Sorry but what did “we” specifically move away from? Because user hosted servers are very much still a thing for a lot of games and none of the problems you mentioned are really inherent to the concept. Web technology and integration was just a lot… less mature in the nineties.
Like I said I don’t really share that experience. To my knowledge user hosted servers are still a thing. Your claim lacks supporting evidence. Or even an argument beyond “old games old” really, because user hosted servers don’t equate having to use third-party websites anymore for most games.
The argument I was addressing was “It didn’t suck ass” when it provably did because people went ape shit over Steam and Battle.net giving centralized ways to find games.
Yeah which is my entire point, because both of those examples were ways to find user hosted servers as well as ones hosted by the developers. So your argument doesn’t make sense as a retort to what the initial OP was saying IMHO, which included:
Then, all you really need to run is a simple connection server that lets people search for game servers.
Those are what Steam and Battle.net are in this context, the connection server, which is different from the game server which was meant by “let the users run the servers”.
Those are what Steam and Battle.net are in this context, the connection server, which is different from the game server which was meant by “let the users run the servers”.
This is what I meant by “moved away from”
As you also state, there are currently games with user-run servers. With the exception of Minecraft, they all do less business than games with a centralized server.
There’s a reason for that, and it isn’t some mythical cartel. If there was such a cartel, then there wouldn’t be games that host their own servers.
Any sort of competitive game, as an easy example, will always be more popular if it has a server hosted by the game itself, to make cheating harder. Even GTA’s online play was blasted by players for not having enough security. The rise of fast internet led to demand for more multiplayer, and especially competitive-multiplayer games.
Im old enough to remember reading the debates on “is multiplayer worth companies spending time on” in PC Gamer and other physical magazines, at the time. The original mentality was that multiplayer modes were a waste of time that detracted from game quality by diverting resources, because games were too hard to find anyway.
Idk why people are so desperate to find supervillains everywhere that they refuse to acknowledge how the current system evolved, historically.
Those are what Steam and Battle.net are in this context, the connection server, which is different from the game server which was meant by “let the users run the servers”.
This is what I meant by “moved away from”
Ok, that was really unclear from your OP, hence my question. Thanks for clearing that up.
With the exception of Minecraft, they all do less business than games with a centralized server.
“If you ignore this falsifying date my hypothesis holds” seems like a weird way of arguing, but ok. Minecraft is indeed a popular multiplayer game with user run servers.
Idk why people are so desperate to find supervillains everywhere
I’m not, I just wasn’t clear on whether you were talking about connection servers or game servers, and was ready to break a lance for the latter.
Sorry but what did “we” specifically move away from? Because user hosted servers are very much still a thing for a lot of games and none of the problems you mentioned are really inherent to the concept. Web technology and integration was just a lot… less mature in the nineties.
People who were alive at the time and flocked to centralized servers. Markets respond to demand.
Like I said I don’t really share that experience. To my knowledge user hosted servers are still a thing. Your claim lacks supporting evidence. Or even an argument beyond “old games old” really, because user hosted servers don’t equate having to use third-party websites anymore for most games.
The argument I was addressing was “It didn’t suck ass” when it provably did because people went ape shit over Steam and Battle.net giving centralized ways to find games.
Yeah which is my entire point, because both of those examples were ways to find user hosted servers as well as ones hosted by the developers. So your argument doesn’t make sense as a retort to what the initial OP was saying IMHO, which included:
Those are what Steam and Battle.net are in this context, the connection server, which is different from the game server which was meant by “let the users run the servers”.
This is what I meant by “moved away from”
As you also state, there are currently games with user-run servers. With the exception of Minecraft, they all do less business than games with a centralized server.
There’s a reason for that, and it isn’t some mythical cartel. If there was such a cartel, then there wouldn’t be games that host their own servers.
Any sort of competitive game, as an easy example, will always be more popular if it has a server hosted by the game itself, to make cheating harder. Even GTA’s online play was blasted by players for not having enough security. The rise of fast internet led to demand for more multiplayer, and especially competitive-multiplayer games.
Im old enough to remember reading the debates on “is multiplayer worth companies spending time on” in PC Gamer and other physical magazines, at the time. The original mentality was that multiplayer modes were a waste of time that detracted from game quality by diverting resources, because games were too hard to find anyway.
Idk why people are so desperate to find supervillains everywhere that they refuse to acknowledge how the current system evolved, historically.
Ok, that was really unclear from your OP, hence my question. Thanks for clearing that up.
“If you ignore this falsifying date my hypothesis holds” seems like a weird way of arguing, but ok. Minecraft is indeed a popular multiplayer game with user run servers.
I’m not, I just wasn’t clear on whether you were talking about connection servers or game servers, and was ready to break a lance for the latter.