Funcom’s New Single Server Technology Will Make Gaming More Fun
Funcom, the company that created The Age of Conan and The Secret World wants gamers to have more fun. To make that happen, they plan to implement their new single server technology beginning in August, 2012.
Players of the Age of Conan received the news yesterday, Sunday, July 20, 2012, with this official post on the AOC Announcements Forum from Walgeist, the community manager: “The next step of the single server technology is upon us, and on August 7th/8th we will be implementing the next stage of the technology upgrade. This is a process for consolidating the databases so that we can proceed with the single server implementation. For our players who are unfamiliar with this single server technology, you will want to check out this link to see how it all works, and the great changes it will bring to how players get to interact.”
The Secret World will also be implementing single server technology and the details were spelled out for players of both games as a feature news article on The Secret World website. Martin Bruusgaard, the games lead designer, described single server technology this way: “When you start the game, you will create a character on a dimension, and that dimension will be referred to as your home dimension. Even though your home dimension might be, say, the Kobold dimension, it does not prevent you from playing on other dimensions like Faerie or Huldra.”
Bruusgaard continued, “Next to each of your friend’s names in your friends list, there will be a button that says “Meet Up”. Click it, and you will be teleported to your friend’s location, in his dimension. You will get the same prompt if you get invited to a team. As long as you guys stay teamed, you will stay in his dimension and will always end up in the same zone. You can also freely trade with each other. After you disband the team, the next time you teleport (for instance going back to the hub) you will automatically be placed in your home dimension’s hub.”
The idea is to allow players to interact across the entire game, no matter what home base the individual player has chosen. This will improve all aspects of the game including PVE, PVP, the economy and guilds (or cabals, as they are known in The Secret World). Players will be able to establish lasting, active friendships with any player in the game instead of being limited to only interacting with players on their home server or dimension.
Single server technology is the wave of the future for online gaming and MMOS. It will lead to the establishment of a much more diverse, lasting community among the players and allow them to choose their friends from everyone who is playing in the game. Online gaming will certainly be more socially cohesive and more fun with single server technology.
