How to set up your router properly for Modern Warfare 2

[Azimuth]

How often are the non-promod servers full? Every single day, for atleast 4 hours of the day. How often are all the promod servers full? Maybe two hours, and thats simply because they have fewer slots available.

Okay, that's cool. I wasn't implying otherwise, I was asking.

I didn't miss your point - you simply didn't make it clearly enough.

Lots of people want to play the game the way it was released, and not with any mods or anything attached to it.

I thought that was quite clear.

As to an insular attitude, I'm sure you had that in TF2 as well? In fact, I seem to clearly recall an insular "omglookatthesen00bs" attitude in TF2. Singling out CoD4 as a community with such an attitude is both pointless and irrelevent.

Of course I've had issues with that in TF2. I'm talking about dedicated servers and communities in general, and the effect those sorts of insular conditions have on casual gamers. What's with the "singling out" stuff? You constantly treat my posts as though they're attacks, rather than bits of a discussion.

Guess you don't have anti-virus. Or steam. Or skype. Or even an internet browser other than internet explorer. What were you saying in the other post about stupid principles...?

Third party gaming applications. I guess I could've made that clearer, but since we were talking specifically about gaming, I thought that was implied. Steam is also more of a platform than a simple application, and I don't want shit running on top of it. I also don't have a problem with Steam's (or TF2's, or CoD4's) server browser, to be honest.

But I don't use Skype (ew).

Oh, and I don't disagree with you about PB. I don't like it and I never have. But Steams VAC service is even more useless, tbh.

And yet everyone's jumped all over exploits in MW2 as though it's something new.

Actually, I have considered it. I consider a third party app such as xfire to be a necessary "evil" for online gaming.

And I consider it an unnecessary evil.

Rather use a simple system such as xfire to manage your online servers than a flaky system such as the original MW1 server browser. If you want to stick with that dodgy server browser, be my guest, but it just seems odd that you don't consider the better alternatives available.

As I said, I didn't have a problem with it. *shrug*

Oh, and before you accuse me of being one of those "1337" players who live on the promod server, let me just mention that I have over 500 hours on the various TDM/mixed servers, and less than 100 on promod (most of the time is made up of clannies).

There you go being persecuted again. Seriously, man, it's getting old fast. Please drop it, or I'm going to start ignoring your posts. And I don't mean that in a bitchy way, I'm just getting really tired of it. This is a discussion, not a war.

Furthermore, as a casual player, why would you have a problem with the "insular" clan players? They have their servers, you have yours. It's not hard to get a vanilla game, especially something such as MW1. If MW2 had had DS support, I can assure you it would have been exactly the same format as the MW1 servers.

1. I don't care, of course, because I stopped playing CoD4 on PC and moved over to Xbox where it's not an issue. But what about other people? Which brings me around to point 2:

2. I spend about three to four months of the year in the UK. Have you ever looked at a European server browser? It's huge. It's intimidating. And it is hard to get a vanilla game, because a good lot of those servers are running mods. Back to your XFire thing then, and you'll have to agree that nobody should have to install a third party application just to browse games, right? It's a pain in the arse. Of course, it's idealistic to think this, but again, perhaps you're not considering the average player who doesn't even know XFire exists. And yes, I realise this includes people who have absolutely no idea what NAT is. See, it's a discussion, not a war.

The thing is, although you may forward the ports on the router, you often end up having to forward the ports through your firewall, else it simply refuses the packets on principle. As a result, both the hardware firewall on your router and your software firewall are compromised. Thats not secure at all.

Heh, then stop being cheap and invest in better firewall software.

In a world where IT security is becoming a bigger issue by the year, a business model like that simply won't survive. People will wise up to the fact that it's hurting the security of their home networks, and they'll leave those ports closed. Which in turn means fewer hosts. Which means fewer games. Which consequently means a game that will die faster.

Or perhaps devs will come up with a better solution for p2p play. Who knows. Fact is, a lot of people aren't running with compromised security because they're using decent firewalls.

