#1 didn't sound THAT bad, until I remembered trying to get started in iPhone development and found out the SDK tool chain wouldn't run on anything except a Mac. Which I didn't own. Which I would have had to spend thousands of dollars on.

On January 28, 2010, Neil Mcallister published this article: http://infoworld.com/d/developer-world/oracles-big-bear-hug-java-bodes-really-well-021 He concludes the article by saying: "But at the very least, [Java developers] can rest a whole lot easier." Someone can't make up his mind about Java. The rest of us have, and know that -- while not perfect -- Java is an extremely powerful tool that ain't going anywhere.

The real problem is the way MMOs bind your character to a server. If you could pick the server at login, you eliminate the immersion problems instancing seems to cause people, and you give people a way to self-select their way out of overloaded server situations. It's still instancing/sharding, but without the restrictions MMOs feel they need to impose these days. Then again, you wouldn't get to rake in $25 every time someone wants to play with their friends on another server.