IWNet wants your gold.
Looking back at CoD4 and when they released the DLC for the xbox they charged $$$ for it but there is no way or buisness model that meant they could charge us PC gamers. So to cover the loss in revenue they got a sponsor (turned out to be nvidia) for the map pack. IWNet ties this up nicely by introducing a pay per download basis.
It got nothing to do with ensuring the players experience is 'the best it can be' spin-bollocks put out by IW. They are a business and however short sighted that business may be they are in it for the money.
I can almost guarantee that within a couple months the code is cracked and that there are versions freely available that do not rely on IWNet, that also re-introduce the features they have nerfed like the lean and console command system and also a version of MW2 that runs on cracked dedicated servers.
PC Gamers need to make sure we don't fall for the quick fix.
If the pirates do crack MW2 it will undoubtedly be more popular that IW's version, This turns the whole reason behind IWNet and other similar systems into a self fulfilling prophecy, and when other company's look at those 'loss of sales' figures they wont also look at the true reasons behind them. The bottom line is they will view PC gaming negatively. They will do less.
All we will have to look forward to is more stringent DRM/Secrom/IWNet-esq counter piracy systems being introduced and direct console ports only.
The end of days is nearly upon us already:-
Rebellion - Aliens vs predators : No dedicated servers
iD - Rage - No dedicated servers
Codemasters - OF:Dragon Rising - No dedicated servers
iD have publicly confirmed that they are glad IW are blazing the trail for them, they like the rest are now sitting back waiting to see what happens.
What can we do?
Take no 'booty'
and and make no sale.
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I just can't justify spending £35 on a game where I'm only getting half the content I want. I strongly doubt my connection will work with IWNet, so that is out of the question anyway. But then at the same time I want to play the Single Player mode.
I won't go into loads of details pertaining as to the problems and positives of piracy, because that's a moral debate which no-one will win.
Nice article. Feel free to ignore this post if you want. I'm tired and probably just rambling, haha.
It is pretty much total horse crap and I would take the same stand if it were me.
Piracy is everywhere but its way more rampant on PC's, you gotta mod your shit for consoles, on PC all I need is the crack and the game file, both which I can find within days of the game's release.
And as you said, if people pirate the crap out of it then the companies will feel justified and rampant piracy is more likely what's gonna happen.
Actually the only real way to stop pirates is to make them to stop wanting to pirate. Adding more layers of fustication to the cracking/hacking of a game, though complex DRM, etc only entices more people to want to break it.
You stop piracy with enhanced user experience... Look at movies:
"Deluxe" theaters with bars, hot meals, and waiter service to your huge leather seat or 3D movies on huge screens are making a lot of people I know go back to the movies rather than torrent movies to watch on their 64 inch Plasmas with surround sound. They where getting a free home experience that is on par with your bog standard movie experience ... minus the sticky floors and crying kids; now movie theaters are trying to offer more than just the movie.
Then look at Xbox live, OK so I've got no KB+Mouse... but I'm playing on a huge plasma, siting on a sofa, almost everyone's got headsets (unlike public PC gaming servers, back when i was a PC gamer), cheating is a far (FAR!!) less prevalent than on PC because of the hardware and software restrictions.
I just get a better experience form XBLA and as a result I'm not playing a pirated PC version but a legit Xbox version. XBLA is offering more than just the game, it's an easy, pick up and play, on line experience I can enjoy with voice chat and relatively no cheating.
Companies trying to offer better user experience is not marketing BS... they are actually trying to do that because if they offer you this improved experience in a locked down or restricted version then you're less likely to pirate if you can have more fun, albeit with some of your liberties infringed.
Offering an experience you can only really get with non-pirated versions AND/OR are forced to wait for prolonged time to get the pirated version of that experience will help fight piracy and it is the way the PC gaming market has to go to survive....
Look at MMO's; an experience you can not have without paying for it = no piracy.
And if the pirates do crack MW2 then by that time a lot of people who would have pirated it would have bought it out of impatience = less piracy = more sales.
In a way I agree, it's sad it had to come to this... but it did have to come to this (IMO).
You can say that "if you don't like it, don't buy it" but I've never bought any of the crap titles for the Wii and yet they still come by the truckloads. Yes, that's a bad example, I know. Besides, MW2 will probably be one of the top-selling games of the year. I really don't see anyone not buying it having an impact on their sales.
Or they'll see that the PC market is pointless and thusly abandon it regardless of piracy. =\
Are... are you serious? It is NEVER acceptable to infringe on someone's liberty. Also, piracy or not, offering less for more (perhaps deliberately) is a load of crap.
