Kotaku 
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Denver, 9:43 AM
Sat Nov 21
44 posts in the last 24 hours
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Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
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Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
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Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
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Brian Ashcraft
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Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
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Luke Plunkett
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Owen Good
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AJ Glasser
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Leigh Alexander
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Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/19/09
11/19/09
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11/19/09
I keep telling myself, "just a bit further, just a bit further"
11/19/09
#speakup
11/19/09
#speakup
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11/19/09
That myth needs to die.
11/19/09
YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD.
11/18/09
I know it's a great game on its own, but the changes made to multiplayer stand for everything wrong with the direction of pc gaming is going in. I don't want all the developers to follow in their footsteps. Well without numbers it's really hard to say whether the boycott is effective or not to be honest, a huge problem with the given pc npd system.
And worse yet I don't think the boycotters of Left 4 Dead 2 realize what they have done. Their boycott while in some respects WAS (note past tense) understandable to a degree, they have brought a bad name to those who support boycotting. Now whenever we need to try a boycott for something important like this, we're disregarded as "those riled pc gamers who are just bitching about something" even when we are justified. It is hurting our own cause and it's so unfortunate to see this happen. It's bad enough that Left 4 Dead supports matchmaking over server lists, but there's a reason why I have a gaming pc and a gaming console. They are two completely different, unique experiences and I'd like to keep it that way.
I'll continue to keep boycotting MW2 in all forms, and possibly anything from IW until they offer dedicated server support.
11/19/09
But I refuse to join any of these groups because as its been proven its filled with alot of people who are full of shit. They join because at the time its the "look at me I'm the cool kid" thing to do. Then they just run out and buy it anyway.
11/19/09
11/19/09
I am looking forward for the dedicated servers but to be honest, this is a big effort to control the PC community just like they control console users.
No mods = buy DLC content. To be honest, if they offered quality maps as DLC plus the ability to mod and get more maps, i would buy the DLC, why not pay if they are quality maps?
I think trying to organize a boycott in the Internet is a waste of time, people bail, it is more easy to just no buy the game if you really believe in that cause.
Besides companies don't care about people ranting on the internet, they care about not making money. The only way to show them is not buying.
If people were really pissed off about this then they will see a hit on the sales but is not happening at that extent.
Piracy is not the answer to show them how you dislike a game but still playing it.
When all this started after they announced "no dedicated servers", to be honest i was expecting for companies which sell space for dedicated servers to pressure Activision about it but they didn't.
This just ended like the debates when Blizzard makes a change to make WoW more friendly.
Hardcore users bitch and say "i am going to stop paying, this is a joke, too easy". At the end they are still growing, making money, Blizzard probably thinks "who cares?".
Months pass by and the hardcore players come back after an expansion or new content is deployed.
Sad but true.
11/19/09
Who said anything about pirating? I'm fully boycotting.
There are benefits for both sides when it comes to modding games. I have more incentive to buy a game if it has more mods, in fact the one reason I bought Battlefield 1942 was to play desert combat mod. And, those guys were then hired as developers. Expands creativity and thankfully valve still supports it. The day valve stops supporting modding in favor of DLC (which I believe is just a quick buck, and what modding can do to enhance your game sales is small by comparison) is the day I lose all faith in PC gaming.
11/19/09
But let me tell you, most publishers are going to keep pushing this so people pay for DLC in PC.
Again, i don't care as long as they support mods officially.
To be honest, i also buy games is more mods are available. The sad thing is publishers make good money with microtransactions, at the end i think publishers will just give us half-assed ports on PC or just skip development for this platform.
You better start losing faith in PC gaming, it is not going to die but i forsee more control.
11/19/09
Control = Death
11/19/09
Completely agree, but if you think about it, they already done it with consoles and it works.
They have done it to music and worked (DRM).
Now, music companies selling only digital copies go for the "No DRM" banner which leads to more sales. Even iTunes is in the same channel now with their Plus songs.
DLC is going to stop when people no longer pay but you see, people probably spend a lot of money on this but is not the same to pay $20 upfront than $1.99 x 10 times/month.
I don't know if it happens to you but if you carry like (i am in Japan) so , 10,000 yens bill i tend to be careful to spend it but i have 10,000 yens in 1,000 bills, it goes away really quick and don't notice.
Anyway, back to the PC gaming.
The "No LAN" games like future Starcraft 2 is just so you authenticate and keep you in control. Using "anti-cheat" technologies so if you modify the game in an "unsupported" way, they ban you.
There is also for example with MW2, i bought the US import because i am not interested in the Japanese release as i am not good with the language (go figure) but i couldn't active the damn thing because i am in Japan. This is because they force steam to be the authenticator and i also see this to become a common practice.
Of course there are ways to bypass this which is why i can play, but still, it shouldn't be like this.
