A Week of Headaches
This week has been all about servers it seems. From Ps3 to Xbox 360 we’ve been running down leads on issues all week and to be honest, server problems are the most frustrating, simply because they’re not handled by us and means it’s not a problem with the game we programmed, but with hardware malfunction of servers ran outside of Infinity Ward.
Regardless of the source of the problem and whether or not we run the servers, we work just as hard to resolve the issue. Regretfully though, since we don’t run the servers, the most we can do is ensure we’re working with our community to get feedback and keep that feedback going to the server teams (at Microsoft or at DemonWare), so that they can stay on top of the issues at hand and resolve as quickly as possible.
The biggest contributing factor to the frustration and headaches though is that my biggest annoyance is life is the use of excuses. The act of chalking up life’s problems to something beyond your control and therefore nothing you can do. I don’t believe in passing the buck, just as much I don’t believe in taking flack for something that is out of your control. What I do believe in, is truthful communication, identifying the source of the issue, but still working to address it in every way possible regardless.
Which is why I want to make it clear, simply because the servers having problems are out of our control, the means to resolving the issues is not and I will not use that as an excuse to do nothing. No bucks will be passed, as I would rather have a problem we can address directly ANY DAY over a problem I have to rely on someone else to address for me.
With that said…
PS3 Server Updates
Earlier this week, via this blog, Steve Pearce made a comment regarding the status of the Ps3 online matchmaking servers for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The DemonWare team has been working non-stop on troubleshooting and upgrading their servers this past week with the help of the PS3 community providing insightful feedback on their problems. The team rolled out a few major updates this past week, and we were seeing some minor improvements on connectivity.
Late last night / early this morning they rolled out another update to the servers as well as the smaller ones all this week. After this update I’m happy to say we saw a big improvement over the major issue they were having (a lot of users playing at the same time at peak hours). With this latest update we’ve noticed a 10% increase in users playing at the same time during peak hours with no major incidents or downtimes.
This is great news, because if the major issue has been addressed it will allow the DemonWare team to focus even more on the smaller occurrences and individual unique problems users may be experiencing. This in no way means the task is complete and improvements will stop on the server side, just means its a big step forward in the improvement of online play for the Ps3 version.
We’ve been getting a lots of reports of improved connectivity and matchmaking which I can vow for myself as I spent awhile last night playing online on the Ps3 version and didn’t run into any issues matchmaking or finding games. Ran into a few glitchers on Pipeline sneaking into pipes underground that I’m gonna have to talk with the level designer tomorrow about though. 
Xbox Live - Reports of Losing Rank
Over the holiday, Xbox reported record numbers of users online, which apparently resulted in some hiccups in their service (source: Xbox LIVE Holiday Performance) which we’re starting to notice some side effects as we’ve recently been seeing a surge of Customer Service calls, forum posts, and emails regarding lost rank online.
UPDATE: Fantastic news. Just got word from Microsoft’s LIVE team that they believe they’ve fixed the issue. It was apparently an SQL Storage Database issue which has been addressed.
If you experience any future problems with your rank, please let me know immediately so I can make them aware. This won’t correct any previously lost rank, however it will prevent it from happening any further.
On the PC Side, MOD TOOLS!
While the console side has been keeping me busy the most recently the PC side of things has a lot of cools stuff happening as well. The biggest is probably the fact that we’re closing in on the final version of the Mod Tools which means we’ll soon be releasing them to the community as a whole.
We’ve been having a Mod Tools beta over the last month (delayed by Holidays) with a few members of the PC community which were helping us test and optimize the tools based on their feedback. This past week we sent out the first release candidate to the small group of community testers which we hope will be the final version. If it is then we can expect to release the tools to the Modding / Mapping community as a whole very soon and start seeing some really cool Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare PC Mods being released.
They Wonder Why People Don’t Make PC Games Any More
On another PC related note, we pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer (which was fantastic). What wasn’t fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies (and that was only people playing online).
Not sure if I can share the exact numbers or percentage of PC players with you, but I’ll check and see; if I can I’ll update with them. As the amount of people who pirate PC games is astounding. It blows me away at the amount of people willing to steal games (or anything) simply because it’s not physical or it’s on the safety of the internet to do.
Closing Thoughts and Conclusions
It’s been a stressful week but thankfully an extremely productively one. We’re moving forward on all fronts and we’re still working hard on improving Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare well after launch. Did some take-home testing of the new feature patch that’s coming out and the grenade kill-cam never ceases to be awesome. Especially when you watch it fly through the air, through some tiny window, and land right at your feet. It’s still got a bit of testing to go through before it’ll finish certification, but it’s looking good. Still working on getting the EU Connectivity Patch out, next week should be a big one for that according to Production.
As always, feel free to let me know any questions or feedback you guys might have. I try to respond to every email (via the email contact on this blog) and reply to comments when I can. Thanks everyone for the continued support.
136 responses so far ↓
Joel // January 13, 2008 at 3:15 am
BRAVO Mr. fourzerotwo this blog post was a real good read. Before this game came out I heard an interview with Grant Collier stating that the team put all they had into this game to make it the best possible. Well you guys at IW certainly made the best game possible. But my question to you is if you guys knew you made the best game how could you not foresee this server issue coming??? I mean why didnt you guys get better servers from demonware (or even get them from somewhere else). I haven’t had a major server issue (thank god, maybe because I live near L.A.?) but a large percentage of your fans are getting major and minor issues with these servers every day. I’m now a huge fan of you guys cuz of this game but I just think it sucks that not everyone can enjoy this game that developers at Infinity Ward worked long and hard with just cause of these damn server issues.. Thanks again for the blog post fourzerotwo.
P.S. GO PACKERS!!!!!!!
Anonymous // January 13, 2008 at 3:20 am
me and a bunch of people just deranked terribly today, i lost about 14 hours worth of rank and all my headshots today
GOON360 // January 13, 2008 at 3:54 am
The 360 version of cod4 seems to be getting more stable every day, which is good. Can’t think of any issues that haven’t already been resolved or in the state of being addressed, so good work there.
Hoping the patch is delivered sometime this month… Can’t wait to see the new kill cams! Also, did the Canon come in yet??
Fourzerotwo // January 13, 2008 at 4:06 am
@ Joel: Thanks for the support Joel. I can honestly say that we prepared for the success as well we could. DemonWare has successfully hosted the Ps3 servers for many previously successful titles such as Call of Duty 3, and Tom Clancy titles with no major service issues.
I wish I could share the numbers with you, but Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is doing better than we could have ever expected with record numbers of people playing online than any previous title at one time on the PS3.
So the DemonWare team has been put to the task of dealing with an unprecedented amount of traffic at any given time.
We’re working through these launch jitters, and we’re fast on the track to smooth sailing though.
@anonymous: I’m sorry to hear that man, nothing as frustrating as lost time. Good news is we hear it’s been resolved. Wish there was a way to restore ranks.
@goon 360: No canon yet, I expect to have it on Monday. You’re gonna love the new kill cams. The Grenades are my favorite, M203’s are cool too if they travel a long ways.
Anonymous // January 13, 2008 at 4:40 am
anonymous again, its good to know the issue is fixed now, my rank went up sightly, so Im happy, but I feel really bad for the people who deranked 30 to 50 ranks, do you guys plan to help them out a little *cough double xp week cough* lol, but you guys are making great games keep it up, it sucks you guys are not making cod 5
CJACKW // January 13, 2008 at 9:44 am
nice post,you should do a week in review every week. That would kick ass…i love the game and i cant wait for the patch to come out, the sniper rifles are starting to piss me off haha.. oh yeah,are you guys working on any DLC?
Amadeus 07 // January 13, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Hey, can you comment on whether infinity ward will be designing Call of Duty 5 or 6? Is Treyarch or another group going to be making 5 while IW moves on to 6?
-Just a wondering fan.
