Modern Warefare 2 PC: It’s a console port
Hot on the heels of the debacle of Modern Warfare 2 not having any dedicated servers Infinity Ward has done it again; making Modern Warfare 2 less appealing to PC gamers.
Just recently Best Buy hosted an online chat between gamers and Mackey McCandlish and Ryan Lastimosa from Infinity Ward. The chat was an open floor for all kinds of questions, and the pair quickly and efficiently crushed any hope that the PC version of Modern Warfare two was going to be anything but a console port. It seems that they really don't want to keep the PC gamers happy, or allow for the basics that they had been taking for granted for years. Some of the questions are quite damning and really show IW doesn't give a damn about the PC version of Modern Warfare 2.
Josh111: PC Question... What will the max amount of players per map be for PC multiplayer on IW.net
Vince-IW: 9v9
So now, even IF IW allowed for dedicated servers, it wouldn't matter how powerful it was or how good the connection is; Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer is limited to 18 players total. There is no love for the larger clans and don't hold your breath for any custom maps with larger player limits. There is no news on mod tools or the ability to add your own content to the walled garden that is IWnet.
Infinity Ward has also left out "leaning"-the process in which you can use a button to lean your body around a corner to peek- because "the game isn't balanced for lean". I doubt they lost the code to allow for leaning; the big difference is that the 360 version of MW1 didn't have it because there wasn't enough buttons for it while the PC version did. Looks like that any inconvenient question can be hand waved away with the explanation that it would ruin the game's balance.
While the leaning could be a nuisance on the PC version of Modern Warfare 1 (people would bind the command to the strafe button so they would learn AND strafe) players who ran dedicated servers could just disable the leaning option and be done with it. As IWnet stands now, however, this is not going to be an option.
Q: Is there a console in the PC version of the game, so we can change our field of view from the xbox's default 65 FOV to 80 also can we tweaks the weapon damage for each gun, removes perks, graphical debris, breathing sway, also thru console like we where able to before or is this all gone?
Vince-IW: We would like you to play the game the way we designed and balanced it.
The lack of console commands may not be a big deal for other people, but for those who enjoy tweaking their game, it is a pure annoyance. The ability to tweak and adjust your game to your PC (and play style) has been something PC gamers have been doing since modern gaming got started. Look at a game like Borderlands, you can do any number of tweaks (including the FOV tweak which makes for a better playing experience). Now you are locked to whatever IW gives you for options in the menus, which will probably be a a resolution slider and a texture detail slider.
Modern Warfare 2 for the PC is going to be a port of the console version, plain and simple. There will be NO console tweaks, nothing for the user to adjust and fine tune. You won't even be able to make recordings of your matches. The gap between what PC gamers want, and what Infinty Ward is giving is becoming more of a chasm that is becoming impossible to bridge. It is not for lack of trying on the gamer's part, but Infinty Ward thinks that PC gamers should be happy with whatever they give them.
DudezTY: Since we cannot kick people in ranked matches, how will we stop hackers who get past VAC?
Mackey-IW: Our goal is to ban hackers from the game.
Anybody in today's world should know that hackers crackers and pirates are always one step ahead of the software companies. There is no software that is hack proof and hackers will ALWAYS find a way in. What Infinity Ward wants to do is nothing but a pipe dream. Modern Warfare 2 will never be 100% hacker free; why not give people the control over who is hosting, or the ability to kick/ban players from your game?
kaRMa: Please give me a direct answer. On the PC version. Are all games hosted by players, and is there a five-second delay when host migration is in effect?
Vince-IW: yes.
This is a major problem since Infinity Ward also revealed that Modern Warfare 2 will choose who the game host will be; again, total lack of control for the player. So if the host leaves, there will be a five second delay while the game picks the next best host (what happens when nobody else can host?). No dedicated severs for Modern Warfare 2 means (again) no control for the Players.
As with any kind of P2P game setup like this, the host is going to have a ping advantage, which *should* be somewhat lessened by the software having a tolerance for latency. One of many problems is that PC gamers will have to make sure to forward any ports and hope that their ISP doesn't care they will be hosting a server (which is often prohibited by the ISP).
Remember, the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 is in NO WAY a console port.. we have stuff like mouse control and text chat.. and um.. um.. yeah: Modern Warfare 2 is a console port.
Moriarte: Ignoring IW.net, is the PC version a direct port of the console version?
Mackey-IW: No, PC has custom stuff like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings.
To sum it up:I thought it was bad enough not being able to have your own dedicated server, but this recent news really shows that it just keeps getting worse. The lack of console commands, no say in who is actually hosting the game, no way to kick trouble makers.
