Modern Warfare 2 takes players to the snow-capped peaks of Russian mountains, across the deserts of Afghanistan and into the streets of Rio de Janeiro, and introduces a new co-operative Special Forces mode to back up the single-player campaign.

Post news Report RSS MW2 getting no modding love? ** Updated

Rob Bowling recently mentioned on a fan podcast some interesting details on dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 which could possibly change the way Mods are played and downloaded.

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Call of Duty's community manager Rob Bowling has mentioned on a fan podcast (fast forward to the 1:41 mark to hear the discussion on dedicated servers)that Modern Warfare 2 will not be getting any support for dedicated servers. As it stands now all all games even private games need to be run through a service being called "IWnet" which simply put is a peer 2 peer service where the best connection will be hosting the server as a listen server.

Currently mods that use the COD4 engine are all server based. With the above news of dedicated servers being dropped in favour of a more tightly controlled multiplayer system what will it mean for modders? One would be safe to assume that modding is not going to be supported out of the box any more, so only certified maps and gametypes are going to be playable.

Rob_Bowling wrote: I don't know, anything with the modding and changing (of custom game files) I'm not sure what the plan is for later down the road on IWnet for that stuff.


So this either means modders will have to wait for the ability to change content, it just wont be supported or it will be very tightly controlled as far as what is and isn't allowed to be played any more. I cant say I'm to impressed with the initial decision but I will reserve my judgement for "if" they decide to let people know what will be expected as far as modding goes.

Thank you to Mr_Cyberpunk for the heads up!

** Update: Just to give you guys an update on the whole modding issue with MW2, today Gameinformer has just written an article that should give you guys a fair idea with what they have planned for modders.

Someone wrote: "We're just prioritizing the player experience above the modders and the tuners," says West (Infinity Ward head Jason West). He points toward the mounting feedback IW has received from PC fans of Modern Warfare who couldn't find a decent server to play on between all of the cheaters, the insular communities, and huge skill level disparities that the original game's community fractured into. "We thought maybe it would be cool if the fans could play the game," he laughs.


And with that modders hopes and dreams of customising the new game modes have been dashed with what almost seems like a careless statement. You can read the entire write up here. So guys what can we expect now? Will there be a official statement released that will give us hope again or is this it?

Post comment Comments  (0 - 50 of 79)
Djehuty
Djehuty

atleast it uses VAC instead of pb... >.>

Still, I can't believe MW2 gets no modding stuff

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Craka_J
Craka_J

Agreed. I guess modability doesn't really benefit them too much since Modern Warfare 2 is going to attract and hold the attention of a ton of buyers & players. Allowing a game to be modded usually is added to keep the interest of modders who play the game and mod it for a longer duration, but I really doubt that the developers really NEED such an option.

But who knows... maybe they're just not releasing modding tools the day it comes out so they can work on them more and give us more seamless modding tools. We'll see.

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alpha69a
alpha69a

or their trying to keep mods from competing with future dlc or expansions

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Hidamari
Hidamari

agreed, modders are a threat to big companies when they become hits, simply because its free and makes what they did with the game either look not as good, or takes the ideas they might have come up with and sold as addons and expansion packs and puts them out of free.

tho i have no interest in this game, or its predecessor, i just saw the article.

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NotMe!
NotMe!

Well, that just stupid, if companies think that they compete with other companies or their expansions compete with mods.

Games compete with pirategames. And decission pirate or not the game
depends alot about what people think about company. Even that modders
are quite small customerbase compared to all other players, it isnt
best way to promote company and game by slap modders in to face.

Also, modders allways buy the game they will modificate.

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R0CKET_B0MB
R0CKET_B0MB

Lol, modificate.

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AlCool
AlCool

I personally prefer PB far over VAC. I've never seen a VAN secured game that wasn't still chalked full of cheaters/hackers, exploiters, etc. It's as if it isn't even there, because most bans are done by admins and not servers themselves.

Although PB has a multitude of issues with certain OS and other hardware clashing, I find it has proved far more effective in getting rid of those who try to download their skill. Every PB update bans another few hundred people as they slowly but surely find new issues and deal with them.

Towards MW2, I just hope they can really strive to make the MP less of a rush and preemptive shots/grenades, and more of an actual teambased tactical shooter. Modding wasn't big in MW or WAW, mostly because of the tools, but from that we can vaguely expect there to be a large modding community for MW2.

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Fiestainabox
Fiestainabox

Yes. Punkbuster. Absolutely horrible, does nothing other than kick you out of the game because the autoupdater is as useful as tits on a bull. If you've played cod4 online, you would know this.

