Forum ‹ Multiplayer ‹ Few questions on this new amazing service.

[LorenzGames]

Hi, guys, first of all thank you for this great service,
lately i have been studing deeply server side structures to create some particular multiplayer games,
but actually after all the research i have done i think i was just wasting my time becouse luckly with this service i can just concentrate on creating my games.

The first game i will do using Player.IO is an update of an old multiplayer game i made many many years ago. It still works, but it is old and slow, though it has already a big community and many paying players.
I was thinking to test the free version of player.io for now, but i need some answers to the following questions, TOOOOO MANY QUESTIONS:

1) What exactly means when you say: "Free version can only have 1 Connection Type (per game)" ?

2) How many games can be stored in a free account?

3) Is it against the TOS to create a different account for each game, or is it actually suggested?

4) Is it against the TOS to have the same game on 2 different accounts, using of course 2 different connections as it was 2 different servers?

5) What happens if i sell one of my games to a sponsor? Will it be transfered to an account created for the sponsor, where the sponsor menages the connection and the type of account?

6) What happens if i sell 2 or more licenses of the same game to different sponsors, and those sponsors want for the same game to have only theire own users playing (this question links to question 4)?

7) How many rooms can be created for each game?

8) I know that each room can not contain more than 45 users, but, is the lobby counted as a room or it has an exception to have more than 45 users inside chatting or doing other things?

9) On Nonoba MP-API i remember there was a weird problem to go back to the lobby where the user had to refresh the browser, has it been solved?

10) I have seen many examples on this site, but i need to see how will actually look a "Branded Player.IO" version of a game using the free packet, i need to understand exactly how the logo will appear, where will it go and how long will it stay on top of the screen. Do you guys have any example or even a short demostrating video? this is very important for me.

11) There is a big gap on max concurrent user between the free version and the plus version, is there in your plan to have a basic plan at a lower price for something like 1000 or 1500 concurrent players without being forced to buy the plus plan?

12) This question will actually sound weird because i know you guys, i have done many games with nonoba MP-API and i know you are a well known company with good founds, but after the problems i had with "GameJacket.com" i just want to be a little bit more carefull, so the question is: Am i sure my games will live forever with player.io (I actually need to be sure nothing bad happens to you within the next 3 or 4 years, lol)?

I know it is a lot of questions, i hope you have the time to answer to them.
Thank you again for all, you guys are great!

[Benjaminsen]

Hi Lorenz

Great to see you here as well. Let's see if I can answer your questions:

1) What exactly means when you say: "Free version can only have 1 Connection Type (per game)" ?

Connections are used for data seperation and security. Read more here:
http://playerio.com/documentation/connections

2) How many games can be stored in a free account?

You can have any number of games running under one account (Dll's)

3) Is it against the TOS to create a different account for each game, or is it actually suggested?

Purposely gaming the system to prevent paying for hosting would constitute abuse.

4) Is it against the TOS to have the same game on 2 different accounts, using of course 2 different connections as it was 2 different servers?

This would clearly be abuse.

5) What happens if i sell one of my games to a sponsor? Will it be transfered to an account created for the sponsor, where the sponsor menages the connection and the type of account?

I cannot mention names. But we have agreements in place with several large sponsors for them to run their own accounts. Basically the more Player.IO games you run under one account the cheaper it gets. Thus most portals would want to run their own account as soon as they have more than one Player.IO based game.

6) What happens if i sell 2 or more licenses of the same game to different sponsors, and those sponsors want for the same game to have only theire own users playing (this question links to question 4)?

This is a great example of where to use connections, as they can be used to create several separate user-bases for the same game.

7) How many rooms can be created for each game?

There is no limit to how many game rooms can be created

8) I know that each room cannot contain more than 45 users, but, is the lobby counted as a room or it has an exception to have more than 45 users inside chatting or doing other things?

There is no automatic lobby chat system in Player.IO, such features are up to the developer to create. Here the same limitations are in place as for ordinary rooms.

9) On Nonoba MP-API i remember there was a weird problem to go back to the lobby where the user had to refresh the browser, has it been solved?

There is no such problems any more. Basically you have full control over all aspects of room listing, creating etc.

10) I have seen many examples on this site, but i need to see how will actually look a "Branded Player.IO" version of a game using the free packet, i need to understand exactly how the logo will appear, where will it go and how long will it stay on top of the screen. Do you guys have any example or even a short demostrating video? this is very important for me.

The logo will only advertise Player.IO, will appear for about 5 seconds at the bottom center of the game.

11) There is a big gap on max concurrent user between the free version and the plus version, is there in your plan to have a basic plan at a lower price for something like 1000 or 1500 concurrent players without being forced to buy the plus plan?

We are still looking at pricing, so I cannot comment on this point at this time.

12) This question will actually sound weird because i know you guys, i have done many games with nonoba MP-API and i know you are a well known company with good founds, but after the problems i had with "GameJacket.com" i just want to be a little bit more carefull, so the question is: Am i sure my games will live forever with player.io (I actually need to be sure nothing bad happens to you within the next 3 or 4 years, lol)?

