Best Multiplayer Option For MMO Games

Hello everyone. I'm a game developer and I have experience on networking solutions. I have some questions for you guys. If you would make a new MMO game today which type of multiplayer network solutions you would use ? There ara lots of alternatives but everyone of them have pros and cons. I can create any type of server (even code from scratch by myself). You guys have experience on these solutions and I need cheapest and most useful solutions. For example Node.JS and UDP server or C# custom UDP server etc. I need your suggestions. Thanks...

 

photon server(not pun) or smartfox server
if by cheapest you mean the most stable and advanced solution that would take years for an individual to get the same for a little fee

 

As far as I know, Mirror is the only one that has a proven 500 CCU stress test

 

If I was creating my own MMO from scratch (which coincidentally I am), I'd roll my own network solution. You'll very likely need to get pretty custom with it, and if you write it yourself you have control over everything, and better yet you know exactly how every detail of it works. Plus, the risk of it getting deprecated after you've invested months or years into it is obviously 0.

If I were using a premade MMO asset to speed up development, like @vis2k 's uMMORPG asset, I'd use whatever the asset was designed for.

 

Also, part of your decision should be based on what functionality you need on the server side. I'm using Unity builds server side primarily because I needed server side physics. If you don't need features Unity includes then maybe you don't even use Unity on the server, since your server might be a bit lighter weight if it wasn't Unity. Your network options are of course different in that case.

Good luck in your game. Don't take creating an MMO lightly by the way. I'm 3 years in (just working on it at lunch and some evenings), and the game is always set to release sometime next year, no matter which year it is.