A View From the Road: Unreasonably Dedicated

[WlknCntrdiction]

The PC has always been head and shoulders above consoles, that's just fact. Granted we don't have to act like pricks, but we do have the superior platform for gaming, better graphics, more customisation, etc than consoles. That will never change most likely. Now when you realise that a game is making more on "dumber" consoles and basically take a shit on the gamers that may make up a small part of the market but who ultimately DID start things for you back in the day and start removing features to make everything even across the board then new lows have been met.

PC gaming isn't easy, it never will be easy, it's not meant to be easy, heck running a computer isn't easy on a day to day basis unless you know what you're doing. Those who game on the PC know what they're doing, if they can't be fucked to learn how to simply click "join server" then they deserve to go pick up a console, insert the disc and play, that's their strenuous task for the day over. What you don't do is try and change a formula that's been working on the PC for over a decade and ignore the people it(inevitably will)upset, that's douchebag behaviour.

When PC gamers say "oh, you console people wouldn't understand" that's exactly what we mean, because you don't. It's not about being above ourselves or elitest, it's called fucking common sense and standing up for it, why fix what isn't broken? Or why not incoporate both? Seems the smart kid at IW who made this decision clearly didn't think it through enough.

 

[VanBasten]

There is what seems to be a strong current of entitlement beneath it all, and the message from many of the protesters is clear: We deserve something above and beyond the call of duty (har har har) because we are PC gamers, and our platform of choice is special. In other words, "You owe us, Infinity Ward."

I agree that some people sound like this but I've mostly seen those types of reactions form some PC gamers in response to some console gamers posts dismissing any legitimate arguments against changes. This is just another battlefield in the ongoing PC vs Consoles war, and laying the blame squarely on the PC gamers is a bit harsh.

It is also understandable that PC gamers are angry, and for a good reason. For the past two years there has been hype, more hype, and then some more hype in regards to MW2, a sequel to CoD4:MW, one of the most fun PC multiplayer experience ever. Many PC gamers preordered the game on blind faith that IW, maker of CoD, CoD2 and CoD4 will yet again deliver a fun PC multiplayer experience.
And then a few weeks before release IW basically says: "Hey, remember those awesome things that made you love our previous games? Yeah, we're removing those. Here, have this console shooter!"
Now I'm not trying to star another fork of the old PC shooters are better or worse than console shooters debate(they're better for me) but the experience IS different.

It isn't so much "You owe us, Infinity Ward.", as much as "You lead us to believe we'll be getting one thing, Infinity Ward, and then you flaked out on us at the last minute."

Betrayed expectations cause irritability, irritability leads to anger, and anger leads to the dark side...

That's why there isn't so much backlash on Rage, there were significantly less expectations there.

It doesn't change the fact that IW reps have admitted that the PC - and the hardcore subsection within the PC market, to be precise - is their smallest base of users.

While this is true, it's sort of a corollary of the fact that consoles sell more games than the PC in general.
The last two Call of Duty games were still bestsellers on the PC. Now I haven't checked the numbers, but barring WoW and Sims behemoths, I'd wager a guess if not THE best selling PC games of the last two years, then definitely very close to the top.

So what sense does it possibly make to allocate extra time, money, and manpower to their smallest fanbase, which is coincidentally the group most likely to pirate the game anyway?

But they did exactly this, which is kind of weird, they allocated more time money and manpower to swich to this new system on the PC, than simply using the same system that has been here since the first CoD game.

Regarding piracy, why is it that it's always used as an excuse to screw over people who actually buy the game, and never the pirates themselves?

Now, by all means, return to your regularly scheduled protests, but remember that the most powerful protest tool at your disposal is your wallet. If it infuriates you so much, don't buy the game. Don't be a tool and pirate it - that just gives developers more reason to flee the PC platform entirely - but a refusal to purchase will speak louder than angry internet rants ever could.

This I can wholeheartedly support.
Unfortunately it may also mean the death of the Call of Duty franchise on the PC.

 

[hobo_welf]

Nonononononononono.

Just no. I have pride in being a PC gamer. I have pride in my many long nights spent modding Morrowind or STALKER or Neverwinter Nights or hell even Duke Nukem. I have pride in the online clans and the IRC chatrooms and the websites devoted to the most obscure way to get around a specific bug.

