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When a MMO Goes Dark
NCPilot
Member Posts: 49
Some of us has experience the heartache when an MMO's server closes, You can't play with your friends or guild anymore and all of your accplimishment is gone in the wind. When this happens, should the company release the server code (or source code) so that people can still continue to play the game? I mean when you buy a single player game or a single player game with Multiplayer capabilities, you can still play the game, 1, 5, or even 10 years down the line. However once a MMO goes dark, that's it, you can't play the game anymore.
So, should companies that close down MMO turn over the source code and/or server code so that players can still play the game?
Yo
Comments
Should they? No. When you've put no effort into something, you're not entitled in any part of it.
If I write a book and the book is crap, are you entitled to it? Why?
Err, source code ? No.
But it would be nice if they released the executables so people can run private servers.
With software like Torrent, the game company could release these executables with almost zero cost for the distribution, too.
Dont kid yourself, though: server software typically does NOT run on Windows, but on some Unix. With some luck, its Linux. However, as MMOs are very hardware demanding, some expensive commercial Unix is possible, too.
You dont make any sense whatsoever.
The different between and MMO and a book is that I can read the book over and over and over. However, if an MMO server goes dark, then I can't play it anymore. I can't play a game that I brought and subscribed to.
Yo
How is executable different than the Source Code or Server Code?
Yo
Honestly I kind of agree, If company sells me a single player game, then I have access to that game and I can hack it and manipulate it for as long as I own it (supposing I dont try to profit from the modifications). Same with say a book or a CD. And it should apply with mmos, if I pay for the box, and then per month, isnt that exactly like me just paying for the development of that single player game that I bought?
I think the companies should sometimes post the server software so that users can have their own flashback adventures so long as they do not redistribute or try to profit from it. Whats the harm?
I would like to see that happening, it has nothing to do with being entitled as Xasapis suggested but has to do with a legit question asked by OP.
But I have to wonder would a common gaming computer be able to run a MMORPG server? Obviously most of us with gaming rigs can easely run normal multiplayer servers, but when it comes to a MMORPG I feel we need individuals that actually host a MMORPG server seperate from their gaming system.
But it would be intresting as said to see this happening with games that have "gone dark".
But also would like to know from perhaps developers is if it would actually be possible and what type of server or system is needed to make it happen.
you might aswell ask microsoft for their windows source code, or google about their search engine algorythm
In general it'd be a bad idea to use your gaming or every day computer as a server. It's neither built for it nor is it going to be particularly effective if you wanna be using it as well.
You'd need both a dedicated computer as well as an internet plan that allows for high upload speed and bit rate.
In the case of the hardware, it also depends on the game and the engine. In the case of server architecture, some MMOs would just not be able to be run off a normal computer any ways and might need a rack or cluster in roder to contain and manage it all properly.
Even then, you have to account for your internet and what it can do. The average person's internet in the US is more or less incapable of hosting a stable server that'd house more than a common FPS. Some one with a great connection might be lucky with a couple hundred players on their server before it gets notably choppy or dealing with packet loss and data caps.
Paying for a host would more closely guarantee you the hardware and internet connection. However, that'd be an extra cost stacked onto your normal gaming needs.
EDIT: I personally don't think they should release the source code, unless it's their intention to never look back at the the game and have no licensing or publisher obligations.
I do think it'd be nice if the data necessary for running the game and server could be released for the playerbase though.
Also, executable would be different from source or server code by the fact that the source code and server code would be the script for the game, engine platform, etc. The executable version is like the client version of the game, where the tools, dev systems, and code has all been packed away and cleaned up (in a mildly inaccurate sense) and the general user will never see or have access to tinkering with said data.
The server side for something like an MMO isn't actually all that often set up as a clean set of executables, mostly because it, like the dev tools, aren't usually something the commercial public will ever see or deal with. As a result, it's hard to package into executables as they'd have to be cleaned up a lot if they were to be offered openly.
If a company was going under though and was willing to offer the code regardless, I still see no issue with providing the resources for some of the more tech savvy to turn into a working game again.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Naaa... It is not a very good idea.. Mostly because people tend to not be able to keep their sticky fingers of changingwhat they felt was "wrong" with the game such as leveling speed.. damage output droprates and so on and so forth... Just keep it snug in your mind and think of the good times you had.
This have been a good conversation
I wonder if anyone remembers that the source code of Lineage 2 was leaked in ep 5. Causing there to be TONS of private servers running around. NCSoft to this day is still squashing private servers of the game. To be honest, a few private servers were better than the original.
To answer the OP's question though, I say it depends. If a company is using the same engine in more than one game and/or is still around, I'd say no for security reasons. It would just give hackers an easier time of finding backdoors to live MMOs. Now for a company that went bust, eh I don't see why not, unless they are selling the game and/or engine to another company.
Most MMOs use a third party engine, like Gamebyro, they can't release the server files as part of such a license agreement or it would compromise ALL MMOs built on that engine.
Imagine the lawsuits!
I've never understood why a MMOG is closed rather than sold. Even a small return on investment is better than none, right?
There are a couple reasons they might not want to, but they don't make much sense to me.
- The game might become competition to their other products. If that is the case then why are they closing it down in the first place?
- The game uses a proprietary game engine that is used in other projects and could be used for the development of competing products. This could be a legitimate reason, but none of the closed MMOG's that I can remember used a game engine that was designed for reuse. In fact, one of the only games that DID have a reusable game engine is the one that was sold rather than closed (Mythos).