Top Engineers Spent the Entire NBA 2K15 Dev Cycle Working on Network Infrastructure

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by RogerBlack

GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption comes to mind. I don't remember a ton of (Day 1) connectivity issues with multiplayer modes / death matches in those games, on the PS3. GTA 5 Online was another story tho. That was very problematic.

Nope. They all had issues. And I don't think it's just Take Two. Remember SimCity? That one was epic.

[rtkiii]

Quote: Originally Posted by rtkiii

We'll see...doesn't mean they are fixed just that someone worked on them for 8 months. If they are not fixed these two people need to find new jobs.

man this guy is smart and handsome

[MFDOOMBOT]

I am the lead network architect for a medium sized web hosting company. I actually design the data center infrastructure and have a wealth of knowledge in the matter of server management.

I'm going to create a thread tomorrow to give my two cents on what seems to be the real issue with 2k's history of fail with their online components in their games, but to give a quick overview, they need to completely overhaul their data centers & do not have the budget to do so. This is causing their architecture team to put band-aids on the problem instead of truly fixing their issues.

All a symptom of higher management not understanding that their games have outgrown their current setup. You have to remember that 2K started as a division of cash strapped SEGA at the tail end of their being a hardware company.

In order to truly have an infrastructure to handle the amount of traffic a game like NBA2k produces, they'd need to have their own data center (ala Micro$oft, Apple & Google) They'd have to replace all of the outdated servers, network hardware they currently have (while still maintaining servers for current games)

It's basically a cost issue & the 1 year turnaround for 2k16 doesn't really allow them to do this. Along with a marketing department that would rather have back of the box features (where we get Pharrell being paid to "curate" the soundtrack) than an actual data center that can handle the load.

It's a bad situation for any Sysadmin/Netadmin team, one that won't be fixed as long as millions of people buy the game and the Top Men are turning a profit.

I'll go a bit more in depth when I have a chance to write my thread, but really it comes down to, no real competition to force major changes. Myself & millions of others still pay $60 for have *** products.

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by rtkiii

man this guy is smart and handsome

And funny in his bizarro mind. 😊

[Quigley2324]

It's nice to hear from an expert's perspective on such a glaring issue, but that should make us even more upset with 2k. If their servers aren't built to handle the ever increasing workload for their games, then WHY are they making everything, including what should be offline modes reliant on their online servers?!

[strawberryshortcake]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackOut32

I am the lead network architect for a medium sized web hosting company. I actually design the data center infrastructure and have a wealth of knowledge in the matter of server management. I'm going to create a thread tomorrow to give my two cents on what seems to be the real issue with 2k's history of fail with their online components in their games, but to give a quick overview, they need to completely overhaul their data centers & do not have the budget to do so. This is causing their architecture team to put band-aids on the problem instead of truly fixing their issues. All a symptom of higher management not understanding that their games have outgrown their current setup. You have to remember that 2K started as a division of cash strapped SEGA at the tail end of their being a hardware company. In order to truly have an infrastructure to handle the amount of traffic a game like NBA2k produces, they'd need to have their own data center (ala Micro$oft, Apple & Google) They'd have to replace all of the outdated servers, network hardware they currently have (while still maintaining servers for current games) It's basically a cost issue & the 1 year turnaround for 2k16 doesn't really allow them to do this. Along with a marketing department that would rather have back of the box features (where we get Pharrell being paid to "curate" the soundtrack) than an actual data center that can handle the load. It's a bad situation for any Sysadmin/Netadmin team, one that won't be fixed as long as millions of people buy the game and the Top Men are turning a profit. I'll go a bit more in depth when I have a chance to write my thread, but really it comes down to, no real competition to force major changes. Myself & millions of others still pay $60 for have *** products.

Looking forward to the write up tomorrow or the following day.

2k MLB series (now out of commission) for the past couple (2011??, 2012??) years I believe offered $1 million dollars for throwing a perfect game. That's $2 million dollars. Would that or could that amount make a noticeable dent in revamping 2K's server issue? What is an educated estimated cost to get it to par?

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackOut32

I am the lead network architect for a medium sized web hosting company. I actually design the data center infrastructure and have a wealth of knowledge in the matter of server management. I'm going to create a thread tomorrow to give my two cents on what seems to be the real issue with 2k's history of fail with their online components in their games, but to give a quick overview, they need to completely overhaul their data centers & do not have the budget to do so. This is causing their architecture team to put band-aids on the problem instead of truly fixing their issues. All a symptom of higher management not understanding that their games have outgrown their current setup. You have to remember that 2K started as a division of cash strapped SEGA at the tail end of their being a hardware company. In order to truly have an infrastructure to handle the amount of traffic a game like NBA2k produces, they'd need to have their own data center (ala Micro$oft, Apple & Google) They'd have to replace all of the outdated servers, network hardware they currently have (while still maintaining servers for current games) It's basically a cost issue & the 1 year turnaround for 2k16 doesn't really allow them to do this. Along with a marketing department that would rather have back of the box features (where we get Pharrell being paid to "curate" the soundtrack) than an actual data center that can handle the load. It's a bad situation for any Sysadmin/Netadmin team, one that won't be fixed as long as millions of people buy the game and the Top Men are turning a profit. I'll go a bit more in depth when I have a chance to write my thread, but really it comes down to, no real competition to force major changes. Myself & millions of others still pay $60 for have *** products.

You should send them your resume. I'm sure they never thought to hire someone with a background such as your's.

😙

Seriously though, no one really knows but the people that know. All of this is speculation no more valid than the kid flipping fries. No offense.

But I will give your post a read for sure. I might learn something. You could be right.

[spankdatazz22]

I'd think it's hard for a non-insider to say exactly what the problem could be. We've seen developers of games that have huge online components have issues (Bungie, Dice), games that are developed by multiple developers have initial online issues (Call of Duty series with it's rotating development team), etc. Not sure if I'm mistaken but even online-only games like Titanfall have had their share of issues. But hard to say if the problem is the developer, the producer, or what. GTA5 famously delayed the online portion of their game and still had major online issues for a month+ after it was released. I still read that the Playstation network has issues from time to time, although I'm not sure if the reactions to the issues are merited based on the quality of the network. Then again you have games like Madden or FIFA that don't seem to have the same issues - but I base that on purely anecdotal evidence on my part.

I say all that not to excuse NBA2K's issues; just saying I'd think it's hard for anyone on the outside to understand the complexities of how these various online components interact