In this essay I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of facilitating multi-player games, focusing on the older, traditional model of dedicated servers and the newer method of peer-to-peer matchmaking. Multi-player gaming is one of the most lucrative markets in media currently, along with the largest market in video games. Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) being "the biggest entertainment launch ever"[6] grossing $360 million; more than any book or film on launch day. Not only blockbuster titles gross incredible amounts Minecraft (an independent game developed originally by one man), while still in beta, has grossed over $33 million[7]. Also the digital distribution of games is incredibly profitable with the Valve Corporation, who run the Steam distribution platform, “per employee, Valve is more profitable than Google and Apple”[8]. The Video Games Industry is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world today, where one of the major draws is playing with friends, or against other people; here lies the problem, there is no singular solution to allow multi-player gaming.
The earliest widespread solution was the use of dedicated servers. Dedicated servers are powerful computers which specifically manage all of the players which are currently playing the game running on the server. Servers usually run on a version of Windows[9], running the binary for the particular games dedicated server software, the server software allows a specific IP address set access to the administrative tasks, which vary between games, this group will be known as the Administrators (or admins). Servers are usually accessed by player through a server browser, allowing players to find a game which suits them. Dedicated servers are mostly used for games played on PC, with a few exceptions[10].
More recently the option of Peer-to-Peer (p2p) matchmaking has emerged, where players search for matches in a particular playlist (game type e.g.: Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, etc) where a game is found with other players of similar skill searching in the same playlist[11]. The most common networking solution is to choose a common host who allows for the best average connection for all players in the game, said player will be known as the host. Playlists as well as other administrative tasks are managed by the developer of the game or by automated systems applied by the developer.
Neither dedicated servers nor Peer-to-Peer matchmaking are perfect and both exhibit advantages over one another:
Servers exhibit a few advantages over p2p that cannot be met without a large change to how the system works. They have traditionally facilitated the formations of gaming communities, often known as clans, of like minded players who enjoy playing together, who will run a server for their community[1]. With servers being flexible by their admins, it has assisted the modification scene[4], allowing small game changes, such as an enhanced user interface such as source mod[16] to the total conversion, where a large chunk of the game is rebuilt to create a new game using the same code, Team Fortress[17] is one of the earliest popular titles, which was given a sequel by the Valve Corporation[18]. With servers being specifically built to play a specific game, or set of games, it is guaranteed that the machine is should be capable of running those games consistently.
In October of 2009, it was announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers on the PC, choosing to adopt the p2p System which the console versions use[19]. This lead to criticism from the player base, who firmly support the server model, including Tim Edwards (editor of PC Gamer[20]), beliving that certain aspects, including community and connection quality were tantamount to the series[21]. However Jason West and Vince Zampella, the founders of Infinity Ward, put forward the idea that using a p2p model was to improve the player experience[22]. CoD: MW 2 was released in November of 2009, with no dedicated server support on PC, selling faster than it’s predecessor Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare[23].
Shortly after the Modern Warfare 2 fiasco, Gordon Van Dyke (Formerly of DICE[24]) announced that the latest version of the long running Battlefield franchise would continue to use dedicated servers opposed to peer-to-peer networking on the three platforms where Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was released. DICE. DICE believe that p2p was too reliant on the hosts connection, which if the connection is not sufficient then all players experience suffers, independent of their Internet connection. p2p also presents the problem of the host disconnecting,where if a system is not implemented to migrate the hosting responsibilities to another player then the game will end. Using a server system means that games can be uninterrupted by any connection problems[10]. Battlefield Bad company 2 was the 6th best selling game released in 2010 on the Xbox 360[25].
Also prompted by Modern Warfare 2, John Carmack, of Id Software, claimed that the likelyhood of having dedicated servers on their upcoming game RAGE was low. With Id Software’s previous titles being incredibly reliant on dedicated servers, but Carmack believes that servers are a relic from early multi-player PC gaming[26].
My solution:
Neither of the solutions used currently are ideal, nor can they be merged to improve the overall player experience; due to how they differ. Both have problems which make them sub optimal:
Peer-to-peer matchmaking suffers from being too dependant on the players, particularly the hosts Internet connection, particularly their upload capability. Of course this will improve as domestic Internet connections do, however upload capabilities are not prioritised by Internet Service Providers, with upload speed usually being a fraction of the download capability[29]. Also matchmaking does not allow for custom game types, or (legitimate) modifications as servers can facilitate.
