Modern Warfare 2: PC Gamers vs Infinity Ward
I am a die-hard fan of the Modern Warfare series of games but while I was doing my nightly research for news on the most anticipated game of the year I found a site that did an interview with Infinity Ward's Community Manager Robert Bowling that has PC gamers hitting the panic button.
BASH 123 Pwnt! - Edited version on BASHandSlash.com, The one-hour edited version with only Rob Bowling's interview can be found here: http://BASHandSlash....
On Saturday Oct. 17 the gaming site
BASHandSlash.com - Home interviewed Bowling (via skype) from Amsterdam to find that they will not be able to game using dedicated servers. The interview gives some insight into the community of PC gamers and how they view themselves vs console gamers. You can sense the horror these guys are feeling when Bowing tells them that the dedicated servers will be taken away.
*(Wikipedia definition) "A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone."
Dedicated servers allow gamers to play multiplayer games on servers that the administrator can change or mod features/maps/skins to their liking. Generally hosts change specific rule sets to be followed and have the ability to ban/kick any player for any reason that the server host sees fit.*
Bowling explains that Modern Warfare 2 is made so the average gamer will have just as much access to the game and fun as the hardcore group. Bowling has stated that game balance is one of the most important parts to a good multiplayer. With a neutral and balanced playing field, Infinity Ward believes the game will help grow the lagging PC online community. Games will now be played on the new IWNet. IWNet will facilitate PC gaming online, making the console game and the PC version very similar. If a player wants to play by their own parameters, it is still available in private matches.
This could be a great idea allowing the same access to every player average person. The toughest part of playing on a PC is that everyone is playing with different hardware, giving many players advantages. Advanced hardware is where players can get a big edge (or mods and hacks).
IWNet will have a new online feature that will put players in games with similarly skilled and ranked players. This is exciting news for players that don't cheat. This is the best chance to see where a player ranks among their peers.
The great thing about the consoles is that it is much harder to manipulate the system. Pop in COD4 and try to find people with modded controllers these days. You probably won't see any. We all know that a keyboard an mouse are easier to use. If you want to play that way, great but no longer will people be kicked from a server for killing the host too many times or playing for playing with a weapon that has been "outlawed".
*Editorial*
At first it made me laugh because I thought "These PC guys are coddled a-holes. They think they are superior because they use PCs to game. They are *****ing because they have to pay the same amount for the same experience that IT WAS DESIGNED TO GIVE PLAYERS." Now they will play by the same rules as everyone else. We won't hear about anymore of these guys with outrageous stats to boast because they cheat.
I didn't feel sorry for them one bit. I felt like they deserve the pain they felt for being so arrogant. (They have put together petitions, boycotts and threatened to pirate the game.)
After thinking about it for a while today, I understand a little of how they feel no matter how unjustified they actually are.
Madden was my most anticipated game for 8 years and these days I feel that EA has ruined the game experience by not improving the game, removing good content and adding a glossy sheen to a broken game. I now have not bought my favorite franchise game for 3 years. I feel sad about it because I LOVE NFL FOOTBALL.
In college, my dorm roommate was a brilliant Computer Science Major. He would do game designs throughout the nights. He had huge LAN parties on the weekends in our dorm lobby. He wasn't the best gamer but he was the best at modding the games. He was always compare his work with his friends. He was a campus god for a large group of smelly geniuses.
You have to understand that these guys are like little spoiled children having their personal playground taken away. Now they have to play with the toys everyone else has to play with. They feel the sense of superior control is taken away when they play on consoles. Usually they can't compete using a controller and No one playing on consoles will respect the ingenuity and work these people put into their game modifications. This is what they are known for. In many cases their identity is being removed when you take their ability to do what they love.
These guys are used to having their way and are throwing a tantrum.
Obviously THEY don't get it but neither do we.
I don't want to make lite of what is in reality tragic to PC gamers but it is hard to feel sorry for them. They get the best of any fps that comes out on PC for less. They can mod and share for free and they have a community that understands them. The modding community keeps saying how they are the reason why there is online gaming. They forget that their elitist and manipulative ******** is also the biggest reason why the average person can't stand PC gaming.
PC gamers feel entitled to what they know and are used to but this change will make the game more accessible to the average gamer. Sadly the modder is going to loose out (for now). Hopefully after people have played on the IW servers and get used to the game IW will find a way to help the people that mod games reattach to the MW community. Maybe a separate version of the game without any maps and weapons running on the same game engine can be sold to these folks.
The problem, as IW sees it, is that there is no one to supervise the people running the dedicated servers. The level playing field has been lost.
The PC community has to understand that the game is made to be played a certain way. It is not theirs to change. For now they should play MW2 to see if it is fun. If they don't like it
they can express their issues. Infinity Ward and Robert Bowling seem very willing to listen to the fans.
I expect the IW and the Modding community to be able to meet in the middle somewhere soon.
