Gaming: The League

 Often, I talk about how competitive gaming is something I look forward to. It's not going to look the way it does now, but we may be a little closer than we allow ourselves to believe. Granted, none of the commentary has made it onto this blog, but someday the thoughts will emerge.

 For now, we deal with November 10th. On that day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be unleashed.

 For those who don't believe the hype, put down the pipe and read the news. This game will be record breaking on so many levels. Even our little backwoods town...city...thing has about 700 preorders at one GameStop. Yes, we have two GameStops, but sometimes I wonder if our population even reached five digits, so 700 preorders is a huge deal. Modern Warfare 2 may just put Halo to complete shame on the first day, and as much as I love to bash that franchise, there's something to be said about that. The closer it gets, the more news we get, and the latest news is regarding PC multiplayer options.

 Dedicated servers are out, Battle.n... IW.net is in. The response reminds me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 

 So why is this a bad thing? Well, for starters, if you've ever hosted a server, the amount of personalization/customization is endless. You can define physics in most games, so forget about defining basic match rules. The PC community is pissed, and it's mainly due to losing control of the gaming environment. You paid for the game. Why can't you do what you want to it?

 Well, the argument stands up for about five-seconds, until you remember that we are talking about a PC game. PC games and "breaking the rules" have gone together since God said "there will be bytes", then left the Internet alone to be conquered by porn. To this criticism, I have one thing to say that I don't need to justify.

 Deal with it. You'll figure it out.

 Now, to address the reasoning behind Infinity Ward taking on the project. While they may say that cheating is only a "small part" of the reason, come on. That's ENTIRELY the reason why you did this. No developer likes piracy or cheating in their game, period. Beyond that, it is an idea meant to legitimize Modern Warfare 2. I'm not faulting Infinity Ward for deciding to reap the benefits of a clean game. On the contrary, this is a game that needs it more than any other game out there. The developers know that they have one of the most sought after teamplay titles in the past, oh, forever, and they are going to do everything they can to maintain that reputation. These are the people that want tournaments and leagues to be based around their product, and it may be among the first games to make competitive gaming mainstream.

 So, in short, Infinity Ward does not want you screwing with their game. They don't want some 13 year old script kiddie fragging players in their legitimate league. While the effort may be futile, at least they are making the effort to support that.

 I say again to the PC crowd: deal with it. You'll figure out a way to break the game and run anything you want, but for players who are truly wanting to keep things fair and competitive, Infinity Ward is trying to facilitate that. Now, if they shoot themselves in the foot, I'll gladly join the cause, but nobody likes a cheater. Digg It Stumble it ! Reddit