We provide a solution for Plus and Enterprise costumers. Write me an email if you want more info.

/Chris

[LorenzGames]

Hi Chris, thank you for replying, I just have few more doubts about question number 8:
One of my games has a large lobby where users can chat and they decide in which room to go (Kinda like it was with Nonoba MP-API), way more than 45 players together in the same room, how can i manage to have it? I basically need a lobby like i had with Nonoba, but ofcourse using Player.IO and fully customizzable.

about question number 10:
Is it possible to see an example or a video of the branding exectuation on the game? I understand what you wrote before but I really would like to see it to feel it.

then the answer 4, 5 and 6 conflicts on each other because:
If a sponsor has an account with you and they want the dll of the game that they just bought on their account this means that you only have 1 option: Sell it exclusively to them.
Or (In case you have a Plus account) Sell it only to 3 of them and manage the connections of this game from your account, but this actually means that if in a couple of months the game is not popular anymore and you dont need the Plus account anymore you are TOTALLY screwed.
You guys should create a way to easly detach from the account, small mutliplayer games sellable with non exclusive licenses to other sponsors.

Also here i have a NEW question
number 13) On maximum monthly bandwidth, is it intended to be the download of the DLL and the traffic of messages both sent and received by users? Do you have any documentation on the site on how to reduce it the most? I have read the AMAZING tutorial that you guys have here, it kinda explains that, but do you have something more detailed about this argument?

[Benjaminsen]

Hi Chris, thank you for replying, I just have few more doubts about question number 8:
One of my games has a large lobby where users can chat and they decide in which room to go (Kinda like it was with Nonoba MP-API), way more than 45 players together in the same room, how can i manage to have it? I basically need a lobby like i had with Nonoba, but ofcourse using Player.IO and fully customizzable.

We are aware of the limitation being an issue for this specific use case. We will likely have some clever way to solve this, but for now I suggest you simply create several lobby chats for people to hang out in. Might even have the nice side effects that you get several sub communities.

about question number 10:
Is it possible to see an example or a video of the branding exectuation on the game? I understand what you wrote before but I really would like to see it to feel it.

I will look into getting you a screenshot or a bit of video of what it entails.

Then the answer 4, 5 and 6 conflicts on each other because:
If a sponsor has an account with you and they want the dll of the game that they just bought on their account this means that you only have 1 option: Sell it exclusively to them.
Or (In case you have a Plus account) Sell it only to 3 of them and manage the connections of this game from your account, but this actually means that if in a couple of months the game is not popular anymore and you dont need the Plus account anymore you are TOTALLY screwed.
You guys should create a way to easly detach from the account, small mutliplayer games sellable with non exclusive licenses to other sponsors.

If you are paying for the solution you are more than welcome to have the same game running under several accounts! Likewise you are not forced into a specific account type, but can change your subscription based on need on a month by month basis. Basically if you know you will have a huge amount of traffic in a month, you can upgrade to Enterprice just for that month.

Also here i have a NEW question
number 13) On maximum monthly bandwidth, is it intended to be the download of the DLL and the traffic of messages both sent and received by users? Do you have any documentation on the site on how to reduce it the most? I have read the AMAZING tutorial that you guys have here, it kinda explains that, but do you have something more detailed about this argument?

There is currently no file hosting build into Player.IO, so the traffic cost/price is purely for game traffic and processing.

[LorenzGames]

Thanks again Chris.

About question 8, I dont want to build castle in the air but I am just scared, in an ipotetical way, that if the game becomes huge, even buing the enterprise version i wont be able to have more than 45 people in a lobby. As you said you are aware of the issue and you are studing a way to make it work, do you have any ETA for this particular issue to be fixed?

Also here is another question (lol, am i missing any FAQ i should read before to bother you with all these questions? )
14) About packets loss, do you have any particular system that protects from losing a packet, or the developer should always double check to make sure no packets have been lost? In other multiplayer service i have noticed, in cases of high traffic, a 5% to 10% packets loss. is this going to happen on Player.IO too?

[Benjaminsen]

About question 8, I dont want to build castle in the air but I am just scared, in an ipotetical way, that if the game becomes huge, even buing the enterprise version i wont be able to have more than 45 people in a lobby. As you said you are aware of the issue and you are studing a way to make it work, do you have any ETA for this particular issue to be fixed?

Make a game that's so successfull that it becomes an issue, and I will make you a solution

Also here is another question (lol, am i missing any FAQ i should read before to bother you with all these questions? )
14) About packets loss, do you have any particular system that protects from losing a packet, or the developer should always double check to make sure no packets have been lost? In other multiplayer service i have noticed, in cases of high traffic, a 5% to 10% packets loss. is this going to happen on Player.IO too?

The server runs TCP/IP. Package lost is pretty much impossible

[LorenzGames]

Make a game that's so successfull that it becomes an issue, and I will make you an solution

Ahahaha, thank you for this, though this answer is eighter great and scary.

Anyway, you guys have gained again my trust...

[Emalton]

Make a game that's so successfull that it becomes an issue, and I will make you a solution

I think it's time!