11/18/09
11/17/09
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11/17/09
I'm looking forward to next weeks sales information - after the PC fans fumbled their own MW2 boycott, I wonder how L4D2 will fare this friday... #salescharts
11/17/09
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11/17/09
The PC crowd, for obviously buying a shit load of Modern Warfare 2 despite yammering on about servers.
Turns out you guys don't mind if dedicated servers go the way of the dinosaur after all. I'll be sure to remind you of this the next time you start complaining about how a company has taken away a cornerstone of the PC gaming experience. #salescharts
11/17/09
The reality, though, is that the people that care enough are such a small minority that it was never going to really matter.
And really, dedicated servers or not, it is such an amazing multiplayer game that I'd find it hard for a lot of people to resist. #salescharts
11/17/09
Shouldnt be long. The DLC for borderlands gets released for consoles next week and a PC version is on the way. Will GBX charge them or will it be free?
*grabs popcorn and sits in lawn chair* #salescharts
11/17/09
Although, apparently they've already hacked together some kind of dedicated server mod for the game..
11/17/09
On one hand, those on here saying boycott probably aren't the majority, so you can't really blame them that it still sold.
On the other, they did fail to present a united front by getting the word out, so as planers of protest, yes they fail.
But is it expecting way to much to think they could have gotten enough support to REALLY effect sales? That i don't know. #salescharts
11/17/09
11/17/09
You are attacking a small but vocal internet community for apparently buying a game which there is a wide market for, even in the pc sector.
I stuck to my guns and I know others have as well. We evidently aren't enough to significantly impinge on the game's commercial success, but frankly we never were.
Congratulations, you have effectively transposed the entire British PC gaming public's purchasing decisions onto the small section of it that plays online game's passionately and cares about the implementation of dedicated servers.
11/17/09
11/17/09
I can't imagine it's more than consoles, and they tend to get along just fine for the most part.
Note: not trivializing what happened to PC, it does suck for you guys, but i'm wondering whether the people preaching the end of the world were exagerating (i'm guessing a little). #salescharts
11/17/09
11/17/09
the majority of pc gamers just wants to play games, similar to console players. #salescharts
11/17/09
11/17/09
So no, it doesn't prove the boycott was worthless, but it does prove it only takes 1/17 of the group to completely undermine the boycott's effectiveness in the majority's eye.
Which is not unprecedented, the actions in the almost unheard of village of Chauri Chaura almost completely destroyed Ghandi's Non-cooperative movement during India's bid for independence of British Rule.
11/17/09
Note that I have highlighted the "PC crowd" as a group not "boycotters" or "hardcore PC gamers" or whatever other group you hail from. The information is not detailed enough to tell what percentage of boycotters caved, but it is clear that at least some did.
So, as I said before, the next time something like this happens and someone says:
"You can't take mod support from PC games, the community will not stand for it." I will remind them all that even if they don't like it, it won't make a jot of difference to the sales figures so they might as well just accept it and buy a console.
*The following is my opinion, I'm not saying it's a fact*
PC gaming is dying, I don't mean that the platform is seeing less sales, or that games are not being made for it any more, but the PC gaming platform as you know it, with dedicated servers, user generated mods, clans and guilds, separate VoIP servers, that aspect of the platform is on its knees.
It's a shame, it really is, my first job in the industry was testing a PC game with a strong community of modders and server hosters and clans. It saddens me to see it go, but, as videogames become mainstream everything starts to gravitate towards one common denominator, a locked box that you plug into the telly is it.
There will always be hardcore PC gamers and hardcore PC games, but these will come less and less from big name publishers, and increasingly rely on small dedicated developers. #salescharts
11/17/09
Are there some who stuck to their guns? Sure. But did anywhere near the 100k+ people who signed online petitions, and joined boycott groups like the one on steam actually stop themselves from purchasing the game? No way. #salescharts
11/17/09
the people who are boycotting are standing up even for those who did buy the game, because the way IW is going isn't good for anybody, even those who are totally oblivious. #salescharts
11/17/09
11/17/09
I think the games lifetime sales will tell the story in the long run, but 3% seems low to me as I recall hearing for MW PC sales were about 10% of the total sales. My money went to L4D2 instead of MW2 and I'm sure I'm not the only one. #salescharts
11/17/09
11/17/09
Regardless of their reasons though, what Activision have done isn't good for anybody but themselves, mostly because they can now make millions through practically mandatory DLC before starting over in 12 months with MW3. What the boycotters want is what's good for every single person that plays the game. Casual gamers don't realise it even though they're suffering because of it, but someone has to stand up against them even if it only has a negligible effect, ie EA assuring gamers that they're not abandoning dedicated servers as a counter example to the industry. #salescharts
11/17/09
Oh as a hint (that Kotaku never mentioned when they posted the article) Steam sorts those playing in-game to the top of the list, and those offline to the back.