I'm proud of the way that on PC, if there's a problem with your setup, you can bet your ass that there's someone else somewhere else who knows how to fix it. I'm proud of the lack of red rings of death or over-heating issues (unless you're an idiot and forgot to put a fan next to your quad core). I'm proud of many many things but for fucks sake, I'm not proud of the way that EA acts or more recently the way that Activision acts or more recently the way Infinity Ward acts.

And the PC community might be bitching, I thought that L4D2 gig was crap, but for gods sakes this is the difference between us and the console crowd! We grew up ranting on forums at five in the morning, complaining about the pally nerf and the warlock buff, we make ourselves look like asses some of the time, but you saw what happened with the L4D2 boycott, you can watch what happens on WoW every two weeks they change a core gameplay mechanic just because of the ten thousand fat ass Chinese gold farmers storming the forums.

We ***** because it's the only way to get results and yeah sometimes we make the rest of you "higher class" PC gamers look bad, but if the difference between being higher and lower class is the same difference between being vocal and being mute, shit I'll look like an ass and have my dedicated servers, thank you very much Mr.Funk.

Erh. Rant over now...

Edit: Forgot to mention. Why is it that pirates are the most common reason for the rest of us to get the big dick? Basically what you're saying is that we should tell the Muslims that they shouldn't get upset when we call them towel heads because a few of them blow shit up.

 

[lord canti]

Cant stay on thread to allergic to pretentiousness. but seriously you all make me ashamed to call my self a pc gamer or a gamer in general. I suggest you put on your big boy pants cry me a river build a bridge and get over it =).

 

[jigs160]

Just thought i'd post this, for people who still think this is "just about the dedicated servers"

oh well cant complain thats just the multiplayer game anyway single player is where the real action is
but i am still lamenting the dramatic change in multiplayer though

 

[Merlark]

This isn't about PC gamers or a holy then though attitude, game companys are screwing over gamers in genral.

How would you feel if most games for the Wii didn't support motion sensor technology? It would be completely stupid NOT to support the hardware.

What if Sony released games for the PS3 that were NOT in HD? It would be completely ludicrous.

Releasing games for the PC that go peer to peer when you can harness the power, versatility and customization of a dedicated server is simply not even a question. Your shooting yourself in the foot, on purpose.

Not to mention this is a war against publisher attitude in genral. They don't want games to live as games, they want them to live as products, to be used then cast aside so we buy the next product.

Can you imagine a world were Valve did the same thing with Half-life as Infinity ward did with MW2? with total control there would BE no Team fortress, there would BR no counter strike or no gravity or zombie mods and earth special forces.

This is like Nazi gaming, "We would rather you play the game the way we intended it to be played" that's their response, Since when should anyone support a Soviet Russia gaming environment where the game plays YOU instead of the other way around.

PC gamers don't need to get over themselves, Game Developers do. It's been a slow downward spiral but this is a plunge towards the darkness were games dictate how you play them.

Screw this matrix crap of "We want to revolutionize", they want to control. Forgive us PC gamers if we imagine a world with no borders or boundry's. it's a good place folks, turning away from that to support less effect means to play together...

completely stupid article in my opinion.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

Spoiler: Long Winded Speech. Careful now.

I bought the 85 Dollar Version of Fallout 3 for my PS3. Now when they announced PS3 won't get the DLC for at least a year did i Flip out and make online Petitions and boycott it? Nope. I Waited. Then when it was released with Glitches a plenty did i freak out because i spent 10 Dollars on it? Nope. I enjoyed it. To say your entitled to a good Product because you Shell out 60 Dollars is like saying cause you paid the hooker an extra 20 bucks she has to cuddle with you afterwards. Seriously you can do so much more then Complain and Say you are "entitled to the best product they can give you. Well. Heres what they gave you. Its the product they are giving you and you should assume its good enough for you. Do i think i'm entitled to better games cause i play a PS3? No. I enjoy what i'm given and if its good so be it. All of you need to CHILL THE FUCK OUT! its a game. Not a way of life. Your acting as if someone slapped your mother in the mouth. So Report me. Tell them to Ban me. Get angry and start a lame flame war with me. But know 2 things. 1 i won't respond to you. and 2. By doing any of that i won. Just because i know that if you do i struck a nerve and made you angry. while im relaxed.

On the article. I loved the screaming whining part. Cause personally i have looked at the mother and Told her to Raise her child right lol. A firm hand makes a Firm Man lol.