Fourzerotwo // January 13, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Hey Amadeus 07 -
Regretfully I can’t talk about what we’re working on just yet. It’ll be a while before I can do that or give any confirmations on any rumors.
At the moment we’re just focused on improving Call of Duty 4 and coming up with cool concepts for future updates or any possible DLC for it.
Mario eRa // January 13, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for the update.
The COD4 servers on the 360 are alot better today. Havent had any trouble.
-www.360battles.com-
Antigone05 // January 13, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Good honest post there, great to read. Im going to forward your post onto my site for all the COD4 nutters.Information is key!
Is there any date for the 360 basic update? or is it going to be 1 full update with maps + so forth?i know your asked it more than you would like..even a month..ballpark?
Thanks from honestxboxhype.blogspot.com
Amadeus 07 // January 14, 2008 at 12:05 am
Alright, thanks for the reply. I’m a big fan, I read ur blogs and am on the charlieoscardelta site. Haha. when I got in the beta in the first wave lotto I was jumping around with joy, I’ve had so many good times with CoD4. Oh, and I’ve tried adding you as a friend but I think you friends list is full or something, anyways my gamertag is:
Amadeus 07
I’d love to play a few matches with you if you have some time. Peace
TRE // January 14, 2008 at 12:22 am
hey FourZeroTwo i’ve heard you mention DLC a couple times once in a xbox forum you said you had some really cool stuff coming can you tell us about any of it yet or when you think you will be able to?? THANX
Anonymous // January 14, 2008 at 1:32 am
When is the update gonna be finished?
Joel // January 14, 2008 at 2:39 am
I’m seeing all these comments about DLC and Updates, will the Ps3 be getting the same treatment as the 360?
Rhino // January 14, 2008 at 3:58 am
fourzerotwo, i understand from your latest blog that the server issues are out of your hands, but do you have any idea when this issue will be resolved for the 360? i have been lagging all week
Beninem // January 14, 2008 at 4:25 am
I feel your pain with the servers Mr. Bowling, as I too have very similar issues. It seems no matter how robust a system you put together there is always a way it can break. The best you can do is try to minimize the damage and be ever vigilant.
So given the problems you are having with the console servers do you have plans to implement a similar tracking system for PC? It seems this would be too much of a headache and given the rather disconcerting PC hacker/cracker numbers. Do you see tracking PC stats adding much value to the PC version (i.e. will it make people buy it?)
Anonymous // January 14, 2008 at 4:28 pm
The PS3 version has run worse ever since the patch that hit about a month ago. Sad considering it was supposed to “fix” the game in some way. Before that patch lag was a rare event for me playing on the PS3 version. Now it’s a rare event to find a game thats not laggy.
Bogard // January 14, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Please don’t stop making PC games IW–we still love you–and your sales *must* be better than Epic’s
TRE // January 14, 2008 at 9:25 pm
um to the DA who posted about the pirated 360 games first you can’t burn that to play on the 360 with out modding it and if you mod your 360 you can’t play online….THINK YOU DA
Anonymous // January 14, 2008 at 9:34 pm
you can play online with a modded console
since tens of thousands pirated cod4 on the 360 and pc does this mean the ps3 is going to get the most games made for it
tre // January 15, 2008 at 12:03 am
umm the ps3 is the easiest to hack i have a ps3 and i use burned games on it. the 360 has sensors when you log on that basically check the “system” and notices if it is modded and microsoft bans your console i know my friend tryied it, and the ps3 basically asks for mods i has a ps2 that was modded to although i think most people did lol
Steevo // January 15, 2008 at 9:17 am
Great blog, only just found the link to it, suffice to say, I’ll be checking back often!!
You’ve most likely answered this elsewhere, but I was interested to know if your goodselves will be keeping COD4’s superb multi-player fresh with additional maps, different gametypes etc.
Thanks
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 10:19 am
Considering stopping the development of pc-games:
There is one simple solution: pc-games have to be sold way more cheaper than today and the number of copies sold will increase and the number of downloads decrease.
It is plain simple but still a vicious circle.
The more expensive games are sold the more people will download games illegally and thus the prices will go up even higher because the companies have to compensate the loss.
But it does word the other way around!
The cheaper the games are sold the less people will download games and thus more copies are sold resulting in the fact that the companies will still have their fair amount of income.
Most games here in germany are sold at 55 €, that is 81,92 US$ !
Hell, for food and drinks for 1 week i only have to pay about 50 €, so 1 game costs me more than 1 week of eating and drinking!
And i am a grown-up, so consider all the teenagers who don’t have a job and their only income is the pocket-money they get from their parents.
Just think about it for 3 seconds, that’s all i want.
Thank you.
THOR // January 15, 2008 at 10:36 am
Please don’t stop making PC games. Ego shooters and playing in a clan is much more fun to me on the PC.
I wouldn’t mind if the copy protection would be more strict than it is today. I think selling through Valve’s Steam is a good step in the next generation. Or selling it as a personalized digital license. I’m not sure what is possible with that today. Nobody wants copy protection that bugs up a system, but I pay money for the games and I don’t mind having a copyright protection in place.
Keep up the good work, guys. Cod4 rocked.
Konsumkind // January 15, 2008 at 11:16 am
Well, I can tell you why there are so many people who donwloaded the game instead of buying it.
I payed 50€ for the game and only had about 4 Hours Fun with it. Sure, it’s a really really good game - no question! But I don’t play the MP and for just the SP 50€ is too much. And even wihtin the MP 35€ or 40€ would have been ok. I’m sure much more people would have bought the game at that price.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 11:40 am
I really wanted to know something because it forged the “bad” statistic imo.
I payed for the DL Version of CoD4 on Steam, and at release it was not cheap, but thats ok, because i know i pay for the license not for a physical box/dvd ect.
But the best thing is i have to use a modified exe to run the damn game, and no one did something about that i mailed xx times but no, i have still the damn (”game currently not available”
message, so tell me what would you do, in my case ?
Just to admit, the industry(publishers) has at least the same amount obligation as the potential “stealers” in this regard.
just think about it…just a hint, i love the licensing that uses Luxology Modo, because it is licensed to a person, so if this Version get’s in the inet, everyone knows who it was it(unless a cracker found another way..sure).
There are many layal payers out there but i get sometimes the feeling the industry is trying to kill the PC as gamer platform, and that has not really anything to do with leechers, but more that it’s so more easy to develop for a console because there is less risk in it, ah a sidenote, when tried the industry to risk something with a bit innovation?
…i payed for games allways and i will continue to do so, but don’t try to make out of everyone a potential “stealer”…
Dethpikabel // January 15, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Regarding the pirate users on PC - get onto EvenBalance and find out why pb_sv_guidrelax resets to 7 (no restrictions) every time the map changes - fix that and it should sort out at least some of the thieving gits.
Ben // January 15, 2008 at 1:27 pm
The BIG problem with PCs is the performance (or indeed compatability) cannot be guaranteed. I’ve bought games many moons ago that were unplayable on my PC. It’s just a lottery.
I think something similar to Vista’s system scoring so people can rank their system then buy a game that is guaranteed to perform to a playable standard on their machine. This would be a step towards coountering the casual downloader “just trying it out first, make sure it works” mentality.
hackmed // January 15, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I gotta say thats quite shocking, i always thought the amount of people playing COD4 online was a good indicator of how well PC games can sell. I thought you couldnt play online with an invalid cd key. Hope that gets resolved and results in alot more PC sales, when the pirates realise they cant play it online anymore maybe they will get off their arse and pay for it.
pc-gamer // January 15, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Make better games for god sake! We have seen “no brains” shooters so many times. If you make better games ppl wont download them tru torrents..
JJ/JL/Gawain // January 15, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Hi fourzerotwo.
I bought the game via Steam and I have to say those are the best 50 dollars I’ve ever spent in a very long time.
You guys did a really great job, both on solo and online modes and if there’s one game that really deserves 50 dollars, that’s CoD4.
