http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/12/07/2250252/gamespys-new-owners-begin-disabling-multiplayer-without-warning?utm_source=slashdot&utm_medium=twitter
Droideka found this article linked above:
Quote
New submitter OldTimeRadio writes "Over the last month, both game publishers and gaming communities alike were surprised to find their GameSpy multiplayer support suddenly disabled by GLU Mobile, who purchased GameSpy from IGN this August. Many games, including Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Swat 4, Sniper Elite, Hidden and Dangerous 2, Wings of War, Star Wars: Battlefront are no longer able to find (and in some cases even host) multiplayer games. While games like Neverwinter Nights are still able to directly connect to servers if players know the IP address, less-fortunate gamers expressed outrage on GLU Mobile's 'Powered by GameSpy' Facebook page. In an open letter to their Sniper Elite gaming community today, UK game developer Rebellion explained it was helpless to change the situation: 'A few weeks ago, the online multiplayer servers for Sniper Elite were suddenly switched off by Glu, the third-party service we had been paying to maintain them. This decision by Glu was not taken in consultation with us and was beyond our control. We have been talking to them since to try and get the servers turned back on. We have been informed that in order to do so would cost us tens of thousands of pounds a year — far in excess of how much we were paying previously. We also do not have the option to take the multiplayer to a different provider. Because the game relies on Glu and Gamespy's middleware, the entire multiplayer aspect of the game would have to be redeveloped by us, again, at the cost of many tens of thousands of pounds.""
Reads like greed.
Glu doesn't sound like they are interested in games or gaming communities anymore than they can capitalize on them.
I would say that I will actively avoid purchasing Glu powered games in the future, but that would be redundant, as I have no interest in mobile/smart phone games anyway.
I would bend over backwards to help an enthusiest(of any status) achieve thier goals. I turn my back on marketers who operate out of greed.
Despite this knowledge I still feel obligated to vent my anger at Disney.
Good to see that they attempted to fix the problem. From this article it looks like our main enemy in this was indeed Glu. Such a shame :confused:
Edit: lol Unit. but i am with you, not just concerning SWBF. When disney bought the rights to it a bunch of other companies got them through disney. they are all combining to ruin the movies of old. look at this stuff :whip:
http://angrybirds.tumblr.com/
If only rich Mr. Lucas could spare a few thousand of his 4 billion dollars to revive SWBF1 multiplayer
:'(
[spoiler]I will boycott glu and disney for life[/spoiler]
Greedy corporations they are good for nothing. Their is no way it costs tens of thousands of dollars to setup simple master server software for the sole purpose of listing games. I have seen indie 100% free games setup their own master server and I am fairly certain they are not getting $30k worth of donations.
Quote from: SleepKiller on December 08, 2012, 03:47:20 PM
Greedy corporations they are good for nothing. Their is no way it costs tens of thousands of dollars to setup simple master server software for the sole purpose of listing games. I have seen indie 100% free games setup their own master server and I am fairly certain they are not getting $30k worth of donations.
Exactly. In reality it costs them maybe $20-$30 a month, if that. I wouldn't recommend anyone investing stock in GLU Mobile they are dishonest, shady, and greedy.
So are about 99.99999999999999999999% of all shareholder companies. If your a company stay private it is the best course to follow.
I've never liked working for committee run organizations.
All my good work experiences have come from companies that had a single person calling all the shots.
A single owner/operator can easily maintain his vision for his project.
When a group is in charge, the company takes on a life of it's own, measuring sucess in terms of money instead of actual achievments.
Quote from: Phobos on December 08, 2012, 03:42:55 PM
If only rich Mr. Lucas could spare a few thousand of his 4 billion dollars to revive SWBF1 multiplayer
:'(
[spoiler]I will boycott glu and disney for life[/spoiler]
IM WITH YOU MAN!!! :cheers:
Well then, it's about time we started calling in Anonymous for a job... ;)
Quote from: {Alpha}Gold Man on December 08, 2012, 08:10:35 PM
Well then, it's about time we started calling in Anonymous for a job... ;)
:/
yeah... I can't see going to the trouble of mischief because a bussiness acts like a bussiness.
Don't get me wrong.. I curse them and hope thier data rots.
But you can't blame a scorpion for stinging you.
Best just to avoid them.
Thier site looked elite pro anyway (/me rolls eyes)
Some other greedy company will buy them and crush thier dreams soon, I bet.
This does mean y'all can still play on GR and Tunngle, right? Please tell me I'm misunderstanding the article.
