>I think this is an *extraordinarily* bad assumption. It's the standard
>MUD model, which is no doubt why everyone's assuming it. But look at
>the *real* numbers of the Web. We're not talking hundreds of people --
>we're talking *millions*. Popular sites may have *tens of thousands*
>of people moving in them at once, particularly if they've just been
>"noticed". MUD assumptions break down in this environment, very badly.
>
>As I've been saying over and over -- the key to remember is that what
>makes a MUD special is the *social* aspect, the *people*. So define
>a MUD to be a group of *people*, not a *place*. Use the "static" Web
>as the database, and have a MUD dealing with smallish numbers of
>people at a time. You *can* have a MUD customized to work with a
>particular set of places, but that's limiting -- instead, have it
>work with the whole of Cyberspace. Break the hard part, the interactions
>of the people, down into manageable chunks of a few hundred per MUD
>server, grouped however they like, not "geographically".
I think the point that a traditional MUD architecture is just not scalable
to the extent required for us is a very good one. It does however raise the
question of what sort of architecture do we need then?
Something scalable. Something with low network overhead. The last thing
wanted is constant polling for updates by browsers. Something new.....
Logically, lets cut out "registration/subscription".
When a user enters a "room" the room's VRML code is sent to the user's
browser to render. What then? How can interaction take place?
In the "real" world, there is no server. When we enter a room, we get
changes directly from objects in the room - by photons of light, sound
waves.. etc
Objects broadcast changes into the world around them and anyone in the
immediate area recieves them. The medium these changes pass through could be
called maybe "space" . Something that does not exist independantly in a
virtual world unless something (a server?) maintains it.
I'm getting philisophical... Does space exist there is nothing to perceive
it? Does a tree falling in a forest make a sound if no-one is there to hear it?
I think the lack of an independant medium for changes to propagate through
must force some kind of registration. The solution then, may not be a new
architecture, but just throwing vast computer processing power at the problem...
It think anyone expects a really complex virtual world server to require
some grunt.
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Sean Riley Phone:(510) 869-6372
Illustra Information Technologies Email: [email protected]
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"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand", Homer Simspon