Qeynos and Freeport

dalponis · 06-06-2007, 09:22 PM

I've had a WoW player talk to me about EQ2. You see, I've tried to show him this game. The biggest thing he noticed at the beginning was the load times... With huge zones such as Antonica and even Greater Faydark, why are we still forced to zone so many times in Qeynos and Freeport? I guess they were created at the beginning of the game, and haven't changed much, but I think they could use a tune up. I see it now, game update #39, Qeynos and Freeport revamp. Keep the cities basically the same as they are now, but make them one zone, like the Fae city.

Siogai · 06-06-2007, 09:31 PM

It's technically possible, though it does have its drain on system resources, since you're loading the entire world of the game (and, for Norrath, that's a lot of world). The entire world of Aden is zoneless. You can run frome one end to the other, including an interminable boat-ride, and never see a loading screen. AFAIK, Vanguard is entirely zoneless as well, though I think I have read that the implementation there was poorly done. I don't see why we cant do the same with FP and Qeynos... though, it might be harder finding the houses of your friends, unless they kept the neighbourhood distinctions, such as a pop-up label when you entered Scale Yard or South Freeport or Starcrest Commune and the like.

dalponis · 06-06-2007, 10:11 PM

Of course, the towns would stay the exact same, ((Of course they would need to be changed a tad...)), but zoneless.

Grimdeath · 06-06-2007, 11:14 PM

I dunno.. If East Freeport and Qeynos Docks are as laggy as most ppl say they are now (I can vouch that on Permafrost, those zones are laggy all to hell in peak times), then will removing the zoning in the cities so everyone in those respective cities can essentially meet each other without the zoning make things better? (scuse the bad form - at work bored outta brain - gotta type quickly ... hoping boss doesn't see ... I want to play EQ2.. hehehe) SMILEY

I'd have to say I don't think it would. Instead of just East Freeport being laggy around the bells and broker, Freeport in its entirity would be lagging. Besides, WoW is a cartoon filled with cartoon-looking characters and scenery. EQ2's graphics? WoW doesnt compare with the realism. Even though all of the graphics processing is done at the client, I'm sure this also accounts for more processing on EQ2's servers in some indirect way. However, I too would like to see a zoneless Freeport or dare I say it.... *deep breath* Qeynos... Just not the lag.

Mirander_1 · 06-06-2007, 11:40 PM

There's a dev answer to this very request in this thread.

Ogrebe · 06-07-2007, 12:04 AM

The way it work (not 100% sure) is eq2 load all the resouces of a zone when you zone in to that zone. Wow and vanguard do not load all the resouces for the "zone" / are your in. They load some, and as you move they load and unload others. Which mean accessing the hard drive. Which is bad. As hard drives are very slow compared to the clock cycle of the computer. Which mean as you run around the zone instead of everything being up as you go by, every single texture will have to be loaded in to memory. Theres problem with both methods. With the eq2 method, the more "stuff" there is in a zone the more ram that zone will take. The city zones while smaller have a lot of "stuff" in them. The developers have a limit of how much stuff they can put in a zone. So that the zone still fit under recommend system resource they put out when the game/expansion came out. Putting all of qeynos together would mean having to load of ton of stuff, go way beond the system requirements. And people system with less than 2GB or maybe even more would LAG very badly as the system would be using Hard drive space as ram. Which takes a long time to access.

dalponis · 06-07-2007, 12:25 AM

Fine, make Qeynos two zones, the city, the docks. Lower and Upper Qeynos, North and South. Merge it to that. It worked for Kethlin.

Grimdeath · 06-07-2007, 01:38 AM

Compare both Kelethin and Qeynos... Which one is bigger? (Not Gfay >> Kelethin) Which one has many more objects? Which one would be more intensive for a computer based on the above? Answer to all three --> Qeynos. Come to think of it, being in Kelethin during peak times also results in a lot of lag - especially around the broker.

