Want To Play The Multiplayer FPS Games You Bought?

Thanks to GamerDad for its editorial discussing why it's sometimes impossible to play multiplayer FPS titles as the developers intended it. The author argues: "I certainly don't think that every mod I've ever run across is better than the core game that ships in the box but yet there's often no one running the boxed game", before noting that most game publishers "...do not run their own servers for these games so you can't count on them supporting the boxed game either. There are exceptions to this rule but for the most part when it comes to PC games, you're at the whims of the many fan owned and operated servers... [which may] limit the maps to a select few in a deathmatch game or change the settings of the game to make it play very differently from what you expect."

Comments

Atari/Epic are a notable exception

[Spiffae]

Whenever I play UT2004 online, I almost always play on an "ATARI/EPIC OFFICIAL EAST #" server - I am guaranteed the game as they intended it, with no extra distractions, and a fast consistent connection.

I think it's a very good idea for them, and I think other game developers should be thinking along the same lines.

Re:Atari/Epic are a notable exception

[shadowcabbit]

Only problem with that is, the game [UT] ships with dozens of mutators-- always has, always will.

How exactly do we know that the "official" server is playing the way "the creators intended"? Has CliffyB come down and said, "OK, guys, our official, canon gameplay is to ignore all of the kickass mods and 0wnage maps we provided to our players and just go with this vanilla setup"?

There's something to be said for having a baseline, true, but there's also a damn good reason FPS games almost always come with the server software.

Re:Atari/Epic are a notable exception

[apoc.famine]

While there is something to be said for "stock" servers, one major issue is that for hardcore gamers, they get boring fast. When you've played all the maps fifty times, you're often ready for something new.

On our server, we run Mapvote with fairly expansive options. While we have a lot of mods and user-created maps, all the stock options are there as well. If enough people are feeling nostalgic, they are welcome to choose them.

Well, that is, other than the Matrix Moves. That's one mod that's been a standard on all of our UT servers. Why? Because the tranny is a cheep way to travel without getting shot at, and the Matrix Moves requires a great deal of skill. Granted Epic nerfed the tranny in the last two editions, but still, if you aren't on a map ¼ of the time, that's a pretty lame way to play a FPS. We'd rather jump and bound, hover in the air and wallrun, because at bare minimum people can splat us while we do that. And vice versa.

Oh, this was about stock servers...sorry - can't help you there. Stock servers often suck (see tranny rant above) and the only way to get a decent server is to make one.

Incidentally, while our UT2K4 server isn't fully up to speed, (PhD thesis defenses, astrophysics research projects, etc) and it is kind of empty because we don't show on the "vanilla" master server list, you can find it listed as the Apoc Matrix Moves Official Server at 128.151.144.195:8000 (The moves were coded in-house by our own Apoc Death, and a total-conversion Matrix mod using his Matrix Moves placed 4th in the Make Something Unreal contest.)

Re:This is a good thing

[Grand]

but the one problem with this is that Battlefield mods gain popularity, then EA makes the same 'mod' and then sells it. They first saw the popularity of mods with more weapons and vehicles, so they came out with Secret Weapons. EOD was a pretty popular mod, then came BFV. Now they are coming out with Modern Combat for a clone of Desert Combat. I also heard they are coming out with a starwars clone. Yes it makes them money, but they totally screw over the modding community. I refreshed the EOD servers the other week and there were just a handfull of servers available with people playing. If no one is playing the 'free mods' why would the modders even bother continuing with development.

You also get more for your money. You may not like all the mod's, but at least there are more variations to choose from. So if the game does get 'old and boring' you can try something new.

Finding a balance

[Anonymous Coward]

As with so many things, this issue isn't as simple as it first appears. Certainly, where "official" servers are offered for an fps, I tend to use them. The servers for Battlefield 1942 are a good example here.

However... running servers isn't free and, if you plan to do it on a large scale, it isn't particularly cheap either. With something like Battlefield 1942, megabucks publishers like EA currently seem willing to foot the bill for hosting these servers. However, I doubt that many of the smaller companies out there can afford to to this on the scale that their game might need.

Ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised to see the online fps market moving in the same direction as the MMORPG market; with customers paying monthly fees (albeit probably a bit lower than the fees for MMORPGs) and being restricted to official servers. GSPs that have tried to implement a pay-to-play policy, such as Barrysworld, have unfortunately failed miserably, but once the publishers start implementing this, things might change. Indeed, I'd see the (very successful) X-box Live as already being a slight move in this direction.

Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. At least, not for gamers like myself, with an income sufficient that I don't mind a few pounds a month on monthly fees if it ensures a quality service. I've virtually given up on playing fpses online these days, owing to the difficulty of finding decent servers with pleasant settings and admins who aren't on a power-trip. Ultimately, I can pay $15 per month (which at current exchange rates, works out at virtually nothing for UK residents like myself) to play a MMORPG on a stable, well maintained, well admined server, resulting in less stress all around.

The biggest loser if this does happen will probably be the mod scene. This will obviously struggle if deprived of the ability to run unofficial servers.

Re:Finding a balance

[pdboddy]

If you're willing to pay $15 dollars a month to pay for an MMORPG, why not do the same to play a FPS? There are numerous places to rent servers and run game as you see fit. Get together a small group of friends, or form a clan, and a server rental will be a couple of dollars, each, a month.

Re:This is a good thing

[Goldberg's Pants]

What you're forgetting is that Electronic Arts are the epitome of evil and represent everything that is wrong with the game industry.

I was going to say about Counterstrike (parent of the parent mentions it... Or maybe the parent of the parent of the parent. I've clicked now. I forget.) I was a HUGE Team Fortress Classic nut. The instant CS started to take hold, the servers dwindled, and dwindled, and dwindled. Back in the day there were around 2000-3000 TFC servers. These days, while CS still has a ton, you're lucky if you can find a couple of hundred TFC servers. Even MORE lucky if you can find one that has humans, not bots playing on it. (For those unaware, Team Fortress was a free addon for Half Life, put out by Valve. You couldn't patch the game without installing TFC, so it was essentially part of the boxed version really.

And everyone buggered off to play Campers'r'Us on Counterstrike. Don't get me wrong, CS is fun, but nowhere near as fun as TFC was.

So True

[FriedTurkey]

I am glad somebody said this. For every good mod there are 20 bad mods. For every CounterStrike and Desert Combat there are 20 that just tweak a few weapons or add a couple of new textures. I think its great that people are spending time developing mods but its frustrating to download a mod and then realize it sucks. Too many games don't label the games on server lists as mods, so the only way to find out is to get the boot. It is sad to say but sometimes the best play is with OTB settings and graphics.

Tribes 2 is the perfect example

[trippcook]

I loved T2 so much, but after a few months of play (and I got into the game a few months after it came out), I could find no unmodded servers. Some mods just altered the way scores were kept and reported, but most did bizarre things with gravity and weapons, the most egregious (and, for some reason, popular) making sniper-rifle-turrets that never failed to get a headshot. Not really sure what the point of that was, but one or two official Sierra (or VU or whoever) servers running the latest patches and nothing else would have kept me playing to this very day!

Attention VU / Sierra / Tribes people --- pay attention when you release Tribes Vengeance!!!

No problem here, just use your server browser.

[Jagasian]

This is easily solved with a server browser that lets you filter servers based on their settings. So you don't just filter for your vanilla gameplay mode, you also filter for the default settings for that gameplay mode. You can also filter based on levels, etc...

I have been playing Quake since 1996. I still play it today using Fuhquake client and a Qizmo proxy / server browser. Qizmo lets you run such heavily filtered searches, and so I get a list of about 5 servers that match exactly what I want: low ping, non-empty, vanilla ktpro deathmatch.

This lets me pop onto a server, get in and get my quick fix of intense fast paced deathmatch. Even though Quake, after 8 years of being modded, has splintered into several common variations, mods, server settings. You have a slew of CTF varients, a slew of Team Fortress varients, a chunk of deathmatch varients, and even vanilla deathmatch with really lame settings (like Nobody's servers with "teamplay 1" so llamas don't kill themselves with splash damage).

However, every skilled deathmatch player knows that ktpro is the standard for competitive Quake deathmatch. All of the other DM varients are for lamers. I am sure Team Fortress has a similar standard.