The major problem with servers is the remnants of archaic elements from the early days of PC gaming, which can act as a deterrent for those unfamiliar with them. Also unlike peer-to-peer matchmaking, a server which a player joins can be full of highly experienced players, whilst said player has little experience, leaving him/her with an unpleasant experience.
I propose merging of the best aspects of both peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers. Creating a hybrid of the matchmaking system used in peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers. Where there would be two types of server: Ranked and Social.
Ranked servers would be run by the developer of the game, they would implement a system similar to that of peer-to-peer matchmaking, where you cannot select a specific game, but a specific game type can be selected. One would be matched against players of similar skill according to the algorithm the developers use. Although instead of one of the players hosting the game, a dedicated server will be selected from a large set of developer run servers, located in various locations, an optimal server will be selected from those that are available for all players involved in the game, allowing for an enjoyable experience all around.
Social servers would be exclusively community run. Supporting all the features servers currently feature: modifications, communities, and custom server rules. All of which can be specified by those who administrate the server. Allowing for renting servers allows server hosting companies such as Gameservers to continue to exist and provide support to their customers about their product. Allowing publicly owned servers is incredibly important, for building communities, playing with and against a fairly consistent group of players, it helps to build team-work, and critical thinking [1].
Open modification of game engines is something which has been incredibly important to growth and innovation in the games industry. Teams and groups which build successful mods are Necessary to bring new mindsets and ideas to the development of video games. Counter-Strike, a 1999 modification for Half-Life not only became the most popular modification, but was eventually bought by Valve and released commercially. Modifications cannot be affected by marketing, allowing for free creativity from the creators, showing the capabilities of the creators[4].
Dedicated servers ran by the developer could be a cost which the developer may not be able to maintain indefinitely, due to reallocating servers to another game they are going to release, or in the very unfortunate case that the developer goes bankrupt and the system is removed. Though the use of social servers can combat this, “Vanilla” servers can be run by the games player base, or by server hosting companies as a way of demonstrating their servers and advertising their business. The main downside being that the matchmaking system would likely be discontinued with the lack of Ranked servers.
My solution will give the best of both peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers, a solid competitive ranked system as the developers of the game intended, without the problems which come along with using peer-to-peer networking. Social servers will allow communities to grow and thrive, playing the game how they see fit with as many or as few server modifications as they see fit.
Word Count: 2079
[22] Adam Biessener Infinity Ward Responds To PC Fanboys' Dedicated Server Woes October 20, 2009 http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/10/20/modern-warfare-2-dedicated-server-response.aspx
[23] Ben Parfitt MW2 PC Sales Topple Predecessor November 20 2009 http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36607/MW2-PC-sales-topple-predecessor
[24] Gordon Van Dyke “I know, April Fools, but yes, I have left DICE. I'm still in EA though & moving back to the Bay Area to be closer to family for a few years.” http://twitter.com/#!/GordonVanDyke/status/11413693186
[25] Matt Matthews Exclusive: NPD Reveals 2010 U.S. New Game Charts Per Platform February 11 2011 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32873/Exclusive_NPD_Reveals_2010_US_New_Game_Charts_Per_Platform_.php
[26] Chris Morris Dedicated servers and Rage - news you probably don't want to hear November 5 2009 http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2009/11/dedicated-servers-and-rage-news-you-probably-dont-want-to-hear.html
[27] Tina Sanchez Cliff Bleszinski on Gears of War 3's Beta, Servers, and More October 8 2010 http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3181803&p=
[28] IGN Staff For Gears 3 Multiplayer, Failure Is Not an Option March 8, 2011 http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1154447p1.html
[29] Consumer Choices Editorial Broadband upload speeds January 4 2011 http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband-upload-speeds.html
The earliest widespread solution was the use of dedicated servers. Dedicated servers are powerful computers which specifically manage all of the players which are currently playing the game running on the server. Servers usually run on a version of Windows[9], running the binary for the particular games dedicated server software, the server software allows a specific IP address set access to the administrative tasks, which vary between games, this group will be known as the Administrators (or admins). Servers are usually accessed by player through a server browser, allowing players to find a game which suits them. Dedicated servers are mostly used for games played on PC, with a few exceptions[10].
