Modern Warfare 2 To Include No Dedicated Servers / PunkBuster / Mod's?

Sierra Oscar

Well, nothing really exactly confirmed as of yet, but rumour has it that Modern Warfare 2 will be using Valve's SteamWorks for the PC version. VAC is expected to be used instead of PunkBuster, and the game itself will have no dedicated servers, opting instead for a system run through IW.NET & Steam.

Now, I am happy it will use VAC over PB, which I could never stand . . . but I for one would be pretty pissed if the game has no dedicated servers.

Here is the source:

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.

http://bashandslash.com/

Kinetic^

Kick in the face for PC gamers/modders/clans. Well played Activision, you just lost a customer.

IgsTer

Vac is the only good thing i can see coming out of this.

Competitive CoD will go way down hill with this. No competitive mods, no servers to have scrims/matches etc and then the stability issue with the way the servers are being hosted.

Then they could also bring out DLC for the pc that you have to pay for, just to be up to date and be able to play on all servers.

There talking of being able to set varibles in private games but that probably wont come close to a good competitive mod. Also seems like a lot more work just getting a match going, instead of just jumping on your clans server with the mod and stuff set up already.

And then theres just no where for the community to meet up and play consistently

Just crap news, will have to wait to hear more info about this to make my mind up if its even worth the buy now

Steffano2002

I'm not buying it if we can't have our own servers. Fook them anyway. Sick of giving them my money...

Kinetic^

Steffano2002 wrote: »

I'm not buying it if we can't have our own servers. Fook them anyway. Sick of giving them my money...

We'll get COD2 back in fashion!

sp1ky

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Well, nothing really exactly confirmed as of yet

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2369799
Robert Bowling (fourzerotwo) said it himself
(Skip to around 1:40:00)

Sierra Oscar

sp1ky wrote: »

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2369799
Robert Bowling (fourzerotwo) said it himself
(Skip to around 1:40:00)

Aye yeah . . . looks to be legit anyway. It already has an entry on Steam also.

dreamers75

I count 1000 game servers up right now all paid for excluding non paid. Quick maths says those 1000 servers are 50 odd quid a year each

Have IW forgot where they came from? its alrightlads PC gaming isnt dying

Spiritine

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

sp1ky

dreamers75 wrote: »

I count 1000 game servers up right now all paid for excluding non paid. Quick maths says those 1000 servers are 50 odd quid a year each

Have IW forgot where they came from? its alrightlads PC gaming isnt dying

It's not getting any better either!
Crap like this, console "features" crammed down our throats in an attempt to crush piracy only aggravates the dedicated PC gamers and IMO makes piracy more appealing... Lots of clans were looking forward to a resurgence in activity with MW2 but now we'll have sparse groups of "private" servers completely dependant on the host PC's internet connection. Bah! :mad:

ooPabsoo

are infinity ward actually retarded?

allen175

I just cannot believe that they are doing this!! i and pissed off right now, if it is comfirmed that there is no dedicated servers i will most definatly pirate the game and just play singleplayer, im not happy to say that as i don't pirate games that i was planning to pre-order. IW can go F**k themselves if they think that they are going to get money out of me.

And all this a few days after they announce of worldwide price hike on the game. They have to have the worst marketing team on this one!

cherryghost

they've lost themselves another customer here.

unpreordering my copy on monday.

f***ing t***s


EDIT: Anyone who isnt swayed either way by this, may I point the retardedness that is Operation Flashpoint 2. It uses the same system and is utterly shyte. 2 weeks after release and theres still a huge uproar about the game, because they didnt mention anything about it prior to release.

Hercule

For me this means

ToughyIRE

wow jay just steal all the funny pictures off tek9. old news, i called mw2 to fail ages ago.

Hercule

I made the original image and posted it on tek-9 too u mongoloid

r3nu4l

Hercule wrote: »

I made the original image and posted it on tek-9 too u mongoloid

Banned for 7 days for personal abuse.

