Am I the only PC gamer that doesn't like dedicated servers?

Alot of PC gamers are really complaining about Aliens: Colonial Marines lack of dedicated servers, but I'm actually pretty glad.

I was a huge fan of the deadspace 2 mplayer (before people stopped playing it) and it seems like this and other games that don't have dedicated servers are smoother and more balanced and complete. It seems like when I play a game that uses dedicated servers, it is difficult to find a server that is consistently good. Servers are either full, completely empty, play the same level OVER AND OVER, have a tad too much ping, and/or have a one team of people that stays together and dominates game after game while the other team constantly has people dropping in and out in frustration. You also have to deal with the occaisonal host/admin who kicks you because he falsely assumed that you were cheating, or he doesn't like the way you curse (Seriously, they're just words. Nobody should care as long as you aren't directing them at anybody. Most of these games are M rated anyways. If you don't have a problem with playing an m rated game you shouldn't get upset when somebody drops an F bomb.) The matchmaking in games like Deadspace wasn't perfect, but it didn't have nearly as many problems or any bag admins
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Know why us PC gamers don't like the removal of dedicated servers? Ask me why after Aliens official support is dropped in a few years. No dedicated servers means once the developer decides to drop the game from their support list, unless by some miracle it is picked up by someone else, the online community will shrivel up and die so don't get too attached to it.

And if you have problems with bad admins, you need to find a good server like all experienced online FPS players do and stick with it and show them your support for doing a good job by occasional donations that will help them continue to pick good admins ( the donations don't even have to be big at all ). I would rather play on dedicated servers that are constantly moderated and monitored by gamers like me instead of support personnel that will get to the issue when they can which can be days or weeks.

 

Sometimes I like to play the same level over and over. Granted, not all levels are like that, but sometimes, it's nice to be able to play your favorites like that.

The social aspect is also nice. If you come back to a certain set of servers, eventually you get to know who the regulars are and they get to know you a bit. If it's a good server with good regulars, that's a big plus.

Well-adminned ones also tend to be able to take care of cheaters pretty quickly. As in, within a couple minutes in-game. A good admin (or even non-admin spectator) will be able to tell pretty well if you're just really good or if you're cheating. I've never run had anyone kick me because I was doing too good, and it's not because I always suck.

And I kind of like when servers can set higher standards than the base game. Sure, I don't go for all the variants that come up. But some of them are rather cool. And I'd much rather have a no swearing server than one where everyone's 14 and swearing like sailors. Which can and sometimes does happen.

The servers that are really strict about ping, that can be kind of annoying since I have bad internet. But it's easy enough to avoid those - they tend to put it in the name. And if my ping is really bad on a given night, I'll just play single-player.

One thing I would like is for games to make it easier to favorite a server. Having that option in the escape menu (or that game's equivalent) would be really nice.

 

@OP You're mixing ideas. At it's core, dedicated servers and peer to peer are just different communication designs for online games. Peer to peer is unilaterally worse for real time online games. Managing server selection, level selection, server quality selection, selection metagame, interacting with admins, etc, are all common artifacts of modern games that don't have anything to do with whether the server setup is peer to peer or dedicated.

One example is Counter Strike: Global Offensive. You specify which maps and gametypes are acceptable for you, and then you (with your party as desired) join the matchmaking queue. The matchmaking system selects a group of opponents of similar rank, and you are all placed onto one of Valve's dedicated servers. There is no admin for a matchmaking game.

 

LOL he probably likes peer to peer better because he plays better because he hosts and to him that makes it seem the game is more balanced, when in fact it just means he has a massive advantage over his opponents.

 

I can understand the argument about company's dropping servers, but in the case of deadspace 2, people have pretty much stopped playing before that happened. I been playing since the begining and it was my main multiplayer game and I been lookin forward to ACM to fill the gap.

"LOL he probably likes peer to peer better because he plays better because he hosts and to him that makes it seem the game is more balanced, when in fact it just means he has a massive advantage over his opponents. "

@hulawafu77: love how internet forums can turn into an attack on somebody's abilities. I only get host about a quarter of the time.

 

I personally prefer dedicated servers and especially if you get the choice of hosting without renting from a company (Looks at BF3), but for games with a low player limit on matches like Mass Effect 3 P2P works well too.
My network connection is pretty stable and without jitter or dropped packets so never heard much complaints when i host.

 

What...

p2p is like decent ping for 2 people whilst the rest of the players are at 200+.

Call of duty is horrible on consoles for this reason. You miss players by a foot and still get kills.

Kills all the enjoyment for me.

As has been mentioned, matchmaking on dedicated servers has been pretty successfully implemented on Dota 2, counter strike global offensive.