More recently the option of Peer-to-Peer (p2p) matchmaking has emerged, where players search for matches in a particular playlist (game type e.g.: Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, etc) where a game is found with other players of similar skill searching in the same playlist[11]. The most common networking solution is to choose a common host who allows for the best average connection for all players in the game, said player will be known as the host. Playlists as well as other administrative tasks are managed by the developer of the game or by automated systems applied by the developer.
Neither dedicated servers nor Peer-to-Peer matchmaking are perfect and both exhibit advantages over one another:
Servers must be physically deployed by either an administrator or a server rental service, whereas a p2p system can be automatically setup by the game software. A server cannot scale to accommodate a larger amount of players, yet a p2p system such as Donnybrook can facilitate a fluctuating amount of players[2]. Servers act as a singular point of failure, where if the server goes offline for some reason, the game will end; however a p2p system can allow for host migration, which allows for a change of host if the current host quits. Servers are not optimal from a latency stand point, where the quality of connection is fixed, though p2p ideally gives the best connection for all players. Dedicated servers do not automatically allow games with players of similar skill, therefore the skill range can range from top level player to one who hasn’t played the particular game ever, where matchmaking pits players against those of similar skill. Sets of physical servers costs more to maintain and deploy than a peer to peer system, where only a small set of master servers need to be maintained. Unlike p2p matchmaking a server has the possibility of being overloaded. With a server system a game type can be unplayable if all servers with an acceptable ping are either full or empty, however p2p allows for searching for a particular game-type, so if people are playing you will be able to also[5].
A peer-to-peer system is restricted by the quality of connection the players have, and particularly that of the host, whose connection will need to deal with all information sent from and sent to all respective players, where the host’s domestic Internet connection may not have the upload capability to deal with all the information efficiently[2]. Current algorithms do not provide optimal latencies for all players leading to certain players participating in a less enjoyable game, or even one which is unplayable for them[3]. Another problem which is exclusive to p2p matchmaking is “host advantage” which causes inconsistencies between the host and other players, causing the host to have an unfair advantage over others[12]. Also p2p being reliant on the master servers means that if the master server is offline for whatever reason means that multiplayer gaming cannot occur, there have been 2 major examples of this: When Xbox live support for original Xbox games was removed[13] and more recently PSN being put offline due to being hacked by a third party[14]. There have also been occurrences of traffic being higher than anticipated, thus many players are unable to use the service[15].
Servers exhibit a few advantages over p2p that cannot be met without a large change to how the system works. They have traditionally facilitated the formations of gaming communities, often known as clans, of like minded players who enjoy playing together, who will run a server for their community[1]. With servers being flexible by their admins, it has assisted the modification scene[4], allowing small game changes, such as an enhanced user interface such as source mod[16] to the total conversion, where a large chunk of the game is rebuilt to create a new game using the same code, Team Fortress[17] is one of the earliest popular titles, which was given a sequel by the Valve Corporation[18]. With servers being specifically built to play a specific game, or set of games, it is guaranteed that the machine is should be capable of running those games consistently.
In October of 2009, it was announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers on the PC, choosing to adopt the p2p System which the console versions use[19]. This lead to criticism from the player base, who firmly support the server model, including Tim Edwards (editor of PC Gamer[20]), beliving that certain aspects, including community and connection quality were tantamount to the series[21]. However Jason West and Vince Zampella, the founders of Infinity Ward, put forward the idea that using a p2p model was to improve the player experience[22]. CoD: MW 2 was released in November of 2009, with no dedicated server support on PC, selling faster than it’s predecessor Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare[23].
Shortly after the Modern Warfare 2 fiasco, Gordon Van Dyke (Formerly of DICE[24]) announced that the latest version of the long running Battlefield franchise would continue to use dedicated servers opposed to peer-to-peer networking on the three platforms where Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was released. DICE. DICE believe that p2p was too reliant on the hosts connection, which if the connection is not sufficient then all players experience suffers, independent of their Internet connection. p2p also presents the problem of the host disconnecting,where if a system is not implemented to migrate the hosting responsibilities to another player then the game will end. Using a server system means that games can be uninterrupted by any connection problems[10]. Battlefield Bad company 2 was the 6th best selling game released in 2010 on the Xbox 360[25].
Also prompted by Modern Warfare 2, John Carmack, of Id Software, claimed that the likelyhood of having dedicated servers on their upcoming game RAGE was low. With Id Software’s previous titles being incredibly reliant on dedicated servers, but Carmack believes that servers are a relic from early multi-player PC gaming[26].