The blue guys amongst the green will be playing a non-steam game. #salescharts
11/17/09
Dedicated servers will of cost them nothing, they already had the code from COD4 (which they sloppily left most in or last nights vid wouldn't of been possible so soon) so all they had to do was make the maps. No need to develop P2P matchmaking solution and the algorithms to match folks up, host the matchmaking servers themselves. Dedicated would be community funded, that costs IW nothing.
As for the Boycott, well I would say it's a success, I personally only know of 2 people who bought MW2 on PC, and about 8 or so who pirated it and 5 that have said it's not even worth that, And at least one of the buyers has said he regrets it, The lag is apparently terrible.
The majority of t he Kotakuites group ( so the PC section of Kotaku readers) currently only 4 are playing, the most are on L4D2. And I don't really expect that number of MW2 players to rise, it hasn't all week. Most have been on DA:O or TF2, or the L4D2 demo the past week, oddly enough games made with PC in mind.
Oh that's 4 out of a group of shy of 900. Thats bigger than the boycott group, and we don't really have an agenda to boycott the game. So make of that what you will, but I'd say it suggest Kotaku PC guys at least, the ones who have read the news unlike the many millions who don't read gaming sites, just didn't buy it. #salescharts
11/17/09
Unfortunately, I don't think that Activision will care given that the PC version was only beaten by it's console siblings and the chart stalwarts Wii Fit and Wii Sports.
Personally, I didn't buy it on any platform because I don't think it's changed enough from CoD4. But that's just my two cents.
PS, why are you grey? #salescharts
11/17/09
Nobodies really going to have bought many other games on that chart when there was MW2 to shell out for.
As for my star, well it seem's Crecentes ran out of humour.
[kotaku.com]
He banned the rest. #salescharts
11/18/09
Yeah, numbers would be great, if we had numbers we could have graphs!
I love graphical representations of statistical data. #salescharts
11/13/09
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11/13/09
Personally I knew that I'd love the game, what as much of it as I could get and was happy to pay the $65 for the all in package. Given how many hours of playtime I'm going to get out of this puppy it would be a bargain at twice the price.
If you want to rail against something I'd say the fact that the console version of the game is 30% more expensive - for the same content - is probably a better target. #salescharts
11/13/09
If a studio is going to offer bonus content for a few extra dollars, people ARE going to buy it. If you don't like it, well don't buy it. As you say, the game is huge to begin with. #salescharts
11/13/09
11/13/09
Do you know how the development cycle worked out? Do you know how many man hours were spent developing the game? Is the extra content REQUIRED to enjoy the base game?
No, no and no.. right?
Their product, their decision on how to sell it. Your money, your decision on how to spend it.
Just don't act like they are ripping anyone off here. They designed an incredible game that lasts for hours and hours without any DLC.
Timing doesn't matter. If they waited for 5 months people would still have this same exact argument.
Content doesn't matter. If the DLC was 20 times longer than the main campaign with thousands of hours of gameplay and 600 new weapons and 5000000 new creatures... the same argument would still be made.
Want to stop developers from finding any and every way to remain profitable? Buy the game and stop talking to anyone you know who pirates. #salescharts
11/13/09
First, I'm entitled to my opinion. This new trend on Kotaku of everybody jumping down your throat no-matter what you say is fucking ridiculous. Piss off, all of you.
Second, the trend of releasing miniscule things as DLC is what bothers me. I've bought numerous expansion packs since back before DLC even existed, but getting nickel and dimed for shit like horse armor, extra items, or an extra mission or three is ridiculous. It's like that iPhone game that you can pay an extra dollar for more lives to begin the game. It's a ridiculous, money-grubbing trend.
Oh, and my friend works for fucking Bioware (did the cinematics for Mass Effect), so eat my ass if you think I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. I don't give a damn if you disagree with me. #salescharts
11/13/09
I don't care if they want to add items and quests, but they made it feel like you didn't buy the complete game (even if it is already huge). #salescharts
11/13/09
Also "nickel and diming" is a "trend" that -I- am getting sick of. This is a video game... not food or medicine or something that you NEED. It is YOUR choice to pay or not.
If you choose to pay, they did not nickel and dime you... you saw value and paid... what is wrong with this exactly?
Have you played DAO at all yet? Have you seen how much content is in the game without a single piece of DLC? Have you used any of the DLC to determine its value? You already said that you haven't so I don't see what benefit any other reader who might happen upon your comment would receive.
DLC is the way of the future unless you care to show us all how you plan to stop piracy and help the developers retain profitability. Horse armor may not have been worth it to me but plenty of people thought it was just dandy in Oblivion.
Bottom line is if you want to determine what SHOULD be in a game.... design one. Otherwise what should be there is there because the people who made it said so. If you disagree don't buy it. Problem solved, no? #salescharts
11/13/09
11/13/09