COD:MW2 Question

What exactly is the effect of having no dedicated servers?

 

Do you see anyone talking about it?

Dedicated servers = mods and better gamplay = longer live of the game

 

there are also some other benefits of dedicated servers:

+ you can select servers with which you have a good connection, so you get into games without lag more consistently versus p2p servers

+ since the host is not a player but a dedicated computer that runs ~100% of the time, you don't have to worry about the consequences of the host leaving the game, which is a problem with p2p servers

there are disadvantages of dedicated servers and good things about p2p servers as well, but those are some of the advantages dedicated servers have over p2p

 

Lack of dedicated servers means that Modern Warfare 2 uses a peer-to-peer matchmaking connection system, meaning that instead of being hosted on a commercial-grade standalone server (usually provided by a major server company), games are hosted on the personal computer of one of the players in the actual game. This means that one player's computer, in addition to running his/her own game, has to act as the server for all the other players in the game, up to 17 others.

Keep in mind that major server companies that usually host dedicated servers exist specifically for that service, and that they have high-bandwidth corporate-grade internet connections that are made to handle such high-caliber bandwidth demands. On the other hand, individual players usually have consumer-level broadband connections like cable or DSL, which are generally far more limited in terms of bandwidth, especially in terms of upload speed. Compare it to sending a certain number of cars and trucks to and from points A and B, on an 8-lane freeway (corporate server hosting companies) vs. a 2-lane local residential road (home broadband connection).

Another issue with the peer-to-peer nature of MW2's multiplayer system is the difference in quality between the host and other players. In a normal dedicated server environment, everyone in the game is connected to a dedicated server, hosted somewhere at a corporate server farm with a very reliable and fast connection. If one player has a particularly poor connection from his own computer, he will experience bad lag, and others will be able to see him lagging, but the problem only affects that player. With peer-to-peer, all of the players are connected to one member of that group, so the quality of the game all depends on that player's connection. If the game's host has a poor connection, he will not really be affected, as the game is hosted on his own local computer, so everything is instantaneous to him. In the meantime, everyone else in the game will experience lag. This is known as the "host advantage" or "zero-ping advantage", since the host is the server, hence there is no ping for him.

Here is a screenshot of a particularly nasty case of host advantage in MW2:



In this case, more bars means a lower ping, aka better connection. One single red bar generally means pretty awful connection, over 200ms ping. You can clearly see that the host is jtville, since his connection is under 20ms ping. From his point of view, the game is perfectly smooth and not laggy at all, since he is the host. From everyone else's point of view (except perhaps 420 Bandit, who has a moderately decent connection, maybe from being geographically close to the host), the game most likely appears pretty stuttery, often seeing things happen on their computers up to half a second or more after they actually happen.

So, this is why PC gamers are mad about Infinity Ward's choice to remove dedicated servers from MW2 and replace it with a peer-to-peer "IWNet" system. It's not always as bad as in that screenshot, but it varies. You have no way to choose a good host, IWNet does it all automatically, and if you do get a crappy host, IWNet will not change it until that player leaves. Some malicious players will keep hosting, knowing that they are causing lag to everyone else, just to abuse their zero-ping advantage.

tl;dr - with dedicated servers, a professional server company handles the hosting, and they have the large bandwidth needed to support multiplayer games. The amount of lag players may experience is based on their own connection to the dedicated server, without affecting the other players on the server.

With a peer-to-peer system like MW2 uses, a player in the game hosts the game on his own computer, using less-than-stellar consumer internet connections, and the experience of everyone in the game depends entirely 100% on the host's connection quality. If the host lags, everyone lags. And the host has the advantage of zero-ping since the game is hosted on the same machine that he is playing the game on.

 

1. Less grenade spam in MW2..
2. Slower loading
3. More awesome weapons...

 

How is that meant to answer his question? That has nothing to do with dedicated servers.

Everyone else has pretty much said the advantages of a dedicated server, don't under-rate the fact that dedicated servers allowess mods. Mods like Promod are generally very highly rated for Call of Duty 4, and allow much better replayability and longevity of the game. I don't understand how people don't get bored of just normal maps going around on Mw2, but thats my personal opinion, I'm a MW1 guy, so i'm going to be biased.

But Xfire figures do show that gamers tend to play more Cod4 then Mw2 on PC, (assuming most gamers have xfire, which not every pc gamer does..)

 

None of those really have anything to do with the lack of dedicated servers.

 

With dedicated servers you can have your own rules such as tactical realism sd. I hate it when you get kill right out of spawn because someone like to spam at choke points.

 

For me I like the fact that on dedicated servers you have the chance to see familiar players often. You get to know their abilities and it can make for a far more competitive experience. In peers servers I find some games are matched great and we really have a good game only to never see these people again with the same line ups.

Another fact about dedicated servers is that you can have administrators around. If people are really behaving in a way to completely ruin the game they can be Kicked off or even Banned permanently.

Some dedicated servers wont allow for foul/offensive language which makes it good for younger players learn and play as well.

I do like MW2 and enjoy it for its merits, but I feel peer based multiplayer for the PC was bad move. Just horrible.

 

^That too. With dedicated servers, it's a lot easier to build a community. If you're in a clan, for instance, you can get a few members together to rent a dedicated server from a hosting company. It will have a consistent IP address, so anyone can join and leave it as they please, and the administrators can set the rules, game types, maps, etc.

With IWNet, you pretty much get to decide what general category of game you want to play, and then you get dropped into a random game lobby or game already in progress. Unless you started a party with friends ahead of time, you will pretty much be playing with a random assortment of strangers every time. No ability to pick maps, customize game rules or anything like that, unless you opt to play a private match, in which case earning XP and challenges is completely disabled.

 

Ok, thanks guys.