Spooky Guild Wars online networking stories

October is upon us. The start of “spooky season” means it’s a fantastic time to share spooky game dev horror stories—like the ghoulish challenges of keeping games like Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 up and running with as little interruption as possible.

This week on the Game Developer Podcast, ArenaNet game director Stephen Clarke-Willson and server programmer Robert Neckorcuk drop by to share stories from their many, many years of keeping two of the game industry’s longest-running massively multiplayer online role-playing games alive and kicking.

It’s a fascinating look back at the challenges of migrating server providers, the nuances of optimizing Guild Wars for modern computers, and what happens when hordes of players start banging on your API like a horde of zombies while you’re trying to get the server back up.

What’s the value of keeping Guild Wars online?

When many game studios update their online games, they’re usually in the habit of sunsetting older titles to focus resources on the latest version. But Clarke-Willson was able to break down why keeping Guild Wars online is a huge boon to ArenaNet. Not only does it reward fans who’ve been playing for decades, it builds trust with the Guild Wars 2 playerbase that their favorite game won’t be abandoned any time soon.

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The Game Developer podcast is a bi-weekly podcast chronicling the triumphs, catastrophes, and everything in-between of game development, sharing lessons and strategies fellow developers can use to hone their craft. The Game Developer Podcast is hosted by Bryant Francis, edited by Pierre Landriau, and features music by Mike Meehan.

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