It's the End of the War as We Know It

[Shamus Young]

It's the End of the War as We Know It

PC users aren't just losing their dedicated servers, they're losing much more.

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[AkJay]

And I feel fine... sorry, had to get that out of the way.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Spoiler: Obligatory Image

This is hardly a new phenomenom though. Ask any C64 owner about rubbishy one colour sprites, or Amiga owners about bloody ST ports.

We may lose the majority of games over to the consoles, but could you ever imagine The Path, Grim Fandango, Tie Fighter, or most of ALT-ESC on the consoles?

Equally could you imagine the god awful mess that the Little Big Planet servers would be in after the PC-modders got hold of it?

There's a place for both; it just depends what sort of games you prefer.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

nooo
I like my good ol' PC games. I don't want it to die on me

 

[Angron]

interesting read, thanks for that...

i only buy certain games for PCs and MW is the kinda game i think consoles are for, altho tbh im not gonna pick it up there either, just doesnt appeal to me that much...

altho i am sick of MW2 already...the games industry has turned into the MW2 industry just recently

 

[Zacharine]

There's a place for both; it just depends what sort of games you prefer.

RAmen to that.

The point where either consoles or PC gaming dies out is the point where no-one can no longer tell the difference between the two: The point where consoles will have the modding ability of PC games and can do RTSs well while PCs will be uniform enough in system architecture to make compatibility problems nonexistent.

And that day is a long, long way off.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Hooray, a journalist with a well informed viewpoint!

I wonder what Travis Touchdown Taylor would make of all this...

 

[rabidmidget]

And I feel fine... sorry, had to get that out of the way.

Damnit, ninj'ad.

double ninj'ad

 

[KiKiweaky]

Sad isnt the word for it

They sold 4.something million copies on the first day didnt they? How many of them were for the pc? Oh and the unstable host issue is reaaaaaly annoying, getting into a game lobby and then getting booted or losing connection etc -.-

 

[Orange_Clockwork]

Well, I know now that I'm not buying Rage at least.

 

[hamster mk 4]

I am glad one of the main Escapist contributors has taken the time to summaries what the omission of dedicated servers means to the PC gaming community. On the topic of mods I feel this can be both a good and bad thing. The good is that I will no longer have to listen to Eric Cartman screaming when I join a server or one side achieves victory. The down side is the loss of replayability and opportunity for surprisingly good content.

However both these points work in the favor of Activision. Having a consistent online experience free of annoying mods will make the game friendlier to new players. Also loosing the replayability offered by mods make consumers more likely to buy when the inevitable sequel comes out.

 

[Superior Mind]

Nice outlining of the issues PC gamers are legitimately pissed off about.

I don't think PC gaming is dying either but I will say that it doesn't help when developers/publishers seem to be actively doing their best to make the PC an undesirable platform.

 

[Izerous]

Points 3-7 have been pretty much my main complaints about this change.

And it seems difficult to explain to some people the need for high upload speeds when hosting games and the effect it can have.

 

[MGlBlaze]

You have neatly encapsulated all of the problems PC gamers are facing by the boneheadded decisions made by Activision and Infinity-Ward on MW2, as well as John Romero with Rage.

And I also agree that the first issue is also by far the biggest problem, by far. But apart from that, there'd be no way to kick people using glitches, or just being utterly insufferable douchebags.

The ping issue is also a big concern for me because I live in the middle of nowhere, and if anyone else is even browsing sites on the internet, let alone trying to stream videos, in this house then my ping goes up from 50-200 to OVER TWO-THOUSAND. I WISH I was kidding. Unless you people have lived with a family that doesn't even care what you're trying to do, and frequently being able to aim, shoot, or even MOVE in online games for years, then you simply do not know my pain. Although at the same time I would never want to subject anyone ELSE to that crap, so imagine what would be happening if by some fluke, I was ever the host if my internet was behaving, and then started acting up mid-game.

I salute you, Shaemus Young. As I hope every PC gamer is doing.

It is not because I am an elitist and feel I am entitled to these extras; it is because PCs are a fundamentally different platform to consoles and, barring some miracle of programing genius, REQUIRE most of the 'extras' to even work properly. Especially the ability to kick and ban cheaters...

 

[Woodsey]

There is another option. Time for gamers to put their money where their mouth is.

MW2 sucks nuts? Don't fucking buy it. Don't give them your profit. Give it to people who actually [http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/showthread.php?t=213789] gives a shit [http://bashandslash.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=783&Itemid=69].

Nothing tells developers what really matters like money flow. Wanna show them they fucked up? Wanna show them what they SHOULD be doing? Send your money elsewhere. Suddenly they'll care.

Whilst I agree, if no PC gamers buy MW2 then IW/Activision are just as likely to say "fuck you" to our faces (instead of using their dastardly tactics like so far). They could then easily use this to say that they won't make PC games at all.

 

[FURY_007]

Thank you, for clearly stating why we (PC Gamers) are mad about the loss of dedicated servers, hopefully this will get it through the thick-headed people that suggest we "get over it" (aka roll over and let shit pass). I mean it's the principle of the matter, why go out of the way to make a shoddy matchmaking service when it would have been more cost-effective to just leave the good old tried and true dedicated servers in.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Thank God someone still has sense on the internet I have been sick and tired saying shite like this on MW2 threads(although I'm sure I came off way more elitist).

I have no doubt that the PC will never die as a platform but it will go into a kinda of constant twilight which is what it is doing.

I would have no problem with that as people will always make games for it as there is money to be made in this niche even if it isn't as much as consoles.

Also if money is a problem why don't peopel run ads on dedicated servers on loading screens and what not?