Game Dev Conference MMORPG Highlights
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Category: News ArchiveHits: 1056
Most gamers have lived through the horrors of lag-death, and so it is not uncommon to see 'surefire proofs against latency' come and go. There are only two surefire methods to beat Internet Latency: don't play on the Internet or convince the rest of the world to not play on the Internet. It is the nature of the beast that lag, latency, or any other term you have for the stutterations one experiences, exists. That being said, there are things that can help minimize the brutal effects. A word of warning: the following may appear to be negative toward specific users and player interest, but they are necessary components. Apologies if they burst the bubble.
Designers of massive multiplayer games are forced to create artificial parity between its slowest users (dialup) with those who run DSL or even T* lines. By slowing the player, the server can keep a steady stream of information flowing, rather than flooding the unsuspecting dialup user or underservicing the high-speed user. Atriarch will probably embed 'latency compensation timers' to keep tabs on the flow rates and ensure 'balance' for the world.