PogMoThoin

More about it here, epic fail, effectively the biggest game release of the year has sold out to the consoles.

I can confirm a lost sale here

Lukker-

ToughyIRE wrote: »

wow jay just steal all the funny pictures off tek9. old news, i called mw2 to fail ages ago.

no u didnt, by that reasoning u call of every new game to fail :pac:

pixelburp

I wasn't sold on Modern Warfare 2 to begin with, the multiplayer just looked like more of the same. This change has confirmed for me that I won't be buying the game, no matter how many bribed good-reviews Infinity ward get.

It's a baffling decision to knowingly & deliberately close off custom maps and clanplay. I take it then that there will be no map editor either. Dedicated servers are the lifeblood of multiplayer FPS gaming on the PCs, jumping into a random server was always a great way to play. Even from a technical point of view, not everyone has the horsepower in their machine to both host a server & play within it.

A big factor for me when buying PC games is how much / little community support there is for the game. Infinity Ward though are clearly deciding to take a closed community approach; lock off all creative avenues for the gamer - user created maps, servers, clans & mods - then dictate how we play the game through DLC we have to purchase. DLC map pack #7! Only 10 euro!

Well to hell with that, I'm not made of money, I'm scraping by as it is without my hobbies bleeding me dry as well because of pure greed. I hope similar minded gamers express the same intention (notwithstanding the teenage gamers with access to mom's credit card).

Dcully

They have a short memory.
It was us pc gamers that showed faith and bought all of the COD series thus helping the series to where it is today and this is the thanks they give pc gamers.

I had intended getting it for my little lad on the 360 and my for myself on pc.
While i wont let the little lad down im not sure ill be buying the pc version.

What a slap in the face for those of us that were there from the very beginning.

r3nu4l

As a console COD player for the most part I'm not feeling too smug about this either. This decision shows that Activsion and IW will drop features from any format that they don't consider 'core' to sales. Therefore if any one of the consoles suddenly showed a massive drop in sales I'm sure that they would take the same approach and provide a 'cut-down' game on that format.

Not cool. It seems to me that they are simply trying to make the PC game run along the same lines as the console games and that's not what PC gaming is about imo.

Sierra Oscar

r3nu4l wrote: »

Not cool. It seems to me that they are simply trying to make the PC game run along the same lines as the console games and that's not what PC gaming is about imo.

It seems like they are just trying to make development easier and quicker for them. More monies!

Greedy greedy, that's for sure.

Kiith

This is totaly bull****. Charging €50 for a pc game, with no dedicated servers or mods/levels? Seriously, fcuk you IW.

I can just see them using the Unreal Tournament 3 argument and saying that their game is fantastic on the pc, and its only cause of the filthy pirates that the game didnt sell better. It couldnt be that pc users feel absolutly ass-****ed by this, noooo. Its all cause of the pirates.

€100 says that Modern Warfare 3 will be console only.

pixelburp

Kiith wrote: »

This is totaly bull****. Charging €50 for a pc game, with no dedicated servers or mods/levels? Seriously, fcuk you IW.

I should correct that for you; €50 minimum, as that excludes the map-packs, addons & general DLC that will be charged in and around €5-€10 each. Your €100 bet could - potentially - be the amount IW charge customers to keep their Modern Warfare 2 installation up to date. A nice cosy, closed market all told.

IgsTer

Kiith wrote: »

This is totaly bull****. Charging €50 for a pc game, with no dedicated servers or mods/levels? Seriously, fcuk you IW.

I can just see them using the Unreal Tournament 3 argument and saying that their game is fantastic on the pc, and its only cause of the filthy pirates that the game didnt sell better. It couldnt be that pc users feel absolutly ass-****ed by this, noooo. Its all cause of the pirates.

€100 says that Modern Warfare 3 will be console only.

