Bad Company Bullshits a Good Story
I’m only following Battlefield: Bad Company 2 because of the “Fuck Activision” subplot, where a shining knight is off to slay Kotick the Dragon. I have a problem with this perception.
Ars Technica recently sat down with Anders Gyllenberg, the producer of Bad Company 2 for the personal computer. He explained the netplay model behind their Call of Duty-killer:
The server issue is key here, as Modern Warfare 2’s closed match-making system rubbed many PC gamers the wrong way. Gyllenberg laid out the details. “All servers are dedicated, hosted by some of our partners. If you have a clan or if you are a bunch of friends who want a safe haven where you can meet up, our server partners offer the possibility of controlling your own server,” he told Ars. “Reserved slots is one of the features. As an admin you will also have the option of enabling several features such as friendly fire ratio, Minimap on/off, 3D spotting on/off, etc. You can also password-protect your server if you want to do some serious practice prior to an important game.” Almost all the options you have after renting a server will allow it to continue to be a ranked server, but password-protected servers will be unranked to cut down on cheating and padding stats.
So please, allow me to get this straight: Infinity Ward usurped the consumer’s control of online play in the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, the console-oriented approach to a series that has been annualized by Activision. To retaliate, PC shooter fans are going to purchase Bad Company 2. It is the sequel to a console-exclusive shooter. It is the eighth core game in the eight-year history of the Battlefield series. And most importantly, you must rent servers directly through the developer and their “partners”.
And people think I’m insane.
February 26th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Uh yeah, you’ve always had to get servers through them and their partners. BUT AT LEAST YOU CAN GET THEM.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Am I misunderstanding this? The implication of the article is that you can’t really fiddle with anything but what they want you to. Or did the dude talk down to us like we don’t understand the benefits of a dedicated server?
February 26th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Yeah, I think you’re missing it. It’s a GIANT publicity stunt. “Hey, look at all the things we’ll let you do that you’ve been doing for years, but got backstabbed out of last time around! Well, we’re here for a return to normalcy!”
The fact that you can only get servers through them is draconian, sure, nothing like the way you used to be able to get servers. But the fact remains that at least they allow you to do so. PC gamers are rejoicing and voting with their dollars.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Alright then, we’re good. We’re both looking at the same issue and drawing two different opinions. Was just confirming that was the case.
February 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
This is most likely because you weren’t raised on UO for 4 years and played all the CoDs at one time or another only to be cockslapped with the bullshit that is MW2.
MW2 had the potential to be another great iteration…they added so much more stuff to do, lots of customization, etc. But seriously, you literally cannot downplay the importance of dedicated servers for this type of game. Competition DOES NOT exist as it ever could. With no competition, the game is limited to pubstars showing off their epeen, casuals, and complete scrubs.
A chance to play a war game (with DX11 at that 8)) made by someone who obviously understands what our priorities are is going to get a lot of attention from us.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
grm, I think you misunderstand what Ghetto is saying. He’s not saying this isn’t a step up from MW2, because it obviously is, he’s saying that it’s still a huge step DOWN from classic games where you could host your OWN servers. We shouldn’t be celebrating something worse than what we should have just because it isn’t a complete piece of shit.
February 27th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
…I’ll just sit here while you figure out what you said wrong about hosting servers.
I know it’s a step down overall. CoD4 will most likely remain above both games.
February 28th, 2010 at 12:45 am
My problem is people fighting IWNet by delving into a game where the publisher retains control of multiplayer. I thought that’s why people were upset with Infinity Ward?
February 28th, 2010 at 10:50 am
No people were mainly fighting IWNet because it meant peer-to-peer gaming which is really shitty. Less customization is another albeit smaller part.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:00 am
^ +1. If IWNet meant dedicated servers that they rented out to us versus independent server providers (basically exactly what BC2 is doing), there would have been some grumbling but at the end of the day nothing of value was lost–the provider just gains access to a killswitch for the servers is all. While that is an awful lot of power, it’s a debate for another day–gamers are willing to put up with that over the shit that comes with P2P and not being able customize.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Your not renting games through the company, your renting them through a server farm. A server farm that had a deal with the company.
Whats the difference? Well, 99% of all legit games that had a playable amount of MS were hosted by the same/similar service already. So unless your a pirate, a retard who hosts games with DSL, employed by the companies competitors, or part of the .000001% minority that owns a private server.
Your not losing any functionality, as the host provides you basically every functionality anyway, and most people probably played exclusively on them without realizing it. The amount of privately owned servers for these kinds of games are countable on one hand.
If you want to bitch about something, bitch about the lack of modding tools.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:04 pm
also, ghetto do you just make alt accounts to post on your own site to talk to yourself to make yourself feel better?
;_;
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:37 am
Noted. The lack of modding tools was definitely something I should have been clearer about.
And no, I was being facetious about that on the Battle.net forums. :P