With the recent announcement that instead of dedicated servers for online play there would be a matchmaking service like on the console variants of MW2, there has been a uprising of discontent from fans with the announcement on the internet today. From posting on the Infinity Ward forums and other forums showing their discontent, to numerous petitions online (with over 42K signatures so far), to canceling their pre-orders and threatening to not buy the game and pirate it because of IW got rid of dedicated servers and replaced it with a matchmaking option. So with all this madness going on, why are dedicated servers something PC gamers really care and need about to go and do all this?
As a PC gamer myself, I bought the original MW for the PC and played countless hours killing people online and having fun doing it.I would start the game, look for the usual server that I would join, and when I joined I would see the usual people in there and we would play the game. With the decision to replace dedicated servers with a matchmaking service, it would not be the same.
Changing to a matchmaking service makes the PC version more like the console version. This can cause many things to be different that would be normal to other PC games that have dedicated servers. The following things are a result of this happening:
Matchmaking issues
When I start up CoD:MW or almost any other multi-player game I just click on the “Join Game” button and I can look for the usual server that I go to and play with the usual people that play on there. With the change to matchmaking, you would no longer be able to chose what server you can go to and what people you will play with. You will be playing with people that is your rank, but that does not mean that they are not noobs and non-team players or not. Every time you play, there will be a new set of people there playing with you.
Latency = Higher
Dedicated servers are run by providers that have a huge amount of upload/download speed and bandwidth. They have upload speeds of over 100 MBits/sec and with high upload speeds, it keeps ping down. With matchmaking the end user has to run the server and not everyone has 100 MBits/sec upload connections, let alone 10 MBits/sec or 5 MBits/sec. This will cause the ping to increase not a lot, but enough to make it lag and have horrible hit registration.
No more BIG games.
With matchmaking you won’t be able to set up big games because of the latency and performance issues from the user hosting the server. The users connection would not be able to handle a big server, so server sizes will be going down.
Cheating
With punkbuster being removed and in it’s place VAC, the game is now more prone to cheating. Punkbuster is a good, but annoying method to counteract cheating, instead of leaving it in they replaced it with something worse. You can see other games like Counter Strike and how easy it is to cheat when using VAC. Cheating makes the game less fun and if you can’t win it’s worthless to you.
No custom content or mods.
You won’t be able to set up a game with custom maps or mods because there are no dedicated servers to run them on. Since there is no SDK and no dedicated servers there will be no custom content. Since there would be no custom content they can nail you with map packs for a price.
Map Packs+Patches (DLC) on the PC may not be free anymore.
Game developers and publishers create DLC on the consoles because there is nothing more that users can do with what came with the actual game. In order to give them more they charge them for more. With the PC, people would create mods and maps for free for users to play with. With no custom content for MW2, Infinity Ward and Activision can now charge you for extras. Where they would be free for games that are open to the community (L4D, CS, and more), it can now be something that they can make some money off of.
Lack of Control over rules, etc.
In a dedicated server scenario, the person that is running the server can ban anyone that they want. In a Matchmaking system, everyone has to vote on whether or not the person they want kicked should be or not, it’s not the same as an instant ban against the person. You can also control the game exactly the way that you want it on a dedicated server, like rules, map configurations, mods, etc.
No clan servers
Clans will no longer have a place where they can call home. They won’t have a place where they can just go and play with their fellow clan members and just do whatever. Clans won’t be able to run private servers where they can train or practice or just play with custom rules on purpose for specific scenarios/etc. With this change it will just make things harder for everyone.
These are just some of the main reasons why PC gamers want dedicated servers over a matchmaking system. There is however a bigger picture behind why this is happening. Infinity Ward and Activison and ALL the other game developers and publishers are starting to not care for the PC gaming group. Instead of putting time and effort into the PC version of the game, they are just porting the game directly from consoles and not caring what happens to the PC version. Patches are usually released latter than the console version and so are map packs. With the dedicated servers being removed Infinity Ward is putting one of the final nails in the coffin of PC gaming as we knew it, which was open and filled with support.
Maybe in the end of the battle between PC Gamers and Infinity Ward/Activison we might get a compromise of options to have both Dedicated Servers and Matchmaking service, but hopes for that are slim. With the petition growing ever so largely, all we can do is hope that change will happen for both the game and the way that the PC is viewed as a gaming platform.
Image props to Gamebane.com
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November 21, 2009
#1
Damn… I bought this game based on how much I love cod4. But all the posters are correct, this game is not worth the money. The 5 hours of s/p are good, but the rest is a crappy mess (I’m looking at you multiplayer). The idiots that nerfed the m/p should be fired. Do they have a pack of monkeys working there…so dissapointed.. Everyone, pirate the game for s/p and return to cod4 for m/p till they get something better
November 23, 2009
#2
maybe if PC gamers weren’t such a bunch of pirates, then we would get more support.
The fact that PC gamers are so demanding, along with high piracy rates, and a lack of willingness to pay for DLC means that there is more money in console games. so that’s where the dev’s money is going.
P2P online gaming is the future. Its just a matter of bandwidth, when everyone has fibre with 100 Mbit down/up, it won’t matter about lag on P2P.
November 24, 2009
#3
Control Monkey…
Way to go accusing us PC gamers of “being a bunch of pirates”
I aint, I pay for my stuff and if you notice people are complaining about the multiplayer aspect (harder to pirate).
Yes we are demanding, we are paying top dollar for a bloody port from your shitty substandard graphics useless controller fucking consoles.