I couldn't agree with you more. If you don't like it don't buy it. No ones forcing you to. I know there will always be a circle of gamers on all platforms that flip out, but people are more likely to listen to a calm well thought out response than an angry rant and sense of entitlement.

It's a company. Like all companies, they want to make the highest profit with the lowest cost.

 

[cainx10a]

Just thought i'd post this, for people who still think this is "just about the dedicated servers"

oh well cant complain thats just the multiplayer game anyway single player is where the real action is
but i am still lamenting the dramatic change in multiplayer though

have fun with your 4h game.

I might get it for PC just because of SPEC-OPs though. Co-Op is where the action is at. =D

And about Pirates, there ain't going to be any fucking way you will stop them unless the PC system itself is changed in the most draconian way possible so that PC users can be monitored to find out what games they are playing and if it's a legit copy of said game. Pirates are not going anywhere, and they will NEVER be consumers like us the people who bother to purchase the games. It's time the industry understand that, and move on. Pirates are not and will never be YOUR target audience.

 

[ReverseEngineered]

I don't agree with you, but I do see where you're coming from.

I agree that there is too much attitude involved, but I don't think it's just PC gamers who have the attitude. The vocal minority has always been loud and obnoxious: just hop onto Xbox Live or Playstation Home and see how obnoxious people can be. For every person yelling how this isn't fair and we deserve better, there are 10 more who are just willing to live with it and 100 more who don't even know there's a difference.

But the people who are angry have a good point, and I think it goes further than dedicated servers. There was a time when PC games had many qualities that consoles just couldn't provide. Mods and skins, custom maps, voice chat, and dedicated servers (even player-owned servers) are just a few of these things. But lately, we see more and more games that are developed for consoles first and then ported to the PC. This may save developers money, but it makes PC games inferior to their console cousins, because the games are designed with the console in mind, not the PC. Nice features like mods, custom maps, and now even dedicated servers are disappearing, to the point where PCs are stuck with the same limitations of the consoles. But worse yet, we have controls and gameplay that assume you are using a gamepad, not a keyboard and mouse. How many PC games have you seen where the dialogs say "Press (A) to continue"? The annoying menu system in Borderlands was a great example of this and Assassin's Creed had it many places too.

The problem isn't that PC games aren't given special treatment, it's that they are an afterthought; ported as if they were running on an emulator. All of the PCs strengths are lost because the game was designed for a console, not a PC.

The PC may not be the dominant platform it once was -- largely because consoles are up to the specs where they can challenge the PC gaming market; more than you could say 10 years ago -- but that doesn't mean the PC should be a second-rate platform. There is still a market and companies who aren't willing to keep that market happy -- even if it means making PC-aware games -- are going to see lost potential profits.


PS: I think the piracy argument is a red herring, for two reasons. For one, no matter how high piracy rates are on the PC, there are still people paying money for PC games. If a hundred people pirated the game on the PC for every one who bought, that one still paid money. Piracy may mean the loss of a potential sale, but you don't end up in the negative for it; those who pay, pay, and everybody else may as well have not bought the game at all. But making a second-rate game for an entire market segment will result in the loss of those paying customers. You won't get money out of most pirates by making piracy harder, but you will lose money from paying customers by making an inferior game.

Secondly, consoles are not immune to piracy. In fact, with a small investment (the cost of the modchip), pirating an XBOX 360 or Wii game is nearly as easy as it is on the PC. But there are two differences. First, it's currently easier on PC (no modchip required), so pirates will probably go for the PC version first. Second, people willing to pay $300 for a console are probably willing to buy games for it too, but everybody has a PC, even people who aren't willing to pay $70+ for a new game. The demographics are very different, so it's impossible to compare the two.

In the end, piracy is a smokescreen. It's used to justify draconian laws like the DMCA and the three-strikes rule, lower quality releases, games that are less featureful than their predecessors, increasing prices, and every other penny-pinching, margin-increasing effort that the entertainment industries make. It's the same argument that was thrown after cassette tapes in the 80s and libraries even before that. Any profit-driven company won't stop until they can sell you a single button and charge you every time you press it. Piracy is just there excuse to make you pay more for less.

 

[ReverseEngineered]

Oh yes, I should add, despite everything I said above, John is right -- pirating the game isn't the answer. If you really believe it's a shitty game that's not worth paying for: don't play it. Pirating just makes their claims about piracy legitimate, and still makes it a popular game. A game only truly fails if nobody plays it, plays the demo, watches the trailers, or even speaks well of it. Vote with your wallet and your attention.