06-06-2007, 09:22 PM	#1
dalponis Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 54	I've had a WoW player talk to me about EQ2. You see, I've tried to show him this game. The biggest thing he noticed at the beginning was the load times... With huge zones such as Antonica and even Greater Faydark, why are we still forced to zone so many times in Qeynos and Freeport? I guess they were created at the beginning of the game, and haven't changed much, but I think they could use a tune up. I see it now, game update #39, Qeynos and Freeport revamp. Keep the cities basically the same as they are now, but make them one zone, like the Fae city. __________________ www.uniquehardware.ca forums.uniquehardware.ca "When the average isn't quite enough..." -Trevor "Dalponis" Welsh

06-06-2007, 11:14 PM	#4
Grimdeath Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 138	I dunno.. If East Freeport and Qeynos Docks are as laggy as most ppl say they are now (I can vouch that on Permafrost, those zones are laggy all to hell in peak times), then will removing the zoning in the cities so everyone in those respective cities can essentially meet each other without the zoning make things better? (scuse the bad form - at work bored outta brain - gotta type quickly ... hoping boss doesn't see ... I want to play EQ2.. hehehe) I'd have to say I don't think it would. Instead of just East Freeport being laggy around the bells and broker, Freeport in its entirity would be lagging. Besides, WoW is a cartoon filled with cartoon-looking characters and scenery. EQ2's graphics? WoW doesnt compare with the realism. Even though all of the graphics processing is done at the client, I'm sure this also accounts for more processing on EQ2's servers in some indirect way. However, I too would like to see a zoneless Freeport or dare I say it.... deep breath Qeynos... Just not the lag.

06-06-2007, 11:40 PM	#5
Mirander_1 Loremaster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,229	There's a dev answer to this very request in this thread. __________________ Mirander 90 Wizard Unrest server

06-07-2007, 12:04 AM	#6
Ogrebe General Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 383	The way it work (not 100% sure) is eq2 load all the resouces of a zone when you zone in to that zone. Wow and vanguard do not load all the resouces for the "zone" / are your in. They load some, and as you move they load and unload others. Which mean accessing the hard drive. Which is bad. As hard drives are very slow compared to the clock cycle of the computer. Which mean as you run around the zone instead of everything being up as you go by, every single texture will have to be loaded in to memory. Theres problem with both methods. With the eq2 method, the more "stuff" there is in a zone the more ram that zone will take. The city zones while smaller have a lot of "stuff" in them. The developers have a limit of how much stuff they can put in a zone. So that the zone still fit under recommend system resource they put out when the game/expansion came out. Putting all of qeynos together would mean having to load of ton of stuff, go way beond the system requirements. And people system with less than 2GB or maybe even more would LAG very badly as the system would be using Hard drive space as ram. Which takes a long time to access. __________________ Ogrebear's Thoughts -- My EQ2 and MMO blog

06-07-2007, 12:25 AM	#7
dalponis Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 54	Fine, make Qeynos two zones, the city, the docks. Lower and Upper Qeynos, North and South. Merge it to that. It worked for Kethlin. __________________ www.uniquehardware.ca forums.uniquehardware.ca "When the average isn't quite enough..." -Trevor "Dalponis" Welsh

06-06-2007, 09:31 PM	#2
Siogai Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 247	It's technically possible, though it does have its drain on system resources, since you're loading the entire world of the game (and, for Norrath, that's a lot of world). The entire world of Aden is zoneless. You can run frome one end to the other, including an interminable boat-ride, and never see a loading screen. AFAIK, Vanguard is entirely zoneless as well, though I think I have read that the implementation there was poorly done. I don't see why we cant do the same with FP and Qeynos... though, it might be harder finding the houses of your friends, unless they kept the neighbourhood distinctions, such as a pop-up label when you entered Scale Yard or South Freeport or Starcrest Commune and the like.

06-06-2007, 10:11 PM	#3
dalponis Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 54	Of course, the towns would stay the exact same, ((Of course they would need to be changed a tad...)), but zoneless. __________________ www.uniquehardware.ca forums.uniquehardware.ca "When the average isn't quite enough..." -Trevor "Dalponis" Welsh

06-07-2007, 01:38 AM	#8
Grimdeath Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 138	Compare both Kelethin and Qeynos... Which one is bigger? (Not Gfay >> Kelethin) Which one has many more objects? Which one would be more intensive for a computer based on the above? Answer to all three --> Qeynos. Come to think of it, being in Kelethin during peak times also results in a lot of lag - especially around the broker.