bandwidth-limits
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Net neutrality moving forward behind closed doors?
It sounds fairly boring compared to slaughtering orcs in your game of choice, but net neutrality is a big deal. It's about the very nature of the Internet and how we interact with it, and supporters of neutrality would argue that it's the only thing standing between MMO players and uncomfortable restrictions on their ability to play. Unfortunately, the cause was dealt a major blow back in April, which looked like it might be the death knell of the cause. The Federal Communications Commission hasn't wholly dropped the issue, it seems, but their pursuit of it is somewhat more dodgy. It has come to light that the FCC has carried on a series of secret meetings with lobbyists from top telecommunication companies and large Internet companies to discuss the future of this proposal. Consumer group Free Speech has spoken out loudly in protest, referring to the meetings as "...what appears to be secret negotiations to sell out the future of the Internet." The future of neutrality remains very much in doubt, and it's well worth following along if you care about your online connection (which covers pretty much every MMO player).
Comcast announces new bandwidth throttling scheme (update: old news)
Comcast customers have been no stranger to bandwidth shenanigans over the years, from the whole torrent filtering mess to the 250GB monthly cap. Now the company is back with a new data throttling scheme intended to put the kibosh on excessive traffic during those times when the network is already being overwhelmed. The two-tiered system is put on alert if either more than 70 percent of your max bandwidth (downstream or upstream) is used for more than 15 minutes or if your particular Cable Modem Termination System gets congested and it decides that you're partially responsible. Should you run afoul of the traffic warden, expect to find yourself down-throttled for at least 15 minutes, or until your average bandwidth utilization rate drops below 50 per cent for 15 minutes. If there is no congestion, however, you shouldn't notice any difference whatsoever -- unless, of course, John McCain gets his way. Warning: PDF read link. Update: Due to crossed wires when researching this piece, we mistakenly reported that this policy was new. It is not. In fact, the throttling detailed above has been in effect for nearly a year.
The Daily Grind: Web or Client based?
When many of us started online gaming, there was no such thing as a web-based MMO client. By gosh, you either telnetted into your MUD, or got your CD and took a couple of hours to install your game, and you liked it! Now with the advent of faster connections, some companies have wandered onto the web for their gaming. Flash-driven MMOs are attempting to change how you look at web-based gaming. Of course, advancing along with both forms of MMO are the ISPs worldwide who limit downloads, and either cap you or charge you obscene amounts of money for going over your allotment in terms of traffic - an issue that affects all MMO gamers, web and client alike.Today, with the looming advance of download restrictions in mind, we wanted to ask... Do you prefer your MMOs to run as a separate application, which includes higher-resolution graphics, full-quality music, and other larger file-sized assets because you'd gotten it on CD/DVD/downloaded the mother of all files - but which generally require enormous patches? Or do you like the idea of a web side client such as Gaia Online's zOMG! where if you're on limited bandwidth, you don't have to deal with enormous patches to download every time there's new content - it all streams to you. Does it make no difference to you as long as the game is good?
AT&T joins the herd, looks to trial bandwidth capping in Reno, NV
During an age where unlimited bandwidth has never been more useful for perfectly legal and entertaining reasons, carriers everywhere are looking to harsh our collective mellow. Following in the frowned-upon footsteps of Comcast, AT&T is gearing up to trial monthly bandwidth caps in Nevada. Starting this month, Reno-area subscribers using the carrier's least expensive DSL service (768k) will be forced to download less than 20GB in a month; the cap amount increases with the speed of the service, topping out at 150GB for the 10Mbps level of service. A USA Today report on the matter even admits that "streaming video services like the one Netflix offers" could indeed push users over the limit without any illegal transfers to speak of. Of note, customers involved in the trial will be able to track their usage via the web, and AT&T will contact them if they surpass 80% of their limit. Should they exceed the threshold even after a grace period, they'll be dinged $1 per gigabyte in overage charges. Awesome.
Comcast set to begin bandwidth capping come October 1st
You hear so much tough-talk and blustery grand-standing these days over data capping that it's hard to take any of it too seriously. A recent announcement by Comcast, however, is sending chills down the collective spine of Engadget (and seriously threatening to put a crunch on Thomas Ricker's... er, "movie" downloads). The company recently confirmed that it will begin capping its residential broadband service at 250GB per month (or roughly 124 SD movies) come October 1st, and could simply terminate customers who violate the cap more than twice. Of course, 250GB is a pretty large chunk of bandwidth, so you'll have to be entertaining some pretty hefty habits to break that bank. Then again, who likes the Man breathing down their pipeline?
