I thought I would post this to help bring it to everyone's attention. I will say I don't know the whole story and repercussions, and am reading up on the subject now, but I have a feeling this development could have a big effect on TG, and how our community chooses to play.

The story is, the recently released major title Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising released a couple weeks ago, but without the option for people to put up a dedicated server. If you have kept up with the release, there has been non-stop complaints from every forum I have read (I'm not a hoho, but I get around ) about how bad the multiplayer connection experience is with the game. A lot of people saying like the game, and say if you can get into a round, it can be a lot of fun. But they are also saying there are constant connection problems, trying to find friends can be almost impossible, etc. And the devs have said there are no plans for dedicated servers, even though a thread in the official forums has that pegged as the number one thing the community wants in a patch. Without it, a group like TG can't set up a server to play the way they enjoy it most, i.e. a mature way. You can't have a server set up to practice for a match or competition, etc. From what I have read it will also make it impossible to host a server for a mod, so something like Project Reality Mod will not happen with a game.

But to add to the story, Infinity Ward has just announced that their sure to be mega hit Modern Warfare 2 also won't have dedicated servers. These articles are from today:

No dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 PC; Infinity Ward to run matchmaking service
and
Death of dedicated servers for PC gaming at hand
and
Battlefield producer (indirectly) slams Modern Warfare 2 PC's multiplayer
and finally, the reason for me typing this whole thread:
Lack of dedicated servers in Modern Warfare 2 PC causes massive petition signing

In that final article, if you click on the picture it will take you here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_pe...d.cgi?dedis4mw

So far there are "82141 Total Signatures".

I am posting to get everyone here's thoughts on the subject, because maybe somehow there is an upside to this that I'm not seeing.

But I think we need to get as much of TG to sign as possible. I know a lot of full time regulars here at TG sometimes forget to check this General Forum on a regular basis, so it might be worth mentioning this thread in the IHS forums if you also think it is important that we are able to keep our own servers and run them the way TG enjoys playing them. We are a major community, and we can really add to the petition.

Again, feel free to discuss the pros and cons if you have any thoughts.