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[Wonder Cheese]

This is huge. Microsoft needs to start shouting about this from the mountain tops.

 

[iamshadowlark]

dedicated servers aren't perfect but they're still miles better than p2p.

In most shooters and certain types if games, yeah. I'd agree to a slightly less hyberbolic extent. But they aren't a great solution for every game and are counter productive to some others. Fighting and Sports games as an example.

 

[NullPointer]

Please enlighten all of use of a superior alternative to dedicated servers for online gaming.

I remember reading some article a few years back about how in some circumstance p2p can be better than dedicated servers. I think it boiled down to something as simple as having a better path to the nearest peer than you would to the dedicated servers. But even then you'd still get host advantage.

With something like Azure and its competitors, virtualized and spread across datacenters all around thew world, the dedicated server advantage will only improve over time.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Incredible.

Microsoft: "We will have dedicated severs for every Xbox One game"

Response: "But there must be a catch! It's too good to be true."

Sony: No official comment concerning dedicated servers for all PS4 games.

Response: "Of course they will, it's Sony!"



Sure, go find me a multiplayer game that runs better without dedicated servers.

Incredible

 

[Garrett 2U]

You seem to be deep in the realm of guessing. Unless you have a source?

Here, you can go read about cloud computing and how a cloud infrastructure works with virutal servers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Infrastructure_as_a_service_.28IaaS.29

And here is a source on resources being allocated for each xbox one.

http://www.oxm.co.uk/54748/xbox-one...e-equivalent-of-three-xbox-ones-in-the-cloud/
"We're provisioning for developers for every physical Xbox One we build, we're provisioning the CPU and storage equivalent of three Xbox Ones on the cloud. We're doing that flat out so that any game developer can assume that there's roughly three times the resources immediately available to their game, so they can build bigger, persistent levels that are more inclusive for players. They can do that out of the gate."

------

And definitive clarification on the servers from Albert:

Also to be clear. One of the benefits of publishing games on Xbox One – ALL game developers get Dedicated Servers, Cloud Processing, and “storage” (for save games) free.

If you want to do dedicated servers on other platforms, you have to prop them yourself. But on Xbox One, while developers can choose to use their own methods, we make it available to everyone.

There should be no confusion on this point. We do not charge developers for Dedicated Servers.

All games on Xbox One have access to all resources for free.
Servers for other platforms need to be managed independently.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Huh??

I'm not sure if you're being intentionally obtuse:

You seem to be deep in the realm of guessing.

?

 

[aravuus]

Because?

Because... What?

The PS4 is out what a month today. Sony has nothing. They may have in the future but they have never even hinted at anything other than streaming.

They are practically incapable of matching MS in this area.

Yeah, for now. It's indeed very unlikely they'll have anything at launch, but maybe next summer? In a year? That'd leave Xbone as the preferred MP console for probably a couple of games, after which they'd be even again.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

In most shooters and certain types if games, yeah. I'd agree to a slightly less hyberbolic extent. But they aren't a great solution for every game and are counter productive to some others. Fighting and Sports games as an example.

Optional, free, on-demand dedicated servers really sounds like the perfect solution.

 

[BigDug13]

I remember reading some article a few years back about how in some circumstance p2p can be better than dedicated servers. I think it boiled down to something as simple as having a better path to the nearest peer than you would to the dedicated servers. But even then you'd still get host advantage.

Yeah dedicated servers is sometimes worse if the worldwide coverage isn't as good. In other words, 5 Russian dudes may end up with a better experience on P2P than dedicated if the dedicated server is located several countries away.

But for most people, it's no contest which is better.

 

[Papercuts]

This thread is fucking hysterical. Thank you everyone.

We now have people who can't notice the impact of dedicated servers.

 

[iamshadowlark]

I'm not sure if you're being intentionally obtuse:



?

Obtuse? Do you realize you are quoting two different people and conflating their posts?

 

[Tripp Daily]

Albert just posted this in another thread. Should probably be in the OP too.:
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=86164933

I guess that's my job....

so much responsibility. I do not envy you Shinobi!