Regarding the mod tools, that’s great news ! I’ve been waiting for them as I have some ideas in the back of my head that I would really like to see in a CoD4 Mod
Also, since you’re mentioning DLC, I was wondering if the same would apply to the PC version.
I’d really love to play through more solo campaigns and even though many people may not share my opinion, I will happily pay for them if it can guarantee the same quality as in the retail game.
Again, you guys are doing a great job. IW is doing a great job. Keep up the good work !
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 2:35 pm
If you can identify the key hackers, why cant you bann them through the masterserver?
My opinion is that if you like a game and spend hours with it you pay for it. Nobody wants to work for nothing…
So please continue making PC Games!
Kevin // January 15, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Nice, this answers so many complaints on the forums. Someone finally posted your URL, maybe you should sticky it, haha.
I haven’t had much of the issues others have, just connection issues (which are pretty much non-existent now for a week). Thanks again for your work and communication (despite what others say).
Can’t wait for Microsoft to certify the patch and the possible future patches and fixes!
- Kevin (Alpine)
RomSteady // January 15, 2008 at 4:57 pm
For “SiN Episodes: Emergence,” we sold ~200,000 units over the first year compared to over 1,000,000 downloads off of a single Russian torrent in the first four months.
For the Xbox 1 console games I worked on, we had ~500,000 units sold and the only Russian torrent we could find had downloads in the low four-digit range.
It’s sad when people spend over $1,000 on a machine and then feel entitled to steal their $50 games.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 6:04 pm
You can fight againt illegal filesharing servers, release groups and other pirates, but you only anger the innocent user with copy protection and other nonsense and threaten to destroy the pc, really nice, christian and wonderful, Bush will be proud on you,little american.
Every costumer is your friend and not your enemy, be nice and do not use copy protection or steam or registration and the honest costumer is happy.
The only way against piracy is
hunting the pirates, accusing release groups and the thiefs of prerealese DVD-Rom’s and destroying the servers and the problem is solved.
When the pc is gone, the pirates will search for new hunting grounds, PS3, Xbox 360 or else.
Sure, romesteady,”SiN Episodes: Emergence” uses STEAM and so you can not copy it,lie elsewhere, you liar, and downloading something does not mean, that you would have bought, you liar.
My english is bad, but my
my mind is honest, free and idealistic.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 6:10 pm
RomSteady,
those the units that sold does Includs
the units that sold on steam?
ho,and but the way
how match call of duty 4 for the PC has been sold?
Sebastian // January 15, 2008 at 6:16 pm
anonymous,
Steam games have been cracked. Don’t accuse people of lying when you don’t know anything about the subject at hand.
Piracy is due to the convenience of downloading stuff for free. The perceived cost of downloading a single game is low (since the chance that you would actually go out and buy that game if you couldn’t download it is less than 100%, maybe 20% or so), and the ease of doing it with impunity is great.
Anti-piracy meassures are extremely important. You really don’t want Joe Schmoe copying the game to his buddies. If you force people to visit shady web sites to download cracks you’ve already won a little bit.
Though I agree that it’s difficult to stop piracy unless you’re an online-only game (like World of Warcraft). The solution is to simply not develop for the PC. Sorry PC gamers, but that’s the harsh truth. And no I don’t mean “realease for consoles too”, I mean cut the PC market off completely. The attitude of “Why should I buy it for my Xbox 360 when I can get it for free on the PC?” is extremely common. I would guess that the overall sales would be higher without the PC SKU.
Modding a console is a substantial undertaking (which voids the warranty), and not something most people will do even if possible. And with a closed platform like that it’s at least theoretically possible to make it hack-proof, especially if you combine it with digital distribution.
Joel // January 15, 2008 at 6:28 pm
uh oh………looks like the word is out about your blog 402. Your comments section is starting to resemble the charlieoscardelta forums. : (
You’ve been averaging no more than 10 comments per blog entry, your almost at 40 comments here…..
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 6:35 pm
402 - Question: Will we ever see some updated maps for the PC version, ala this rather popular thread on the IW forums?
http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=6271.45
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Regarding piracy: And you wonder why people have been complaining from time to time about their keys being in use.
Obviously if a high number of people are using pirated copies with a keygen, there IS a possibility the key generated is one already legitimately in use.
That the legit paying customer is the one to suffer in this circumstance is very disappointing. Not that IW is doing anything different than other current developers in this regard, just that… they aren’t doing anything different than other current developers.
See back in the day you could provide proof of ownership and the developer would send you another copy in exchange for your current one, and they would simply ban the old key.
Another obvious, and even simpler solution, involves the legit owner providing proof and their IP address and IW can see in the auth server logs where the other attempts were coming from and ban those IPs.
Lots of options really, a number of which would be extremely successful in both curbing piracy and protecting legit customers. Maybe consider implementing one alongside the next patch?
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 6:39 pm
If that link cut off it was
http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/
index.php?topic=6271.45
franken // January 15, 2008 at 7:16 pm
concerning software piracy: why dont you find a way to make it impossible to crack dvds or cdroms? i’m sure there are possibilities to stop all those a……s unwilling to pay for their favourite hobby. i’m a pcgamer from heart and can’t stand all those good games coming only on consoles. Get them and let them pay for stealing your products. every honest pcgamer will understand and encourage you. bye!
Skie // January 15, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Uh, so if you know the keys that have been stolen or are used for pirate copies, instead running a query and having some more drama about “lost sales” why not just, you know, block those keys from playing online?
Most games dont allow online play without a valid cdkey, so allowing pirates to play was just IW removing one of the main reasons they would have bought the game in the first place.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I also thought you couldn’t play online without a valid cd-key. Maybe you need to be more restrictive in allowing invalid cd-keys to play in MP.
Chad Michel // January 15, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Thanks for keeping the community informed of problems.
Peter // January 15, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Sorry to hear about the piracy numbers, even if you can’t share the exact details.
I’m a proud *genuine* owner of both the Xbox 360 and PC versions.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Eventho I feel for developers when it comes to pirate versions, I can actually understand some people stealing on the internet.
When a game costs twice as much as in the past, with WAY less content and fun, and in a poor DVD box with nothing else then a small book, well yea I feel bad.
I used to buy a box with maps and what not in there for half the price, sure the game wasn’t AS nice graphically, but they lasted way longer and we had more fun. How long do you spend on CoD4 and how long did you need to go through, let’s say Police Quest?
well I needed 4 hours in veteran mode for CoD4 and honestly, spending $80 for a game I will enjoy maybe 12 hours if I replay the game, well it’s a lot of cash.
Sure CoD4 is cool, but for people who don’t play online it’s just not worth the cash.
I do feel for you developers, but maybe you should go back to think about WHY it is like that and what can be done to change this.
eroc19 // January 15, 2008 at 10:17 pm
fourzerotwo,
Nice job on the blog, beta updates way back last August, and everything else you’ve done for the community. It’s sad to hear that people are pirating this game so much. Heck, it’s sad when people pirate any game that the developers believed in and worked hard on, but especially so when the game is of such good quality.
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 10:24 pm
boooo fucking hoooooo
you cant even give a number yet you cry its so big? if its a big number, than say it or give an estimation. like 10 - 15%, 30 - 50% just SOMETHING.
what i really dont get, beside the bitching, why dont make an online game “safer” (for you)? other company’s did it, why cant you? just a cd key and if another one wants to log in when its already in use -> he cant, already in use!
a key on the internet? -> ban!
how tough can that be? the real reason why no one wants to buy pc games, NO innovation.
better graphics? WHO CARES? i dont wanna buy a new pc for every new “engine”. i would buy a great game or a remake of a game which was great. and i mean a real remake and not that shit speedball 2 wannabe remake bugy deluxe. (couldnt get the demo really running because of the fucked up controller setup!)
i’m still playing cs 1.6 and so many more. that says alot!
learn from your own mistakes and stop complaining about others.
another thing, stop waisting alot of money into “copy protection” for cd / dvd’s. its just annoying and so far, i’ve never seen a satisfing result “besides” pissing off the real costumers! (ok i am not up to date but really…
ps: just because someone (really not me, i couldnt care less about bad games) downloading games (multiplayer or not) and playing it, doesnt mean they would buy it when its not downloadable.