You clearly don't know how VAC works. It doesn't ban people immediately when they detect a hack. It waits a random amount of time, usually a couple of days, then bans them. This means that the hacker has no clue at all what hack actually caused the bannage.

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AlCool
AlCool

(buried)

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I've never had problems with punkbuster kicking me. And I've played a LOT of PB games well before CoD4. Games like Quake 3 and UT.

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SteveUK
SteveUK

What's so stupid?

PB only punishes legitimate players with such brilliant kick reasons as "communication failure" and timeouts. It's a frustrating experience for anyone with PB problems which are fairly common. Don't call someone stupid just because you haven't had problems first hand.

VAC is a lot better as it's completely unobtrusive, and a delayed bans system means that it'll catch more hackers overall since you don't know if your hack is detected straight away.

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Tokoya
Tokoya

I agree, PB has ruined playing certain games such as BF2 and COD4 for me, I manual update, automaticly update and whatever else it tells me to do and I still get kicked out. On the other hand VAC hasn't given me any trouble if at all. I guess it really just depends on the specific user but PB has repeatedly hindered me from enjoying the games that I have spent cash on.

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du3tsch
du3tsch

Do you get this on your PS3?

Sorry if the question is just dumb, but im new to this account stuff:S

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Frozencloud
Frozencloud

:(

Sucks..

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obiwanbul
obiwanbul

I hope this doesnt affect the ability to make SP mods

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medve
medve

epic fail :D

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BraXi
BraXi

IWnet - Infinity Ward Network
IWI - Infinity Ward Image (dds)
iw3mp/sp - CoD4 EXE file
They have obsession with "IW" in name.
No mods and custom maps, f*** iw :/

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Barnaby-Studios
Barnaby-Studios

lol

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nubblecakes
nubblecakes

Hey dude, don't forget Valve. VTF - Valve Texture File, VMF - Valve Map File. :)

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bogie
bogie

Petitiononline.com

54550 signatures and rising.

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VagabondPraetor
VagabondPraetor

Wonderful news for Australian gamers.

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7game
7game

why is that

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aidas2
aidas2

he's beign sarcastic (I think) In Australia no dedicated server means no multiplayer :/

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JopiMan
JopiMan

So... Theres no dedicated servers? Only ****** listen servers? Damn console crap. That cant be right. I think I didn't understand this right...

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Robok
Robok

IW got infected with this virus now spreading in corporations, now it shuffles around moaning "MONNNEEYYYYZZZZ" and stuff.

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treat
treat

What is the advantage here, exactly? Left 4 Dead attempted something similar and it was - and still is - a broken failure.

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InfernoX347
InfernoX347

Atleast Left4dead uses dedicated servers.

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Cypher05
Cypher05

At least on l4d you can own a dedicated server and you can even set up in console that your lobby uses that ip. There is no reason for this other than less maintenance for PC. Provided patches for everyone rather than just updating it in house. I love how the console baddies are saying "I don't see the problem."

Yeah, well that's because you get crap and you expect nothing better. Nothing to do with money, they get enough of that from consoles, which is why they treat everything like a console, when it should be quite obvious that a PC != a Console.

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aidas2
aidas2

Wtf is wrong with them? THey make one of the greatest games and what, they think they wont get enuff money from it? I say **** IW its turning into Valve, which sucks money with its dollar = euro crap. This is very bad news :/, i hope they change it, but dont expect anything cuz the game will be launched like in 2 or 3 weeks. Thx god atleast they didnt merge with steam, but somehow i can see that happening. And pay for DLC? **** this **** !!! THey wont let us mod and also we will have to pay for couple new maps!
Also I think this **** was totaly planned they would have told us much earlier if they would wanted, now every1 will want old stuff back and they will say we cant cuz the game is already lounched and bla bla bla...

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AlCool
AlCool

I find it sad that I agree with much of what has been said here...

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Tastyrice
Tastyrice

Dedicated Servers is what makes PC Gaming well... PC Gaming. $60 price tag, no dedicated servers, no mod support, no thank you.

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56er
56er

After this....I ain't gonna buy it anymore...
It's not only a fail, it's about the fact, that all they want is to be the only ones to develop maps, and then sell them as DLC. I really trusted in A-B as one of these companys that don't *** around. And after Valve and EA, now these guys doing a casaul Diablo 3 and a ****** up CoD6 alias MW 2? This sucks, as these motherf******* companys and there "needs" ruin every good game over time. started with C&C and it's going on until now...

