The BS boom box, at full volume

Over on the IW forums, the subject of connectivity problems associated with IWnet is still all the rage. One user asked:

AND REALLY WOULDN'T THIS GAME BE CONSIDERED FAULTY AT THIS POINT - I mean seriously this game has some issues that IW doesn't seem to want to correct. Does IW feel the game is doing what was held out to do?

To which 402 responded:

No. I don't believe it would be considered faulty. Given your system meets the minimum requirements posted on the box, you can fully enjoy the game's singleplayer campaign and special ops mode without any problems.

As for multiplayer, the same can be expected given that "Gameplay Experience May Change Online" message required by ESRB on all multiplayer games indicates that due to the reliance on network conditions and connections outside of the game's code, the gameplay experience my differ.

Let's just take a half a step back here. The ESRB primarily assigns content ratings for video games (it also provides advertising and privacy guidelines for the same). Is 402 really claiming that the Board's stock notice - that the "game experience may change during online play" - constitutes a warning that a game's matchmaking system might be kinda shitty?

Perhaps the relevant question is whether Mr. Bowling actually thinks MW2's players are really that monumentally stupid.

Another user responded:

So, "Caveat Emptor," huh? Thanks for clarifying your company's stand on this. Now we know what to expect from your company in the future.

You just basically said that as long as one single component works, you have no obligation to fix the rest no matter how bad it is.

You knew IWnet was inferior from the beginning and still tried to sell it as a working product. Activision's customer support response even says that listen servers on residential internet connections are known to have problems.

And 04U replied:

Not exactly. I said, the game works as designed when it comes to the game code. However, game code has no control over the quality of connections outside of it. Meaning, there is no way for a game can ensure game experience won't change when playing over connections all over the world. Network conditions heavily impact game play experience in multiplayer. That's the way multiplayer has always been.

We include a lot of stuff in our netcode to help improve that and make it as smooth as possible, which works great. Although there will always be times when a connection is lost or interrupted simply due to network conditions which cannot be avoided 100%. That's just a byproduct of playing online in any game.

First paragraph: completely true. Second paragraph: complete and utter bullshit. It's not enough that IW has delivered an obviously inferior matchmaking service at a $10 premium. They have to lie about it, too.

Bowling's next post came four pages later, when he locked the thread. 

Caveat emptor, indeed.