Also, and I know you're going to hate this but - consoles, anyone? While I agree that PC gaming isn't exactly dying, anyone would have to be delusional not to see that gaming is moving over to console in a huge way. These security risks simply aren't an issue over there - and, be reasonable here, let's agree that this makes development and support that much simpler. Why wouldn't devs want that?

I don't disagree that the gaming industry is a profit driven one, but I believe they stand to hurt their own bottom line by ignoring security like this.

Sure, but maybe not as much as you'd think.

I disagree. Although A/B has gone this way, it looks as if EA (the other super-publisher) is going to continue focusing on DS. Which is the way it should be.

Let's revisit this statement in 18 months. ;P

Soooo, how many xbox 360s have you gone through thus far?

Just the one in three years. And it cost me less (well, nothing) to replace while I've recently spent nearly R2500 on PC upgrades. I don't even want to know what maintaining a decent PC has cost me over the last decade or so.

But that's not why you made the comment, was it? Console hate is so last week.

 

[GReeN_ORB]

Of course I've had issues with that in TF2. I'm talking about dedicated servers and communities in general, and the effect those sorts of insular conditions have on casual gamers. What's with the "singling out" stuff? You constantly treat my posts as though they're attacks, rather than bits of a discussion.

Because, to me, your posts are phrased in an attacking manner. Which is the unfortunate side effect of having a discussion such as this online. In RL, I suspect we'd have a conversation like this over a drink, and have a laugh about it. Use more smilies

As to the whole communities issue, well it's obviously not a problem on p2p, which virtually precludes forming the kind of close communities that dedicated servers allow. Obviously, you can add people you happen to play with regularly to your friends list, but by it's very nature, p2p will prevent the forming of the kind of close communities DS allow for. Which is a pity really, since the social aspect of the gaming is quite an important one for me personally. I like to get to know the people I frag

Steam is also more of a platform than a simple application, and I don't want shit running on top of it. I also don't have a problem with Steam's (or TF2's, or CoD4's) server browser, to be honest.

But I don't use Skype (ew).

The reason I prefer Xfire over steam is that it's chat functionality, and friend functionality is still simpler than Steam. Also, having the two apps running simultaneously allows me to reach more people, as I have a huge number of contacts on my xfire, many of which don't use steam or can't find me on it.

As to the CoD4 server browser, right up until the 1.6 patch, it was thoroughly broken. Even after the 1.7 patch, server detection was still rather flaky, and I still lost my favourite server list more times than I care to think about. Which precipitated the move to a 3rd party app.

Skype is awesome Lets me keep in contact with my family in Aus, UK and USA for cheap cheap...

There you go being persecuted again. Seriously, man, it's getting old fast. Please drop it, or I'm going to start ignoring your posts. And I don't mean that in a bitchy way, I'm just getting really tired of it. This is a discussion, not a war.

Whoooaaaaa, slow down there betty!

I promise you I wasn't feeling persecuted when I typed that. Disadvantage of typing on the inet again... The intention of that paragraph was to give context to people who aren't familiar with who I am (and you, I guess), with regards to my argument. My argument would be a lot less valid if it came from the perspective of a 1337 player, no?

2. I spend about three to four months of the year in the UK. Have you ever looked at a European server browser? It's huge. It's intimidating. And it is hard to get a vanilla game, because a good lot of those servers are running mods. Back to your XFire thing then, and you'll have to agree that nobody should have to install a third party application just to browse games, right? It's a pain in the arse. Of course, it's idealistic to think this, but again, perhaps you're not considering the average player who doesn't even know XFire exists. And yes, I realise this includes people who have absolutely no idea what NAT is. See, it's a discussion, not a war.

Actually I have. Spent two weeks with family in the UK, along with three days at Dreamhack Winter 2008. I never had a problem finding a vanilla game, since the servers are almost always labelled properly. If I clicked on one that started downloading a mod, a quick disconnect saved me from the bother.

