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120,000 petition signatures, but Infinity Ward isn't backing down

Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009 09:43
Modern Warfare 2
A petition against Infinity Ward's decision to scrap dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has reached 120,000 signatures.

Following the revelation that the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 would still release alongside the console games on November 10th, Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling explained that the PC game would support an online matchmaking system similar to the consoles.

Dedicated servers, which were much loved in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, would not make an appearance in the sequel. Petitions from angry PC gamers followed, turning Infinity Ward's forums into a veritable mess. One such petition has now almost reached 120,000 signatures.

Though it at first looked like the developer would be ignoring this, Robert Bowling wrote in a private message on Twitter about the complaints:

"Definitely made a big wave, and the response will not be ignored. I'll ensure everyone at IW sees the petitions and responds to it."

Infinity Ward head Jason West issued the following response:

"We're just prioritising the player experience above the modders and the tuners. We thought maybe it would be cool if the fans could play the game."

Robert Bowling then goes onto explain that hardcore gamers aren't going to miss out with the new system (IWNet) on his blog. By default, IWNet means no more browsing through server lists (something PC gamers seem to want in order to avoid all chances of lag).

Bowling argues that the new system ensures the best performance with players at the same skill level every time you search for a game. Moreover, you'll now be able to ensure you avoid cheaters and hackers.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is actually the biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games. It’s also the most feature-rich PC version we’ve ever made," Bowing writes.

"IWNET takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilized and accessed by every player, out of the box, while removing the barrier to entry for players unaware of how to maintain a server on their own.

"All in all, IWNET adds a load of new features that the PC version of our games have never had before and allows us an infrastructure to continue to update and improve on the game post-launch," Bowling adds.

Modern Warfare 2 will release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 10th.



Read more about Modern Warfare 2 here.


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  • "I honestly don't see the fuss. My friend got all pissy about this, but I see it that you won't join a server where you can't play how YOU want to play, ie: using a "noob tube" or using Juggernaut etc. They are in the game for a reason and if those people can't win against someone using them then they need to change their tactics, not kick the player out of the server. Also, the mods i've seen for CoD4 look rubbish. Why can't people enjoy the game, you know, how it is meant to be played?"

    Spotter5 (UK) Posted: 21/10/2009 11:38:01

  • "spotter5, me thinks you dont realy understand how the pc community is constructed, the objection ist just about the odd guy running round with a "noob tube" most pc gamers belong to groups "clans" who have known each other for years, ( the people i game with are from all over the world, and some ive known for over 17 years!! poping onto a server Isn't just about the game or ranking up, its about chatching up with others too, we play matches against other clans, groups that we know, regularly because we can mod the servers we rent or own, we can change the game to our verry specific likes dislikes changing not only the type of equipment used but how it operates toneing up or down the leathlness of wepons, turning on or off all types of aspect to the game, simple things like turning radar off, to more complex mods like turning it into a paintball server conplete with paintball splats sounds and guns, then because we can create and add our own maps, we have 100s if not thousands to chose from, all for FREE this change is no small thing for pc gamers, its actually a deal breaker!!"

    themouse (uk) Posted: 21/10/2009 19:08:47

  • "This may not affect you Spotter, but it will affect a lot of people. 120,000+ people to be exact. I'm mostly worried about one thing: companies have tried this before, and failed due to various reasons. Left 4 Dead's a recent example, and that's an absolute mess. I think Infinity Ward are underestimating the demands on their service and what it actually means to scrap dedicated servers."

    Chris Capel (Oxford, UK) Posted: 21/10/2009 21:57:07

  • "Well Infinity Ward, congratulations. You have created a textbook example of how to alienate a significant proportion of your target audience."

    Tumnus (uk) Posted: 22/10/2009 12:27:24

  • "Hi guys, I appreciate your point of view, and I see why you guys are so upset. But in a way (and i'm now going to generalise, a lot, and rant) you brought it on yourself. PC games a pirated a helluva' lot.. I bet half of those 120,000 people who signed the petition will get a pirated version of the game. I despise Piracy of games. These things cost a lot of money to produce, and when people blatantly rip off a game it makes me angry and a little sad. So I have a feeling Infinity Ward are doing this as a big middle finger to PC gamers. Infinity Ward must get more revenue from consoles than from PC's as a result. Now, my previous statement is probably wrong, and maybe i'm a little annoyed that W@W PC users got all their DLC for free, whereas I had to pay £7.99 for it. I don't regret paying for it, and it is only free because 90% of PC users would just download a torrent of the DLC... Now, clans. On the PS3 and I presume XBOX is the same, you can create a 'party' where you invite fellow friends or clan members, you can even create a private match to just play with them, or invade a public server and play that way. I'm sure if there was enough of you you could probably get a who server to yourself... So i really don't think it would be the massive problem PC players make it out to be. Also, yes, no more mods, but i believe, as I have mentioned before, the core game should be left how it is, these games go through a lot of testing to make sure everything is a-ok. Paintball does sound cool, though. Anyway, long and short, Infinity Ward probably won't care so much as piracy is so rife on the PC platform, and money they'd lose from people not buying MW2 now will probably be made back on the prestige edition of MW2 lol. Just like to re-iterate, my thoughts are a generalisation of PC gamers and I am in no way implying that the people commented on my previous post conform to my generalisations."

    Spotter5 (UK) Posted: 22/10/2009 22:08:46

  • "I'm not going to sit back and try to justify comments made about ripped COD4 because that's only a portion of the problem but in reality, this is the main reason IW is doing what they are doing and to be more of a console environment. The bottom line is, they released a game and totally disregarded anything security related. You temp a 12 year old kid eating Frito's and drinking Jolt who just red a book on unethical hacking and the next thing you have is a torrent that can play with no CD Check? Seriously? That was just a dipshit move in IW's part. I'm not justifying the actions of any ass pirate, but to make the entire community pay for that is truly arrogant and prideful. I just canceled my pre-order because my clan, we are located all over the US and Canada. We've all canceled. With no dedicated server, we can no longer "join up" together because we need the server dedicated and the data pipe. I don't understand why that is so difficult for anyone to understand. Console gamers, let's face it, just simply don't have a clue about what we're "upset" about. We HAVE been alienated and the decision makers at IW, they're just being cocky arrogant knobs for not properly responding appropriately. Who thought of this anyway? Definitely someone from the console development team who fed this to a decision maker who clearly has their heads stuffed in an orafice."

    Ten24-Deacon (Maryland) Posted: 25/10/2009 04:27:51

  • "The original petition has been accidentally deleted."

    Reverend (UK) Posted: 27/10/2009 17:36:11

  • "why WHY WHY !!!"

    fuactivisionandinfinityward (uk) Posted: 30/10/2009 22:08:21

  • "You want to remove dedicated servers? Try out AVA (Alliance of Valiant Arms), it came out and with high anticipation for a FREE FPS. They have no dedicated servers, more proprietary. Similar to what IWNet want to do. Was great for a few days until the servers just couldn't deal with the hacks and lag. You want to prevent hacks? Use dedicated servers. This is not about piracy issues. They want to regulate everything the customer does with this product to direct them to rely on IW's every decisions. This is politicking! We don't want to be matched with regular Joe Blow! We want to have control over our community. Dedicated server Admins make the best anti cheats. Is that difficult to understand console community? Do you even have communities as dedicated as PC ones?"

    Strayjack (Texas,USA) Posted: 01/11/2009 17:52:54

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