lol.. Codemasters, you're not Infinity Ward, you can't get away with forcing the customer to bend over, just like RAGE won't be able to get away with it. The only people who will, are IW and Blizzard, because they're the only people who need their fix that badly.
Dude. PC gaming is on the way out. Or, at the very least, PC gaming as we came to know it over the last few decades. PC gaming is going to become console gaming -- including subscription fees, paying for DLC, and all the other elements... just with a mouse and keyboard. And probably still no cross-platform online play.
It pains me to say that, but it's true. If PC gaming (what we knew it as, at the least) isn't on its way out due to lack of gamer interest -- then it's at least heading there due to developer and publisher machinations.
For Rage I'd have to know what game it is first. If it's 4-player coop or something I'm fine with no dedicated servers, though Carmack is out of his mind to say some of those things. And yes, Codemasters had a chance to make their game more popular if they implemented dedicated servers and advertised it to the audience that cares about it. Now the game will remain as is and never grow a solid community, destined to die prematurely unlike games like the original Operation Flashpoint and its true sequels (Armed Assault 1 & 2) that place heavy emphasis on the community.
" Dude. PC gaming is on the way out. Or, at the very least, PC gaming as we came to know it over the last few decades. PC gaming is going to become console gaming -- including subscription fees, paying for DLC, and all the other elements... just with a mouse and keyboard. And probably still no cross-platform online play. It pains me to say that, but it's true. If PC gaming (what we knew it as, at the least) isn't on its way out due to lack of gamer interest -- then it's at least heading there due to developer and publisher machinations. "
I wouldn't worry about that, considering the popularity of Steam, and the high sales of Dragon Age on PC along with Torchlight. All this is going to do is show other developers what not to do, IW can do it because they have the biggest game ever.. people care enough that they'll just bend over and take it. No other game, aside from Blizzards, really has that kind of pull, so with OFDR doing this, it's going to kill them off, every other FPS dev is going to see this and go 'shit, put dedicated servers back in', it's simple CM thinking if it's ok for IW it's ok for everyone, which is not the case. And as I said, the same shit will happen to RAGE if they try to do that. Valve even tried no dedicated servers and forcing matchmaking on L4D1 and it didn't turn out so hot.
I think other developers will follow in Infinity Ward's footsteps and start making PC games operate more like their console counterparts. If a high profile game like Modern Warfare 2 can get away with it, other developers will notice and think, "if a game that big can do it, than we can as well". This may be the beginning of a new era in PC gaming... Or the beginning of the end.
And what happens when the PC games become console games? We stop buying PC games. Which means pirating probably will skyrocket. Which means many developers probably will stop developing PC games, and focus on consoles.
Which sets off a new cycle of a dead platform, which means it can only get better or stay dead as we go along. I'm hoping for the former :)
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