What is a client?

Davor

If you have problems restart your client. What is a client?

Elsonso

The game.

(The game on your computer is the "client"... the "server" is the part that runs at ZOS that your game talks to.)

Davor

Thank you. Why do they call it a client then? If it is the game, why not call it a game. I never herd a game be called a client before. I don't buy clients on Steam or GOG. It just doesn't make sense to me. Oh well thanks again for explaining it to me greatly appreciated.

Salvas_Aren

The definition of client is not uniform.

You could also call the game the client application and the computer is the client, while it is also the client device.

TheShadowScout

Its a technical term for the part of the game that runs on your personal computer ("Client-side"), connected in some way ("Network" or "Connection") to the part of the game that runs on their servers ("Server-side").
The distinction helps in finding out where to look for an error or lag... if its your computer, the internet connection/provider, or their hamsters servers. So if it says "client", then its always something on your machine...

idk

Salvas_Aren wrote: »

The definition of client is not uniform.

You could also call the game the client application and the computer is the client, while it is also the client device.

In the context of OP's question, what he would consider the game running on his PC is the client. Any other use of the term or any other term that can be used for it is not relevant here.

cheops

server and client are the terms which were introduced when it was decided that master and slave were not PC (in programming parlance)

NoTimeToWait

cheops wrote: »

server and client are the terms which were introduced when it was decided that master and slave were not PC (in programming parlance)

Too much truth there. Master ZOS and gamers-slaves. Big companies just don't want people to understand their standing in the gaming hierarchy /s

Anotherone773

cheops wrote: »

server and client are the terms which were introduced when it was decided that master and slave were not PC (in programming parlance)

Master/slave was better terminology. It was easy to understand the role of the devices/units. Client/Server can be confusing to people.

In short the server is the business end( the owner of the software in question) and the client is the "user" end( the customer)

Kiralyn2000

Davor wrote: »

Thank you. Why do they call it a client then? If it is the game, why not call it a game. I never herd a game be called a client before.

Because it's standard networking terms, that have been used for ages. And since this is a networked game.... /shrug


edit: from a dictionary...

2.Computing
• (in a network) a desktop computer or workstation that is capable of obtaining information and applications from a server.
• a program that is capable of obtaining a service provided by another program.

And if you think about it, without the server that software on your computer does nothing. It's not really a 'game', it's just your access to it.

Davor

Thank you all for explaining it. So basically reset everything lol.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

Thank you. Why do they call it a client then? If it is the game, why not call it a game. I never herd a game be called a client before.

Because it's standard networking terms, that have been used for ages. And since this is a networked game.... /shrug

Sorry I am not so into computers and computer terminology. I guess I need to turn in my nerd/geek card in now?

Kiralyn2000

Davor wrote: »

Thank you all for explaining it. So basically reset everything lol.

Kiralyn2000 wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

Thank you. Why do they call it a client then? If it is the game, why not call it a game. I never herd a game be called a client before.

Because it's standard networking terms, that have been used for ages. And since this is a networked game.... /shrug

Sorry I am not so into computers and computer terminology. I guess I need to turn in my nerd/geek card in now?

Nah, the rest of us can just feel old.


--
And that reminds me of even earlier, when we had Terminals and Mainframes. The terminal didn't even have to be able to compute (and generally didn't). The first 'digital gaming' I did, back in the late 70's, was when I played the original Colossal Cave Adventure text game - my father brought home a terminal that had a keyboard, an analog modem (with the little rubber cups you inserted your phone handset in), and a thermal printer. We dialed in to a Bell Laboratories mainframe, and I played an old-style text adventure, with the words being printed out on a roll of paper instead of a screen. Ah, the good old days. "You're in a twisty little maze of passages, all alike. (N/S/E/W) ?"

therift

@kiralyn2000

"Plugh"

Androconium

Oh dear. Where is Novell when you need them?

In the beginning, there was no such thing as a network.

The first computer that I worked on (1986) had a cable for each terminal coming from the back of the machine (McDonnell-Douglas Sequel 9208). These were cabled using RS232 format to the user's terminal (ASCII). For users in other offices, 16 of these cables went into a muliplexor; from there into a modem; from there into a leased ISDN phone line. It reversed at the other end. That was minicomputer land.

When PCs first started, they were stand alone 'personal' computers, not connected to each other.

At some point Convergent built something called an N-GEN. It had one personal computer that had multiple stand-alone CPU/Monitor sets daisy-chained together, sharing access to the PC.

Then netware came along with a dedicated Server. The server did two major things: It had a disk storage system that could be configured for multiple uses to share or not; and it could run multiple versions of one application. PC Users logged onto the fileserver (the original name) and accessed files in the same way we don now at work. But the PC and it's local applications remained as stand alone units.

The main problem is when everyone tried to use the same apps on the same server at once, causing performance problems.

Client/Server architecture essentially moved a chunk of the application processing work from the server; and got the PC CPU (formerly sitting around unused) to do the work. This left the server CPU with just the management of the core files and security etc. to manage.

Thank me later. Especially if I'm wrong.