Long-term planning current and future server locations.

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Resist

Well-known member
A key element of the new 64 servers is the new server locations. But why did they have to put all three (virtual?) servers in Las Vegas.

“Hardware is expensive” per Severlin, but server performance and latency seems to be very important to players. There seems to be a hard line now drawn between US and EU players. Most EU players find Las Vegas pings to be insufferable so they must needs transfer to Moonsea.

And I suppose some East Coast players can tolerate playing on Moonsea but either way they are also getting a performance hit unless they move themselves physically to Las Vegas or to the EU.

Was there no way to spread the server infrastructure across the country instead? West Coast, East Coast, south/midwest, so that the major population centers are covered? Was the Las Vegas deal that good … or was it the only one they could afford? Did Enad7 and Daybreak not provide better options? Let’s pray that the server locations are spread out more strategically in the future and that the game will keep running smoothly.
 
Blaster

Blaster

Well-known member
In 2023 EG7 had a financial presentation where they laid out their long term goals, and among them was the decision to not invest “new money” into third-party live-service games like DDO. They only plan to invest enough money to create new content, and keep the games running, so Las Vegas for the US and Amsterdam for the EU were probably the most affordable options for what they wanted to do.

Other games that have regional servers are most likely much larger than DDO (or LOTRO), and can afford to have them in different areas. DDO’s player population during any given time isn’t that big, in fact, last year on a Fridays at Four appearance, Severlin initially didn’t think the EU base was large enough for its own server, but thankfully for those players that wasn’t the case. (By comparison, LOTRO has six 64-bit servers.)

EG7 eventually plans on transitioning away from non-first-party live-service games, but for now the total library of Daybreak Studios’ games are EG7’s biggest and most consistent revenue resource. So DDO will reap some of the rewards of that, but probably don’t expect it to be more than what it gets now.
 
Zyniiya

Zyniiya

Well-known member
I'm on the East Coast. NB, Canada I think I might be closer to the EU server then the Las Vegas one but I'm gonna do a test run of each to see if there's any noticeable difference in ping before committing to a server. It can't be any worse of a performance than it already is right? hahahahaaa......
 
D

Dude

Well-known member
Mindos said:
This doesn't sound good?
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It's sort of meh. As long as EG7 is making a profit from DDO and LOTRO, they will keep making new expansions. Strangely, they own the Everquest IP and don't seem to be doing much to develop a new game from that, so who knows.
 
Buddha5440

Buddha5440

"There are some who call me...Tim"
droid327 said:
Because servers require physical maintenance and having them in different locations means you need to pay multiple people to maintain them

Also it's where their lotro servers already are so saving money that way too
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Not to mention you have to pay leases or purchase multiple properties and then you add in the property taxes and all the other stuff. Plus electric bills have a per location charge (fees and services and such), they don't just charged you as a company but per location. Consolidating makes perfect sense.
 
Smokewolf

Smokewolf

Frequently banned member.
Resist said:
There seems to be a hard line now drawn between US and EU players. Most EU players find Las Vegas pings to be insufferable so they must needs transfer to Moonsea.
Click to expand...
I've mentioned this before within several other threads, but people though I was crazy.

Anyways... My original point being was that the EU will sooner-or-later (legally) come after MMO's that use online currency and loot-boxes, as a means to further monetize a game. SSG (likely) realizing this situation is coming, opted to take action as part of the 64-bit server transfers. Thus dividing players by making the server options limited, while keeping US / EU servers from overlapping coverage areas. Hence, EU players will mostly stay in the EU, while a pittance of East-Coast player may use Moonsea.

Besides, the laws in Vegas tend to be rather lax and naturally favor gambling systems, such as online MMO's.

Side note: Yes, shard re-rolls are basically just another form of loot box. Which is just online gambling without the age verification, loot odds being posted and tax requirements that would certainly take a big bite.

-Smoke
 
L

lilgeek

Well-known member
Blaster said:
In 2023 EG7 had a financial presentation where they laid out their long term goals, and among them was the decision to not invest “new money” into third-party live-service games like DDO. They only plan to invest enough money to create new content, and keep the games running, so Las Vegas for the US and Amsterdam for the EU were probably the most affordable options for what they wanted to do.

Other games that have regional servers are most likely much larger than DDO (or LOTRO), and can afford to have them in different areas. DDO’s player population during any given time isn’t that big, in fact, last year on a Fridays at Four appearance, Severlin initially didn’t think the EU base was large enough for its own server, but thankfully for those players that wasn’t the case. (By comparison, LOTRO has six 64-bit servers.)

EG7 eventually plans on transitioning away from non-first-party live-service games, but for now the total library of Daybreak Studios’ games are EG7’s biggest and most consistent revenue resource. So DDO will reap some of the rewards of that, but probably don’t expect it to be more than what it gets now.
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In 2023 EG7 was responding to a downturn in their business (whole industry? ) and were shifting to a more conservative approach and backing away from speculative projects. I'm really unclear about the meaning of third-party vs first-party in the context since my understanding is that SSG is owned by Daybreak which is owned by EG7. I would think that would make it first-party?
 
