No dedicated servers in CoD: MW2

Started by Rukario October 18th, 2009 12:00 PM
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Rukario

Banned

Somewhere in Ilex Forest
Seen April 6th, 2019
Posted March 17th, 2019
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20.7 Years
Rob Bowling, community manager (Gamer / Geek / Creative Strategist at Infinity Ward... as he says on his Twitter page) at Infinity Ward was kind enough to guest on the panel on BASH today. He let everyone in on the news that IW was taking Modern Warfare in a new direction. Modern Warfare 2

The online game on PC has changed. Dedicated servers are out. IW.net is in.

This is a game changer and many of you may not be too happy. I for one will be complaining till its fixed. It’s all I can do. You can too:
Here is what BASH's site had to say.

Fourzerotwo was on the BASH webcast this morning talking about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and he had a few surprises for the PC community.

Here are the snippets:
*

We're doing a lot on the backend to make the game accessible for everyone.
*

There is no delay for the PC version of MW2
*

There's prestige mode
*

Jason
West at the MP event, said that he was dead on, on the matchmaking servers. We've been building a system on the backend called IW.NET.
*

You are completely reliant on IW.NET. There are no server lists. There are no dedicated servers.
*

You have private matches where you can customize the game
*

You cannot put MW2 on a dedicated server.
*

This is the first time we've ever done something like this and the team has huge plans for what IW.NET develops into.
*

Customizing your game...you have quite a few options in a private match
*

You're getting same game (as in Console), plus matchmaking and private match.
*

Server admin point-of view, NO DEDICATED SERVERS

I've summarized some of my own thoughts from the cast here:

General

* IW partnering through Steam is what you will see in the future. Matchmaking is not through Steam, but IW.NET is run in conjunction with Steam.
* GSP's will no longer be renting out servers.
* No PunkBuster. VAC will be used as an anti cheat.
* Retail distribution: Pre-orders will get a disk. Or you could order from Steam.
* DLC may now need to be paid for - not confirmed.
* Piracy was only a small reason for going to IW.NET - not the whole reason.

Clans:

* No more clan servers. Private matches, replace clan servers.
* Listen servers will connect to each other.
* IW.NET/Steam will replace the community server admin

Competitive Gaming

* Competitive gaming has changed forever.
* It might be possible in the future for IW engineers to load a "competitive" setting on IW.NET, but it is far from a guarantee. It might also never happen.

Modding

* Modding the game is now very much in question. Fourzerotwo had no info on modding. However, it appears that there will be no mods or maps for MW2.
* Modding in SpecOps? Unknown.

Today our game has changed for ever.

I'll leave this post with Josh Peckler's comments from planetmedalofhonor.com:

The server community is what's made us. It's what defined us.



IW.NET is getting the PC community to turn into consoles. You're trying to re-write our history.

Listen to the full recording http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2369799

THIS IS A BAD MOVE. You have to put in dedicated servers or this game is not going to sell on PC. What you are doing with no dedi servers is killing: 1.) The competitive community. 2.) Mods. 3.) shoutcasting possibilities, 4.) private / clan severs.

RIP MW2

You can not do this. If you do this the game will release with horrible PC sales. And it wont be because of piracy or any other factor, no it will be because you changed the fundamental values of pc gaming. YOU RUINED IT!
so fellow PC members, what do you think about this madness?
Age 30
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Southern Europe
Seen January 25th, 2013
Posted October 21st, 2009
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15.4 Years
Meaning basically if you want to host your own server for your friends or such you are screwed. Just wonderful. I loved MW and I hope this doesn't kill the online experience for me. And steam? If that means game based achievements are only through steam then I'm out.
Seen January 1st, 2023
Posted April 20th, 2020
4,423 posts
15.4 Years
I found out about this earlier today thanks to the joys of Twitter, and it's ridiculous. The reason I love COD4 so much is because I found a server where everyone was friendly and we all had fun. If the computer version of the sequel can't offer what made its prequel so good, something is very wrong. I've been trying to figure out whether to get MW2 on the PS3 or the computer for a couple of months and now I'm definitely getting it on the PS3. Dedicated servers made COD4 awesome. Without them, it's just the same as any old console game. Not a cool cat thing to do at all.
'It's been a prevalent notion. Fallen sparks. Fragments of vessels broken at the Creation. And someday, somehow, before the end, a gathering back to home. A messenger from the Kingdom, arriving at the last moment. But I tell you there is no such message, no such home -- only the millions of last moments . . . nothing more. Our history is an aggregate of last moments.'

Rukario

Banned

Somewhere in Ilex Forest
Seen April 6th, 2019
Posted March 17th, 2019
7,587 posts
20.7 Years
its not only the whole friends thing, this is going to kill whole communities, modding groups and game server providers. This, overall, is bad for the future of PC gaming and I for one don't like it one little bit.

If we wanted to play a 'console' game, we would have bought a console.. its that simple.

Rukario

Banned

Somewhere in Ilex Forest
Seen April 6th, 2019
Posted March 17th, 2019
7,587 posts
20.7 Years
Wow. This really really sucks.

