Robert Bowling ("FourZeroTwo"), Infinity Ward's Community Manager, joined today's Bash and Slash webcast to talk about the PC version of Modern Warfare 2. The good news is that the PC SKU will not be delayed, as I previously reported. The bad news follows.
There will be no dedicated server application released to the public. If you don't know what a dedicated server is, this Wikipedia page has a brief primer. Online multiplayer will be run entirely through a new matchmaking system built on top of IW's backend - called IW.NET - that will run alongside Steam. There will be no server browser this time around; online games will be organized through some kind of lobby service, probably similar to what World at War uses for its co-op modes. Basically, it looks a lot like XboxLive ported to the PC.
Players will also be able to set up private matches that will allow for certain variations in game settings, e.g.: disabling air strikes. This is troubling for a couple of reasons. Without remote access to a dedicated server, all private matches will have to run from a listen server, which means they'll have to be hosted on a local machine. That, in turn, means that the server application has to run in the same process as the game client. Every player on a listen server sucks up processing power and bandwidth on the host machine, which will severely restrict the number of players that can join most custom matches before latency becomes unbearable.
(By the way: this is where the "host migration" I mentioned before is going to come into play. The private match/listen server thing was right there in front of my nose, but I didn't see it.)
Another painful thought: mods and custom maps will be limited to private matches, and everyone in the match will have to download the map beforehand, as is the case with L4D. That's assuming IW is going to release mod tools for MW2, which seems even more improbable as of today.
Bowling did say that IW will provide public servers for stock games. (That has to mean they're going to fund the whole thing by charging for the DLC, doesn't it?) Whether the matchmaking system will allow players to join a server their friends are on, or join a match in progress, or connect by IP, is anyone's guess at this point. One thing, on the other hand, is almost certain: unless there are at least several hundred "official" servers available, every pub is going to be slammed 24/7, and people are going to have a hell of a time finding a place to play with a group of friends. And I guarantee that IW.NET will be a "work-in-progress" for several months after launch.
If you're wondering how Steam fits into the equation, this is it: the anti-cheat is no longer Punkbuster/Pbbans/Aion-Live. It's VAC.
So this is Infinity Ward's new DRM: the consolization of online multiplayer for the PC. While the quality of the online experience is primary and very much in question right now, there's a constellation of other doubts to contend with. Is IW.NET going to finally undermine the mapping and modding community? Is it going to kill the competitive CoD community? Is Infinity Ward going to shut down the CoD4 master server to force players to move to MW2? Is Infinity Ward trying to prepare the entire Call of Duty PC fanbase for a console-exclusive release next time around? Will any of the "old guard" PC players bother with the game at all?
I don't know the answers, but I'd bet real money that I won't like most of them when they come.
There will be no dedicated server application released to the public. If you don't know what a dedicated server is, this Wikipedia page has a brief primer. Online multiplayer will be run entirely through a new matchmaking system built on top of IW's backend - called IW.NET - that will run alongside Steam. There will be no server browser this time around; online games will be organized through some kind of lobby service, probably similar to what World at War uses for its co-op modes. Basically, it looks a lot like XboxLive ported to the PC.
Players will also be able to set up private matches that will allow for certain variations in game settings, e.g.: disabling air strikes. This is troubling for a couple of reasons. Without remote access to a dedicated server, all private matches will have to run from a listen server, which means they'll have to be hosted on a local machine. That, in turn, means that the server application has to run in the same process as the game client. Every player on a listen server sucks up processing power and bandwidth on the host machine, which will severely restrict the number of players that can join most custom matches before latency becomes unbearable.
(By the way: this is where the "host migration" I mentioned before is going to come into play. The private match/listen server thing was right there in front of my nose, but I didn't see it.)
Another painful thought: mods and custom maps will be limited to private matches, and everyone in the match will have to download the map beforehand, as is the case with L4D. That's assuming IW is going to release mod tools for MW2, which seems even more improbable as of today.
Bowling did say that IW will provide public servers for stock games. (That has to mean they're going to fund the whole thing by charging for the DLC, doesn't it?) Whether the matchmaking system will allow players to join a server their friends are on, or join a match in progress, or connect by IP, is anyone's guess at this point. One thing, on the other hand, is almost certain: unless there are at least several hundred "official" servers available, every pub is going to be slammed 24/7, and people are going to have a hell of a time finding a place to play with a group of friends. And I guarantee that IW.NET will be a "work-in-progress" for several months after launch.
If you're wondering how Steam fits into the equation, this is it: the anti-cheat is no longer Punkbuster/Pbbans/Aion-Live. It's VAC.
So this is Infinity Ward's new DRM: the consolization of online multiplayer for the PC. While the quality of the online experience is primary and very much in question right now, there's a constellation of other doubts to contend with. Is IW.NET going to finally undermine the mapping and modding community? Is it going to kill the competitive CoD community? Is Infinity Ward going to shut down the CoD4 master server to force players to move to MW2? Is Infinity Ward trying to prepare the entire Call of Duty PC fanbase for a console-exclusive release next time around? Will any of the "old guard" PC players bother with the game at all?
I don't know the answers, but I'd bet real money that I won't like most of them when they come.
