Server structure & Long-term progression clarification

[buoyant trellis]

Hi! I really enjoyed the demo and I’m considering supporting the project through the Kickstarter campaign, but first I’d like to ask for some clear clarification about servers and the overall online structure of the game.

1. Besides the servers created by the players, will Darkhaven feature one large official developer-hosted server (or shard) with hundreds or ideally thousands of players in a shared open world, where players can naturally meet each other in cities and during open world exploration, similar to MMORPGs?

2. Will it be possible to play in that kind of persistent official world without having to create or join player-hosted shards? And eventually will players be able to switch between shards while keeping the same character and progression without the need to create new characters in each of those shards?

3. How will PvP work in a large official server environment like that? Will there be structured systems such as open world PvP, world bosses, guild wars, or other MMORPG-style interactions, or will it be more of a fully lawless world without rules? Personally, I don’t like the split between PvP and regular servers, especially when PvP servers tend to become one fully lawless world without rules.

4. And finally, is the long-term vision for players to stay and develop their characters on the same persistent worlds for many years without progress resets like seasonal wipes in Diablo, without forced shard migrations, and without being pushed toward fresh servers/shards for new updates and content?

I’m personally very interested in a long-term MMORPG-like experience with persistent progression, no wipes, meaningful PvP, and the ability to meet other players organically in the world, so I’d love to understand how closely Darkhaven will support that playstyle.

Thanks in advance for the clarification. It will really help me decide whether to support the project. I’d appreciate clear, factual answers from the developers or community who know the answers.

[haughty knoll]

Hey!
Thanks for playing it!

Sounds like questions for our Master @vestal kraken

[vestal kraken]

Hi, the long-term vision of the project is to eventually be able to do pretty much everything you describe (long-lasting MMO style worlds with social systems, factional or other such forms of pvp, official persistent long-lasting worlds, etc.) We also envision players (or organizations of players) being able to create and run their own such worlds. But do realize that this is a long term goal, and there’s much to do between here and there. On the other hand, this may be one of the very few teams in the world that has the experience and know-how to achieve such a crazy thing.

We’ve been laying foundational architecture to do this since we started. There’s more tech to be built before we can scale to that point, but we have a plan to get there.

Right now, the worlds are too deformable for long-term official worlds that wouldn’t be reduced to bedrock within a day. We still need to build some structure and rules into things before it would make sense to set up an official world meant to last, but we’ll get there.

so, view this as a preview tech demo. every single player and game is currently being hosted on a single cpu in north america. the network architecture is novel, quite lag resilient, and low-bandwith even at this stage (and we have on deck many many optimizations that will improve things even more).

We also have players like @next agate and @rugged zodiac already doing crazy things with the highly abbreviated editor we were able to include in the demo all while online / connected to that one server. That’s really insane and not something that anyone else (that i know of) has done.

Many times studios (especially MMO studios, but also ARPG studios) have great ideas but are woefully underprepared to execute on the tech (especially network tech). We’re hoping that this demo proves that we have the chops so to speak, mitigating one of the biggest risks of any kickstarter.