The reason so many things are done in 8s (or really, powers of 2) comes down to how the packets of data are set up and handled. Interested parties can see how this works by looking up private servers for other games.
But the basic gist of how a MMO works is it's a collection of data packets that contain an instruction code, some pointers to characters or other objects, and then subpackets of more data.
In an oversimplified view, a packet might look like this:
[move command][character_ID][optional additional data]
Then it's sent from the client to the server to be sent to EVERYONE on that map. (This is why 1.0 was slow and laggy and 2.0 is instanced all over the place. Less people = less data to send = faster responses).
But when that data's packet up, it's still basically in binary. So a character ID could be something slot accountID_serverID_slotNumber. ...and those are all 1s and 0s. And it only takes 3 bits to give 8 slots. 4 bits would give 16 slots, etc. (So why did SE gives us 40 slots? Who knows. That was likely arbritrary, but it doesn't affect server-level stuff in game).
But the basic gist of how a MMO works is it's a collection of data packets that contain an instruction code, some pointers to characters or other objects, and then subpackets of more data.
In an oversimplified view, a packet might look like this:
[move command][character_ID][optional additional data]
Then it's sent from the client to the server to be sent to EVERYONE on that map. (This is why 1.0 was slow and laggy and 2.0 is instanced all over the place. Less people = less data to send = faster responses).
But when that data's packet up, it's still basically in binary. So a character ID could be something slot accountID_serverID_slotNumber. ...and those are all 1s and 0s. And it only takes 3 bits to give 8 slots. 4 bits would give 16 slots, etc. (So why did SE gives us 40 slots? Who knows. That was likely arbritrary, but it doesn't affect server-level stuff in game).
