Introductions & Overview
Why is the development process for large scale persistent online worlds different from single player/multiplayer games?
•The content in these  games have to last from 6 to 12 months for the average player
•The average life-span of these games is around 5 years
•It is not fire and forget software.  The software must be scalable and maintainable for years.
•Client/Server Architecture
•Supporting thousands of players instead of a few
•Environments are huge.
•It is a service not a product