Bottom line - Console kids had a chance to demand better @ the start of Generation 6... they didn't. Now, midway through Gen-7, Devs & Pubs are figuring out that they can feed consolites whatever low-grade, high-cost product they feel like, and with enough hype, they'll have "GOTY!". In contrast, the PC community are seen as "elitists" with an "overdeveloped sense of entitlement" by Gen-7 consolites. We ARE entitled, and our platform IS elite, by comparison. Pay more, GET MORE - NOT LESS. We've stood up for our standards, and rather than demand the same from the GOTY developer, and the publisher with the deepest pockets (who combined could easily provide PC standards for consoles - look @ UT on PS3 - K/M, dedi servers, etc.)... you've let them slide, let them feed you their sub-standard product, and SHOWN THEM THAT YOU WILL KEEP DOING IT FOREVER. This was your chance to stand with the PC community; instead, you've sold out the last community that would've stood with YOU if you demanded better. You are now completely defenseless against their sure-to-be ever-dwindling respect for you as a market.
It's called Precedent, consolites, and you've just set a HUGE one... one you WILL eventually regret.
The 360 version was pirated first, in case you weren't aware.
The Sega Dreamcast failed due to rampant piracy.
Piracy is active on all platforms. ALL.
However, no establishment can reliably PROVE those "damaging numbers". Ever read "Animal Farm"? It's a book by George Orwell. Great story that explains a nifty political device called "scapegoating".
Also, MMO's NOT pirated? Really? There are legions of players ONLINE NOW playing pirated, fully private servers for WoW, among others.
It's a simple model, really: we would gladly spend OUR money on THEIR product if it has VALUE. Not meeting the standards of the platform / genre / etc. and / or failing to support said product will result in consumers doing what they've always done - DO IT THEMSELVES.
so the only reason for doing that is so that somehow it will reduce piracy.
and its fucking laughable that this is the way they found to accomplish that.
we simply cannot support their decisions. me and 7 of my friends bought mw1, none of us is going to buy mw2.
"Legions" of WOW pirates compared to how many loyal subscribers?....
One off's or even first off's of next to or no, significance do not form a counter argument.
The stuff being pulled by IW/ActiTwats here will be done again and again and become the norm... give as many isolated or minority examples as you wish! But any stab at piracy by the industry has to target the majority and not the minority. So these "yeah but my mate Steve, totally, plays WOW for free on Phills custom shard" are indicative of nothing in the grand scheme of things...
It's about packaging an easily accessible experience for 90% of the gaming public who can jump on servers without needing to download custom mods or maps, etc, etc...
The fact you're mate Dough with a chipped 360 who can play MW2 on his tod because if he tries to go online his Live account will get banned ... or you're buddy Chad who plays WOW for free and sis on his own in his orc costume at BlizCon because he plays on private servers and no one there knows who he is... are totally irrelevant.
Providing the consumer with the more accessible experience has very little to do with providing the verbal minority of internet forum moaners with what they want... harsh? yes... is that the way of business? also yes!
Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot. If its a boycott then it need to be a total boycott, no warez, no cracking. it has to be like this game never existed for them to take even the slightest notice.
@Negative I thought that the Dreamcast failed because it was far too ahead of it's time/not properly marketed etc. First time I've heard that piracy was a major factor in it's demise =S
piracy is the scapegoat reason I always hear... and truth be told, it has to be THE easiest system to pirate. you can adjust region and remove copy protection yourself, no mods or fancy tricks. In truth, your reasons are probably more realistic. Piracy, I'm sure, was an issue - but not nearly so much as the pacing of the NA release schedule, hardware startup cost, and launch timing. It was a lonely island, but I loved it dearly.
@ Boomsling:
Nail right on the head. The only way to win a war of consumer standards is for ALL consumers to adopt the SAME high standard. If console owners are happy to eat the same bowl of gruel served to them by ActiBliz instead of piping up for a juicy ribeye like the PC folks have had for, IDK a DECADE, then we've all lost. The chain breaks at the weakest link.
@ SVM:
Where IW is concerned, relative to piracy... on PC you ALWAYS had to have a LEGIT copy to play MP. People who pirate to play the SP were NEVER going to buy the game. Never. Punishing the paying PC customers by telling them they'll "take it and like it" is total crap. If IW/ActiBliz REALLY gave half a deuce about a "level playing field" - and ESPECIALLY since PC is only getting a console-quality version - they would have instituted cross-platform play. There's no dedicated servers (for anything) on LIVE, and MW2 wasn't getting one on PSN, so let them ALL use IWnet, and play alongside the paying PC community.
As you so deftly pointed out, piracy is a microcosm - insignificant to the sales projections. Got news for you: publishers' sales projections are pre-corrected for piracy. They just like to scapegoat it (piracy) when they miss their quota so they don't have to admit their game sucked. My point about console piracy was simple: while their absolute numbers are indeed dizzying, they pale next to paying customers. In the case of potential MW2 buyers - paying customers with no standards.
Their official reason was that they "wanted to make all versions of the game equal" which is obviously bullshit. They want to trickle a few maps out for however much they feel like charging for them.