I don’t know why when I write on a forum I’m able to explain an idea in just a few lines, when instead I have to write something here I write and I write and it never ends.

So there’s this thread on Grimwell that presents a rather old problem that I examined too many times to remember. Nothing new, but it works as a short summary of my points.

Geldon: I’ve found that MMORPGs are generally better when I’ve got a lot more players to group up with. Lately I’ve taken to trying to identify the most populated server and starting a character there – and it’s paid off quite hansomely. Comparing servers on Dungeons and Dragons Stormreach, I’ve found it’s the difference between waiting five minutes to get a group to not being able to find one at all.

What bugs me is this: Why shouldn’t I be able to access the entire player population?

Darniaq: Technical limitations are linked to costs too. Uni-servers require a very different financial evaluation model many are not accustomed to.

Grimwell: Tech limits and costs can only account for so much of the equation. Another part is ‘developer vision’ and the perks/limits thereof. Some developers are not pleased with the current implementations of Uni-Servers and have (likely) convinced themselves that it can’t be done (for X reasons).

Global servers aren’t really an “useful” possibility, but there are many other better solutions that can maximize the benefits and still use current technology without pushing the boundaries too much.

The problem is to allow the “permeable barriers”: the possibility to have a flexible system that lets the players travel between servers, switch classes and roles, factions and so on.

For example the “betrayal quest” in EQ2 is an example of “permeable barrier” since it allows you to switch faction if you want.

Traveling between servers would be another implementation of permeable barriers.

My idea was rather simple: let’s retain the server structure we have now, but let’s also work on a system that can transfer characters from a server to another. Then we transform this process from an OOC one (where you go to a page and ask the transfer as in WoW) to an IC one. Where your character steps into a portal and that portal is part of the fabric of the game.

On top of that we add a system of automatic rules so that the portals switch from “green” to “yellow” to “red”, regulating actively both the population and PvP factional unbalances.

For example, let’s say the server is flagged “red”. It would mean that you can move out of it, but not in. Let’s say you are in the red servers but you want to join your friends. Well, you cannot ask them to join because the server is closed. But you can always move out and join them.

So, again, the “barrier” is permeable in the sense it still defines a space, but without trapping you inside.