CoD: Black Ops servers not available here?????

[abcclanadmin]

During the COD:BO multiplayer reveal tonight it was said that no other server provider besides GameServers.com would be allowed to host Black Ops. Is this a bunch of BS or is it true? If it's true, then NFO and other major game server providers need to form a class action lawsuit against Gameservers.com, Activision and Treyarch for anti-competitive practices. It should not be allowed to limit your product to be offered through one medium. That's like saying you can only buy bread and milk at Wal-Mart. It's ridiculous! What's the deal guys? Any insight?

[Sim]

Just when we thought Activision couldn't sink any lower they go and do this.
I guess if you can't compete with other GSP's the only option left is do stuff like GS is doing to force gaming communities to rent from you.

[Edge100x]

I don't have any further insights on this yet.

If they stick with that choice, it would be a loss for them and consumers, but a major win for gameservers.com. Overall, it would not be a very good move for Activision to make -- and a very strange one.

[abcclanadmin]

I agree. This completely baffles me as well. Money has to be changing hands someplace along the line. I still say it's a crock that should be addressed.

[abcclanadmin]

The more I think about this the less it makes sense. They have to be getting a TON of money from Activision for this. GS already has bandwidth issues, for them to add what is undoubtedly going to be THOUSANDS of servers is going to require a MAJOR investment in hardware and bandwidth. I don't see how that's going to work. I smell an EPIC FAIL in the works. I wouldn't be surprised it they experience all kinds of lag issues after the first month or so. There's no way they have sufficient infrastructure to support that many new servers going online all at once.

[Edge100x]

There's no question this (if it turns out as announced) will be a massive, massive win for GS, though. They could easily grow tenfold, based on the news out there that they will be running all servers, even ones used for matchmaking and on the console. I'm sure they're popping the champagne over there right now.

In theory, the money from preorders will help them to perform the necessary upgrades, but in reality, it tends to be a difficult task.

[Sim]

The info i have seen the game will be 18slot max for Rank and 24slots for unranked.
I bet the so called "mod support" you can only use it on unranked like BF2/2142.

Unless things change BlackOps will stay on my do not buy list.

Maybe this will give the DDoS attackers a new target to go after and leave our data center alone for awhile.

[rustydusty1717]

I see it going belly up. GS already has horrible support and servers, and it's only going to get worse. Good luck to them, they are gonna need it!

[Edge100x]

I was thinking about this, and while a full-on lawsuit would be impractical, as a gamer, it might be worth filing a complaint with the FTC, if you believe that your rights are being trampled: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/. This is the sort of thing that they will investigate.

[BrendanG]

Maybe with enough people complaining about this it will change Activisions mind. I guess we will see.

[Edge100x]

If enough people complain, the FTC may initiate a full probe. FTC probes tend to get companies' attention.

[Sim]

The game would probably be dead by the time the FTC finally got around to initiating a full probe. Look at how long it took them to do something about Intel.

[Edge100x]

They were pretty darn quick with Apple -- starting a probe very early on, it sounds like: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/ ... nt-page-1/.

Even if the results do take some time, it could make a difference on the next title.

[K0NFUSION]

Chiming in late here, but from my experience you couldn't go any LOWER on the scale of GSP's. GameServers both, by far, failed at supportive customer service and having a reliable server.

Afterall, they're the cheapest for a reason... you pay for what you get.

If this goes through, which it looks like it is, I hope this will be a big flop and Activision-Blizzard will realize they can't do things like this in the online pc gaming world... Do what you will for consoles, but having the ability to choose different GSP's freely is a big part of what is nice about PC.

[rustydusty1717]

Ya, I call it a crash and burn. Hopefully after it does, they will allow any GSP to run the servers.