2012-08-06, 04:40 AM
StellarAshes Wrote:I run a Maple database website as well as having rather extensive knowledge of PS, and having briefly went over the assembly/MsSQL databases of BMS, so believe me when I say that I do know my way around DBs. The issue I was talking about with the character slots is the incentive (or lack thereof) for Nexon to allow people to purchase additional slots.
As for the technical explanation you give, I know for sure PS uses the second method. I don't recall off the top of my head what BMS used. Also, the "speed" improvement of the first way over the second way is so miniscule (less than 1/100th of a second if indexed/keyed properly) that it's hard for me to believe Nexon (well, technically, Wizet) would do that. Then again these are the same coders who accepted item IDs from client as if they were always correct so I could be very wrong.
I think [MENTION=2054]Eos[/MENTION]; once said that the BMS database used no indexing, but I could be misremembering.
As for the incentive for more character slots: since the one-account-per-person restriction was removed from the ToS, we all have infinite storage. Except for untradeable and account-locked items. Nexon should actually encourage us to purchase new slots on existing accounts, rather than create new accounts with free slots on them. The fact that they don't indicates to me that they have a technical issue blocking them, namely a non-dynamic database structure.