Multi Player Mechanics

[Recon022]

As a new player, I was hoping someone could maybe enlighten me more on the mechanics behind the multi player in ED.

I have a few friends I am trying to bring into the fold, and I want to be acccurate when I explain to them exactly how it works. Our interest is to have a small exploration group that can play together.

And yes, we have Eve backgrounds, but DO NOT want this to be Eve. Just wanted t make that clear in case my questions have that "Eve flavor"

1. I understand that it a persistent galaxy. From what I gather, whether or not you are playing solo or open, changes in the galaxy will be reflected in both modes?

2. As you aren't able to choose a "server" when you start play, I am a little confused as to how other players can meet up. Is this the main purpose of Private Group play?

3. How do star systems work? I have heard the term "island" used in relation to systems. Is that kind of like an instance of sorts? With only a certain number of players in each "island"?

4. So for example, if I see Johnny (a human player) in a system, then by coincidence with both jump to the same neighboring system, will I see Johnny again in the new system? Or is there a chance he will end up on a different "island" and I won't see him?

5. So if we end up getting involved in some PVP with some other players, the next time we log on is there a big chance we won't even see the same players again, unless we get lucky?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. In all honesty what we want is to be able to set off to the stars and do our own thing without that constant worry of getting ganked all the time, but we still want that ever present danger that when we DO see other players, it could go either way. Will ED somewhat cater to that?

 

[par2005]

You got the basic idea right. Each area has max 32 players per instance, so if there would be 33 players near Aulin, one player would be roaming and not seeing anyone around him.

Having friends in friends group tries to make sure you all are in the same instance in every area you visit.

 

[DaveB]

As par2005 said, you got it basically right... a little more detail:

1. I understand that it a persistent galaxy. From what I gather, whether or not you are playing solo or open, changes in the galaxy will be reflected in both modes?

Correct. The background sim remains running when you disconnect, so things can change in your absence and you can run out of time to complete a mission while logged out. The three modes available now, solo, private group and open, are all online modes and take place in this same persistent galaxy and effects on the galaxy from your actions exist in all modes and you can freely switch between them. There is a fourth mode planned, "offline solo" which is not going to be linked to the online persistent galaxy and characters from this mode will not be able to enter online play.

2. As you aren't able to choose a "server" when you start play, I am a little confused as to how other players can meet up. Is this the main purpose of Private Group play?

If two players end up at the same location, whether they will be in the same "island" together depends on a lot of things - are they in an "alliance" (not implemented yet)? Are they friends? Are they in the same group? What mode are they p[laying in? How good is the network connection between them? etc. more details in the answer to #3 below.

3. How do star systems work? I have heard the term "island" used in relation to systems. Is that kind of like an instance of sorts? With only a certain number of players in each "island"?

Sort of. It's a little more dynamic than that. You are dragging your own little "island" of space around with you. For as long as all you see are NPCs, you are alone in your island. The size of an island varies. If a player gets close enough to another island (which always contains at least one player) for the islands to touch, then the two will merge into a bigger one encompassing all players (effectively, you join the larger island and it expands to include you) if a few conditions are met. You've got to have good enough connectivity to all the other players in the island you're trying to join that adding you wont lag everybody out. The island you're trying to join must not be full. If there's more than one player trying to join at a time, the one with more friends in the larger island gets preference - things like that. The proposed alliances are an all or none thing - either you all get to join or the system will create a new island to hold you all.

4. So for example, if I see Johnny (a human player) in a system, then by coincidence with both jump to the same neighboring system, will I see Johnny again in the new system? Or is there a chance he will end up on a different "island" and I won't see him?

Yes that chance exists - it's subject to all the considerations of island merging described above. However, if you were chasing him and used a wake scanner to follow him into hyperspace then supposedly the system is going to do its best to make sure you do end up in the same island.

5. So if we end up getting involved in some PVP with some other players, the next time we log on is there a big chance we won't even see the same players again, unless we get lucky?

Correct. If they are still hanging around you may or may not end up back in the island they are inhabiting after a relog. If that particular region of space is very busy the chances go way down. If you want to avoid that and do want to meet them again that's what the friends and group lists are for. If you explicitly DONT want to meet them, you have an ignore list for that which significantly lowers (but does not eliminate) the chances that you will be instanced with them in future.

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. In all honesty what we want is to be able to set off to the stars and do our own thing without that constant worry of getting ganked all the time, but we still want that ever present danger that when we DO see other players, it could go either way. Will ED somewhat cater to that?

You shouldn't have a worry about ganking. Some places will be more dangerous than others (Anarchy systems, for example) and once you get out of the core worlds players get thin on the ground. So playing away from the busiest locations in open play mode with folks on your friends list should do two things - maximize the chances that you will instance together and still give you that risk when you see another player on your scanner, but keep those encounters to a sensible minimum.

Note that I say it "should" do this - this is an area of the game that FD are working on real hard at the moment. The instancing and grouping logic needs significant tuning at this point and there are known bugs that are preventing players that should be instanced together from encountering each other.

 

[Recon022]

Ok, it's all making sense now. I understand that there are a lot of variables right now, being beta and all.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. That will help me talk some people I know into playing this already great game. And the more people supporting the game the better!