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Obtuse? Do you realize you are quoting two different people and conflating their posts?

Sorry I just realized I was talking to someone else! My bad.

 

[Hermii]

This is huge. Microsoft needs to start shouting about this from the mountain tops.

Or maybe they need to demonstrate it actually works.

 

[Tripp Daily]

Sorry I just realized I was talking to someone else! My bad.

It's ok, you have Mandy Moore as your avatar. We can't stay mad at you.

 

[NullPointer]

Why did it take them until now to clearly state this? How recent a decision was this?

Like I've said before it was mentioned in Wired a long time ago, but it seemed to fall off the radar until just recently.

 

[KrAzEd]

I guess that's my job....

so much responsibility. I do not envy you Shinobi!

Thank you for posting this....should shut up the haters, but probably not. For those that are too lazy, Panello CONFIRMED free dedi's....and yes thats a HUGE deal

 

[Wonder Cheese]

Optional, free, on-demand dedicated servers really sounds like the perfect solution.

Yup. There really is no possible reasonable way to pooh pooh this, yet it happens here. It's crazy.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

It's ok, you have Mandy Moore as your avatar. We can't stay mad at you.

I use that as a calming method, although it does not seem to work on some

 

[immortal-joe]

Stuff like this is why I never subscribed to the "auto win" for PS4 theory after the clusterfuck of the XBone.

MS are insanely aggressive, and the 180's and moneyhats won't stop until they feel secure again.

They'll remain dominant; they don't deserve to be, but I think they will come out of this mess just fine.

 

[Pain]

Incredible.

Microsoft: "We will have dedicated severs for every Xbox One game"

Response: "But there must be a catch! It's too good to be true."

Sony: No official comment concerning dedicated servers for all PS4 games.

Response: "Of course they will, it's Sony!"



Sure, go find me a multiplayer game that runs better without dedicated servers.

You see Sony isn't going to say all PS4 games will have dedicated servers because they can't guarantee that. Its up to the developers like it always has been.

Xbox One won't either. They OFFER them for "free" to developers but who knows what kind of stipulations devs have to agree to. Titanfall is using the Xbox Cloud so that should give us an idea.

Sony, just like Microsoft, demands feature parity of multiplatform games.
So, no, not every Xbox One game will have dedicated servers. PS4 is the limiting factor here.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

It doesn't say free dedi's, it says free compute, no word on if they're still charging for storage/badwidth, doesn't make much sense to use the word "compute" otherwise.

I don't understand

Also to be clear. One of the benefits of publishing games on Xbox One – ALL game developers get Dedicated Servers, Cloud Processing, and “storage” (for save games) free.

Doesn't it say exactly that?

EDIT: sorry my bad read, who is Albert and what other thread?!

 

[Garrett 2U]

Why did it take them until now to clearly state this? How recent a decision was this?

Like I've said before it was mentioned in Wired a long time ago, but it seemed to fall off the radar until just now.

I mean.. they've been hinting at it for a while.
Just nobody believed it. Seemed too good to be true.

 

[2San]

Why did it take them until now to clearly state this? How recent a decision was this?

Pretty recent I'm guessing. Remember that the Titanfall devs only mentioning a discount.

You see Sony isn't going to say all PS4 games will have dedicated servers because they can't guarantee that. Its up to the developers like it always has been.

Xbox One won't either. They OFFER them for "free" to developers but who knows what kind of stipulations devs have to agree to. Titanfall is using the Xbox Cloud so that should give us an idea.

Sony, just like Microsoft, demands feature parity of multiplatform games.
So, no, not every Xbox One game will have dedicated servers. PS4 is the limiting factor here.

Well how about they start with their own exclusives? Like Shadow Fall.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Well the usual suspects have shown up and are embarrassing themselves again smh

Free dedicated servers for developers is a huge deal, wonder how Sony's going to answer.

 

[Can Crusher]

If it actually becomes a distinction, with big 3rd party MP games having dedis on Xbox One and P2P on PS4, it's reason enough for me to buy the console. Specially when you take into account 3rd party Publishers are pushing the whole MP business ahead next gen.