Yeah for sure, itll definetly be blamed on piracy when they see that its not selling as well, which gives them a huge reason to get rid of the pc platform altogether for the next game. Which is what they always wanted, to be a console only developer and get rid of the hassle for them.

All they want is more control of the game to limit piracy which will only get worse with this decision and force you to pay up for map packs like consoles, and on dodgy servers at that too. Theres just no way they think this will make the community more central. They should bring consoles up to the pc level not the other way around. :mad:

Theyve also been planning this from day oen of development and only release the info now three weeks before release

ToughyIRE

Lukker- wrote: »

no u didnt, by that reasoning u call of every new game to fail :pac:

aaron pls, you know my calling skills are insane! borderlands is next for the chop.

allen175

Read this http://www.ploxebo.com/main/index.php/articles/blog-ploxebo--team-member-blog

It is a good post outlining why not having dedicated servers is a massive mistake.

Also sign the petition at the end of the page.

almost 500,000 people have cancelled their pre-order, that is a massive loss for IW and activision!

Grim.

no way im buying it now will pirate it for single player though

Kiith

I'm actually baffled as to how they thought this would be a good idea, and that people wouldnt mind. It...its just...i dunno. I just dont get it.

Steffano2002

Kiith wrote: »

I'm actually baffled as to how they thought this would be a good idea, and that people wouldnt mind. It...its just...i dunno. I just dont get it.

They know it's a cr@p idea. But they also know that they can make more money by forcing PC gamers to pay for map packs! And soon we'll all be paying monthly fees to play online.

DON'T BUY THE GAME!!!

Seifer

Could not believe this when I saw it on Joystiq
All they understand is money now so hopefully the PC community can band together and hit 'em where it hurts.

r3nu4l

Taking a leaf from Staffanno's book of giant fonts...

DON"T ADVOCATE PIRACY IN THIS FORUM

There's a new sticky to say so as well. I'll remove it when this kerfuffle has died down.

0ubliette

wow, what a great way to shaft the community thats supported them since the release of call of duty 1. If it wasnt for PC gamers COD wouldnt be the big name it is today. Even tho i dont get to use my pc much nowadays its still a worrying development.

KamiKazi

Hahah, goodbye competitive CoD. Seriously baffled by this, especially seeing as how IW pumped so much cash into competitive CoD4 last summer, now they go and kill it

Looks like I'll be sticking to TF2 / CSPromod, I will acquire the singleplayer though as CoD singleplayer is always good. Won't be paying for it though :P

Wouldn't be suprised to see CoD2 make a comeback now TBH.

Steffano2002

KamiKazi wrote: »

Wouldn't be suprised to see CoD2 make a comeback now TBH.

Funny enough, we decided to switch our server to CoD2 last night! CoD2 FTW! FU MW2 and FU IW!

KamiKazi

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Funny enough, we decided to switch our server to CoD2 last night! CoD2 FTW! FU MW2 and FU IW!

Love the sig

Steffano2002

KamiKazi wrote: »

Love the sig

Love it too!

But seriously, if we don't do anything about this, ALL PC gamers will have the same problem when new versions of their games come out! It's a bloody disgrace! :mad:

Burning Eclipse

KamiKazi wrote: »

I will acquire the singleplayer though as CoD singleplayer is always good. Won't be paying for it though :P

So you admit that the single-player will be good, but also say that you will pirate it. Was the warning earlier not enough??

For all the IW hate, could we not direct it towards Activision, they seem way more likely to be behind this crap... and it is crap. FFS, I've played console games with dedicated servers! This is supposed to be the pinnacle of PC FPS gaming.

But, that's still no excuse to go pirate the thing. And if you tell yourself that you're only pirating it because of the dedicated servers issue, then you're lying to yourself, or proving why PC doesn't deserve to be the focus of IW's efforts. (for the record, I think it does, and to echo other posters, PC gamers made CoD what it is!)

Infinity Ward wrote:

"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)," said Robert.

"[I'm] 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."