Sam // January 15, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Hi,
just wanted to say that the reson for so much crackusers out there, are the fullprice betas which are out there. So much computer games are bugged as hell and cost the full price, just because the publishers can patch it afterwards…this makes much real pc players angry, i think.
But for sure games like cod4 don’t deserve that.
PS:
Look at games like the Final Fantasy Series, they are so fucking big and it’s realy hard to find hard bugs. How can that be?
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 11:53 pm
As for piracy issues on PC, I don’t think anyone can argue with you about that.
But, here’s a funny little thing:
COD4 has been unavailable for 1 month, or so. It’s nowhere to be found, on any shop, physical or virtual, in Portugal, that is.
Seriously, it’s depressing. I WANT to buy the game, but I just can’t. On Steam, I checked the price, and it’s a “sweet” 84$… which is more expensive than buying the game at retail (yes, even with the currency exchange).
Really sucks! Especially since the PC version is 20€ cheaper than the X360 and PS3 versions. I’d buy it anyday… if I could get my hands on it…
Anonymous // January 15, 2008 at 11:57 pm
PS:
I have to agree with the anti-copy-protection crowd. It’s just so sweet to be able to play without the CD/DVD right after install. Relic did it with Company Of Heroes. Loved it
And yes, I do own the original, bought at full price. Hard to be happier, though. Really great game
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 12:06 am
Hi, Im sad you guys are having so much trouble with pirates.. but I was thinking.. is there anyway to create a login system for future games.. much like MMO games have where you create an account, that account is bound to your key.. with a secret phrase if someone steals your key.. Then you could ban the accounts trying to activate a known ilegal key.
Just my thoughts.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 12:48 am
Maybe next time don’t use a different pricing on Steam between US and Europe. That’s ridiculous and why I didn’t buy the game.
ThE_MarD // January 16, 2008 at 12:50 am
Heyyo,
I myself have a legit cdkey which I bought. And I love the game’s singleplayer. Multiplayer is definitely an improvement over cod2, but I find the helis and the jets an annoyance since it’s awarded to the best players on the server.. not the WORST who need the MOST amount of help in order to keep the game entertaining for all. A great example of game balancing is Mario Kart 64. When in the lead you got single bananas and green shells which were half useless.. whilst the guy in the back got stars and lighting bolts, and blue shells which would hunt the leader. It gave that guy losing a fighting chance to come back.. right now COD4 is about using grenade launchers, or rocketlaunchers and blasing a few guys, then using the heli to auto-rape, then use airstrikes on the team that’s losing so they can’t even run out of their spawnpoints without dying.. and the heli and jets add to their kill streak allowing them to get helis and jets even easier.. further unbalancing the games… the autosniper 50 cal river is also extremely annoying since it’s so damn accurate…. so yeah, I may own a legit key, but the multiplayer balancing is preventing me from truly enjoying the game, and a bit of work needs to be done.. either make it so helis and jets don’t add to kill streak, or give them to the losing team’s lowest scoring players so they can at least achieve something when they’re really holding back the team.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 2:44 am
Please fix the NO TAGS issue. It continues to plague online play via the PC. Too often a player shows up with no tags.
thanks.
Rick // January 16, 2008 at 3:02 am
Hi Fourzerotwo,
Just wanted to say, this is some excellent communication. I would love to see this level of comm. about server problems and other issues available in an interactive forum for the other games I’ve played.
frostyrox // January 16, 2008 at 3:09 am
I’d like to make a counter-arguement to your comments about the PC Gaming Scene and Pirating your games.
1. COD4 PC was released with plenty bugs. I’m assuming this has a lot to do with the fact COD4 was probably dev’d for xbox 360 or ps3 first, then ported over to PC. Also the fact that Nvidia and Ati releases 50 tiers of videocards every year - only 2-3 of these cards actually can make current games run like they do on a ps3/xbox360.
2. PC Gamers need a good system top to bottom which costs a considerable amount of money. Also keep in mind there is no universal, quality keyboard/mouse combo for gamers like ps3/xbox users have. All they have to do is buy a controller once - we have to buy 100 mice before we get one that feels right.
3. The reality is that a lot of people who pirate games or movies are pirating something they either a) can’t justify paying for or b) just don’t have the money to buy; so you can’t even count a lot of them as a “loss” to your profits.
I’m not trying to say piracy is right, or that Infinity Ward is to blame for piracy. I’m saying the PC Gaming Scene is unrealistically expensive for the average person, and Nvidia/ATi’s inflated nickel-dime-to-death tiers aren’t helping. Neither is a retail copy of Windows costing as much as a console. Piracy isn’t right, but why is all *this* right?
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 4:20 am
give a mouse and keyboard useable combo for the xbox 360 version and you can stop dev all day long for all I care. I will never give up the mouse keyboard combo.
As for piracy, You need to create a login like bf2 to match your cdkey with and then your good to go. This will also make it easier to catch known hackers because your game is tied to your account. Also at the same Time it will stop alot of the stupid idiot names in the game that drive me crazy as well.
justaCODlover // January 16, 2008 at 4:57 am
I just bought this game but I play Arma too. They have a thing were if you log into a server with a crackedkey you’re automatically banned. Surely you can implement this in a patch! I really hope so, because I paid for the priviledge to play with others who also payed as customers, otherwise next time I’ll just stay away.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 5:03 am
maybe people pirate games because they’re p1ssed at the idea of forking over 50 bucks for a game that lasts only 7-8 hours. I remember a while ago when you could easily get 25-30 hours of game play from a game. now you’re lucky to get half that. graphics are nice, but content is sometimes better…
McFurbolg // January 16, 2008 at 6:10 am
I just don’t get the complaints about games being too expensive. Doesn’t it all depend on how long you can wait? As with so many things in life: be patient and you’ll be rewarded.
Just keep your eyes peeled for special offers or low-cost re-releases. You’ll be amazed. Prices for most games do sink considerably in a relatively short timespan. If you’re not a hardcore gamer who needs “tHe neWesT sTufF” like a heroin fix, you’ll do just fine.
See, I’m not the wealthiest person, but I don’t like to steal from anyone. So I bought “Titan Quest”, “SWAT 4″, “Prey”, “Rb6 Vegas”, to name just a few, each for just about 20 bucks, about one year after they initially came out. Found “Dawn of War” in Germany for a ridiculous 5€ (!) right off the rummage table… excellent game, had fun for months at the price of a pack of cigarettes. Best thing was that all the nice patches, updates, maps, mods, were already waiting for me online.
The paradox is, games don’t just get cheaper if you wait longer, they also get better. If you can’t afford CoD4 right now, how about buying it next year when it comes at half the price. See, you’ll probably get a bug-free game by then, the company will get its money to make more great games and everyone will be happy.
Hell, stop whining and try USED games for a change. So many people out there want to get rid of those christmas presents they never wanted or got twice. You’ll even find current titles for as low as $10. Just look ‘em up on eBay, a local second-hand store or whatever. I own a collection of 200 games for PC and PS2, all of them originals, many used ones. Paid for each and every one of them like a good citizen — but *never* more than 20 bucks. That’s my policy. One close-fisted Scot, huh?
McFurbolg // January 16, 2008 at 6:12 am
I just don’t get the complaints about games being too expensive. Doesn’t it all depend on how long you can wait? As with so many things in life: be patient and you’ll be rewarded.
Just keep your eyes peeled for special offers or low-cost re-releases. You’ll be amazed. Prices for most games do sink considerably in a relatively short timespan. If you’re not a hardcore gamer who needs “tHe neWesT sTufF” like a heroin fix, you’ll do just fine.
