They called me paranoid. They called me deluded. They said it would never happen. Well who has the last laugh now?!
Funnily enough, no one.
If there was any affirmation that the world of the console was aggressively encroaching on the world of the PC, then the recent news that Infinity Ward is removing dedicated server functionality from Modern Warfare 2 is it. Its replacement with a matchmaking system, akin to the likes of Halo 3, has prompted a vicious backlash of Left 4 Dead proportions that IW seem to be ignoring.
The comparatively recent explosion of “casual gaming” (that oh-so-misused phrase that has been hijacked and mutated by the Wii) has seen the focus of the industry being placed more and more on consoles, with our glorious platform being somewhat neglected in the face of rising profits elsewhere. As a result, developers are lobotomising their releases in order to accommodate our console cousins, with the recent developments in Modern Warfare 2 being the latest incarnation.
Robert Bowling makes a fairly convincing argument as to the benefits the matchmaking system will bring, but paints a rather imbalanced picture that doesn’t seem to show an appreciation of some of the inherent and game-crippling problems associated with local hosting. Claims that it will streamline the process of searching for a game are mostly true (although navigating a server browser isn’t exactly rocket science), but promises of smoother gameplay are completely bogus, and it seems condescending, devious almost, for IW to try and convince us otherwise.
If a game is hosted locally, the player who is doing the hosting will have a ping of almost zero. Not only does this give the host a huge advantage over his opponents, whose ping will be somewhere in the hundreds, but it makes the game incredibly laggy and almost unplayable for everyone else. This is something that the Halo 3 community are quite used to (but as I argued over at TheReticule, console gamers don’t really have an alternative), but as far as PC gamers are concerned it will be a huge step backwards. Not only will this completely neuter the competitive scene, but it will also deter casual players, with whom the overall success of a game ultimately lies.
Responses to the internet furore by the IW heads have merely fanned the anger of the PC community, with an online petition to bring back dedicated servers now reaching the hundreds of thousands. “We’re just prioritizing the player experience above the modders and the tuners…the people complaining are complaining with their pocketbook” claims Jason West. Hypocritical and ill-informed statements such as these not only show a complete lack of understanding of the community that has given them an incredible amount of support over the years, but acts as further proof that their commitment to PC gamers is now being overtaken by the needs (read, wallets) of console gamers.
I’m also fairly unconvinced that this new system will prevent hacking/cheating (ever heard of VAC or Punkbuster?) as server admins in the previous games have always done an exemplary job at supervising their servers and keeping them free from naughty players. This is yet another example of IW’s transparent attempts at softening the blow for the PC community of what is essentially a feature being installed purely for the benefit of the console gamers and that no one seems confident will be to our advantage.
Well we PC gamers are a fickle bunch and are capable of a hell of a lot more than just nerd raging on internet forums. Watch out Infinity Ward, this one will come back and bite you square in the arse. I can promise you that.
