Modern Warfare 2 PC will not have dedicated servers

[Nightshape]

I'm getting a bit tired of that meme haha.

 

They make me laugh every time. The OFP one is awesome.

[Purkake]

Infinity Ward Responds To PC Fanboys' Dedicated Server Woes

 

Modern Warfare fansite bashandslash.com recently reported that Infinity Ward is removing dedicated server functionality from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. With dedicated servers and the server browser that comes with them replaced with custom-built matchmaking, PC gamers will have an online experience functionally identical to console players. Among other things, this means that clans can't run their own servers with their own mods and rulesets for their own private (or public, if they feel like crushing some scrubs for giggles) use.

 

Predictably, nerds across world took to the Internet with a wailing and a gnashing of teeth that would make the Left 4 Dead community proud. An online petition to bring back dedicated servers at the time of this writing stands at 100,000+ signatures. However -- and this may shock some gamers with advanced persecution complexes -- this move was not made to tweak the noses of the PC community. Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella explain the decision as a conscious effort to improve their game for the vast majority of their players.

 

"We're just prioritizing the player experience above the modders and the tuners," says West. He points toward the mounting feedback IW has received from PC fans of Modern Warfare who couldn't find a decent server to play on between all of the cheaters, the insular communities, and huge skill level disparities that the original game's community fractured into. "We thought maybe it would be cool if the fans could play the game," he laughs.

 

IW says that gameplay concerns for the majority of MW2 players are the overriding reasons for the decision. Zampella downplays the obvious piracy prevention angle (IW has cited numbers of people online playing illegal copies of Modern Warfare up to 60 percent). "The Steam stuff helps with the piracy. I don't know that the matchmaking stuff does," he notes. West takes a shot at the motives behind some of the outrage, noting that there's money to made by selling dedicated servers and adspace on them: "It's a little dubious. Some of the people complaining are complaining with their pocketbook."

 

Again and again during our conversation, West and Zampella hammer the point that hardcore PC players lose very little to this change relative to the returns that casual to moderate fans will see. Clans can set up private matches to do their training or what have you; all they lose is the ability to customize the game on a deeper level with mods and such. Infinity Ward sees the addition of solid matchmaking and community support like IW-run tournaments to the PC as a huge win, and not something that could be done under the old system.

 

Why not have both? West does not want to include dedicated servers alongside the custom-built backend, stating that it would just "bifurcate the community."

 

Edited October 21, 2009 by Purkake

[Zoraptor]

The first bolded part is just GameInformer putting their 'unique' spin on it. Considering they're owned by EB/GameStop they'll be all over anything which minimises canceled pre-orders.

[Purkake]

That doesn't make it any less funny.

[Pidesco]

They start off by saying that the community is divided between the hardcore and the causal. And then, basically they says that the hardcore players aren't enough to matter, and as such he'd rather lose those than "bifurcate the community" by offering both the matchmaking and the dedicated servers. Nevermind that he said first that the community was already divided to begin with. He even took the time to question the community's motives when complaining about this by saying they're actually just worried about the ad money.

 

It takes a lot of gall to say something like this and of course, it's to be expected that the "journalist" who talked to the guy failed to call him on it.

 

It's all about the spin.

[Purkake]

Hey, at least it makes sense from a business stand point. Activision:

 

[Pidesco]

How exactly does this make more money for Activision as opposed to allowing both matchmaking and dedicated servers? It's cutting an option not substituting one thing for another.

[alanschu]

It doesn't require money to be spent on it.

[Purkake]

Not only that, but they can put the money they save into something else like marketing and make even more money.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Purkake

[Pidesco]

It doesn't require money to be spent on it.

 

 

What money? It's a feature they've implemented before in their previous games, which should be coded exactly the same and work exactly the same. The dedicated servers are then managed by experienced people who've been running servers for years, know what they're doing and need little to no support.

[Purkake]

It's probably more of a hassle than it's worth, at least from Activision's perspective. A few more sales vs. having everything under one neat little umbrella.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Maybe they're just jerks.

[Purkake]

That goes without saying.

 

It's just that companies, unlike people, are inherently rational, so there's probably some kind of logic behind this.

[Malcador]

It's just that companies, unlike people, are inherently rational, so there's probably some kind of logic behind this.

 

Wait a minute...

[alanschu]

It doesn't require money to be spent on it.

 

 

What money? It's a feature they've implemented before in their previous games, which should be coded exactly the same and work exactly the same. The dedicated servers are then managed by experienced people who've been running servers for years, know what they're doing and need little to no support.

 

 

 

If dedicated server support was just "use the last iteration" then how come virtually every game doesn't have the exact same netcode?

 

How come Dragon Age isn't multiplayer? They could obviously just latch on NWN's network mode and dedicated server support, right?

 

 

If it was as costless as you claim it would be, they'd do it. UNLESS.... they felt it nipped into their bottom line by doing so. Either way, I see a motive for making more money. Unless you're claiming that Activision and Infinity Ward have actively decided to not included it, so that they will make less money on the game.

Edited October 21, 2009 by alanschu

[Zoraptor]

They still wouldn't do it most likely [even if it were just a matter of sticking the netcode from the last one in]. For all the spin it is an antipiracy measure, if they leave out any netcode not related to IWnet it means that any pirated copies will not be multiplayer capable (well, theoretically at least, practically it would require something similar to a Steam emulator to be written, so not a trivial undertaking but probably possible in the medium term).

Edited October 21, 2009 by Zoraptor

[bhlaab]

How exactly does this make more money for Activision as opposed to allowing both matchmaking and dedicated servers? It's cutting an option not substituting one thing for another.

 

1. Piracy

2. When you have free mods available why would you buy their stupid $14.99 map packs and zombie DLC

3. From a sales perspective, they've got to care a lot more about making their game accessible than making their game hardcore-functional

[Purkake]

Once again, Penny Arcade once again gets it right:

 

Edited October 24, 2009 by Purkake

[Mamoulian War]

for anyone who is still thinking about buying MW2 for PC, i recommend you to read whole article!!!

 

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/11...you-thought.ars

[alanschu]

I did.

 

Since I play CoD games for their single player, I still intend to buy it at some point. I need a new video card first though.

[Mamoulian War]

I did.

 

Since I play CoD games for their single player, I still intend to buy it at some point. I need a new video card first though.

 

this was actualy meant for people who enjoy multiplayer over single palyer in FPS

[Kaftan Barlast]

Ive played a lot of COD4 mutliplayer and Im really amazed at all the crap they've done with MW2. There seems to be no real reason for it, its like they're just set to keep MW2 from being a serious multiplayer game like the original. Admin cant kick **** players anymore? You cant even use the console anymore?!! WTF.

 

"yeah, we sold 13 million copies of COD4 which was really stressful, so hopefully, this way we can get it down to just the console players."

[Lare Kikkeli]

I have no interest in this game but all of their design decisions seem ridiculous. I'd really like to hear the logic behind taking all control away from the player.

[Bokishi]

I'm getting the Xbox version due to this crap, sorry pc

[Meshugger]

Haha, i love the developers attitude in all of this. Sounds like that idiot fratboy that you would have to beat when he started to talk too much crap. Ah well, idiots will follow the idiot, i guess. (I never cared for the CoD-series to begin with. Maybe MW was exponentially better than the latest iteration)

 

At a base case scenario, the developers are committing cognitive dissonance in this. It goes against every S.W.O.T.-analysis that there is for PC-user, namely: modding, sdks, dedicated servers and so on. The plebs that worship the one of the HD-consoles will not care until they do the next step: Remove HD-resolutions, thropies and voicechat in order to satisfy the Wii-market.