I was considering getting it for the PC, but I am going to just go STRAIGHT for the PS3 version now.
I could care less as I'll be getting it for the 360.
..and that, guys, is exactly what's wrong with things now a days. CoD is a pc game first, console game second.

you all should not buy it AT ALL until they fix the PC version.
Age 30
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Posted October 21st, 2009
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15.4 Years
..and that, guys, is exactly what's wrong with things now a days. CoD is a pc game first, console game second.

you all should not buy it AT ALL until they fix the PC version.
How the hell would they be able to fix that? I mean sure they could code the game for servers and all but they would have to shut down an entire site, reset everyones achievements and levels for online play and basically screw everyone who plays for that.

parallelzero

chelia.blendy

Age 32
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Seen May 11th, 2015
Posted May 20th, 2013
14,627 posts
19.3 Years
..and that, guys, is exactly what's wrong with things now a days. CoD is a pc game first, console game second.

you all should not buy it AT ALL until they fix the PC version.
And the new Final Fantasy games have been Sony exclusives for years, but look at XIII being on 360 as well as PS3. But why? Because they're guaranteed more sales in NA if they put it on 360, too.

It's the same with CoD. You can't deny that PC gamers are quickly becoming outnumbered by console gamers, so they're probably starting to neglect the PC side of things. It may have been a PC game first before, but seemingly not anymore. It's called change, and it happens. Whether or not you can accept that change is up to you, but as history shows, complaining and protesting won't do anything over something as minor as this. If they initiated it in the first place, they clearly don't care what you think.

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donavannj

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I personally don't really care about what happens with the PC version... my dad'll just buy the 360 version anyways, because he has a hard time wrestling his PC away from my Facebook-addicted mother, and the only other machine that it would be possible to run the PC version decently is my laptop (that and we like to play FPS games against each other when we both have the time).
whoops

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Posted March 11th, 2022
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The main problem here shouldn't be whether the game feels too console-y. The issue is that Infinity Ward has cut dedicated server support which is an integral part of online gaming on the PC.
With this new 'feature' they're restricting the community severely and it does pose the question if this will allow them (Activision) to force paid DLC down our throats (among other things).

A similar thing (lack of dedicated server support) happened to Gears of War and F.E.A.R.2 and there's a reason that those games sold horribly on the PC side.

Oh and please stop posting that you don't care because you aren't buying the PC version, because this wasn't aimed at you (console players) in the first place.

Rukario

Banned

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Posted March 17th, 2019
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uh huh, It maybe change but we don't have to like it...



...we could just storm their offices and force em to restore dedicated servers and stuff.
Age 30
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Posted October 21st, 2009
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15.4 Years
Game Informer's Response. I do not have a link as Game Informer strangely causes my computer to reboot:
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."
Game Informer is stepping on the wrong toes this time and they are definitely in someones wallet with this kind of response. And then Gamasutra's article:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25691
A petition with over 75000 in little of a week? Holy hell this will not end well.

Rukario

Banned

Somewhere in Ilex Forest
Seen April 6th, 2019
Posted March 17th, 2019
7,587 posts
20.7 Years
wow sorry to see you kicked out Mitchman, bummer.

Yeah this whole MW2 issue just is getting worse.. Infinity ward is not responding nor giving us any further info.. it sux.

I just wish they'd fix it. I so want to play it.



If the youtube vid doesn't work, try:
[wegame]CoD-MW2-This-Is-What-We-Want-A-Day-of-Infamy-Boycott-Modern-Warfare-2[/wegame]

Rukario

Banned

Somewhere in Ilex Forest
Seen April 6th, 2019
Posted March 17th, 2019
7,587 posts
20.7 Years
/me bumps this thread as its quite important.

Frequency

...Time to mix drinks and change lives.

Anatolia
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Posted 4 Weeks Ago
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I don't know....look at all the people still playing MW....

MW2...it's a double-edged sword. Good steps for the company, but acts that go AGAINST the fans will be a killer. If it blows as bad as Soldier Front(you'll know if you play it), then that's no sales. And they might as well just make a new update to MW. :/

It's like....."Oh, dedicated server. IMMA PLAY AGAINST LEVEL 55'S WITH 8th PRESTIGE!! BLARGH(Did I mention that I'm only LEVEL FREAKING 12?!)"
However, more freedom to play. Then you have the IW server thing..."Ok guys, let's play a balanced game and make it fair...but after the Deathmatch is over, we'll make you pay cash to jump into another server(exaggeration at it's finest.), and you have to find a new server to play in.

The question is, will they pick the fans over the game, or the game over the fans in the long run?

Just gotta wait and see...:/
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Frequency

...Time to mix drinks and change lives.

Anatolia
Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted 4 Weeks Ago
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14.1 Years
im kinda mad about it but seeing that they are probly low on the money for the server they proubly going to use the money they are making for the game for the dedicated server 8)
You'd think they could do that with all the $$$$ made from COD4...:/
PC's official soundboard guy! (According to everyone else)
ARMORED CORE 6 IS REAL LESGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Posted January 27th, 2011
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13.7 Years
A peer-to-peer matchmaking system will never perform as well as people connecting to a good dedicated server will, mainly because the server hosting it is, well, dedicated to hosting the game without interruptions or dips in performance from other applications as can occur via peer-to-peer platform, not to mention it being likely that hosting providers will have better internet connections then home users.

The situation will probably be even worse for people trying to play from smaller or more remote countries.