Is it considered good practice to shut down all servers after adding new items to the shop? I believe in my case that this may lead to excessive shutdowns as I’ll be frequently adding new stuff to the shop.
Are there any efficient alternatives?
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You could have a datastore containing all the shop items
Or if your shop items are meant to be random, randomise them in each server with a set seed so it always picks the same items in all servers
I don’t know about ‘good practice,’ but I suppose it would depend on what your goal is!
Ideally: shutdowns are reserved for updates which drastically change the game. A new item added to the shop (which is not very important, or is optional like a new kind of sword or whatnot) is not necessarily a drastic change. I do not see why you would shut down for that because it interrupts your players’ gameplay.
If you push an update that changes how key game functions work, or is a bundle of updates (lots of features, bug fixes, content, etc.), then it may be more important to shut down.
It comes down to this: would your players want their gameplay interrupted for this? If you think the answer is no, then don’t shut it down. Just publish the update and let the regular cycle of the servers gradually put this content in the live servers of your game. Alternatively: shutdown at a non-peak hour, like 4am or something like that. Minimizing impact will improve player retention.