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Erling Løken Andersen
«Call of Duty» community manager Rob Bowling bekreftet i en podkast på lørdag at PC-versjonen av det kommende storspillet «Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2» ikke vil støtte verken brukergenererte modifikasjoner (såkalte «mods») eller dedikerte servere.
En merkelig avgjørelse
PC-eiere vil dermed måtte spille multiplayer ved hjelp av peer-to-peer teknologi, som deres konsollfrender. PC-eiere vil heller ikke kunne designe egne brett, våpen og annet brukergenerert content, som tidligere har vært svært populært blant aktive «Call of Duty»-spillere. Avgjørelsen syntes besynderlig i disse dager hvor «brukergenererte» spill som «Little Big Planet» og «Spore» går sin seiersgang verden over.
Infintiy Ward og Rob Bowling har ikke kommet med noen offisiell forklaring på avgjørelsen, annet enn å si at «Teamet bak spillet fokuserer hardt på at spillopplevelsen skal være lik for alle plattformer, og vi gjør mye arbeid med teknologien».
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Sterke reaksjoner fra spillverdenen
Reaksjonene etter sjokkavsløringen har ikke latt vente på seg, og spillere verden over reagerer med vantro på Infinity Wards avgjørelse.
På kampanjesiden «Petition Online» har i skrivende stund over 67.000 mennesker underskrevet et protestbrev mot avgjørelsen, og på spillbloggen Joystiq er protestene mange og høylytte. Brukeren «Jackal» har en spesielt god kommentar, som vi gjengir i en redigert utgave nedenfor:
«Privately owned servers ensure that, when IW’s gets yanked offline for maintenance or goes down because they can’t handle the player load they’ve been given, people can still play the game online. This is why some of the most touted exclusives for the Xbox 360 and PS3 were unplayable online for days (or even weeks) after they were launched. IW and Activision both know this, so their decision to remove a feature just to «streamline» online connectivity in a market that had online multiplayer years before any console did (and did just fine) is simply an anti-consumer act that is nigh retarded.
Completely removing mod support from a PC title is, also, an act of unfathomable stupidity. PC games are often bought because they provide the consumer with an opportunity to create their own content in an environment where they don’t have the money or technical expertise to do otherwise. Counter Strike started off as a Half-life mod; it is still one the most played games online for any platform despite having been released a decade ago. We could delve into the countless weapons, characters, custom maps, custom levels, and total conversions that the modding community have made. These are all things the console ecosystem often does not provide (sometimes for copyright issues, sometimes to wring money out of wallets in order to sell you things the community could’ve created in a day) and it’s always been a major factor in purchasing a game for one platform over another. Which, I’m sure, is why they killed MW2’s modding community before it had a chance to begin; they now have the opportunity to sell us 3 maps at the low price of $10 and there’s no way for us to compete with them. With IW pulling the feature from one of the year’s most advertised and anticipated games in order to hock shit to us we would’ve made on our own, they risk giving other developer a precedent to do the same for future titles. ::claps:: Way to piss on the fans that made you a top developer, Infinity Ward.
To do all of that while charging us $60 for a game that offers substantially less than its $50 predecessor did while forcing us to use Steam so our games can’t be resold after they’re played and then to completely hack out any feature that would’ve made the game desirable to a PC gamer in the first g*ddamn place…well…there’s just no point in playing or owning the PC version even if it does look and perform better.
To all Infinity Ward and Activision employees (which I’m sure is none) who read this site, I have the following kind words for your consideration. Go fuck yourselves, your games, and I hope to see all of your future endeavors flop horrifically. We made you (Infinity Ward) what you are today and you fuckwits can’t even make a clean stab to our backs as a token of appreciation; no, you’ve got to twist the blade slightly so we actually feel the pain. Your FPS is one of many available to a platform that spawned and still dominates the genre; no matter how anticipated, no matter how advertised, you’re just one fish in a sea of many. I hope Activision runs you and your franchise into the ground just like they have to every one of their pet developers; at this point in time, you don’t deserve anything else.»
Sterke ord fra Infinity Ward sin brukermasse altså, men så er nok også dette et tungt slag for mange ivrige PC-spillere. Det gjenstår imidlertid enda å se hvordan dette vil påvirke salgstallene til spillet mange regner med vil bli et av tidenes mestselgende spill. «Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2» har utgivelsedato til Playstation 3, Xbox 360 og PC 10. november 2009.
