 2 were combined to become one Werner) in the original, then brought down to 3 still pretty early on.

Seeing as how a lot more people have interest in and have the ability to play PS2, I think there'll be a minimum of 4 servers for beta at least and 7 on release.
(Not taking into account the The9 servers either)

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

With current numbers of 666 per side per cont, and ONLY 3 conts at launch, that is a max of 6k online per server at a time. So, servers should cap somewhere around 9k players. That seems like it needs to be well above 7 servers.

[Atheosim]

Yeah, what I'm concerned about is the fact that there are no longer sanctuaries, therefore simply logging in takes up pop on a cont. That's worrying because of what DxB said: If all three conts are locked, so is the server. Hmmm...

[Zulthus]

We're going to need a lot of servers. A lot.

[Vancha]

This is something I've been wondering for a while and I've avoided mentioning it because I feel I must be missing something obvious...

If the population cap is 666v666v666 and there's 3 maps in total, then should PS2 hit a million players (and I don't see that being entirely unlikely), they'll need at least 167 servers.

Edit: Of course, not everyone plays at once...but even then, you could be looking at 100+

[Gogita]

Wasnt it supposed to be around a 1000 max per continent in PS2? So that would mean at most 3000 people that can be playing simultaneously.... But the maximum amount of players per server can be higher than that, as not everyone is online at the same time. Maybe.... 10k max per server? I'm not so sure how the dynamics work here...

I wonder what the number of initial players SOE is expecting.

[Mechzz]

Looks like we need a bigger boat server farm.

[Atheosim]

Originally Posted by Mechzz

Looks we need a bigger boat server farm.

Looks more to me like we need sanctuaries.

[Zulthus]

Originally Posted by Atheosim

Looks more to me like we need sanctuaries.

+1

[NCLynx]

I ask because with a game like planetside I'd much rather have a server be to crowded than be on a server with a consistent low pop.

[Shogun]

i´m sure they will scale up the number of servers on demand.
it would be fatal if all servers are locked and people can´t play at all.

and my guess is, that every new continent will add another 2k to the servers capacity. so they could stockpile finished continents and release them when the servers start to gwt too full.

i´m a little worried about locked servers because it would suck to have bought a ton of cool stuff on one server and eventually not being able to access it because the server is full. starting on other servers without your stuff, certs and outfit mates isn´t particulary fun.

[NCLynx]

Originally Posted by Shogun

i´m sure they will scale up the number of servers on demand.
it would be fatal if all servers are locked and people can´t play at all.

and my guess is, that every new continent will add another 2k to the servers capacity. so they could stockpile finished continents and release them when the servers start to gwt too full.

i´m a little worried about locked servers because it would suck to have bought a ton of cool stuff on one server and eventually not being able to access it because the server is full. starting on other servers without your stuff, certs and outfit mates isn´t particulary fun.

Is it confirmed that we make characters on a server as opposed to making a character and then choosing a server to login to? Cause that would be a possibility too. Although I'm not as much of a fan of that one.

[CrystalViolet]

In terms of max players per server, it's probably something we won't know until well into beta. The devs probably have ways to test this, but real world data is probably required to fine tune the numbers.

As for number of servers. Who knows. If PS2 attracts a player base similar to CoD or Wow, they could end up needing dozens.

[Gogita]

Originally Posted by Shogun

i´m sure they will scale up the number of servers on demand.

One of the bigger fears I have is that the number of servers that are present at the release of the game will be too little, because it was underestimated how many players will play. While SOE can increase the number of servers, queues, long waiting lines and lag can ruin the initial experience for new players, something that also happened when SWTOR came out.

Increasing the number of servers is not something that a gaming company can do instantly, so they need to get it right from the beginning on so the first playerbase won't have any troubles logging in and playing.

[ringring]

The best solution will be more continents (I've been banging that drum for a while).

I wonder how long a continent takes to make?