I think the product needs to be enjoyable even when you're the only user. Getting through that cold-start phase after launching a platform, when there's nobody else around yet, is really hard.

How are cross-shard joins and transactions handled? Are there query patterns that would require application changes despite using the same drivers and ORM?

cross shard joins break down into single shard selects, and are joined in the routers. There are some query patterns that are currently unsupported, but we are working on adding support for them. The biggest thing to keep in mind when running on a sharded database of any kind is decreasing the number of cross shard queries.

I used to play WoW a lot. I don't think I stopped liking MMOs — I just stopped having enough time for them.

Looks cool, but as a web developer all I can think about is another screen layout I have to support.

Has anyone tried this for coding yet? I'm curious how it compares to Claude or GPT models on larger codebases, especially for debugging and making changes across multiple files.

I cross code and review between Deepseek v4 Flash and Claude Opus/Fable. I will do a full code review of my project with DS 4.1 F later today, but Claude makes a lot of mistakes that DS finds. Claude is slightly more ambitious about what it's reaching for, but DS is far more proficient and efficient with a slightly lower ceiling. That may not be true after the upgrade, but if I had to live with one, as I'm paying out of my own pocket, I'd def stick with Deepseek.