On the other hand, Gears of War 3 is making the change in the opposite direction, it’s predecessors used peer-to-peer exclusively, thought Gears of War 3 is using dedicated servers to minimise lag issues[27]. Both previous Gears of War titles suffered from major problems, which were directly linked to the use of p2p matchmaking. The first title Suffered from inconsistencies related to host advantage, which was attempted to be improved in Gear of War 2[12]. However for a period after the launch of Gears of War 2 the game was not enjoyable to play, if Gears of War 3 has “the same launch as Gears 2 online then the franchise is dead” due to fans losing faith[28].
My solution:
Neither of the solutions used currently are ideal, nor can they be merged to improve the overall player experience; due to how they differ. Both have problems which make them sub optimal:
Peer-to-peer matchmaking suffers from being too dependant on the players, particularly the hosts Internet connection, particularly their upload capability. Of course this will improve as domestic Internet connections do, however upload capabilities are not prioritised by Internet Service Providers, with upload speed usually being a fraction of the download capability[29]. Also matchmaking does not allow for custom game types, or (legitimate) modifications as servers can facilitate.
The major problem with servers is the remnants of archaic elements from the early days of PC gaming, which can act as a deterrent for those unfamiliar with them. Also unlike peer-to-peer matchmaking, a server which a player joins can be full of highly experienced players, whilst said player has little experience, leaving him/her with an unpleasant experience.
I propose merging of the best aspects of both peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers. Creating a hybrid of the matchmaking system used in peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers. Where there would be two types of server: Ranked and Social.
Ranked servers would be run by the developer of the game, they would implement a system similar to that of peer-to-peer matchmaking, where you cannot select a specific game, but a specific game type can be selected. One would be matched against players of similar skill according to the algorithm the developers use. Although instead of one of the players hosting the game, a dedicated server will be selected from a large set of developer run servers, located in various locations, an optimal server will be selected from those that are available for all players involved in the game, allowing for an enjoyable experience all around.
Social servers would be exclusively community run. Supporting all the features servers currently feature: modifications, communities, and custom server rules. All of which can be specified by those who administrate the server. Allowing for renting servers allows server hosting companies such as Gameservers to continue to exist and provide support to their customers about their product. Allowing publicly owned servers is incredibly important, for building communities, playing with and against a fairly consistent group of players, it helps to build team-work, and critical thinking [1].
Open modification of game engines is something which has been incredibly important to growth and innovation in the games industry. Teams and groups which build successful mods are Necessary to bring new mindsets and ideas to the development of video games. Counter-Strike, a 1999 modification for Half-Life not only became the most popular modification, but was eventually bought by Valve and released commercially. Modifications cannot be affected by marketing, allowing for free creativity from the creators, showing the capabilities of the creators[4].
Dedicated servers ran by the developer could be a cost which the developer may not be able to maintain indefinitely, due to reallocating servers to another game they are going to release, or in the very unfortunate case that the developer goes bankrupt and the system is removed. Though the use of social servers can combat this, “Vanilla” servers can be run by the games player base, or by server hosting companies as a way of demonstrating their servers and advertising their business. The main downside being that the matchmaking system would likely be discontinued with the lack of Ranked servers.
My solution will give the best of both peer-to-peer matchmaking and dedicated servers, a solid competitive ranked system as the developers of the game intended, without the problems which come along with using peer-to-peer networking. Social servers will allow communities to grow and thrive, playing the game how they see fit with as many or as few server modifications as they see fit.
Word Count: 2079
References.