D

Dude

Well-known member
lilgeek said:
In 2023 EG7 was responding to a downturn in their business (whole industry? ) and were shifting to a more conservative approach and backing away from speculative projects. I'm really unclear about the meaning of third-party vs first-party in the context since my understanding is that SSG is owned by Daybreak which is owned by EG7. I would think that would make it first-party?
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EG7 owns the Everquest IP = First Party. EG7 licenses LOTR and D&D IP = Third Party.
 
Blaster

Blaster

Well-known member
The transition away from third-party live-service games could take several years. What EG7 was aiming for was franchising their first-party games, using the Call of Duty model as an example. EG7 understands its place in the market as a mid-tier company, and is conservative with its investments and outlook. They won't diverge from a consistent, predictable, and profitable source of income like third-party live-service games unless they are absolutely sure they can make up that that revenue with their first-party games.

As for Daybreak, their first-party titles (which EG7 owns the IP for) are things like EverQuest 1 and 2, H1Z1, and Palia. Third party games are DDO, LOTRO, DC Universe Online, Magic: The Gathering Online, and PlanetSide 2 (which used to be first-party but the IP was sold while development was kept under Daybreak). EG7 views Daybreak as a single entity, which is good for its lower performing games. (Though EG7 will call individual studios and/or games performances if they stand out good or bad during any given financial quarter or year.)

Looking into the wording EG7 uses in financial statements, it appears EG7 likes having third-party licenses to show off to investors. D&D, Lord of the Rings, Magic: The Gathering, and DC Comics, are all reccognizable IPS and look good on a logo sheet. I don't think they'd give up these licenses anytime soon, so that also works in DDO's favor. (EG7 can also tout the Alien license with Cold Iron Studio's upcoming sequel to Aliens: FIreteam Elite.)

(As for @Dude inquiry about EverQuest, development is supposedly underway on what is loosly referred to as "EverQuest 3", and 2024 was a good year for the game because of its 25th Anniversary. EG7 was able to charge upwards of 250 US Dollars for digital tickets to Fippy Fest 2024 and sold out of 1500 US Dollars in-person tickets, so EverQuest isn't hurting. Depending on how Palia does this year, EverQuest is cuurently the most engaged and profitable first-party game under the Daybreak banner.)
 
Br4d

Br4d

Well-known member
EQ is a hard IP to properly develop due to it not being a thing in the current generation culture. Most of the people who know it intimately are in their 50’s or older and buzz is just very different in that part of the gaming population.

Sony found this out the hard way when they green lighted EQ Next only to discover that nobody had a clue how to develop a product for the next generation and the EQ player base rejected attempts to move development in that direction anyway.
 
R

Resist

Well-known member
Br4d said:
EQ is a hard IP to properly develop due to it not being a thing in the current generation culture. Most of the people who know it intimately are in their 50’s
or older and buzz is just very different in that part of the gaming population.
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50s? Ouch. 😂
 
S

songswrath

Well-known member
Smokewolf said:
I've mentioned this before within several other threads, but people though I was crazy.

Anyways... My original point being was that the EU will sooner-or-later (legally) come after MMO's that use online currency and loot-boxes, as a means to further monetize a game. SSG (likely) realizing this situation is coming, opted to take action as part of the 64-bit server transfers. Thus dividing players by making the server options limited, while keeping US / EU servers from overlapping coverage areas. Hence, EU players will mostly stay in the EU, while a pittance of East-Coast player may use Moonsea.

Besides, the laws in Vegas tend to be rather lax and naturally favor gambling systems, such as online MMO's.

Side note: Yes, shard re-rolls are basically just another form of loot box. Which is just online gambling without the age verification, loot odds being posted and tax requirements that would certainly take a big bite.

-Smoke
Click to expand...
Facts they flying under the radar with such a low population in game now with a server in the eu. I don't see this getting unnoticed for long.
 
R

Resist

Well-known member
I’m actually quite surprised we haven’t heard more of an outcry from East Coasters about the loss of servers in their area. (Maybe the complaints will come later after the transfers begin.)

I suspected a significant portion of the player base to be centered around the Ivy Leagues, but maybe those players are dying out and the business is trending towards the West, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam.
 
S

Sylvado

Well-known member
Resist said:
I’m actually quite surprised we haven’t heard more of an outcry from East Coasters about the loss of servers in their area. (Maybe the complaints will come later after the transfers begin.)

I suspected a significant portion of the player base to be centered around the Ivy Leagues, but maybe those players are dying out and the business is trending towards the West, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam.
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Mine goes from 10 mS to 70 mS but I played on Cormyr for a few months with no latency issues.
 
Br4d

Br4d

Well-known member
Resist said:
I’m actually quite surprised we haven’t heard more of an outcry from East Coasters about the loss of servers in their area. (Maybe the complaints will come later after the transfers begin.)

I suspected a significant portion of the player base to be centered around the Ivy Leagues, but maybe those players are dying out and the business is trending towards the West, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam.
Click to expand...

This wasn't really an issue at any point from my experience. I think the game plays similarly at 30ms and 80ms or at least close enough not to be really noticeable. I expect some lag on Cormyr during the transfer window however if performance is otherwise as it has been I'm just fine with it.

I'm actually planning to transfer Wayfinder to Moonsea to give me some options. I don't think 100ms is likely to be a problem.
 
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