The article mentions the effects it had on several games, not just BF1.
It seems some games got shut down a lot harder than we did.
Tunngle and Gameranger will continue to work for SWBF 1.
Quote from: tirpider on December 08, 2012, 09:03:20 PM
:/
yeah... I can't see going to the trouble of mischief because a bussiness acts like a bussiness.
Don't get me wrong.. I curse them and hope thier data rots.
But you can't blame a scorpion for stinging you.
Best just to avoid them.
Indeed (http://web.mclink.it/MC8216/stupid/scorpion.htm). It's their nature.
Quote from: Phobos on December 08, 2012, 03:56:41 PM
Exactly. In reality it costs them maybe $20-$30 a month, if that.
Once you are registered Gamespy charge nothing for games with below 1000 players and $20 per month for up to 5000 unique I.P.'s. The funny thing is that only includes an average of one support case per month and now when people buy the game and can't play they're going to get loads of people contacting them. :)
Quote from: {PLA}gdh92 on December 09, 2012, 04:10:01 AM
now when people buy the game and can't play they're going to get loads of people contacting them. :)
I love the cause and effect nature of the universe.
GLU will get bought out and cannibalized by some other company. It is almost disgustingly predictable.
Funny, it will be more of a hassle for GLU if they take down the servers, then if they would just leave them up.
LessMoney --> Happier customers
Quote from: -RepublicCommando- on December 10, 2012, 06:16:27 PM
LessMoney --> Happier customers
Less Money --> Less Money
Guys. GLU is shutting down servers because GameSpy is unprofitable and most games are too low radar for much damage to be done if they are shut down.
That's why they shut them down.
Yes, it's messed up. But a company will prioritize their shareholders and employees over a handful of gamers.
Play on gameranger and Tunngle guys.
Quote from: aeria. on December 11, 2012, 04:23:07 AM
Less Money --> Less Money
Guys. GLU is shutting down servers because GameSpy is unprofitable and most games are too low radar for much damage to be done if they are shut down.
That's why they shut them down.
Yes, it's messed up. But a company will prioritize their shareholders and employees over a handful of gamers.
Play on gameranger and Tunngle guys.
Funny thing is, their shareholders and employees are there and have a job/buisness
because of a ''handful of gamers''.
I'm astonished by the ratio of people complaining on this forum every day versus people playing on Tunngle every day.
Quote from: {TcF}=Rick={G}(305th-Infantry) on December 11, 2012, 07:27:34 AM
Funny thing is, their shareholders and employees are there and have a job/buisness because of a ''handful of gamers''.
Shareholders would rather hear that an unprofitable part of a business that affects a fraction of the customer base has been cut loose than to hear that they are paying server bills for old games that are no longer being sold or making profit whatsoever.
I'm not saying I agree with them cutting the servers but
business-wise, it was an inevitable move. It would've been nice to have a warning ahead of time.
Quote from: Joseph on December 11, 2012, 08:33:42 AM
I'm astonished by the ratio of people complaining on this forum every day versus people playing on Tunngle every day.
This is a good point. SWBF multiplayer isn't gone at all. Tunngle is an easy enough program to use.
Play on Tunngle or play a more recent video game.
Quote from: aeria. on December 11, 2012, 01:02:56 PM
Shareholders would rather hear that an unprofitable part of a business that affects a fraction of the customer base has been cut loose than to hear that they are paying server bills for old games that are no longer being sold or making profit whatsoever.
I'm not saying I agree with them cutting the servers but business-wise, it was an inevitable move. It would've been nice to have a warning ahead of time.
Agreed. But all they had to do was take a look at how many people play from the master servers (game population) to think twice.
Quote from: aeria. on December 11, 2012, 04:23:07 AM
Less Money --> Less Money
Guys. GLU is shutting down servers because GameSpy is unprofitable and most games are too low radar for much damage to be done if they are shut down.
That's why they shut them down.
Yes, it's messed up. But a company will prioritize their shareholders and employees.
not true in this case according to glu. They said that most of those games are no longer suported by develpers, or they have not been paid to keep the game up (sometimes they kept the games up for months after the last payment)
Quote from: Ltin on December 15, 2012, 01:37:46 PM
not true in this case according to glu. They said that most of those games are no longer suported by develpers, or they have not been paid to keep the game up (sometimes they kept the games up for months after the last payment)
I will take back the claim that they are closing down servers out of their own accord but like you said, these games are no longer supported by the publisher and have not been paid to keep the game up. That means less money to the company.
Less money --> Less money