So this isn't a gameplay suggestion, rather it's a suggestion to change the way that online verification is handled. As I'm sure you're all aware, the Minecraft servers are clearly not capable of handling the traffic required, despite Mojang having upgraded the servers several times (and Notch said we were supposed to get a dedicated server for verification once the new launcher was released, does anyone know if this happened?).
Rather than continuously try to beef up the servers to keep up with demand, I think we should look instead at simply lowering the required traffic to the Minecraft site.
So, what happens right now is that whenever you start Minecraft from the launcher, the game connects to Minecraft.net to verify your account and grab your skin. This happens EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you launch the game, regardless of what mode you're actually going to play.
Now I'd wager that a fairly decent portion of the community is playing the singleplayer portion of the game. My suggestion, quite simply, involves removing these checks for those who are playing singleplayer. There is simply no reason for those who play singleplayer to need to connect to the Minecraft server (except to download updates, which I'll get to later). I think that if the server wasn't accessed all the time by people who are only playing singleplayer, the server would experience a much lighter load.
When connecting to a multiplayer server, however, the same checks would take place. You would connect to the verification server, you would then connect to the skin server, and you would then connect to the server you want to play. The difference is that these checks are performed ONLY when you choose to join a multiplayer server, instead of every time you start the Minecraft launcher.
Now, obviously, in this setup, the people who are mostly playing singleplayer aren't connecting to the server, but they still need a way to download updates and access their skin. My argument is simply that this doesn't need to be automatic: The new launcher already has a "force update" button, so if a new update comes out that someone wants to download, they can just hit that to connect to the Minecraft server ONCE and get the update. Similarly, an "update skin" button should be added. When pressed, the skin gets downloaded from the Minecraft site and then stored into your Minecraft.jar file. That way, you keep your skin without having to redownload it every time you play the game. (Obviously, any time you connect to an online server, this process happens automatically.)
So that's basically it. I know this won't really help lighten the server load from people who play from the browser, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do about that. Again this is just a guess, but I'd wager the majority of the community plays from the launcher anyway, so this would definitely provide some relief to the server from constantly checking up on players who are only playing singleplayer.
tl;dr: Only check verification and skin when playing multiplayer or when specifically requested by the user, NOT automatically every time the Minecraft launcher is started
tl;dr: Only check verification and skin when playing multiplayer or when specifically requested by the user, NOT automatically every time the Minecraft launcher is started
I think there's a simpler way to do this; when you log in for the first time on a machine, the game connects to Minecraft.net as usual. However, now that the game knows the account is valid, it simply downloads your skin and doesn't connect in the future unless you're playing multiplayer. When an update comes out or your skin is changed, the server would simply send out that information to your computer, and you so you'd then connect to download the update or skin.
So make Minecraft pirate friendly is your suggestion?
Don't get me wrong, I don't support piracy - But Notch has stated numerous times that he doesn't really mind pirates, and he's against adding any sort of "DRM" style protection to the game.
At the moment, pirates can play singleplayer just fine with pirated copies of the game. The only thing they can't (easily) do is download updates, and they can't play on servers that use online verification.
My proposal would not change this at all. In order to download an update, the game would still need to connect to Minecraft.net. It would not connect in any other case. Yes, that would allow pirates to play singleplayer, but that is no different than the current situation.
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So this isn't a gameplay suggestion, rather it's a suggestion to change the way that online verification is handled. As I'm sure you're all aware, the Minecraft servers are clearly not capable of handling the traffic required, despite Mojang having upgraded the servers several times (and Notch said we were supposed to get a dedicated server for verification once the new launcher was released, does anyone know if this happened?).
Rather than continuously try to beef up the servers to keep up with demand, I think we should look instead at simply lowering the required traffic to the Minecraft site.
So, what happens right now is that whenever you start Minecraft from the launcher, the game connects to Minecraft.net to verify your account and grab your skin. This happens EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you launch the game, regardless of what mode you're actually going to play.
Now I'd wager that a fairly decent portion of the community is playing the singleplayer portion of the game. My suggestion, quite simply, involves removing these checks for those who are playing singleplayer. There is simply no reason for those who play singleplayer to need to connect to the Minecraft server (except to download updates, which I'll get to later). I think that if the server wasn't accessed all the time by people who are only playing singleplayer, the server would experience a much lighter load.
When connecting to a multiplayer server, however, the same checks would take place. You would connect to the verification server, you would then connect to the skin server, and you would then connect to the server you want to play. The difference is that these checks are performed ONLY when you choose to join a multiplayer server, instead of every time you start the Minecraft launcher.
Now, obviously, in this setup, the people who are mostly playing singleplayer aren't connecting to the server, but they still need a way to download updates and access their skin. My argument is simply that this doesn't need to be automatic: The new launcher already has a "force update" button, so if a new update comes out that someone wants to download, they can just hit that to connect to the Minecraft server ONCE and get the update. Similarly, an "update skin" button should be added. When pressed, the skin gets downloaded from the Minecraft site and then stored into your Minecraft.jar file. That way, you keep your skin without having to redownload it every time you play the game. (Obviously, any time you connect to an online server, this process happens automatically.)
So that's basically it. I know this won't really help lighten the server load from people who play from the browser, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do about that. Again this is just a guess, but I'd wager the majority of the community plays from the launcher anyway, so this would definitely provide some relief to the server from constantly checking up on players who are only playing singleplayer.
tl;dr: Only check verification and skin when playing multiplayer or when specifically requested by the user, NOT automatically every time the Minecraft launcher is started
Isn't a big deal to me, but sure.
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Playing Minecraft since [Friday, March 19, 2010, 9:20:21 PM] (First indev world save)
Don't get me wrong, I don't support piracy - But Notch has stated numerous times that he doesn't really mind pirates, and he's against adding any sort of "DRM" style protection to the game.
At the moment, pirates can play singleplayer just fine with pirated copies of the game. The only thing they can't (easily) do is download updates, and they can't play on servers that use online verification.
My proposal would not change this at all. In order to download an update, the game would still need to connect to Minecraft.net. It would not connect in any other case. Yes, that would allow pirates to play singleplayer, but that is no different than the current situation.