Call of Duty 2 Causing Server Unrest

Despite the excellent gameplay, Call of Duty 2 is causing a lot of internet unrest among the players who want to participate in the online multiplayer component. GamePolitics reports on a thread from the official site. From the site: "Server admins - those mysterious men (and women) behind the curtain who keep online gaming venues humming - are fed up with the PC version of Call of Duty 2. So fed up that they are planning a 24-hour shutdown of COD2 servers on Deember 16th if publisher Activision and developer Infinity Ward fail to address their complaints, which include the lack of an anti-cheat system."

Comments

Affects only servers run by gamers

[Jim Hall]

For a while there, I thought this was a strike being organized by some company that ran CoD2 servers, ala XBox Live. If that was the case, this would be Bad News(tm) for Call of Duty. Then I read TFA, and realized that wasn't the case.

Here, the "strike" is being organized (if you can call it that) by an upset gamer who runs a server, calling on others who run similar servers to take down their servers for a day. Still pretty bad PR for CoD2, but only if 99% of the game servers out there take part. Unfortunately, I suspect this will have about as much impact as those "Don't-Buy-Gas Day" boycotts I see via email from time to time (trying to force Big Oil to drop the price of gas at the pump.) That is, it will generate some press buzz, but in the end I doubt the company whose attention they are trying to attract will pay them much attention.

That said, cheaters really suck, and it kills the online gaming experience. I stopped playing online FPSs entirely because of cheaters.

It's Kind of Obvious

[Azarael]

The people who make fps multiplayer gaming possible belong to user communities. You can only get these people so pissed off before they just stop supporting your product. Sure, as some of the posters in the links say, Infinity Ward already has their money, but the next time the release something they may see the consequences. Also, you can't totally blame this on the rush to release the game for the 360. I'm pretty sure that it took a couple of months for Punkbuster to be added to CoD as well.

Re:Gamers are dicks.

[PortWineBoy]

While I assume it would be nice for the developer to add things like Anti-Cheat

I'd say these days it more of a requirement than something nice. Unless you are tacking on multiplayer as an afterthought you really can't expect people to just play nice...because your original topic is pretty much on target.

Draconian measure?

[Lead Butthead]

"Your license to run the server are hereby revoked. You must uninstall all copies of our software formerly licensed to you. To obtain refund, please submit original UPC code from the box along with original receipt of your purchase. Allow six to twelve weeks of processing time."