[1] Talmadge Wright, Eric Boria and Paul Breidenbach Creative Player Actions in FPS Online Video Games December 2002 http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/wright/
[2] Ashwin Bharambe, John R. Douceur, Jacob R. Lorch, Thomas Moscibroda, Jeffrey Pang, Srinivasan Seshan, and Xinyu Zhuang: Donnybrook: Enabling Large-Scale, High-Speed, Peer-to-Peer Games SIGCOMM’08, August 17–22, 2008, Seattle, Washington, USA. http://ccr.sigcomm.org/online/files/p389-bharambe.pdf
[3] Sharad Agarwal and Jacob R. Lorch Matchmaking for Online Games and Other Latency-Sensitive P2P Systems SIGCOMM’09, August 17–21, 2009 http://ccr.sigcomm.org/online/files/p315.pdf
[4] Sue Morris WADs, Bots and Mods: Multiplayer FPS Games as Co-creative Media http://www.digra.org:8080/Plone/dl/db/05150.21522.pdf
[5] Christoph Neumann, Nicolas Prigent, Matteo Varvello and Kyoungwon Suh Challenges in Peer-to-Peer Gaming ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review Volume 37, Number 1, January 2007http://ccr.sigcomm.org/online/files/p79-v37n1p-neumann.pdf
[6] Alice O'Connor Call of Duty: Black Ops Sets New Five-Day Sales Record, Trumping Modern Warfare 2 Nov 18, 2010 http://www.shacknews.com/article/66521/call-of-duty-black-ops
[7] Kyle Orland Minecraft Draws Over $33 Million In Revenue From 1.8M Paying Customers April 6, 2011 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33961/Minecraft_Draws_Over_33_Million_In_Revenue_From_18M_Paying_Customers.php
[8] Oliver Chiang The Master of Online Mayhem February 28, 2011 http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html
[9] Multiplay Game Servers Multiplay Servers http://www.multiplaygameservers.com/why/servers/
[10] Gordon Van Dyke Dedicated to our PC Players! Oct 26, 2009 http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2009/10/26/dedicated-to-our-pc-players.aspx##
[11] Tom Cadwell LOL Matchmaking Explained September 15 2009 http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=12029
[12] John Gaudiosi Cliff Bleszinski talks controls, enhanced multiplayer in Gears of War 2 June 18 2008 http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/193168/cliff-bleszinski-talks-controls-enhanced-multiplayer-in-gears-of-war-2-page-2-of-2/
[13] Alice O'Connor Xbox Live for Original Xbox Shutting Down Feb 05, 2010 http://www.shacknews.com/article/62245/xbox-live-for-original-xbox
[14] James Gallagher Update On PlayStation Network/Qriocity Services April 23 2011 http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/04/23/update-on-playstation-network-qriocity-services/
[15] Chris Faylor Microsoft to Offer Free Xbox Live Arcade Game, Addresses Xbox Live Service Issues Jan 03, 2008 http://www.shacknews.com/article/50584/microsoft-to-offer-free-xbox
[16] SourceMod Dev Team About: Sourcemod http://www.sourcemod.net/about.php
[17] Leilei Team Fortress http://www.moddb.com/mods/team-fortress
[18] Andy Chalk Valve Announces Half-Life 2: Episode 2 Release Date June 15 2007 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/72945-Valve-Announces-Half-Life-2-Episode-2-Release-Date
[19] John Funk No Dedicated Servers for Modern Warfare 2 PC, Fans Freak Out October 20 2009 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95584-No-Dedicated-Servers-for-Modern-Warfare-2-PC-Fans-Freak-Out
[20] PC Gamer Tim Edwards January 1 2010 http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/01/01/tim-edwards-2/
[21] Tim Edwards Why I signed the Modern Warfare 2 dedicated server petition October 20 2009 http://www.computerandvideogames.com/225744/blog/why-i-signed-the-modern-warfare-2-dedicated-server-petition/?site=pcg[22] Adam Biessener Infinity Ward Responds To PC Fanboys' Dedicated Server Woes October 20, 2009 http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/10/20/modern-warfare-2-dedicated-server-response.aspx
[23] Ben Parfitt MW2 PC Sales Topple Predecessor November 20 2009 http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36607/MW2-PC-sales-topple-predecessor
[24] Gordon Van Dyke “I know, April Fools, but yes, I have left DICE. I'm still in EA though & moving back to the Bay Area to be closer to family for a few years.” http://twitter.com/#!/GordonVanDyke/status/11413693186
[25] Matt Matthews Exclusive: NPD Reveals 2010 U.S. New Game Charts Per Platform February 11 2011 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32873/Exclusive_NPD_Reveals_2010_US_New_Game_Charts_Per_Platform_.php
[26] Chris Morris Dedicated servers and Rage - news you probably don't want to hear November 5 2009 http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2009/11/dedicated-servers-and-rage-news-you-probably-dont-want-to-hear.html
[27] Tina Sanchez Cliff Bleszinski on Gears of War 3's Beta, Servers, and More October 8 2010 http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3181803&p=
[28] IGN Staff For Gears 3 Multiplayer, Failure Is Not an Option March 8, 2011 http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1154447p1.html
[29] Consumer Choices Editorial Broadband upload speeds January 4 2011 http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband-upload-speeds.html