See, I’m not the wealthiest person, but I don’t like to steal from anyone. So I bought “Titan Quest”, “SWAT 4″, “Prey”, “Rb6 Vegas”, to name just a few, each for just about 20 bucks, about one year after they initially came out. Bought “Dawn of War” in Germany for a ridiculous 5€ (!) right off the rummage table… excellent game, had fun for months at the price of a pack of cigarettes. Best thing was that all the nice patches, updates, maps, mods, were already waiting for me online.
The paradox is, games don’t just get cheaper if you wait longer, they also get better. If you can’t afford CoD4 right now, how about buying it next year when it comes at half the price. See, you’ll probably get a bug-free game by then, the company will get its money to make more great games, everyone will be happy.
Hell, stop whining and try USED games for a change. So many people out there want to get rid of those christmas presents they never wanted or got twice. You’ll even find current titles for as low as $10. Just look ‘em up on eBay, a local second-hand store or whatever. I own a collection of 200 games for PC and PS2, all of them originals, many used ones. Paid for each and every one of them like a good citizen — but *never* more than 20 bucks. That’s my policy. One close-fisted Scot, huh?
McFurbolg // January 16, 2008 at 6:13 am
Sorry for the double post, dude.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 6:16 am
But just because you think the game isn’t worth your money doesn’t mean you should pirate it. If the game isn’t worth your money, don’t buy it. Don’t pirate it. Have nothing to do with it.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 6:44 am
I will pirate a game to try it out if they don’t release a demo of the game that works or is of MP type. I think you guys made the mistake of not releasing a 1 or 2 map MP demo for the PC. Some people will download the games, and play them, like them, but will be like “i don’t need to buy it I guess if it works”. Instead if you put a simple demo out, they like it, they will go buy the game. Maybe not all but I bet alot more will legitly. Personally I will do this, but if I like a game I will go buy it, and if not delete it and move on. MP demo is much needed for PC.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 6:49 am
Hello all. I would like to put short note about all this pirate’ing staff. 1st of all - from what I see, i mean selling charts, CoD4 for PC is still selling great, beating even WoW ( which is there for amazeing amount of time , so I don’t know why you are worried about piracy. Piracy was and will be around for long time. 4ever? You must see one thing : good product will sell good always. I must admit: I was playing in pirated copy of CoD4 for about week. Then I came to store and bought own copy, and I’ve started to gain perks once again. Why? It is simple : IT IS GOOD GAME, WORTH MONEY. So…good product will sell good anyway.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 7:43 am
Because I’m really going to pay US$90 on steam for it……………. and no I haven’t pirated it, I’ve just decided to avoid activision games until they come to their senses on prices in Australia. (Was about to buy it before the price changed from US$50 to US$90.)
Mortis // January 16, 2008 at 8:39 am
Hey fourzerotwo just wanted to encourage you to release those numbers you took about the people that play online, should be interesting to see those.
I so looking forward to the new map editor for cod4 might even finish a map this time
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 9:35 am
There wouldn’t be so many cracked servers if the connection wait timeout issue would be taken care earlier.
I know a few people who bought the game, but switched there server to “cracked” or private, just to be able to connect without problems.
So I believe the numbers of stolen online players is not quit right.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 11:57 am
I was going to get this for the PC but when I saw that Activision turned up the price here in Norway (and other places) on Steam compared to USA (70$ vs 50$), I had to say no. It would have costed me less to buy the game in USA and get it shiped here then buy it digitally distributed?? Something is wrong here and I refused to pay Activision money to act this way. (According to Steam Activision sat the price)
trexmaster // January 16, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I’m a european gamer.
I understand your … frustration … to see your work pirated.
But try to understand mine :
- Amazon US sells COD4 new for 50 USD but won’t ship to France
- Amazon FR sells COD4 new for 55 €
- considering the exchange rate (approx. 1.47USD=1€) that gives us a converted price of 80.85 USD for Amazon FR -_-
Wouldn’t you feel like you’re being robbed ? I sure do, and I’m sure a lot more people too.
The next time, when you set the price for your game, keep in mind that players who have access to the internet are, for the most part, educated people who have access to information like exchange rate, and that these people will realize when you take advantage of your position to prevent them from benefitting of the effects of the “free market”.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I just can’t believe an industry of talented people can’t figure a way on how to beat the majority of hackers. I understand everything can and will be hacked. Just like a previous person posted about “when the pc goes away, xbox and ps3 will be the next victims.”
I agree with a previous poster about a login like an MMO. You have a login for a particular cd key that is tied to your name and multiple people can’t use your key. In order to play the person needs to register the game with a main server (your company. If 2 keys are used at the same time then automatically ban the key and have that individual contact to see what happen. You can always verify their address and phone number during their registration process. Dump the key if they are legit and issue them a new key. There has to be some kind of way to stop the pirates.
I also agree that the single player game was very short for the 50.00 US price tag, even though that time was very pleasing. Great content, graphics and AI, but too short.
dazKind // January 16, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Seriously, COD4 didnt tease me at all. Im tired of all these nextgen games. The formula is always the same: Take old concept, new graphics, add 1 or 2 twists to the concept and add a storyline(optional). Innovation is nowhere to be seen. Seriously, Im a gamer from the start, but you cant tease me with the same challenges/concepts like you could 10 years ago.
I want fresh meat. Nowadays I find myself playing all those genres I have ignored for several years only to find myself get teased and excited again.
And about piracy: man, it’s not like you didnt knew that piracy existed. It came into existance the very day when this industry was born. Every gamedeveloper has to accept the fact it exists. In the time of Web 2.0, online distribution and personal customization you cant argue that the traditional way of developing and selling a game is the only possible way. I think the current business model is so flawed, it could only last for so long because it was supported by 3rd party software/hardware for copy protection etc. If that doesnt work anymore(punkbuster, anyone?) then you should finally get thinking.
my 2 cents.
Ton van der Linden (NL) // January 16, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Thanks for another great COD title!
It’s the kids and parents that have to be better informed on the issue of piracy. A lot of them just don’t know that copying software is just as much a crime as it is stealing from a store. In the Netherlands (2006) a campain was started, noting that you can get a
400 Euro fine for every piece of illegal software that you own.
Justice started bringing down the major distributers, informing the public and put out a big warning to all public places accross the country. Unfortunatly this campain had a pollitical undertone and is now as dead as the statements of the party that started it. While it was in affect, it did a good job, making a lot of people aware that had no idea what was going on before. We need the governement to stand up and deal with this issue! It can make a difference…..
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Your comment is like saying “there are a lot of people stealing stuff from my house” but you failed to lock the door….
If you know it’s a pirated key and you allow it to play MP then you are shooting yourself in the foot.
SP is nice but IMHO what made COD stand out is the MP gameplay.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Sebastian,
Cut PC gaming off and you kill PC and much of the rich gaming culture their is. I am one of those old gamers, with steady work and good income. I buy generally a few games per month. Some are nice some are not. I can’t be bothered with cracked things this cracked things that. However, I do refuse to take it up my nackside and avoid the nasty DRM’s and copy protections that makes it harder for me, a paying cutomer to enjoy a game. I don’t want to connect here and there sign in there to do this, say this to do that. I am tired after work, want to have a good time to relax and want to play, like now.
I do own a 360 unit have some games for it, last bought… er beginning last year. Why? Cause I don’t like the controls, nor the console average game quality that I feel is less then on par with PC gaming. My genre’s are IMO best played on the PC and my PC flies and puts the 360 gaming well behind. If consoled will be all there is to gaming, I can kick the habit. Did so when the C64 died out and can easily do that again. I won’t like to have to do it and for some years I can replay many of the old classics and well, there are always books around…
Kill PC gaming and you will loose a large quantity of the paying gamers. I don’t care for the kiddies that download games that developers and releasers diehardly promote as the best next-gen this or that that they must have hav ehave. Welll, most kiddies don’t make enough money so the media-monsters they are, they download it because with sooo many games out now adays, so many are bound to be disapointments. COD isn’t a disapointments so in this case I feel sorry for the developers.