As to the whole "no one should have to install a 3rd party app" - well sure I agree with that. But that will only happen when the company producing the game makes a system that functions absolutely flawlessly and more simply than something like xfire. I understand what you're saying about the average joe not knowing anything about xfire. But I also understand what happens when a user gets pissed off with a rubbish system (such as the MW1 browser). They go looking for a better system. And the internet makes that a lot easier, especially since everyone knows what google is

Heh, then stop being cheap and invest in better firewall software.

Hey! I was using a hardware based firewall (IPcop) when I first got MW2. Then I closed that down (sigh) to try get MW2 to work better. Worked fine without the hardware firewall, so I installed Nod32 Enterprise software firewall on the machines on the network. Very solid piece of software, yet I still had issues getting MW2 to play nicely. Hence me now just leaving the ports closed and letting other people host

Or perhaps devs will come up with a better solution for p2p play. Who knows. Fact is, a lot of people aren't running with compromised security because they're using decent firewalls.

Also, and I know you're going to hate this but - consoles, anyone? While I agree that PC gaming isn't exactly dying, anyone would have to be delusional not to see that gaming is moving over to console in a huge way. These security risks simply aren't an issue over there - and, be reasonable here, let's agree that this makes development and support that much simpler. Why wouldn't devs want that?

If they want the p2p system to succeed, they're going to have to, because quite frankly this IWNet system is bullshit. Almost everyone I've asked about it, who has used it on PC, agrees that its not nice at all. Atleast in SA. Maybe it actually works overseas...

Had a console (360) and ditched it, simply because it wasn't flexible enough for the amount of money I sunk into it. If I'm spending thousands on a piece of gaming hardware, I want it to be able to do more than simply play a game, watch dvds and have a friends list. Oh yeah, and that controller annoyed the hell out of me for FPS games >.<

Just the one in three years. And it cost me less (well, nothing) to replace while I've recently spent nearly R2500 on PC upgrades. I don't even want to know what maintaining a decent PC has cost me over the last decade or so.

But that's not why you made the comment, was it? Console hate is so last week.

You're exceptionally fortunate then. I have friends who have been through 6 in three years. They look after them as best they can, but they still break. Oh, and hating on consoles? Nope. Hating on the 360's lack of reliability.

*edit*

Last reply for a while. Off to Moz tomorrow...

 

[Blackhand]

As far as I know, it does support uPnP, but like Xbox Live and PSN, you need to forward the service ports too. I have no idea why. Life, oh life, etc.

And I know you were being sarcastic, but consider this - quite some time back, all the IS TF2 servers used the TFTrue mod. I don't want to play with the TFTrue mod. So I was stuck between not playing at all, or playing on the appallingly badly run SGS TF2 servers. Remember, catering to casual players isn't just about "simplifying" connections, it's about providing a standard, predictable platform for everyone.

Lots of people want to play the game the way it was released, and not with any mods or anything attached to it. I think a lot of you "hardcore" guys forget that. How many people just stopped playing CoD4 because everyone else was playing on the Promod servers?

I think you make a good point Azi. People will always want to experience the game as it was originally created, especially if they are newcomers.

Outside of SA you have a bigger pool of dedi servers to pick from though, the likelihood that they are all running mods is very slim. Source/Valve game's built in server browser has a "Custom" tab, where all servers running mods are listed and the "Internet" default tab has all the stock servers, I think that is a decent compromise. In a place like SA though, we may very well find all our servers are custom servers, this I also experienced first hand with Quake 3.

Anyway, on uPnP again. If IW are supporting it, their implementation may be buggy/not work on all routers (expect a patch soon then), but, possibly the guys having trouble don't have it enabled or have old routers, especially the original Telkom ones. Its a lot more convenient/lazy than forwarding ports and I've found PC implementations of it have yet to not work for me. So if ppl are OK with the minor security threat it poses, they should try enabling it in their routers.

 

[Kyubi_ZA]

I think Azi and Green Orb will make a good couple

 

[Tank]

my point stands. if the "system" was as user friendly and easy as they were spinning it to be. none of this crap would have been needed.

but it isn't.