Very interested in seeing how this will actually differentiate multiplats down the road. Apparently it won't have any effect at launch, and I really don't care about KZ mp... but BF4 is all about the MP. It would be great to know if BF4 actually has dedicated servers on both, like COD.

 

[Wonder Cheese]

Or maybe they need to demonstrate it actually works.

Even *if* the only advantage of this turns out to be free dedicated servers for mp for any developer that wants them, that's huge. Anything else "working" is just icing on the cake.

 

[Uno Venova]

That's great, softens the blow of having to pay for online play.

 

[Amir0x]

To be clear, is this a change from the previous policy where developers have to pay for dedicated servers, but it's a diminished fee?

As late as the end of June, Respawn was saying that it costs money, just greatly reduced price:

"Most importantly to us, Microsoft priced it so that it's far more affordable than other hosting options - their goal here is to get more awesome games, not to nickel-and-dime developers. So because of this, dedicated servers are much more of a realistic option for developers who don't want to make compromises on their player experience, and it opens up a lot more things that we can do in an online game."

Was this just him being coy by saying 'far more affordable' instead of 'free', or is this a legit policy change, or what? I can't think of more encouraging news, but I'm just trying to be sure.

 

[iamshadowlark]

Optional, free, on-demand dedicated servers really sounds like the perfect solution.

Yes it is.

Here, you can go read about cloud computing and how a cloud infrastructure works with virutal servers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Infrastructure_as_a_service_.28IaaS.29

And here is a source on resources being allocated for each xbox one.



------

And definitive clarification on the servers from Albert:


All games on Xbox One have access to all resources for free.
Servers for other platforms need to be managed independently.

I know how cloud processing works, thank you. I'm questioning your assertions on this specific implementation. How do you know that each game will have an infinite "shelf-life" on MS' free server platform? Nothing you've posted corroborates that.

 

[yankeehater]

You see Sony isn't going to say all PS4 games will have dedicated servers because they can't guarantee that. Its up to the developers like it always has been.

Xbox One won't either. They OFFER them for "free" to developers but who knows what kind of stipulations devs have to agree to. Titanfall is using the Xbox Cloud so that should give us an idea.

Sony, just like Microsoft, demands feature parity of multiplatform games.
So, no, not every Xbox One game will have dedicated servers. PS4 is the limiting factor here.

So the PS4 is going to hold back next gen? I cant see any way that Sony demands publishers pay for dedicated servers on PS4 games if MS gives it away for free. No one would agree to that.

 

[shinnn]

So put this working on FIFA please.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Well the usual suspects have shown up and are embarrassing themselves again smh

Free dedicated servers for developers is a huge deal, wonder how Sony's going to answer.

I've been saying this for a while now but they really can't. Microsoft is leveraging their absolutely massive server farm resources for this. The only people that could compete on that level would be google.

The only question is, apart from servers for multi which should win them the COD crowd by default, what will 'cloud compute' actually do for games. MS needs to launch with some pretty obvious 'look how the cloud makes it better than ps4' games. But I really doubt that will be possible. It'll be like 4 years before someone makes an awesome idea nobody thought of.

 

[LNBL]

Great news this

 

[Montresor]

Preorder kept. Gimme dat xbox.

 

[SmashBro]

Pretty recent I'm guessing. Remember that the Titanfall devs only mentioning a discount.

Well how about they start with their own exclusives? Like Shadow Fall.

Maybe they changed it and made it free which is really good for devs and gamers. Why else would cod have dedicated servers for the first time ever

Spoiler

because its free

 

[NullPointer]

Was this just him being coy by saying 'far more affordable' instead of 'free', or is this a legit policy change, or what? I can't think of more encouraging news, but I'm just trying to be sure.

Check the OP for the extra confirming quotes. This looks like a legit change in policy.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

So the PS4 is going to hold back the Xbox One to have parity online, and the Xbox One will hold back the PS4 to have parity with visuals.

Is everyone happy now?

 

[Lucreto]

I wonder how Microsoft will afford to run servers later this generation when there are thousands of games requiring the servers.