Oh and Sebastian… most consoles are cracked now adays too and you can pretty much download huge amounts of games to them as well. You just shift foot to stand on because you shot off the foot instead of taking it to the doctor.
Bryan // January 16, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Hello There,
I would just like to say that I have purchased CoD4 because unlike 75% of the other games released in the last 6 months it is not riddled with bugs. It is a well done game!
I had previously given up on PC gaming after trying Gears of War, Lost Planet etc. There is no place for xbox 360 controls in a PC game. All this lousy porting has really turned me off gaming. Getting stuck in objects, game crashes, saved data getting deleted. Surround sound not implemented correctly to be enabled without digging through configuration files.
I don’t buy any games anymore without trying them out at a friends first as most games right now are worth about a days pay for me and they are awful as detailed in the former paragraph.
To sum it up I am sure that there are a lot of other PC gamers in the same boat these days. We have $1000+ systems, some multi-monitor configurations and Home theatre sound systems. It sucks to buy something for $60 bucks and it won’t even start without crashing. So good for you for releasing a game that is stable, well thought out and doesn’t have xbox 360 button graphics in it! If game makers made stable releases like yours into a trend I think many more people would buy them. CoD4 is the type of game you buy after you play even if you have a copied version.
I would be interested in seeing how many illegal cd keys ended up stopping use because they have bought the game. It would be a bit hard to track. You have to take into consideration the newer illegal copies getting installed too. I personally know quite a few that have moved in that way from illegal to legal copy!
So I applaud you in your efforts and that you created a good game. Please continue to!
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I too bought COD4 - but there are some very valid comments here about it that I feel should be pointed out to you as a developer.
1. The cost of games - lately are getting out of control. Why are digitally distributed games as much as one I would buy at a store that comes with a disk, case and manual? Surely the cost of a digitally distributed game should be less and this really needs to be passed onto the consumer.
2. The quality of games - has quite frankly gone down hill. Some are just terrible games, others are bug ridden. And Devs wonder why people would rather download it than buy it. $60 is alot of money, some people want to make sure the game isn’t a dud or bug ridden. If the game was tested properly and released as a proper finished product I’m sure your sales would increase.
3. On security - if piracy is such an issue with PC games, why not use a medium like Steam? Valve doesn’t have problems with piracy. Don’t blame the people stealing the game, take some responsibility and use a system like Steam which will address piracy issues. Problem solved.
4. Consider this. Some of those illegal copies are people that just cannot afford or would never be able to purchase the game in the first place. So while it would mean less players, I don’t think it would affect sales. Developers believe every pirated copy is one less sale, thats not necessarily true. Someone that truely cannot afford it wouldn’t play it anyways if they had to buy it. Now, that person playing an illegal copy may just like it enough to tell all his buddies and in the long run you sell copies through word of mouth. Either way, what needs to be understood is that not every illegal copy is a lost sale. (this is the same in the music industry as well but the RIAA hard heads could never understand that either)
Vash108 // January 16, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I paid for the game and thought it worth the money. I do not pirate games and am proud of it. Keep up the good work and you will keep earning my money and respect as a developer.
Scalptrash // January 16, 2008 at 4:11 pm
The PC version DESPARATELY NEEDS A BUDDY LIST!!!!!
Otherwise, awesome game! Best $50 spent in a very long time, thank you!
Don’t forget, there are true/honest PC gamers that appreciate all of the talent and hard work that goes into a game like this and are more than happy to pay for it. You may be losing money on the pirated copies, but you are still making money on the legit copies, quite a bit, I might add! No console can touch a PC in gameplay or performance and before someone tries to argue that, I’ve got two words for you; keyboard and mouse.
Looking forward to an expansion pack and will happily pay for it, please don’t disappoint!
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I think IW need to beef up their anti piracy measures rather than expect people to pay for the game if they have a simple choice of not doing so. It would never occur to me to pay for something I can get for free or to wonder whether its illegal or not. If I didn’t download it for free then I certainly wouldn’t buy it, so you’re not losing any sales. This has nothing to do with the cost of the game or level of income, I can afford to buy whatever I want, but I’d still rather download for free where possible. Cracking groups will almost always find a way around controls so the only thing you can do is make things as difficult as you can for casual pirates and hope for the best. Ironically and as usual, life is much easier as a pirate than it sounds if you bought the game. I also find it hard to believe that nobody here has ever pirated a game. What a truly virtuous readership you have…
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 4:41 pm
It’s been asked quite a few times why digitally distributed versions of the game can’t be cheaper than the retail. While I’m by no means an expert in the field, having worked at a few of these retail outlets I can tell you that the companies behind these outlets have a lot of pull behind them and they, more than anyone else, are pushing to ensure that digital downloads stay at a similar pricing scheme to retail outlet offerings.
The reason is quite simple: if digital downloads become significantly cheaper than their retail counterparts, folks will lose the motivation to purchase retail, hence the brick & mortar folks lose out big time (because as everyone knows, when that consumer steps through the doors, there’s always a chance to sell him or her much more than just the intended product). This trend can actually be seen by the digital music “revolution.” Folks now have the flexibility to purchase tracks or whole albums for a fraction of the price at retail (and depending on what provider you use, they are now DRM-free (like Amazon and Walmart)).
This in turn has led to a dramatic decrease in retail music sales. The ones who hurt most from this are of course retail outlets. So again, I’m no expert but I can tell you what I’ve seen within the industry and as long as the retailers have something to say about digital distribution prices, they’ll remain at a roughly equivalent price range.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Regarding piracy - as unfortunate as it is, it should come as no surprise. It’s been said many ways by many wise and observant people before us: human nature dictates that if someone has the opportunity to do something wrong (or convenient) without getting caught, they will do it. Human nature further dictates that someone walking a grey line will ultimately justify their actions on feigned ignorance. There are those exceptions that go against the grain but unfortunately, it is just that: the exception.
Personally, I purchased my copy of COD4 via Steam so it’s legit (I actually love Steam, given I can take my game library anywhere I want and simply install a localized copy without having to create copies or take my originals with me - and they are already patched up and working). Sides, I’m one of the few folks around my area that absolutely HATES retail packaging - I have game manuals, doodads and various maps and other crap for games dating as far back as the 90’s (Everquest, Quake, Falcon 3.0 (god that was a huge manual), IBM Flight Sim, Diablo, etc) and I don’t even play the games anymore!
For PC they’ve gotten better, as some use the DVD-type case with either a thin manual or a PDF on the disk itself. But still, there’s the countless coupons and “discounted” offers from advertisers that I just don’t care about, and the actual packaging itself (including the disks), which for anyone that gives two cents about the environment knows WILL eventually end up either in a landfill or a recycling center. Not for me; gimmie electronic downloads with the flexibility of Steam (localized installs, automatic updating, PDF manuals, backup copies, offline capabilities) and I’m a happy customer.
As for those who would justify stealing or condone the actions of those doing it because of increased pricing and reduced packaging (which, I think is a good thing for the environment): I find it’s the equivalent of declaring that I will no longer pay for food but instead steal it from the supermarket; because after all, I’m paying almost twice the amount my parents did back in the day and I’m getting MUCH less for that price increase.
Mind you I’m not disagreeing in regards to pricing schemes: (legit) digital downloads could be cheaper, given the lack of packaging; however, I’m not going to justify two wrongs by stealing the product either. If I REALLY want the product, I’ll simply wait until it’s on sale, an expansion pack comes out (usually driving the price of the original game down) or until it’s in the bargain bin. Sure I might miss out on the surge of MP servers and players available to me, but if the game is good enough, there will always be enough of a player-base to maintain a healthy online presence (UT2 is still going strong even with UT3 out).