What they are doing is lazy and greedy and only encourages people to pirate the one thing the game has left going for it (single player).
Also, the multiplayer will go the same way that battlefield heroes has…the way of the hacker. Without the ability to ban people from servers (via their steam ID) we have zero recourse against the army of bell ends that are now infesting our games.
GIVE US OUR FUCKING DEDICATED SERVERS
November 25, 2009
#4
I’m with Winged 100%. And as for the kid that is telling PC gamers that the Devs have forgotten us you just remember that without our PCs you wouldn’t have a console.. Do you think that Will Wright wrote sim city on an atari? PC gaming is the core of the gaming industry. Maybe there is more money for the devs in console based games but imo that is due to a decline in intelligence and critical thinking, ya know how you just stick your game disc in the console and off you go no thought involved? Well some of us with a brain actually like the idea of tweaking our graphics or mapping our controls to any damn key we want, not to mention that you don’t see basement devs like myself coding mods and new content for consoles for all of our gaming brethren to enjoy.. That is because consoles are a limited and crippled base for gaming.
Go ahead and take away PC game support. I can almost certainly guarantee that malicious attacks on networks and matchmaking hosts will become common activity.
Oh yea.. and if your precious little xbox or ps3 happen to get a virus you may just have yourself a very expensive paper weight..
So yea…. Piss off the PC world and see where it lands.
November 27, 2009
#5
all im going to say is well done craptivision and IW you have convincingly proven that you dont give a shit about the pc gamer and have no real idea of what the gamers want from a game its simple people want to be able to play on dedi servers because of the comunity it builds and the friendships we make
i have made alot of friends from previous versions of cod and all feel the same as i do the matchmaking system does not allow for building of clans or comunities plus you have just given the cheats and hackers a free reign to ruin the game all togeather as there is no real control over them anymore nice work its good to see there are some real idiots working for you and as long as they stay with you then im sure the gaming comunity will find a new supplier of good games EA come back all is forgiven lol
my final words on this matter are
to activision and IW fuck you and all who sail in you
November 27, 2009
#6
Just found this Post my technorati Newsfeed, Very Nice post and Interesting too. Keep it up.
Jenn
November 28, 2009
#7
I love you guys. Its already been totally explored. However, unless i missed it, I think we are missing a HUGE market here.
alienware, dell, best buy, graphic card manufacturer, on and on. What about getting THEM pissed off? What about informing THEM of their loss of income if pc gamer goes up? I would love to see a port for console player to play with ds…the more the merrier, and the longer and richer the servers are likely to be.
I have already started an air raid of informing BB for instance, when I returned $80 of the MW2 and book, directed at manager to kick upstair, that I spent, alone, at BB $3000 last year in hardware, new comp, graphics card etc, etc. What difference I told them should I spend all this on upgrades? I might just as well buy xbox and save a lot of money.
dont ya all see, how much THEY are invested. Now I think THEY can do something for us. I have heard it quoted often fps drives the hardware develp; most people dont spend $500 on a video card….well, you see where I’m going with this.
I’ve read on many of our complaint gamer sites console gamers taunting “riduculous petions, boycotting; no one care about them”
This is WHY they treat us this way: I agree, pirate whatever; now a ded server is online with a crack: steam and activision, IW is not recognizing it as a crack; maybe they are getting tired of this.
Please join in the airstrike to firebomb these guys by calling in OUR fees to the hardware manufacturers who rely on us.
Let IW, Activision, Steam make sweeping statements to dismiss us.
December 3, 2009
#8
Still have a strict NAT from my earlier post about 2 and a half weeks ago. phoned my isp they dont have fuck all clue about it. it could just be my router but im not spending an extra £60-80 just to play this shit cunt of a game properly.
still unable to play with my friends – lol.
whenever i do play theres always some wallhacking inbred cunt on the game which makes it that much more enjoyable! NOT!
December 6, 2009
#9
IW hear our pleas.. You made a mistake…. So fix it. You people are causing yourself undue bad publicity when in fact you most certainly made a truly unique gaming experience. Fix your new cash cows’ flaws and allow a true community to partake in the excitement as well.
Your claims of cheating being the reason you removed dedis have been noted, met, and absolutely put to the test in comparison to the amount of supposed cheaters in CoD4 MW to the true hackers and cheaters of your oh so loved gaming consoles simply shows hands down that with out a dedicated true community backing your title reports of cheaters and unhappiness flood the internet forums like a plague infests a city leaving the hard core players questioning if they should allow a company that should with out doubt fully support the community that gave them the glory they see today and who has blinded themselves with profits and a hunger for control that no longer respects the game communities wishes but creates and develops simply to fit their own agenda to walk away with their hard earned cash.
Yes you are a company, with the obvious need for turning a profit especially in this supposed economic downturn. But the way you have lost sight of the very people who make it possible for you to do just that is quite unsettling and disturbing.
Our desire to play your title should above all else be your driving marketing strategy, as without meeting the desires of the consumer you fail to meet our standards as a reputable and wholesome company.
Fix your mistakes and the web, this little thing that allows us to exchange information will chirp with the praises of your would be followers and not echo the yells web wide that are being posted in disgust and rage shaking your very company to the core, for without meeting the respective needs of your intended consumer your company will simply obtain a bad name and be one of the many failures amongst our ever expanding developer wall of shame.
Again, I ask that you heed our pleas and make arrangements to resolve a couple minor but costly mistakes.