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Update 1 Midnight Oct 15 '09
Aside from the interesting Steam-related news, the latest I have heard related to dedicated servers was a comment from a GSP (anonymous source as he wanted anonymity) that dedicated servers will in fact be available. Apparently, he was contacted by IW on this topic recently.
Given that GSP's love the Steam interface...could we in fact be heading for an online Steam+dedi server scenario?
In what may become a deal-breaker for PC gamers, Dedicated Server support may not be available in Modern Warfare 2.
PC gaming's version of the apocalypse could be in the making as yet
another console-concept, Matchmaking, may be what is in store for us when MW2 ships.
The specter of this scenario, the video game version of the four horsemen, came up
as a topic during one of our BASH webcasts a while ago and perhaps, we may have dismissed
it too readily.
Just the facts
Information regarding this topic is schizophrenic in nature. It is both authoritative
and yet incomplete. However, given the implications of a lack of dedicated servers for online Multiplayer gaming, I will try and lay out what we do know and separate the facts from speculation.
IW statements
A few weeks ago, MW2 developer Infinity Ward's project lead Jason West, suggested that the game will move the SKU in a different direction. In a curt statement during an
interview with German Eurogamer.de, he let out this comment:
Source
Zumindest unter der Hand verriet uns Jason West, Game Director und COO
von Infinity Ward, was uns auf dem PC erwartet: „Die PC-Fassung sieht
noch einmal eine ganze Ecke besser aus. Egal ob Texturen,
Spezialeffekte oder Physik-Engine, hier konnten wir uns richtig
austoben. Außerdem bieten wir zum ersten Mal auf dem PC Matchmaking an
und können so online für faire Kämpfe sorgen.“
German not your forte'? Here's a translation (thanks herr Dronic):
At least behind closed doors Jason West, Game Director and COO of
Infinity Ward, told us what awaits us on the PC: 'The PC version once
again looks better quite a bit. No matter if textures, special effects
or physics engine, here we could really let ourselves go. In addition,
for the first time we offer matchmaking on the PC and so can ensure
fair fights online.
To help us understand this snippet of info, Rudedog at fpsadmin.com, fresh from the IW Console event a little while ago, had this interpretation on those comments:
Jason talked about making it super easy for people to find others to
play MP with. Sort of like a one click and bam you're in MP playing
against or with someone.
He also mentioned looking at
Steam but only looking right now (not sure if they would use Steam's matchmaking)
This scares me as they could mean listening servers (non-dedicated) you connect to via this matchmaking thing.....
Given West's comments, I am surprised that his talk of "matchmaking" did not elicit more negativity than it did. Having said that, currently standing at 14 pages, the thread on this topic at the official IW forums is getting bigger by the day as shocked PC gamers are beginning to understand the issue.
Source: IW Forums post on lack of MW2 dedicated servers
Frankly, I'm surprised that there are only 14 pages (as of now) and not 140, complaining about this potentially community-killing-concept.
So much for Jason West, have we heard about this Matchmaking business from anyone else at IW?
Check out MW2's lead MP designer Todd Alderman's comments on gamerzines:
Source
TA: ...On PC we have our
own matchmaking system, because we can't use Xbox Live or PSN. Little
things like that here and there, and little balancing tweaks for the
control difference, but other than that they're pretty much the same.
Note that the context and scope of these quotes can be called into question.
Does IW intend on giving us Matchmaking in addition to Dedicated Servers? Perhaps Matchmaking is only for the co-op SpecOps mode, after all CoD:WW Zombies did not play on Dedicated Servers?
NOTE: I have not seen any comment that specifically says PC's will NOT be getting Dedicated Servers.
In addition, some ambiguity does set in when you take the two quotes above and match them with a statement Fourzerotwo made recently:
From Shacknews:
Shack: By the way, have you changed the way multiplayer games function on the PC at all?
Robert Bowling: PC will be the same as it always was.
Does Rob's statement contradict the previous two?
Now...let the speculation begin
NOTE: Matchmaking does not mean that we will lose dedicated servers. However, let's assume the worst case scenario (for maximum panic)...what could the lack of dedicated servers mean to us...
First, what are Dedicated Servers?
A Dedicated Server is a powerful PC that gamers buy or lease to specifically run Call of Duty. It has no other purpose other than to host a multiplayer online game. This "dedicated box" provides a theoretically stable and low-lag gaming environment even in the face of a large number of connections (players).
