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One of the big discussion points in the world of online gaming at the moment is whether to go with the dedicated server multiplayer experience or stick with peer to peer.
Well the Alien vs Predator developer has half thrown their hat into the ring by refusing to confirm if their title is going to have dedicated servers or not despite being directly asked the same question 3 times in a row.
You see the problem with dedicated servers is that they are hellishly expensive and unless you can guarantee that your game is going to be a huge seller, Modern Warfare 2 I am looking at you, then the risk could be to great to take on board.
I personally have always been fond of peer-2-peer seeing as that the dedicated servers were never anywhere near where I lived and the lag experienced on p2p always seemed to be more acceptable.
But then again I bleat as much as the next person about host advantage, Yeti, so maybe I should be more of a dedicated server gamer.
The cost of setting up dedicated servers never really entered my mind and if it’s the reason why MW2 won’t be having them then I have to be a little annoyed at Infinity Ward, hell it’s not like the game isn’t going to sell enough to justify the cost but I have a feeling this decision was taken out of their hands.
Source: CVG
Last Updated: October 28, 2009
WingNut
October 28, 2009 at 15:10
Just remember there’s a difference between dedicated servers and dedicated server software. If a developer releases the dedicated server software with their PC game (as IW should’ve done) then anybody who has the bandwidth can host a dedicated server.
I’m not too sure how it works for consoles though, I’m pretty sure MS and Sony has got a pretty tight leash on their respective online networks and wouldn’t just allow any Tom,Dick and Harry to gooi a couple of dedicated servers on there. So for consoles I can see how dedicated servers can cost the developer some money..
But if they’re smart they can recuperate the costs like Dice did with BF2 and BF2142 (and BF:BC2 I’m assuming). Anybody can host a BF dedicated server, but if you want your server to be ranked (i.e. track players stats and allow players to increase their online rank) you have to rent ranked “player slots” from EA/Dice. Which is a nice win/win situation for developer/gamer alike. IMHO.
Snuffelz
October 28, 2009 at 17:18
This article is full of fail.