Forum Multiplayer Economical ??

Discussion and help relating to the PlayerIO Multiplayer API.

Economical ??

Postby ShahSoft » February 6th, 2010, 8:29 am

Hi there!

I am really excited about Playerio multiplayer API. It got me thinking about all sorts of crazy/fun game ideas and I can't wait to try it. There is no initial cost and API seems easy and accessible. :mrgreen:

But How about the Price (After the Beta)? Its great for small games but isn't is better to buy 800 euros Smartfox license with VPS hosting (20-100 USD/m)? I am no expert on this so please guide me. :?
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Re: Economical ??

Postby Benjaminsen » February 7th, 2010, 3:53 pm

It is hard to compare Player.IO and SmartFox directly.

While it is true that our current primary offering is the multiplayer server, it is not all we will provide. Very soon we will release both a community integration API and a persistent data storage API and that is just what is in the short timeline.

But what really set the products apart, is that our solutions are hosted. You will never have to worry about installing and maintaining servers and when your games become popular, we handle scaling automatically. With SmartFox, scaling is not as easy, here is the 15 page manual for getting started, and at the same time you will have to buy additional SmartFox server licenses, physical servers and rackspace.

If we assume that you use the cheapest Amazon EC2 instance, use no traffic and can setup and maintain the server and software at no cost. Then the price for running a 500+ people multiplayer server with SmartFox is slightly higher than investing in a Semi Pro license which includes 100GiB worth of traffic.

For smaller games you have the option of doing it completely free with Player.IO and for larger games our service only becomes cheaper the more you use it.

Last but not least, you will be able to change your subscription month to month. Allowing you to never pay more than you need to.
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Re: Economical ??

Postby mindfoolgames » February 8th, 2010, 3:26 am

I have to say that I'm glad ShahSoft asked this question.

I quite like the fact that as a developer I don't have to worry about scaling my apps (of course that's typically a good problem to have... it means your game is a success).

I'm very much looking forward to the persistent data storage API. You can do some games without this functionality; but there are a lot more that would need something like this.

I can tell from reading your posts on here that you guys have your noses to the grindstone and are quickly adding features/fixing bugs. I greatly appreciate that and it makes me much more inclined to want to use your product.

Using C# for the server side code will be a bit of an adjustment for me (I'm a corporate Java Developer/Architect by day); but I'm pretty confident I'll adjust quickly.

I guess my biggest fear as a customer of Player.IO would be that the company is viable/stays in business. If I tie my product(s) to yours then my success is tied to yours as well. If your company would go out of business, I would have to scramble to change my server side code to another platform/solution.

This isn't meant as a slight to your company/solution, it's just one of the cons to using Player.IO.

As I said, I can tell you're a fairly small group of skilled people hard at work to make a good product. I respect that greatly and look forward to working with you.
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Re: Economical ??

Postby EgoAnt » February 8th, 2010, 3:30 am

Great point, mindfool. I have been using SmartFox and love it, but I am really excited about this. I find the hardest part of getting a game going is maintining the server, and I would much prefer having that set up for me. Also, considering the 500 concurrent player limit on the free account this really makes sense for me.

I'm just in the process on getting some tests done for my new game, Knaves, and if it pans out I will definitely be going with playerio.

I think what I will probably do, since I already have a SmartFox license, is develop using playerio, launch the game, and then do some preliminary development on a fail-over server for my game using SmartFox. That way if playerio goes under I'm not scrambling. :)
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Re: Economical ??

Postby ShahSoft » February 8th, 2010, 6:45 am

Thanks Benjaminsen for the reply. It really sounds great! Count me in.

BTW! 'community integration API' , do you mean facebook / myspace integration?

mindfoolgames, I believe Nonoba is doing great. After micro-transactions next evolution in Flash games is said to be multiplayer and social gaming. So PlayerIO is surely here to stay!

-Shah
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Re: Economical ??

Postby mindfoolgames » February 8th, 2010, 7:13 am

Note, I wasn't implying that Player.IO was going to go out of business, I was just pointing out that designing your games to work with their system means that your success/failure is tied to theirs.
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Re: Economical ??

Postby Tsuken » February 8th, 2010, 7:36 am

I like not having to worry about setting up a server. Nor do I know all that much about security to keep hackers out of the server and database :P Apart from sql injection and things like that.

I also like that the free version allows up to 500 users to be online at the same time, instead of 20. And playerio will have (some sort of) database support without having to get the pro version.

I do like how Smartfox is a 1 time only fee instead of a monthly payment. But the monthly payment includes hosting.

They both have their pros and cons, so take your pick. With smartfox you have to pay up front but with playerio you only pay if it's a success (500+ users online at the same time) so I prefer playerio. It's more forgiving :)
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Re: Economical ??

Postby Cyclone103 » February 8th, 2010, 11:26 pm

Mindfool, the company behind Player.IO has been around for several years, and all of their products are still around today.
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Re: Economical ??

Postby Benjaminsen » February 10th, 2010, 11:12 am

BTW! 'community integration API' , do you mean facebook / myspace integration?


Yep, thats exactly what I am talking about.
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