Steffano2002

Burning Eclipse wrote: »

So you admit that the single-player will be good, but also say that you will pirate it. Was the warning earlier not enough??

He didn't say he'd pirate it. You assumed he would! That's different...

KamiKazi

Burning Eclipse wrote: »

So you admit that the single-player will be good, but also say that you will pirate it. Was the warning earlier not enough??

For all the IW hate, could we not direct it towards Activision, they seem way more likely to be behind this crap... and it is crap. FFS, I've played console games with dedicated servers! This is supposed to be the pinnacle of PC FPS gaming.

But, that's still no excuse to go pirate the thing. And if you tell yourself that you're only pirating it because of the dedicated servers issue, then you're lying to yourself, or proving why PC doesn't deserve to be the focus of IW's efforts. (for the record, I think it does, and to echo other posters, PC gamers made CoD what it is!)

Where did I say I would be pirating it? I may be borrowing a friends copy :rolleyes:

And for the record, multiplayer is the only reason most PC gamers buy a copy, because of the need for a valid CD key.

But I'm not advocating piracy so I suggest you un-knot your panties.

Burning Eclipse

KamiKazi wrote: »

Where did I say I would be pirating it? I may be borrowing a friends copy :rolleyes:

And for the record, multiplayer is the only reason most PC gamers buy a copy, because of the need for a valid CD key.

But I'm not advocating piracy so I suggest you un-knot your panties.

Semantics really. The point here is that you want to play the single player portion of the game, expect it will be good, and are not willing to pay for it! I'll rephrase, you seem adamant about not paying for it.

KamiKazi

Burning Eclipse wrote: »

Semantics really. The point here is that you want to play the single player portion of the game, expect it will be good, and are not willing to pay for it! I'll rephrase, you seem adamant about not paying for it.

Why would I pay for it? Would you pay €50 for 9 hours of singleplayer? I've over 2000 hours on TF2 and had over 3000 on CSS and both of those games I bought for €20. So yeah, fvck paying €50 for a few hours of singleplayer.

Blazer

Petition up already against it...46,000 sigs so far and it's climbing every minute.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?dedis4mw

Steffano2002

Berkut wrote: »

Petition up already against it...46,000 sigs so far and it's climbing every minute.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?dedis4mw

Over 48,000 now. If even half of these are from gamers such as myself, IW are going to lose millon$ over this! GOOD! :mad:

Steffano2002

KamiKazi wrote: »

Why would I pay for it? Would you pay €50 for 9 hours of singleplayer? I've over 2000 hours on TF2 and had over 3000 on CSS and both of those games I bought for €20. So yeah, fvck paying €50 for a few hours of singleplayer.

I fully agree! I'm not paying €50 (or €60 as I think the PC version will cost as much as the Console version - another "Well done IW / Activision!") to play a few hours of SP... No way! I buy CoD games for MP! That's why I sold CoD5 after playing it for 10 minutes (the MP is rubbish).

KamiKazi

Steffano2002 wrote: »

I fully agree! I'm not paying €50 (or €60 as I think the PC version will cost as much as the Console version - another "Well done IW / Activision!") to play a few hours of SP... No way! I buy CoD games for MP! That's why I sold CoD5 after playing it for 10 minutes (the MP is rubbish).

Well if everyone that signed the petition will refuse to buy the game, at a RRP of €50, they have already lost €2,450,000 :pac: And that's without DLC etc.

Joeface

long way to go before they feel the pain

13million + copies sold across all platforms of COD MW

thats not far of €520million

Blazer

true but a lot of people would buy it on console as well as pc.
And if clans are not buying it then the knock on effect will be huge even on console.
I'm betting that they back down and release a patch on release day or soon after.

Joeface

Oh thats what Im hoping

already threw it up on the clan site as well

We should be following suit and not buying it ,........Bloody annoying had even arranged for extra servers to run , keep COD4 running at the same time .

Blazer

hell..I'm not buying it..no point now..