Typically, community administrators look after these
servers. They apply anti-cheat measures like PB and PBBans to ensure a generally happy,
hack-free place to play.
Compare this to the "Listen-server"
model, which requires individual players to host the game.
In such a
model, the quality of the game is dependent on the server host and
their equipment. This is currently the model used by XBox live as its multiplayer
solution. For PC players, the ability to choose the server is the reason we play online.
Why do we need Dedicated Servers?
The lack of Dedicated Server support could kill an online, multiplayer PC game.
Operation Flashpoint 2 is
learning this the hard way. Filled with promise, OF2 was released with
no dedi server capability - a scenario causing their PC customer base
to fly into a massive fur-ball. A revolt only recently calmed by the game's
developer claiming that this capability will be available in the near
future.
The lack of dedi servers would be a death blow to our modding community. You cannot have matchmaking AND run different mods, it just wouldn't work.
Implications?
- Password protected servers would not exist.
- Clan matches would not take place.
- Competitive gaming, as we know it, would disappear.
- Ad-hoc scrims could be a thing of the past.
- Game Server Providers would be crippled.
- Player online experiences would be completely dominated by the quality of the
system operated by the game's host. 48+slot servers could be a thing of
the past.
- Modders and mappers will disappear. The game's variation, as we have become accustomed to, will go with them. Our community will focus on gaming only. The hobbiest element will need to find another game.
Why would IW eschew Dedicated Servers?
To combat piracy for one.
Remember IW ranting that there were so many people torrenting CoD4 a
few years ago? Two years ago, they claimed piracy as the number one threat to their livelihood.
BASH article on CoD4 piracy.
Here is a rant by Fourzerotwo from another BASH article: The End of PC Gaming?
They Wonder Why People Don’t Make PC Games Any More
On another PC related note, we pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer (which was fantastic). What wasn’t fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies (and that was only people playing online).
Not sure if I can share the exact numbers or percentage of PC players with you, but I’ll check and see; if I can I’ll update with them. As the amount of people who pirate PC games is astounding. It blows me away at the amount of people willing to steal games (or anything) simply because it’s not physical or it’s on the safety of the internet to do.
-Fourzerotwo
So...is Matchmaking the solution to Activision/IW's piracy problems?
Matchmaking Benefits:
- Locking down the game would keep IW in firm control over its own intellectual property and artistic direction. Benefit would be all Activision/IW.
-
Preventing game modding could prepare us for a subscription
model and would IW to charge for PC DLC, given that everyone is running
the same game and they would have essentially killed off the PC modding community. Benefit would be all Activision/IW.
- One PC game would mean one (albeit, still small) community...right now PC Call of Duty means many games and very tiny communities.
Treyarch vs. IW
I found this comment on IW's forums:
"...every day, im finding reasons why Treyarch is better than IW, in the info/support area"
Wow. What a difference a few months make. The old Sports axiom:'what have you done for me lately?', when applied to IW really resonates here.
I still think that a vibrant and varied PC modding/mapping community is essential. The variety and personalization available on the PC platform is why I play.
For this reason, IW should pay attention to Treyarch when it comes to PC support. Treyarch has exceeded all expectations for PC support lately. Knocked the ball out of the park for us. Even going so far as working on getting CoD TV into the game.
Hopefully the PC community has noticed.
Before I get nastygrams telling me how much of a Treyarch supporter I am...old timers should recall that we have been let down by Activision/IW before. Remember the server strike in CoD2? Was CoD4 merely an abberation of good-will towards our community?
We now know that IW has been tripping over a reluctant Activision in its desire to "work on
consoles - for years, but Activision's held them back", Source.
Conclusions
Writing this long post was emotionally very difficult. If IW comes out and acknowledges the lack of dedi servers, it could severely hurt our small community. Personally, I hope that the comments West and Alderman have made were out of context. For that reason I would like to address the following to IW:
An open question to Fourzerotwo and IW
Would you please provide PC players and modders a clear statement regarding the direction you are taking the multiplayer environment for MW2. Will there be dedicated servers for MP? If not, what will we see? Please be as unambiguous as possible.
PC Community status
On a separate issue, I'm taking the "temperature" of the community by polling you on whether you think IW is satisfying the needs of the PC community. You can change your vote at any time in the future, so the numbers represent a snapshot of our state of mind:
Poll
If you have any comments, please post them here:
Comments
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