Slashdot Mirror
EA Shutting Down Video Game Servers Prematurely
Spacezilla writes "EA is dropping the bomb on a number of their video game servers, shutting down the online fun for many of their Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 games. Not only is the inclusion of PS3 and Xbox 360 titles odd, the date the games were released is even more surprising. Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown... but Madden 09 on all consoles as well?"
Our company has provided commercial game server management services for almost 10 years for a large ISP client in Australia. We have watched games rise and fall over this entire time. And the games with dedicated server software - games like Quake, which came out in 1996 - are still just as playable today as they were back then (often more so thanks to enhanced community-created features).
There are a few exceptions to that - AvP2 ran into problems recently when they shut down the master server/s. But a community project has worked around this.
We recently published a guide - the Mammoth Dedicated Server Guide - for game developers and publishers trying to explain to them why they should release dedicated server software (inspired in no small part by Modern Warfare 2's lack of dedicated server). We're hoping to make more people aware of it, and more importantly, more gamers aware of the issues surrounding games without dedicated servers (such as this story!!!!), so that when they're choosing what games to spend money on, they can show more discrimination.
Pee on code, we don't want the code, we want the specs. Give us the specifications of how the client and server communicate and we'll do the rest... when it's worth it. Besides, the code is theirs, but it's reasonable for the specs to be ours (perhaps charging a reasonable cost for distribution.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown... but Madden 09 on all consoles as well"
The economy blows, so to the average guy, is it really worth $50 to upgrade to 10 or is 09 good enough as it is?
It just boils down to money. Plain and simple. Not even the cost of running the servers, but forcing everyone that thought Madden 09 was just fine for their needs to go out and pickup Madden 10.
Name...That...Autocomplete!
Some weeks ago, there were some heated discussions here and elsewhere about COD4 Modern Warfare 2 and the decision NOT to include the capability to create dedicated servers for online play. There was a great deal of anger from some COD4 fans who had found that the LAN play was the most exciting part of the COD4 experience.
The reaction from the MW2 fanboy community was "What could possibly go wrong?".
Well, here's your answer.
You are welcome on my lawn.
This is probably just a ploy to kill off the second hand and discounted games market. Only people who pay full price for the latest update get to play online.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
If you buy their games you deserve nothing less.
No, you still deserve better. However, you should also have known better.
Bingo! Give that man a cigar! Publishers tried to claim that we wanted dedicated servers so we could run pirate games, but now we see what happens when you do not have that ability: totally broken games that are only as useful as the publishers allow. I can still whip out my copy of Freelancer or Mechwarrior 4 and find folks to play against. Hell Freelancer still has some pretty decently sized communities built around huge mods that give me dozens of new systems to explore and pillage, and all for $0.00!
So while I still buy the occasional EA game when it is in the bargain bin (last was the MoH 10th anniversary) I avoid anything new from EA and look at anything by them as most likely broken by design. Dedicated servers and mods is what got me into PC gaming in the first place, and the amount of extra value I have gotten from even budget titles thanks to mods and communities have made PC games much more of a "bang for my buck" than the consoles. EA has frankly always been a bunch of douchebags and this latest move just simply proves what we have known for years. The new slogan at EA ought to be "EA: We're the Symantec of gaming!"
But I did notice that all the games were sports titles, and sadly EA could put out "shitty sports game wrapped in used condoms 2010" and the sports nuts would buy it. I went to school with a guy that went so far as to have a deal with the local Gamestop to have EVERY EA sports game for every machine he owned (PSP, PS2, PS3) delivered to his house on release day and charged to his CC, just so he would have them waiting for him on release day when he got off work. As long as it has the latest rosters they will buy it whether it is actually any good or not. So sorry EA sports nuts, this is a case of reaping what you've sown. You should have bought Sega Sports and demanded competition instead of just buying Madden no matter if it was any good or not.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.