Regarding P2P vs Dedicated Servers | Forums

[rD.Popov]

We all know the issues concerning P2P vs Dedicated Servers. We can only assume Ubisoft's reasoning for not going the route of dedicated servers is primarily based on profit/loss projections. What I'm having a hard time understanding though is how shortsighted those projections must have surely been.

There is clearly a huge market for a game like this - and without any competition. They've done the hard work as far as putting the framework together and getting the basic mechanics working alright (sure it could use some fine-tuning/tweaking which is normal) but overall I think most are reasonably happy with the actual gameplay.... so why on earth not follow-through and try and make this a game that will actually stick around and possibly even make it's way into the world of competitive e-Sports? Surely if they invested enough time and money into setting up the framework to allow for dedicated servers (their own as well as community-funded servers) -- SURELY the long term profits would dwarf whatever short-term projections they got going?

In this day and age - why on earth would they not adopt a model like the one Counter Strike has has been using for so many years? Allow the community to hire/setup their own dedicated servers, and while you're at it (maybe long term plan) - allow the community to tweak/manage the rules of their own servers, do their own balancing, custom maps, ranking systems, etc.

I know this will be falling on deaf ears but god damn - just seems like such wasted potential. I really want to buy and play this game, but as it is and without any re-assurance from Ubisoft about the potential for future implementation of dedicated servers - there is just no way I can justify the time and money.

[Nimja1]

I get what you are saying but this is console as well, so player owned ded servers wouldnt work. I know we are in seperate buckets (No crossplay in 2017 on a game thats on ALL systems? Cmon Ubi) P2P is just garbage tho. Ded Servers are really the only way to go.

[rD.Popov]

Why is that still the case though? I just don't understand why it simply being on a console has to mean no option for community funded dedicated servers? Surely with a bit of thinking, ingenuity and trial & error - a framework can be implemented, for both computers and consoles - that would allow for this? I'm a software developer, and admittedly I don't have any experience with consoles, but I've rarely come across a technical challenge I wasn't able to surpass eventually. I just find it hard to believe a highly paid team of experienced developers cannot work out a system for community funded dedicated servers for consoles.

[Vakris_One]

I'm not really sold on dedicated servers being the holy grail. Sure, they'll probably sort out most of the stability issues but eventually, inevitably the servers will be shut down after a couple of years goes by when the player population drops out and Ubisoft no longer see the need to spend money on maintaining the servers. And then we'd have no way to play this game at all so our money would have been as good as chucked down the toilet.

A P2P network has downsides but its main upside is that we can always host matches as long as there are enough players participating. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there no way to have both a dedicated server for the stability and P2P so the publisher doesn't feel the need to pull the plug at some point? Doesn't Destiny do something like that?

[l_Azure_l]

I'm not really sold on dedicated servers being the holy grail. Sure, they'll probably sort out most of the stability issues but eventually, inevitably the servers will be shut down after a couple of years goes by when the player population drops out and Ubisoft no longer see the need to spend money on maintaining the servers. And then we'd have no way to play this game at all so our money would have been as good as chucked down the toilet.

A P2P network has downsides but its main upside is that we can always host matches as long as there are enough players participating. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there no way to have both a dedicated server for the stability and P2P so the publisher doesn't feel the need to pull the plug at some point? Doesn't Destiny do something like that?

You would need Ubisoft's servers for match making anyway. If they decided to shutdown that server, nothing could help you. Otherwise we will be back to Battle.net war3 era, where there are ton of custom third party match making servers/apps.

P2P is better in an ideal world where everyone has good internet. But aside from NA, Europe and some part of Asia, the rest just don't ready for P2P at all. Like SEA and Australia is the best example.

[noy88]

I'm not really sold on dedicated servers being the holy grail. Sure, they'll probably sort out most of the stability issues but eventually, inevitably the servers will be shut down after a couple of years goes by when the player population drops out and Ubisoft no longer see the need to spend money on maintaining the servers. And then we'd have no way to play this game at all so our money would have been as good as chucked down the toilet.

A P2P network has downsides but its main upside is that we can always host matches as long as there are enough players participating. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there no way to have both a dedicated server for the stability and P2P so the publisher doesn't feel the need to pull the plug at some point? Doesn't Destiny do something like that?

I can't agree with not doing something because of fears for a future playerbase. How many people (including myself) will not purchase this game unless there are dedicated servers? They will be losing quite a bit of revenue on the initial launch because they want to cut corners.

This game has the potential to be an e-sport juggernaut. A few years Ubi could milk some DLCs and even build on a second game. They have literally hit gold with a very unique game concept and they aren't willing to put in the money to build a solid foundation.

If they aren't skimping on graphics, then this shows they can do it elsewhere. Unbelievable. It's like building a race car with ****ty tires, you'll never get traction.

[rD.Popov]

I'm not really sold on dedicated servers being the holy grail. Sure, they'll probably sort out most of the stability issues but eventually, inevitably the servers will be shut down after a couple of years goes by when the player population drops out and Ubisoft no longer see the need to spend money on maintaining the servers. And then we'd have no way to play this game at all so our money would have been as good as chucked down the toilet.

A P2P network has downsides but its main upside is that we can always host matches as long as there are enough players participating. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there no way to have both a dedicated server for the stability and P2P so the publisher doesn't feel the need to pull the plug at some point? Doesn't Destiny do something like that?

I don't see why - if you can have one or the other - you cannot have both? If no dedicated servers available, it simply reverts (or you can choose) to P2P framework.

Decisions like this can (and often do) mean the difference between a game that sticks around for a couple months, and a game/community/eSport that continues to grow/evolve over the course of a decade. Unless Ubisoft changes their entire business model, I fear they'll continue towards a downward spiral. They make promising games but are failing to keep up with the online gaming demands of the gaming world.

[Divenity]

I will personally not be buying this game until Dedicated servers are introduced, or it goes on sale for at least half off.

Not having dedicated servers in a game like this is just horrid... I'm getting sick and tired of this resync garbage every time the host leaves, or disconnects, or ragequits, and sessions being dropped, or when a player quits a 1v1 they are losing so they don't get a loss on their record.

Keep P2P in for little things like custom matches maybe, and keep the framework in for the situations where the servers are down for maintenance, or the eventuality where the game is no longer profitable and you have to switch the servers off, but until then, this game NEEDS dedicated servers.


I refuse to pay $60 for a game thats publisher/developer is too cheap to provide a stable multiplayer platform for, if this game had dedicated servers, I would have already pre-ordered, but as of now, I am already over it because of p2p.

[rD.Popov]

Yeah that's the other thing. As it currently stands, *MAYBE* if they drastically lowered the price I'd still consider buying the game with hopes that maybe they'll fix a lot of issues... but no way I can justify paying $80 (AUD) - for a game that they couldn't be arsed setting up proper servers for. Maybe if they offered an additional fee (small subscription cost) for accessing their dedicated servers - otherwise just stick with limited P2P system for a discounted cost of the game? That way they get continual profit from dedicated gamers that take the game seriously and they can reduce/expand the number of servers based on demand.

Of course dedicated servers should just be part of the game as it currently stands but if they want to be stingy about it - so many options they could have taken which surely would pay off so much more in the long run.