Finally, I just wanna give the dev team a HUGE “thank you” for making such a great game. Single player was spectacular, tho a tad bit short - but MP mode does make up for it.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Its not about the cost of the games, or my ability to afford the game, I’d rather pirate it because its much much easier than buying it…The copy of Half Life 2 I downed years ago was meant to be steam only but was cracked to play offline, so I think it is possible to play steam games cracked. The guy above who mentioned about people who own the 360 and pc choosing to download the pc version for free was spot on in his comments. The choice of being able to download the game on PC for free has stopped me from buying the game on any platform format which I own (All of them!) I was going to get it on 360 or PS3, but 1. reviews I saw never mentioned which version looked better and also seemed to say that 2. the play time was really low single player and I don’t even play multi player on any game.
You’ll be happy to know that instead of downloading it for free, I just haven’t been bothered to buy it/play it.
It never occured to me that retail games might run low on supply. LOL. That’s like a written invitation to pirate PC games, spritzed with a classy scent and with a couple of sweets in the envelope. I don’t know anybody who buys PC games…They presumably do exist tho. Somewhere. Either that or Activision just made a silly amount of copies of it. The only console which isn’t pirated is PS3 because its Blu Ray. The Xbox 360 is pirated loads as was the original Xbox and the PS2. People who have used a mod chip before know very well that after the inital cost, everything is free so why not just do that?? It makes good fiscal sense.
meitemark // January 16, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Just a few notes on the “piracy” problem you claim of.
I’ll not claim that I know what everybody else does. I dont. I do however know how I do it, and i know most of my friends follow roughly the same suit.
Usually at first I buy the game, but (if said product is not downloadabel from the creators site)then later on, I get the “pirated” version, and a proper crack to play it with. Why? Well, to forget the hassle with disks and media. So far today I have played battlefield 2, and I suppose I will play some CnC3 as well. Im playing the pirated versions, but I have all the legit keys. I can acctually admit that i do have the pirated version of CoD4 on my computer, but not the legit key. Why? For test. Oh, and the test failed, my broken gpu is good enough to play BF2 and some other games, but not CoD4. I’ll buy it later on, because I want to see it online, but as for now, it only takes hdd space.
Also, look for online distribution of games. Or at least try to sell the game-keys online and let the “pirates” take care of the distribution of the software.
summary: “piracy” for me is for convenience, not to save some itty-bitty cash.
switchbl8 // January 16, 2008 at 7:00 pm
great game, i bought it and it was money well spend!
the online part kicks ass, the ofline part kicks ass, really the best game of 2007 for me.
however, i think that, as you do, developers should stop moaning about the copying of their games. I can understand that you complain, because you loose money everytime it happens, but (sorry for my french) goddamnit, don’t make those games so bloody expansive!@!! i’m a college student and i don’t have much money for games, but i still wanna play a lot. So i can buy one every 2 months, the rest i download. I don’t think it’s fair to price a game 60 euro’s, you don’t see cd’s or movies with that pricetag do you? i think it’s pathetic, and it’s just giving the online copy community an excuse to keep up the piracy. as well, it’s your responsibility to safeguard your online community from people who use a copied game, and that shouldn’t be too hard.
well, hope you listen to my comments, because i can speak for my entire (400 students) class on this subject. keep up the good work, and lower the prices, that’s my advice. cheers
Cbroph // January 16, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hey,
I heard some rumors about the new patch and was wondering if you could confirm anything:
You will be able to take control of the helicopters.
Possibly new weapons/perks.
There were two unfinished maps at release, and they will be ready by the time the patch comes out.
It will be released for the 360/PS3 first and the PC later.
And bye the way thanks for all the updates on whats going on.
LordStickMax // January 16, 2008 at 7:33 pm
While i was in college i used to copy pc games…however i ALWAYS ended up buying it when i liked the game. However, now that im working i don’t even bother i just read reviews and buy it. But i know other people aren’t like me and it pisses me off so much when they rip off a good game maker like you guys. i already got the xbox version of CoD4 for xmas but i think reading this makes me want to get the pc version as well. Hell maybe a copy of CoD2 for my xbox as well(i have it on my pc already). My point, any game maker worth a damn should be getting all the monatry support they can from the gaming community. They even patch their games to make them better. i hope they keep that up too. most game makers just go “oops…on to the next game”. btw thx for the xbox beta too that was awesome. KEEP KICKIN’ ASS IW.
Anonymous // January 16, 2008 at 8:08 pm
“On another PC related note, we pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer (which was fantastic). What wasn’t fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies (and that was only people playing online).”
Am I the only legit player!
Ronin_warrior // January 16, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Well it is good to hear that IW is working on all the problems…that people are having with all the different version of the game. My only complain is that I had to find out that you are working the long way. It was only cause of some random link that I got here to read this. Before I read this I was bout as angry as every other person with IW. Now I know it may not be with in you ability to do this, but simply having someone from IW post on the IW forums would make things a lot easier for you in the long run. Right now to every one else on there it seems like you are not listening or do not care. The best way to appease some on is to simply acknowledge them. You could cut down on half of the angry post on the forums by simply posting “Thank you for informing us we are look into the problem”…or “We are working on releasing the mod tools you will be the first to know when they are working properly”. One of the reasons I well..how to say this… Hate EA is because they never said anything to the consumers unless it suited them. Make IW’s life easier and win over the hearts of gamers every wear. Show us you care…I know you do, well just form your posts…but if you dont tell us, those on the forums, that you are working on the problem…the only thing that happens is we assume that you are doing no work. Prove us wrong.
the console gamer // January 17, 2008 at 4:24 am
i don’t care what people say if the game was 20 dollars the same people
will still pirate the game it’s free
why would you buy something when you
can get it for free and if you can spend 1800 to 4000 dollars on a pc you should be able to buy a 60 dollar game.Piracy and development cost is driving the cost of gaming up games
can’t stay at 50 dollars forever so
get over it.
legit'un // January 17, 2008 at 5:21 am
They Wonder Why People Don’t Make PC Games Any More
Yes, why is it that people aren’t able to devel Pc only almost bug free games anymore?
Is it because it’s not paying off to try to rip out money of legit customers with bugged 6h play time games? Or is it the high cost to devel a game and pull of a marketing campain for PC? Or is it lazyness of some developers who go cross platform and do not work on a decent conversion for pc? Is the cost for safety measures like copy protection sooooo high? Is it that a publisher thinks he must outdo anything there has ever been before in terms of visuals, stunning graphics, and of course the enormous pc specs when the game hits stores?
Nooooooooooooooo! It’s because there are bad, bad people out there who think they can steal our games, bugged, loveless console port, sometimes unplayable, but it’s got internet activation and of course it has hyper modern pdf manuals and dvd covers. Doesnt that make it worth to pay for a game? No.
That said you might wonder of which sorts i’am, am i of the legit or the pirate party? I’m legit, i dont like them people who copy the games, but they effectivly dont hurt my hobbie. And here is the reason why they are not the problem at all.
The real problem is the publisher and of course the game developer. It hurts to swallow your own medicine doesnt it? Seemingly no developer of a game takes much care anymore if a game runs smooth on an average pc. They instead think they can develop for next gen pc, dont care much about bugs because they can be wiped in future patches, and instead of raising the play time they cut it down to 6 to 10 hours. Thats good for games with focus on multiplayer but what’s with single player games?
People who frequently use their grey matter start to think. Why? Why do i pay for a game that’s bugged in the first place? Why dont i just download it, test it, and if it’s bugged, to hell with it. If copy protections enforcing me not to be able to play - crack it - Internet connection needed to activate? - crack it -
Oh but there are the console gamers, one platform, seemingly no problem to devel there without much ado and oh wonder! no bugs! The prices there are high too, but how would you tell a console player why he is paying more for a game where there are no pirated versions to be downloaded 0-day off of the net?