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NullSoldier
NullSoldier

I agree with some of your points but did you have to convey them in red-neck speak? If you care about your point you'd take the time to actually express it intelligently like the rest of us.

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Feared
Feared

Red-neck speak?
Sorry but that is NOT red-neck speak.

That is just plain ignorant.

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metzGRR
metzGRR

Since iw missed the point of pc-gaming, ive decided not to buy the game.

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NullSoldier
NullSoldier

It's so funny because PC gamers made what CoD IS and now they just don't care anymore. I normally rage at this kind of thing but it's so unbelievable it's absurd.

Infinity Ward is beyond help. Why can't more game development companies be more like steam and LESS retarded?

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Feared
Feared

Because Steam isn't a development company. ;)

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AlCool
AlCool

Bad example.

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NullSoldier
NullSoldier

Heh, I ment more like Valve. It's easy to confuse Valve and Steam since they are essentially one in the same when it comes down to the roots.

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AlCool
AlCool

Still a bad example.

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ManSh00ter
ManSh00ter

Major fail. The only reason Half Life games had (have, even) such a long lifespan were user-made mods. If that didn't show to the developers the value of having your game mod-friendly, I don't know what can.

But since MW2 is an overhyped rail-guided FPS with low replayability, just like its predecessor, I won't shed many tears over it... its not like we're talking about a major loss to the modding community in the first place.

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Shoelip
Shoelip

Where's the monetary gain in creating a game with lasting appeal but no monthly fee? That's what you have to be asking yourself.

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Shoelip
Shoelip

Activision strikes again in it's bid to dethrone EA as the BBEG of the gaming industry...

Keep in mind NullSoldier, corporations don't give a crap what their customers think of them as long as they can be relied on to consistently give them money. Games these days, for the most part, are made for shareholders not gamers.

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Coconutdoobie
Coconutdoobie

I was really looking forward to mapping for this game. **** IW, console love *****.

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DemonProwler
DemonProwler

It's pathetic that IW have done this, i signed the petition only a few hours ago and since then it's rised by 20 thousand, make sure to sign it people! 76+ thousand players is a lot when it comes to online FPS gaming.

Petitiononline.com

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formerlyknownasMrCP
formerlyknownasMrCP

no problem guys, thanks for taking the liberty to post this on the front page, this sort of thing effects the entire modding community- it may be one game, but its going to cause a trend and its going to hurt us.

Ifinity Ward developed some of the most modded games in the history of modding, to see them now just go and stab us all in the back just to make a quick buck off DLC and Servers is completely ********, they need to be taught a lesson- I don't know if the PC gamers have enough influence anymore on the market to even make a dent, if you go by the profit margins the XBox 360 market alone makes nearly 3-4x what the PC market does.

This has sparked yet another war between PC gamers and Console gamers.

Simply put, I'm siding with the PC gamers here because the Console gamers (at least the ones that I've read on IW's forums) just don't get how dedicated servers work, they don't understand why we need them and they're mostly American.. which essentially means the company is taking care of them but screwing everyone else in the world.

Another fact is, COD has a great modding community, evident by how many times content has had to be re-added into their games by modders-- its slack of Infinity Ward and now they're essentially shafting the lot as a "Thanks for the great work".

The last straw was the outright increase in price by $10-- which was smugly done "because they could" and no one would have a problem with it.. well we do.. its just the stupid brain dead fanbois that don't.

I question if the boycott will have an effect-- but we can only try. I hate what is happening to video gaming and modding.. we're being screwed by greed and its just not fair.. we made them who they are!

/rant

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Elementalist
Elementalist

... I kinda resent you saying "They're mostly Americans" as if it really mattered. There's a lot of American strictly-PC gamers who are getting shafted here as well. I agree with the rest though.

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formerlyknownasMrCP
formerlyknownasMrCP

No I mean "American Console Gamers" I figured someone would be offended by that, but I realize that a LOT of American PC gamers desire and need to have dedicated servers. The only demographic developers care about now is the American Console Gamers because they make them the most money.

Was also trying to establish that they have no idea what its like to have a ping over 300.

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RockerFox
RockerFox

wow...this is like being falcon punches by cpt. Falcon followed by a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris. Like i was getting a pc upgrade soon (motherboard, processor) and i figured i would get it for the pc instead of an console. dam shame

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infl1ct1on
infl1ct1on

Petitiononline.com - Up to over 81,000 signatures! Keep em coming and pass it on to your friends!

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yoda589
yoda589

well, MW2 will suck for online play already (no dedicated servers) and now they want to make it even worse by not allowing modding? jeesh

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