Dedicated Servers and Open World [Future of Warframe]

[ShinTechG]

Hello everyone,

So I am sure this has come up before but I decided to share my thoughts on this. Why have we not gotten dedicated servers and gotten rid of this outdated, cheap, and unreliable system of having players be the host?

Now I have been following almost everything Warframe related and I saw that video interview of Digital Extremes with NoClip. I believe it was in that video that [DE]Steve, the Creative Director/Developer at Digital Extremes said that because of the situation they had of being at risk of losing it all, they had to start off cheap when they were trying to make Warframe a success. Now that answer and transparency was very much appreciated and I fully understand. But, how long ago was this and how successful has this game been? 

From my view, Warframe seems to be doing really well right now on public charts and a lot of new and upcoming content is being worked on right now. But I just have to keep asking myself, is Digital Extremes even planning to get rid of this old and unreliable system, or is it just not a priority to them because it's cheap? Here are just some reasons why this is bothering me:

• Chances of host migrations/host migration failures
• Chances of high ping hosts causing a very poor gameplay experience
• Potential reward/progression lost due to player who was hosting being disconnected
• Limit of 4 people per squad and "Open World" areas (let me discuss this in more detail)

 

Limit of 4 Players Per Squad and Open World

I feel like we are limited to only 4 people per squad because of this current cheap method of hosting matches. I understand that at one point we had Trials which had 8 people per squad but how many issues with bugs were there that were maybe related to the host weighing all of that? Either way, Trials are gone now regardless. But, the point I am trying to get to here is like i feel that at this point today, Warframe should be able to have a much, much larger amount of players being able to be in a squad in open world/larger areas (Example plains of eidolon and the upcoming Venus world). I feel like it does not have this because of the limitations of the hosting method. Or maybe a combination of that plus their game servers being not up to par to handle this right now? 

I see a lot of time and energy being put in this game by Digital Extremes, I just wonder if any of it is dedicated to changing this hosting system and expanding to make the game have way more players in a large open area to make this game feel more alive and truly deserving of the title of "Open world" when the areas are released

Thoughts?

Edited August 30, 2018 by ShinTechG

[Omega-Shadowblade]

If you'd like to compare the cost of purchasing and maintaining Hosting servers for warframe's player count against the income of DE through their fiscal reports, it will only better define if the decision is sustainable.

[ShinTechG]

15 minutes ago, Omega-Shadowblade said:

If you'd like to compare the cost of purchasing and maintaining Hosting servers for warframe's player count against the income of DE through their fiscal reports, it will only better define if the decision is sustainable.

Can you please elaborate? I understand your statement but I sense a hint of a slick, sarcastic remark. I just want to ensure that i know before giving you my reply.

[(PSN)TheRallykiller]

Cost.

The answer to many questions that adhere to the loose formula of "why isn't there ______?" is cost.

The cost could be financial, it could time, it could be opportunity (as in opportunity cost, i.e. we could've been working on something else).

I mean, I agree with you TC.  I would love dedicated servers...

And QA/Test servers...

And simultaneous content releases...

But cost 😞

[(PSN)TheRallykiller]

7 minutes ago, ShinTechG said:

Can you please elaborate? I understand your statement but I sense a hint of a slick, sarcastic remark. I just want to ensure that i know before giving you my reply.

Here's DE's 2017 report in pdf: LINK

Omega means (I think) that DE's parent company, and the leadership team at DE look at, and have to justify, any and all moves in cost-benefit analysis fashion.

That means that although dedicated servers are a great QoL improvement, there needs to be some sort of positive reaction to the $$$ loss that would come from the investment.

Will there be more registered/active players? 

Will these players buy more plat/spend more $$$? 

Will DE's investment garner the goodwill for some positive earned media coverage?

IMHO, DE has the financial flexibility to add dedicated servers and make some nice QoL changes...

...but, as a holding, they're expected to make $$$ in return, and, based on their current behavior probably won't do it.

[ShinTechG]

2 minutes ago, (PS4)TheRallykiller said:

Here's DE's 2017 report in pdf: LINK

Omega means (I think) that DE's parent company, and the leadership team at DE look at, and have to justify, any and all moves in cost-benefit analysis fashion.

That means that although dedicated servers are a great QoL improvement, there needs to be some sort of positive reaction to the $$$ loss that would come from the investment.

Will there be more registered/active players? 

Will these players buy more plat/spend more $$$? 

Will DE's investment garner the goodwill for some positive earned media coverage?

IMHO, DE has the financial flexibility to add dedicated servers and make some nice QoL changes...

...but, as a holding, they're expected to make $$$ in return, and, based on their current behavior probably won't do it.

 

Yeah i realize these are all things they consider on their end. Even if it may not be currently something in the works on their end right now, I've just been feeling like it is longer overdue.  

Thank you for both your responses 😃

[Omega-Shadowblade]

8 minutes ago, (PS4)TheRallykiller said:

Here's DE's 2017 report in pdf: LINK

Omega means (I think) that DE's parent company, and the leadership team at DE look at, and have to justify, any and all moves in cost-benefit analysis fashion.

That means that although dedicated servers are a great QoL improvement, there needs to be some sort of positive reaction to the $$$ loss that would come from the investment.

Will there be more registered/active players? 

Will these players buy more plat/spend more $$$? 

Will DE's investment garner the goodwill for some positive earned media coverage?

IMHO, DE has the financial flexibility to add dedicated servers and make some nice QoL changes...

...but, as a holding, they're expected to make $$$ in return, and, based on their current behavior probably won't do it.

Yes this is the thought process I was trying to involve. Thanks for saving me some time.

and to OP: sorry if that first post came off as snark, it was not my intention but thank you for inquiring further with levelheaded judgement.

[ShinTechG]

7 minutes ago, Omega-Shadowblade said:

Yes this is the thought process I was trying to involve. Thanks for saving me some time.

and to OP: sorry if that first post came off as snark, it was not my intention but thank you for inquiring further with levelheaded judgement.

Ah ok thank you. Yeah first, i did not even know this kind of data was something the public can access so that is why i thought maybe it was. But i don't like rushing to assume the tone of "text" because that can cause a lot of miscommunication. Thanks for your feedback  🙂

[peterc3]

1 hour ago, ShinTechG said:

Limit of 4 Players Per Squad and Open World

 

DE has emphasized it a lot, but PoE, Fortuna, future things in the same vein, are not open world. It's just a big tile. True open world would be great but the game, engine, everything built to this point is for the older tiles and stretching it a bit (a lot) you get PoE. Massage it a bit more and you get Fortuna.

By the same token, every single piece of content in game now is designed and built for 4 players. More would instantly trivialize anything.

You call it old and unreliable, but it has gotten them here.