I really wonder why Infinity Ward is not listening to what their PC gamer customers really want. If i buy a PC game, I want control over much of the settings; that is the entire point of playing on a PC. The ability to tweak and customize the game to fit your needs and wants for game play experience. When Modern Warfare 2 launches, it will be one of the most locked down, inflexible and gamer unfriendly PC game I have ever seen.
It really wont stay that way though for long; since the PC is not a walled garden like an Xbox 360 and can poke around config files. This means PC gamers can "open up the hood" and tweak the files directly, much in the way that Borderlands can be tweaked by changing ini files to change the FOV. Although, if IWnet is indeed locked down as tight as it is, it will be up to players to hack together their own dedicated servers to play on.
November 23rd, 2009 - 23:31
Although the consolification isn’t great, it honestly works just fine. i’ve played about 20 hours of it and only had to migrate hosts twice. The only lag i’ve ever had is due to my own connection issues. 9v9 is honestly just fine.the maps just aren’t balanced for higher, and they weren’t in cod4 either. it was far too hectic with the larger player count in 4.
I actually enjoy the console “matchmacking” model far more than server browsing. Although its nice to pick a server with low ping and that your friends play on, there is no guarantee that when you get there anyone else will join. with matchmaking, it throws everyone together for full games all the time, without having to think about it. and if you want to play with friends, you party up and go for it. also with this model you don’t have to worry about getting into some weird server with 0 grav and laser weapons or some bullshit.
yeah its not the game the clans want, but i can see why they did it. more control over their product and ease of use for the everyday user.
November 25th, 2009 - 08:15
Hey Scott, thanks for the comment. I haven’t personally played Modern Warfare 2 on the PC yet (waiting for the local game center to get it installed). I was going to ask if you were doing the normal ping bar, or the modified one (found in here http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/modernwarfare2/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-52216831&pid=951942 ). The normal ping bar goes something like 4 is 100 ms, 3 bars is around 150 to 200ms, 2 bars is 200 to 250 and 1 is 300+ ping). The config hack to give more bars basically gives you a much more accurate detail of what your ping is. (sets the interval to like 20, so full bars is 20ms ping)
I don’t mind matchmaking, but there is no reason that Infinity Ward could have used the Left 4 Dead 2 model. As a bonus, if you run a dedicated server you have control and can force your lobby to your own server (and since you have admin access, you can boot whoever is on there).
It is all about control; but the fact is that since the PC Modern Warefare 2 is not a closed system, ultimately they lose a majority of it. The console and dedicated servers have already been hacked back in. I also see this as a move to bring in DLC to the PC market (forcing you to pay for what you would normally get for free).
Phew, that was a long comment. I’ll probably try out Modern Warfare 2 pc this weekend at the lan center, get a first hand account with multiplayer.
Thanks again for your comment Scott!
December 19th, 2009 - 13:59
The PC has had paid DLC for a long time, they just call it something different; expansion packs. If given the choice between little to no post release support (which is what the majority of companies do on the pc, save for valve and a few others) or paid dlc for new content, i would go for paid dlc. It sucks that you have to pay for it, but as long as the content is good, why not?
Fallout 3 was a great example of this. I played the hell out of the game for the first 2 months it was out. Then they did DLC releases at 10 bucks a pop every couple of months this year. It gave me a reason to go back and play a game i love and have a new experience with it. Because of this, I played it all year long where as with other games after that initial experience, I would have moved on to something new. When content is free its usually 2 maps and a skin. I guess id rather just have a mini expansion with paid dlc.
But anyway, with MW2 I agree, the mod tools and option for dedicated servers should be there, but its not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. You can still have fun with the game, and the experience is still amazing without it. And if you really hate spending 10 bucks on a map pack, you don’t have to. One reason why people are forgetting why they want such control over it is how the mp works in mw2. With the unlocks and everything, they want it to feel like an MMO, where your progress is stored on a server and everyone else is playing by the same rules without gaming the system. Now we all know there were hacks in mw1 and there probably are in mw2, but the illusion is there. Imagine how popular diablo 2 would have been if it wouldnt have had server side character storage? not very popular at all. Everyone would have been running around in the best gear and the game would have had a very short life…instead of still selling for 40 bucks at walmart today.
As for the pinghack, no ive never felt like the game has been laggy enough where i really care about the ping. If im not feeling the effects of it, i dont need to be obsessing over it. If i get killed i assume its because i suck and thats the end of it.
December 4th, 2010 - 09:42
Quite a poor effort from infinity ward for not putting in the effort, you’d think it wouldnt take that much just to get expected PC features in there…