24:
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363:, Town/Outpost areas are created on demand, with a new "district" of that town being created for every 100 players in it; players can move between these at will. When entering an Explorable Area or Cooperative Mission, a separate instance will be created for each group (ranging in size from 2 to 12) of players. Players can play with players across the globe, as in
163:, which has a hub. You can go to shops and get food, but when you get on the boat for the pirate ride, you're in your own version of reality. Once the ride starts, you are blissfully unaware of the boats in front of you and behind you. Then when you finish, you are in the hub, and you can navigate over to the next place.
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or having to accomplish a special task. They are also used in certain 'minigames'. However, most monsters not related to quests are not instanced, so players often have to compete with each other to get the reward from killing them. They are also used extensively in the new skill
Dungeoneering. The
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as players do whatever they can to acquire the limited rewards. Instancing preserves the gaming experience, since some gaming scenarios do not work if the player is continually surrounded by other players, as in a multiplayer setting. Instance dungeons may contain stronger than usual mobs and rare,
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has a unique system for its instances. As soon as a player steps on the entry area, ten seconds are given for up to three other players to enter. Once inside, the instance usually triggers a new line of quests, which must be completed to gain access to other parts of the instance. If a player logs
180:
The problem can be stated as follows: every player wants to be "The Hero", slay "The
Monster", rescue "The Princess", and obtain "The Magic Sword". When there are thousands of players all playing the same game, clearly not everyone can be the hero. The problem of everyone wanting to kill the same
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for the players. This also reduces the demands on each player's computer, as the number of objects to be processed can be more easily limited by the game's developer. The developer can better reason about the worst-case performance requirements in an instance because they do not have to consider
187:, where several groups of players would compete and sometimes harass each other in the same dungeon, in order to get to the monsters dropping valuable items. The creation of instances largely solves this set of problems, leaving only travelling to and from the dungeon as a potential risk in
396:
out or leaves through the "front door", progress will be reset (a warning message will appear). If a player dies, flees, or teleports, data will then be reset in 30 minutes. If a monster is defeated in an instance, it stays defeated. Players can repeat instances as many times as they want.
132:, that generates a new copy of the location for each group, or for a certain number of players, that enters the area. Instancing, the general term for the use of this technique, addresses several problems encountered by players in the shared spaces of
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in the instance do not need to be updated on all the information going on outside the instance, and vice versa for the characters outside the instance, there is an overall decrease in demands on the network, with the net result being less
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sought-after equipment. They also may include level restrictions and/or restrict the number of players allowed in each instance to balance gameplay. Several games use instancing to scale the
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Stated another way, instances can be used to reduce the competition over resources within the game. Excessive competition in these spaces leads to several undesirable behaviors such as
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world. You live a truly charmed existence, and around every corner you are finding new things. You're blissfully unaware of your neighbor who is also playing the game. (...) is like
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Having players participate in instances tends to spread out populations of players, instead of concentrating them, which may reduce or level the workload for both the
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player-owned-houses (commonly abbreviated as P.O.H.), houses that can be owned and built by players, are instanced, with each house having its own instance.
230:(both of which did not feature instancing at launch), wrote an essay in 2005 arguing that instances can negatively affect the game's community,
354:, launched in 1996. Combat in this game was extensively instanced, with every battle taking place in a special room outside of the open world.
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382:, instances are used mostly in quests, so that other players cannot interfere with the player who is doing the quest, such as battling boss
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added that instancing should be limited to situations in which the creation of a "pocket zone" makes sense within the context of the
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Single-player games are great, and I love them. They have a great feature. Your life is very special. You are
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Dungeons and
Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic
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Dungeons and
Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic
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Using a
Physical Metaphor to Scale Up Communication in Virtual Worlds
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franchise. One reviewer described the extensive use of instancing in
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Despite its advantages, instancing in MMOGs has been criticized.
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Perhaps the first virtual world to use instances was the MMORPG
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to the players' levels, and/or the number of players present.
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monster and gain the best treasure became obvious in the game
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Massively multiplayer online role-playing game terminology
142:(1996) is sometimes credited as introducing the concept.
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as " the sense of expansiveness an MMORPG should have".
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48:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
238:, and other factors. In response to this article,
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108:Learn how and when to remove this message
327:by adding descriptive text and removing
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847:Turns, rounds and time-keeping systems
465:King, Brad; Borland, John M. (2003).
7:
46:adding citations to reliable sources
556:"Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures"
122:massively multiplayer online games
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587:. Stanford University. p. 11
534:"From instancing to worldy games"
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22:
438:. O'Reilly Media. p. 112.
128:is a special area, typically a
33:needs additional citations for
1:
504:"Instancing in Online Gaming"
155:hero and you get to save the
644:Glossary of video game terms
581:Horn, Daniel Reiter (2011).
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506:. GamerGod. Archived from
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875:Destructible environment
554:Ryan, Leon (July 2008).
266:Technical considerations
227:Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
329:less pertinent examples
434:Simon Carless (2004).
178:
917:Procedural generation
146:Design considerations
704:Non-player character
532:(30 November 2005).
502:(29 November 2005).
475:. pp. 255–257.
189:player versus player
42:improve this article
943:Movement techniques
727:Collision detection
473:McGraw-Hill/Osborne
325:improve the article
218:, lead designer of
1024:Advance And Secure
373:, the developers.
244:fictional universe
57:"Instance dungeon"
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1039:Last man standing
822:Scripted sequence
445:978-0-596-00714-0
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280:player characters
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802:Quick time event
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337:December 2014
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53:Find sources:
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37:
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31:This article
29:
25:
20:
19:
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1008:Speedrunning
879:
812:Replay value
678:Critical hit
589:. Retrieved
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564:. Retrieved
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537:. Retrieved
524:
512:. Retrieved
508:the original
500:Brad McQuaid
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449:
436:Gaming hacks
435:
408:(or "shard")
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323:Please help
311:may contain
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259:Age of Conan
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216:Brad McQuaid
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161:Disney World
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40:Please help
35:verification
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996:Competitive
991:Cooperative
986:Multiplayer
890:Bonus stage
857:Fast travel
591:15 December
530:Raph Koster
406:Game server
240:Raph Koster
98:August 2010
1034:Deathmatch
1017:Game modes
907:Open world
817:Saved game
787:Permadeath
777:Paper doll
742:Fog of war
687:Characters
651:Attributes
634:Video game
418:References
366:EVE Online
360:Guild Wars
317:irrelevant
236:churn rate
68:newspapers
976:Nonlinear
929:Overworld
747:Game over
719:Mechanics
392:Wizard101
379:RuneScape
313:excessive
253:Star Trek
221:EverQuest
184:EverQuest
1069:Category
1049:Survival
971:Emergent
955:Strafing
922:Map seed
902:Mini-map
895:Minigame
827:Spawning
792:Power-up
782:Password
732:Cutscene
636:concepts
566:8 August
539:8 August
514:8 August
400:See also
371:ArenaNet
319:examples
248:holodeck
166:—
126:instance
868:Scenery
250:in the
130:dungeon
82:scholar
981:Twitch
934:Skybox
658:Health
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276:client
272:server
202:, and
175:(2003)
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832:Stats
797:Quest
673:Magic
292:Usage
171:, in
157:whole
124:, an
89:JSTOR
75:books
852:Warp
762:Item
694:Boss
663:Life
593:2014
568:2010
562:: 35
541:2010
516:2010
477:ISBN
440:ISBN
384:NPCs
274:and
224:and
209:mobs
61:news
752:HUD
699:Bot
376:In
357:In
315:or
285:lag
153:the
120:In
44:by
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491:^
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