In the last few days Robert Bowling at last came out from underneath Europe, assumingly in some sort of underground Reichstag bunker that filters his ability to respond to queries for all sides regarding the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 to confirm on several fronts a shopping list of PC-related queries.
So, here's the shopping list for what is now being called by some "Black Sunday" -
Modern Warfare 2 will not be using a client-server relationship with a populated server list based off a master server for it's multiplayer handling. Instead, Infinity Ward has built a matchmaking system that shotguns on Steam, dubbed IWNet. So instead of your usual relationship between gamers and GSPs/ISPSs, you will now be running all multiplayer entirely through ad-hoc networks, mastered through IWnet.
There is no plans for dedicated servers. Period. You can already see where this is going.
IWNet will be using Steam for Anti-cheat protection (which is good, because punkbuster sucked), Matchmaking which will essentially lock you into games with similarly ranked players(presumably to prevent griefing).
Servers will be able to be privatised and password protected with some degree of customisation.
In a two-parts Modding for MW2 and custom content is out for the meanwhile, and so is competitive gaming.
Now, before I go on a tirade about why I won't be putting money down for this game EVEN more than I was before, I'd jsut like to also put on the balance that there are positives to matchmaking. For example, it's great for playing with a bunch of friends you already know without all that setting up business. What it's not great for is all the reasons this is making PC gamers worldwide angry (Amazon is reporting losing 2000 PC pre-orders in the 24 hours since this broke).
Let's start off with the bottom end first-
Competitive Gaming. yes, I hate the snot-nosed arse pounders, but whatever chance of competitive leagueshad of starting for this game has now essentially slimmed. Particularly without dedicated server support, setting up CG events will be somewhat stymied by forcing the hosters to have X amount of individual dedicated machines running the game WITH THE MACHINES ACTUALLY IN THE GAME will be troublesome. Yeah you can pretty much kissthat goodbye. Scrims and stuff probably will be less affected, but the real hardcore stff for MW2, probably gone. Enjoy that
Custom Content. Robert Bowling said that there's no information on a Mod dev kit as of yet, and was reluctant to confirm yes or no. However, the silence leaves two things up in the air - whether there will BE custom content support at all, and if nothing is said between now and immediate post launch the likelihood of it being so decreasing.
Onwards- Bandwidth.
Bandwidth is going to be a real deal-breaker for a system that ONLY supports ad-hoc matchmaking. Do I even need to say it? Home ISP connections are by and large quite small and will severly limit the performance of the game, as well as the largest reasonable server capacity. This is of course assuming that the pipe is completely open and not being shared with other suers (which it rarely is).
Latency.
I do not know of ONE ad-hoc system that has reliably correlated latency users. There is always an outliers. There's been no word from IW whether there will be localised or even continentalised IWnet servers, so I do not hold high hopes for the system, as the further you get from the central server, generally the less accurate latency matching you will get... and if the matchmaking has to come from the US... We're on the other side of the world here in Australia, it's going to be attrocious (it already is through Xbox Live according to some people).
Now, I'm a big fan of dedicated servers. They're there like public arenas. They don't move around, and generally are designed to cope with internet traffic. They're ideal in the PC world, because you can just open a game, go to your favourite server, and jump straight in.
I'm also not opposed to matchmaking, as I've mentioned briefly before. However, matchmaking is far from the ideal solution for PC gaming. In fact, relying on it solely is detrimental to the multiplayer experience. The above two key logistical issues are a start. No dedicated servers means that you may potentially be stuck in high latency games just because whoever started the game decided he'd open up a torrent in the background(or his housemate, whatever). Dedicated sservers give a baseline reliability and connectivity for a game, and without them, large-scale multiplayer games aren't possible.They ease the burden on machines with low specs or slow internet to keep the game running smooth, and as such make the game enjoyable for everyone.
Point is, yeah, have matchmaking, but keep Dedicated Support. It works great for Left4Dead, which in my books is doing matchmaking more or less ON the nail.
Further food for thought- This matchmaking system is cutting into the running of an actual 3rd tier business - Game Service Providers (people who run and rent servers as a means of profit). This will no doubt cause them some headaches. THE number one game of this year (so says the media), and THEY are going to have a hard time trying to be part of it. It's not like L4D or even Blizzard's battlenet, where they actually HOST games even though there is a matchmaking system, this is completely designed to run around them.
MY biggest concern is this is a continuation of a worrying trend that would circumvent PCs are a viable gaming platform (for major publishing companies outside Valve... Indy pubs and devs will ALWAYS run stronger on PC).. to what end?
So to summarise-
• IWnet servers will host multiplayer
• DLC will be a charged item for PC
• No dedicated servers
• Matchmaking system used to play with similarly ranked players
• VAC instead of PB
• Semi-capable password servers
• Semi-capable ad-hoc servers
• Competitive play is dead
• MW2 mods would not be possible
• Steam integration - (how far not mentioned)
• Potential bandwidth and latency nightmare
• The beginning of the end- HAS IW shot themselves in the foot?
Hold your receipts people.
Further Reading/listening-
http://bashandslash.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=746&Itemid=69
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/10/new-modern-warfare-matchmaking-service-will-definitely-reshape-pc-community/#more-362322
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