They are $6 billion in the hole in the gaming division and running these servers won't be cheap. Will they increase the price of live or will they have less exclusive games next generation.

I am not playing down this big achievement for Microsoft but things can get expensive.

 

[Can Crusher]

I've been saying this for a while now but they really can't. Microsoft is leveraging their absolutely massive server farm resources for this. The only people that could compete on that level would be google.

The only question is, apart from servers for multi which should win them the COD crowd by default, what will 'cloud compute' actually do for games. MS needs to launch with some pretty obvious 'look how the cloud makes it better than ps4' games. But I really doubt that will be possible. It'll be like 4 years before someone makes an awesome idea nobody thought of.

COD has dedis on PS4 so it's not going to win them the COD crowd by default at all.

 

[Mugatu]

I've been saying this for a while now but they really can't. Microsoft is leveraging their absolutely massive server farm resources for this. The only people that could compete on that level would be google.

I believe Amazon Web Services is still bigger than MS Azure.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

To be clear, is this a change from the previous policy where developers have to pay for dedicated servers, but it's a diminished fee?

As late as the end of June, Respawn was saying that it costs money, just greatly reduced price:



Was this just him being coy by saying 'far more affordable' instead of 'free', or is this a legit policy change, or what? I can't think of more encouraging news, but I'm just trying to be sure.

Not sure. They may be paying for dedis for the PC and 360 versions, though.

 

[Wereroku]

I've been saying this for a while now but they really can't. Microsoft is leveraging their absolutely massive server farm resources for this. The only people that could compete on that level would be google.

The only question is, apart from servers for multi which should win them the COD crowd by default, what will 'cloud compute' actually do for games. MS needs to launch with some pretty obvious 'look how the cloud makes it better than ps4' games. But I really doubt that will be possible. It'll be like 4 years before someone makes an awesome idea nobody thought of.

Why would it be a win on COD? They have come out and said all versions of COD will have the exact same server solution. Even the interview says that activision and ea are going to do their own thing.

 

[2San]

I wonder how Microsoft will afford to run servers later this generation when there are thousands of games requiring the servers.

They are $6 billion in the hole in the gaming division and running these servers won't be cheap. Will they increase the price of live or will they have less exclusive games next generation.

I am not playing down this big achievement for Microsoft but things can get expensive.

I don't know how long the servers are running, but the gamers are paying for the servers with live.

Maybe they changed it and made it free which is really good for devs and gamers. Why else would cod have dedicated servers for the first time ever

Spoiler

because its free

Yeah but PS4 has them too(it's pretty much 99,99% confirmed). I'm wondering the PS4 version is running on Azure as well.

 

[R3TRO]

Been a good week for next Gen news and it'll only get better in the following weeks I'd assume.

 

[Ebomb]

I believe Amazon Web Services is still bigger than MS Azure.

Aws has the same capacity of the next 15 biggest cloud providers combined as of a few months ago.

 

[NullPointer]

Aws has the same capacity of the next 15 biggest cloud providers combined as of a few months ago.

Jeebus.

 

[Mr.Speedy]

If it actually becomes a distinction, with big 3rd party MP games having dedis on Xbox One and P2P on PS4, it's reason enough for me to buy the console. Specially when you take into account 3rd party Publishers are pushing the whole MP business ahead next gen.

Very interested in seeing how this will actually differentiate multiplats down the road. Apparently it won't have any effect at launch, and I really don't care about KZ mp... but BF4 is all about the MP. It would be great to know if BF4 actually has dedicated servers on both, like COD.

Great post.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Show me a game that runs with dedicated servers on X1 and with P2P on PS4. Right, you can't. Because every game will very likely have dedicated servers on both platforms. I already wrote why this is nonsense from a developement perspective.

Killzone shadow fall has p2p multiplayer on ps4... (shame on guerilla btw)

 

[Wereroku]

Not sure. They may be paying for dedis for the PC and 360 versions, though.

I am guessing this is the cause for Respawn. Reduced pricing on all platforms may have been part of the exclusive equation for them. That would explain why it would make sense to only release on XBO for next gen.