Future "first time" downloads - How Long?

Kero · **Posted:** Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:15 pm

Not sure if this thread belongs here or in Suggestions - but here it goes.

When URU Live starts this holiday season it shouldn't take to long (cross fingers) to make the initial download. All of the promised stuff following shouldn't take to long either. But what happens in say 2 or even 5 years from now? A new explorer would not only have to download the beginning but all of the stuff that comes after - all at once - to be where everyone else in the community is. If it winds up taking 2 days to download URU Live for the first time..... Wouldn't that tend to turn off any potential new members?

Just wondering if anyone at Cyan or GameTap is thinking this far ahead.

OOOPS: I actually ment to put this in General Discussion - could one of you kind moderators please move it? Thanks

chucker · **Posted:** Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:30 pm

Uru has always had an option to download content during linking, rather than downloading everything at once. E.g., when you link to Relto for the first time, that content is downloaded.

Regardless of how much content there will be in two years from now, most of it still wouldn't be necessary for a new player.

Ja'de · **Posted:** Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:58 pm

For the most part, I don't think this would be a problem as we all start in the same place so a new player would get just that until they discovered something new and then would download that. Or maybe they will set up basic expansions as a separate download as new areas open. The problem I foresee is if a new player is invited to an experienced players age and then has to download it. The experienced player may just have to wait a while for their visitor to arrive and think during the wait that the invitee has left. I'm sure this isn't really any different than any other long running online game. How do they handle it?

Lunarhound · **Joined:** Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:23 am **Posts:** 24

Ja'de wrote:

The problem I foresee is if a new player is invited to an experienced players age and then has to download it. The experienced player may just have to wait a while for their visitor to arrive and think during the wait that the invitee has left. I'm sure this isn't really any different than any other long running online game. How do they handle it?

This is how Guild Wars handles it and it works fine. Some people are annoyed by it, but honestly, I like it much better than having to download everything at once. There are dozens of areas and area updates that I just don't need to have on my computer as soon as I log in and I'm perfectly willing to make the sacrifice of having to wait for a new area to download, in order to sign on to the actual game quickly and easily every time.

This does mean that players inviting someone into an area the other player hasn't been yet have to wait for them, but it's really not that big of a deal. And it would, in my opinion, be even less of an issue in URU because unlike Guild Wars, it's not an action game. There is no timer to beat, no monsters to slay, no actual "mission" to complete, so there's less of a reason to be in a hurry.

Ian Atrus · **Posted:** Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:11 pm

I think there should be an option to update/first download all the "current" Ages at launch for those who want it (like me!). The Ages of old Journeys/chapters can be downloaded when you access them from the Library.

Deledrius · **Posted:** Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:26 pm

Lunarhound wrote:

Ja'de wrote:

The problem I foresee is if a new player is invited to an experienced players age and then has to download it. The experienced player may just have to wait a while for their visitor to arrive and think during the wait that the invitee has left. I'm sure this isn't really any different than any other long running online game. How do they handle it?

This is how Guild Wars handles it and it works fine.

The other nice thing abot Guild Wars is that it does both... if you leave it sitting on the login screen, it slowly downloads all needed data upfront. So if you visit an area that you don't have the data for, it'll grab it, but if you leave it just sitting there in game, it'll slowly get your system up to speed behind the scenes.

Future "first time" downloads - How Long?

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