And that is the point where we are with the pirates again. They are the number one argument for safety measures, they are the argument for high prices for a new game and what not.
So, why is it now, that people don’t make pc games anymore?
I will hint you in on some things sooooo obvious:
Care for the players
Start to develop for platforms in a manner that games are not only playable, but run like a charme
Stop thinking that pc gamers are easy prey for a fast bug or two.
Stop that - everyones a pirate - so we can raise the price for our game mentality - because that really hurts - the legit players who pay to play the games.
Start to go over the code and dont let yourself getting into the pressure to release an unfinished product.
Start to go back to the roots! In terms of games worthwile to play for not just 6hours, but add content for 60hours, then you can ask for whatever price you want, everyones willing to pay for it. Ok, given or taken a small amount of people who still will pirate games.
But whatever you do, start to think of the pc gaming community as what it is, not what you might think it is - gamers - who love their hobbie, who are willing to pay for a stable product, where everyone feels that the devel has put his blood and sweat into it to make it enjoyable to play.
That worked in the past, think of games like Ultima, think of other big titles. Think back to the times where games had an average gameplay time of nearly 40 hours. Prices where high for pc games back then. But the reason for the high priced games was another, and none of the reasons were related to pirates.
I dont like pirates of games, i pay for every game, i’ve been paying for games for several decades now. I’m your gamer, and what i dont want is to see what is happening at the pc gaming department these days. Where i have to feel that i’m a pirate, to be seen not as customer who has to be treated as such, but just someone off the street, scum, a pirate whom you must prevent to do any harm to your product.
And now you start to whine, why is noone willing to make pc games anymore, and there are but that many pirates out there who play cracked version buuuuuuuuhuuuuuu I dont feel the least bit sorry for you or for the pc gaming industry as such.
And now tell me, what do you think what real the reason is, that the people dont want to make pc games anymore?
Before you answer this question, i have a small favour to ask you for. Think it over, and dont come with a one liner that goes like - it’s all the pirates fault that the people dont want to anymore. And please dont think that i just want to blow of steam, or flame, or defend pirated copies or whatever. Because that is the least thing that i want to do.
Regards
Joel // January 17, 2008 at 7:22 am
Wow…….look at all these damn comments. 0_0
Jonah // January 17, 2008 at 8:38 am
I came here because I read on clanbase about the disturbing number of cod4 pirated servers. Im not even sure if this blog is in any way related to Infinity Ward, but I hope so.
The reason for the high number of pirated servers for cod4, is most likely because there was no MP demo released. I tried the SP demo and though it was pretty, it was more of the same BS as most other linear games. Very boring and I had no intention of buying that game. One of my friends then bought cod4 and told me to try it online, because it was much better on MP than SP. So I downloaded the game, found a keygen and joined a cracked server. To make a long story short, I ended up buying the game, but I still play on mostly cracked servers. They have alot less console spam, which I really dislike and they are mostly more fair teams. The legit servers belonging to clans, always have most of the clan on one team and the rest on the other, with no teamwork whatsoever, so its a very one sided game then. That gets very tiresome fast. I also have 1 other friend that haven’t bought cod4 yet, so I join him on cracked servers as well.
Bottom line: IW should have made a MP demo! Look at the number of cracked servers that excisted for BF2 when that came out. Oh, there were none? Maybe because they were smart enough to make a MP demo to start with. Also, don’t asume that everyone on a cracked server is playing illegal. I have 2 other friends that have bought the game and we all play on cracked servers.
Ok enuff rant. Was just tired of reading all the whine which obviously is not true.. So I came to supply you with the facts instead.
Anonymous // January 17, 2008 at 9:55 am
well , if those ppl here thinking that XBOX game , PS2 game cannot be “steal” sorry , u guess seem to be wrong , it can be “steal” as well , hahaha
i am not supporting pirated version neither disagree , it is just as they say the price is too high ,
may b for some country where developer feel the price is ok , for some others country is alot more different , and well , ppl do have lust , so they just get a cheaper alternative ,
as some1 from somewhere said before , it is better to sell PC game considering the economic level of that certain country , or else , most probably there will be more ppl downloading
well , if more ppl can afford it , seem it is much fun for us player as well =p
but for some game , most of it only worth with MP not SP , CoD4 is a great game indeed , but SP only last …..for hours? are u paying so much for this with that MP ?
compare the price i would buy Orange Box more , well it is bad to compare >.<
Anonymous // January 17, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I’ll make it short:
I bought the game! And do you know why? Because i downloaded it before! Most of my friends do it the same way, giving it a try with a cracked version. And then buy the game.
I remember that years ago there have been games you could try out for a period of time and then you had to buy them…
I have another question for you. Why does Microsoft for example give away their Studio .net for “try”?
Because this way you can take a look at all the facets of the software without having to buy it.
And all the others who say the software is to expensive are right to.
But when i love a game that i tried before, i will buy it. Equal how much i must pay. But it hurts inside of my wallet… here in germany we say…
Anonymous // January 17, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Every week or two my friends and I have a lan geek fest. COD4 has become the new game of choice. When we first started playing only 2 of us had legit copies, myself included. Now 3 geek fests later its 7/8. The one who doesnt have a pc copy has it for the console (he doesnt have a pc of his own that can run it). Of the other non regulars who came and played it, 2 of the 4 of them went out and bought the game. So 2 copies ended up causing another 7 copies to be bought in stores. Your game is of a quality that has been lacking in most games today, the demo really didn’t do the multiplayer justice. Have faith in your quality product, if its worth purchasing, people will buy it so you make another.
Ash-Fox // January 17, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I bought ‘Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’ on Steam within the first week it came out. I have really enjoyed the single player mode a lot and have been overly impressed with the realism involved.
I am disappointed that many people choose to pirate your game. I haven’t seen a good excuse so far on here for piracy.
From it being more expensive in their country to computers being too expensive.
Considering the fact that you can cheap laptop for 400GBP running Vista (Which has quite large requirements), the specs which are more than enough to play the game, a desktop system can start off from 230GBP. I’m playing Call of Duty 4 on four year old hardware (processor speed is actually under the minimum requirements) and it runs fine. I have also ran other games (source based), Second life and so on just fine on said hardware.
Now, to compare the prices (from Amazon),
Nintendo Wii is 259GBP (Why is this more expensive than the xbox360?)
xbox360 is 249GBP
PS3 is 299GBP
Sorry, I just don’t agree that price is factor. Consoles are just a lot harder to pirate software on currently. Of course, this doesn’t mean pirates won’t start investing time on consoles in future.
I do hope the developers continue to develop games for the PC platform and don’t put too restrictive anti-piracy technologies into future games.
I bought the game over Steam so I wouldn’t have to worry about CD checks (in the past I’ve had a SCSI DVD drive damaged by anti-piracy software).
Had this game been only a game console release, I certainly would never of got it. I don’t own a TV, nor a game console and I don’t one either.
Johnny Neat // January 17, 2008 at 7:43 pm
That Pipeline glitch is rampant on 360 version as well. I’m sure you know about this and about the annoying Sniper rifle (Through scope) hit detection issues that appear here and there. Frustration is not a strong enough word to describe not being able to snipe someone in a kneeling still position that ends up killing you because your cover was blown trying to hit them to no avail.
Anyhow thanx for your time, keep it real.
Johnny Neat // January 17, 2008 at 7:54 pm
P.s. I hope, when it’s about to drop, you can give us a pre heads up on the expected Patch/DLC which is expected through LIVE as soon as you can right? I mean before the slooow certification process gets through with it of course.
LIVE has gotten better but it’s still acting up here and there with holding parties together and games randomly dropping. I say randomly because it has happened to me and friends and we don’t quit or close games and it still happens here and there, even if less now. Anyhow hopefully this can be corrected so that the Patch/DLC can get out in the wild already.
Anonymous // January 17, 2008 at 8:07 pm
piracy on the xbox360 is very low you have to open up the box to put an mod chip in there