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gditz

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Reply to the IWnet "No Dedicated Servers"-deal and a huge rant

 

DISCLAIMER:

This turned into more of a why "PCs are better than your damn vidyahgahmesystahms!" old-man-rant . If you are however, bored and want to read a somewhat provocative piece, then please continue.
  

PC versus Console

I am and will most likely always be a PC "gamer". It doesn't just have to do with the extreme number of things you can use a computer for BESIDES gaming (No, not that kind of "stuff" you creepy dude/dudette) like chatting, working, purchasing or perhaps even listening to music. Sure, most if not all of these things can be done on the consoles. I cant deny that, but to what extent can you do that without being locked out? Since all consoles have a very basic level of settings and tweaks you can perform on it without breaking your warranty, would you really want to try?
 
Want to play an great .mkv video file on your PS3? Oh I'm sorry, cant help you. 
 
You want to chill to a sweet .flac music file? This is a 360, not jukebox.
 
 You've got cute images of your dog in .raw format and want to show them on a Wii? Good luck sir. 
 
Not to be all "And thats why PCs are the best! lolz" but all of the above issues can be solved on a PC. None of the actions work on a default Windows, Linux or Mac but with tuning, configuring, a bit of swearing and a  miracle from time to time, you can get most anything to work and that's without changing OS or modding the hardware. Now, I am sure there are solutions that can be used on the console but not all of them. And thats because Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo have placed you inside "their" world.
 
You are powerless to act. What if PSN suddenly cost a subscription fee? What if Xbox Live suddenly doubled in cost? What if Wii suddenly made the Friend Codes 5 times longer? Sure you can say "I wont play into your hands!" and end your subscription/usage of said console but you have already paid for it. Sure, Microsoft could set a subscription fee for Windows OSes but the difference is that there are many options when it comes down to choosing an OS. Some of which are free. 
 
You have a choice, to either pay or go another route but on a console, there's only one bridge and if that don't work, then you'd better get swimming. 
 
To be fair, PCs have a lot of weak points, A LOT, and since I don't want to favorize lets mention a few.
Weakness to viruses - You download installs, .zip files and much more from sometimes shady websites. Some users can avoid viruses but with a console its all protected by the "Gods" of the console marketplaces.
Easy to install - On a PC it can take a long time to install something with many stops along the way, on a console its usually just a click away. (Ad-campaign material? I scare myself sometimes).
Troublesome to develop for - With so many different set-ups and rigs its hard to know what specs to target for a game that's going to take 2 years to make. On a console you have the specs and you go with em.
More expensive - If you want to play the same games as a on console, on similar settings, you will most likely have to pay at least twice the price of any console.
 
 
Fair enough? Probably not but at least I tried. Now, on to the real subject:
 

Dedicated servers or Not?

Having play quite a fair bit of CoD 4 (Modern Warfare 1) on the PC I can't say that the server browser was ever a big trouble for me. Sure it could have used some tuning up but it was manageable. Now you are telling me that you are going replace it with a matchmaking service like Valve did with L4D? I don't like the sound of this...
 
I think that dedicated servers are a great way for the community to get involved in the game and raise the hype and awareness of it. Just look at Team Fortress 2 and its server browser. It has a good filter, a decent UI and it works. Then again I may just be one of those players who are picky about what map, what kind of server and what kind of ping (yes, only pr0s care) and the name and matchmaking doesn't really lead to the same social interactions. 
 
Have a favourite server you like to play on that has funny or cool people on it? Sorry, you have to add all of them for you to play with them. 
 

Summary

I think that the audience for the different services (Console and PC) have different needs and tastes and I also believe that trying to integrate the two groups is ludicrous. Let console gamers have their matchmaking and PC gamers their dedicated servers.
 
~Simon 'probably-going-to-buy-MW2-either-way' Grunditz 
41 Comments

Fortune Smiles on the Honest

Settle yourself down and prepare yourself for a story of online shopping, bad customer supprt and a happy outcome?

So to start this story let me fill you in on the background. Around 6 weeks or so I decided that it was time for me to purchase a laptop, mostly becuase I live at 2 places and a PC isn't easy to move. Being a "gamer" I went to see what a good laptop with decent specs would cost me. I ended up choosing a Toshiba A300, a bag for my laptop and a mouse.

Off to the checkout, I fill out the payment information and choose collect on delivery since I dislike paying for something before I get it. Two days later I get the 2 letters saying that I have packages to collect at the post office. Now here's where it gets tricky.


Since I ordered "too much" for them to put it all in one box, they split it up between two boxes. Usually when the delivery consists of more than one box, all the other boxes get a price tag of 0.00 dollars and only one has the full price of the entire shipment. In my case box 1 would have 1700 dollars and box 2 have 0 dollars.

There was however... a small problem. Both the boxes had a price tag of 0.00 dollars. I of course pointed this out to the clerk and she was as confused as I was. After minutes of troubleshooting she was unable to find any errors in the system and seeing as it wasn't their concern they gave me the packages. Thats right, they basically let me walk out with 1700 dollars worth of goods without paying for it.


Now, I am an honest guy so seeing as there was obviously something wrong with the order I contacted the company's customer supprt to let them know what had happned. I waited 20 minutes in line, then gave the support-person my order number and explained that I had not payed for my laptop and that I quite frankly "Would like to pay for my purchase".

I was then met with a sour voice telling me that  "According to our system you have paid" and obviously thinking I was a loony. So after an intense battle I managed to convince him and he says "We will send you a bill ASAP". I hung up the phone and I was glad to have gotten this whole affair out of the way.

Here's the kicker, I have NOT gotten a bill and its been 5 weeks since I called.
So thanks to someone who messed up at the post office and bad customer support I have basically gotten a laptop for free.

Is this Karma or what?

1 Comments