But feel free to speak up too, because companies are terrible at taking subtle hints.

 

[Doug]

Nice article, and whilst I do think the sentiment is right, I have some issues....

Now, by all means, return to your regularly scheduled protests, but remember that the most powerful protest tool at your disposal is your wallet. If it infuriates you so much, don't buy the game. Don't be a tool and pirate it - that just gives developers more reason to flee the PC platform entirely - but a refusal to purchase will speak louder than angry internet rants ever could.

Really? One person not buying it is going to make IW go 'Oh noes, we have to work hard to get his money back!' - lets be honest, the game has been pre-ordered so very, very, very, very much that there is nothing anyone who reads the article can do aside from either not buy the game and lose out or buy the game.

Y'know, I wouldn't really mind it if IW had spent LESS effort in making MW2 for the PC. I mean, we are the smallest group, and therefore deserve the least amount of effort. However, it seems to me they have gone out of their way to create a system (IW.net) which will be detrimental to the experience of most players.

Indeed, this too John - they've spent more money on the pirates than they would have if they wanted to just keep the customers happy.

Just thought i'd post this, for people who still think this is "just about the dedicated servers"

And finally, this - we pay more money for a game that is, in multiplayer at least, pretty inferior.

Don't get me wrong, it'll probably still be a great game, and I'll buy a second hand copy more than likely (unless Activison have locked CD Keys to PCs or something), but I am angry at the shit treatment PC customers are getting these days and yet expected to pay more.

 

[Baron Khaine]

Just to go back to my original point in this, the problem is not a sense of entitlement, its the fact that the PC Community feel's that Infinity Ward has turned there back on us, after everything we did for them in the early day's, they've run off with there new hip friend's, the 360 gang. It's exactly the same as happened and is still happening with the Wii, it's pandering to casual gamer's, and the "hardcore gamer's", if such a term can be used for the Wii, feel left out, and dejected, by a company that they helped support by buying the Gamecube, Mario series etc.

Infinity Ward turned there back on PC Gaming, on the thing's that made us unique from the console's, and people won't just forget that.

Er, to be fair, that's *exactly* what I mean by sense of entitlement. That people feel the company owes you something, and are put out when it tries to cater to another group as well.

Oh I thought the sense of entitlement was about PC Gamers being elitist and wanting better than the console boy's. Thats not why were pissed, the reason is, this is a step backwards for PC Gaming, they should be taking steps forward for console gamers, to bring them up to the same game that we played in CoD 1,2 and 4, not taking us back down to the dark ages. This game is going to have worse multiplayer than 1,2 or 4, did you see the image I linked with the amount of features removed? Those are staple feature's of PC Gaming, if they want everyone to be equal, they should work towards improving the console experience, not dumbing down the PC experience.

Feel's like that short story where all the intelligent people had to be dumbed down so everyone had the same intelligence, strength, everything (anybody help me out with this, I forget the name).

Step's backwards are never in the right direction.

 

[bkingston]

Don't plan on buying the game myself, going to wait to see how this p2p works out. My ping is usually 100-120 as I live in Canada in the middle of nowhere.

/begin opinion

With regards to the articles comment about the whole keyboard/graphics thing. That is NOT a big improvement and is no way superior when everyone has those options. Sorry, but last time I checked it was a matter of preference. Being able to change graphics is not a big superior OMG it makes the game so much better!!! Technically having graphic options could be seen as 'unbalanced' and IW should remove that too since people with better machines would get better frame rates, higher resolutions, etc making them superior on the battle field.

The article COMPLETELY ignores how IW handled this issue. What, it released this change less then a month away from release? Does that NOT show their intentions? Does that NOT show that they knew the PC community would be extremely hostile/disappointed and this was a PR move? I argue that they did this just so they could say 'Sorry PC gamers, but IW.net is already done and there is no way we're changing it now since we spent all this money on it. We apologize.'. That has been the biggest slap to my face wrt gaming. I was really excited about this game and this poor decision by IW has broke my heart.

/end opinion
/Begin rambling

Maybe the escapist forums shouldn't be moderated, that's a pretty good way to get rid of spammers and trolls right? If you don't get my point how is IW going to immediately remove hackers and grievers? They're not, that's how. GL PC gamers, especially when there is no way to ensure that once a hacker is caught that they don't just pirate another copy or buy another disk like the 360 can do. Crap, I hope no one important is reading this, that is the next step - a PC global gaming service that you need to pay to play any of the games you own. Damnit.

/end rambling

 

[Worgen]

Funk, entitlement doesn't mean what you think it means.



Entitlement isn't even a word that applies in consumer culture. The entitlement argument could be an argument against piracy, but for someone who's shelling out $60 for the game, they are perfectly entitled to say we want a good game. If the dev was making it for free, and we complained, that would be entitlement.

In summation, you say dedicated servers are a good thing, but we paying customers are not entitled to them.

Gamers don't deserve good games

This isn't fucking altruism funk, the devs are getting payed for this, we give them our money, we are entitled to the best game they can make. That's the basic concept of capitalism.

actualy the basic concept of capitalism is to give ppl the least you can and make the most you can doing it

 

[Abedeus]

And nothing annoys me more than people thinking that because PC gaming 'started' all this, it should be the key brand. Did you hear that about the Amiga? The Commodore? The Spectrum? The Atari? What about the Arcades?

Yes, we all remember playing Spy versus Spy on dedicated servers. Or Mario with custom levels.

Yes, of course, they all started multiplayer gaming as we know it. And they also started the STANDARD of dedicated servers allowing people to host clan vs clan matches or just a server for a group of friends.

Also, yes, we are entitled to the things we are used to. You know why are we used to them? Because we like them. I like being able to choose my favorite Team Fortress 2 server, or which maps would I play in Enemy Territory. They just went for the easy solution - just say "screw it" and raise the price.

Oh, and thanks for the picture:

Spoiler

Now I can use it as my main argument.

 

[Woodsey]

The L4D2 match-making is a pain in the arse, and that's just with the demo at peak times, nevermind what it's going to be like when people have gone out and bought it. The only reason I feel its used in L4D2 is because it's the only real way to sought it out, but it's a co op game, not a multiplayer.

Actually, I felt the L4D and L4D2 system was awesome. You had the benefit of just being able to click maybe twice and join a game right away (a few more clicks if you wanted something more specific), yet it still had all the benefits of dedicated servers, and if you had the IP then you could still access that server whenever you liked.

Well maybe I'm confined to the minority experience (who knows?), but I've had a fair bit of trouble a number of times with the Match-making - being connected to God awful servers that crash for no reason, despite everyone having brilliant ping and whatnot. Like I said I accept that, given the nature of the game, the match making system is the only real way it can be done.

In CoD's case, dedicated servers are best - no question. If I play online, I like to drop in on a familiar server, where I know the sort of people that go on and that I can have a good game with.

Numerous times in L4D2, if I want to join in a match it's quite likely for me to get into a foreign server, which of course makes the game redundant if you can't communicate.

 

[TitsMcGee1804]

alot of truth in this, apart from the last bit 'speak with your wallet'

its a drop in the ocean, even petitions will be...

...see the diablo art style boycott...you just know everyone in that boycott will have the game on preorder already

 

[Steelfists]

I don't have a sense of entitlement, I just want dedicated servers! And preferably mods. I understand why mods might be more work for the devs, but I don't beleive that adding dedicated servers could add THAT much more work, although I may be wrong on that.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I'm not buying the game at this point, so I don't really care anymore.

But just to clarify:

They aren't depriving the game of content like some other companies do to their pc versions.

Yes, they are.

They've gotten rid of the ability to use mods (Not to mention that the max player count is 9v9 now), removing dozens of hours worth of play time and free content. As a matter of fact, the Nazi-Zombies mode in COD:WAW was inspired by a zombie mod for Modern Warfare.

No mods?!
Really?!
You mean they aren't going to support mods or they aren't going to allow mods?
If it's the latter, I would be boycotting it too; that is, if I had any interest in it to begin with. I don't really like MFPSs.

That's why you play on a PC, for the mods.

Edit: On top of that, I just found out they're charging console prices for it too.
Now I'm just glad I'm not amongst the thousands who were anticipating this one.

 

[jorgemalgom]

I'm ashame you call a pc gamer. We don't think we are superior. Is a fact that we have best hardwares and its more easy develop to PC. Companies that try to make PC game look console-like should just say: "we are not going to make it for PC", and not come up with this crappy console-like-port.