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RIP Gamespy master servers May 31 (BF2, Borderlands 1, etc)

A

AlphaProspector

Member
Holy crap, aren't the Warhammer Dawn of War games tied to Gamespy too? Dawn of War, Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm?!?

If so, god dammit, no I still play those!!
 
R

RealMeat

Banned
Sectus said:
Hopefully developers will learn one thing soon: always, always, always include a "direct ip" connect feature. That would solve this entire issue with master servers being taken down in the future. It's really baffling how games older than 10 years are safe because they have direct ip connection support, but it's modern games which are in danger of becoming impossible to play online.
Click to expand...

This. I wonder if a twitter campaign would do any good.
 
Shin-Ra

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Thanks for a great ride!
Click to expand...
iRAyxAIZZvnRb.gif


Times like this I'm glad most of my favourite games are single-player focused.

edit: With LAN support (and optionally tunnelling) and local bot AI, at least a chunk of your game doesn't become completely useless.
 
M

MiketheBSG

Member
You know. This really, really sucks. I keep hearing about all these games for my Wii and PS3 being taken offline, and for what? A contractual agreement. Not that they can't keep the servers going, not because there's not a community for them, but because of politics, plus an artificial way to force gamers who still want to play games online must get a new system when they one they have works perfectly fine.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Ogs said:
So something like BF2 I assume will be dead after this, as you have to login to Gamespy before you are able to do anything online.
Click to expand...

Not really. If DICE patches in a console command (if there isn't one already) for IP, you can "create local" and do servers that way, surely? The option for LAN is kinda there already.

But yeah. Gamespy is used for the in-game server browser and account creation NEEDS to be Gamespy and EA binded. So Battlefield 2 is on the chopping block. If EA/DICE was smart, they'd release a new version a la 1942 that uses Origin for the browser or something or patch out Gamespy and allow server hosting yourself.

Edit: Only BF2 (and I guess 2142/Vietnam) needs the EA/Gamespy account to play online.

1942 uses Gamespy (even in the Origin F2P release) for the browser but you can get around that with LAN and probably direct connect IPs...?
 
B

Blue Ninja

Member
RIP Halo PC.

I'm not even going to ask for a Steam version anymore, it'll either happen or it won't. I've been waiting too long. :'(
 
F

Funkyhamster

Member
Is the in-game server browser of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (the one added in the patch) affected? They have a direct IP connect option if I remember correctly, but it would be nice if the server browser kept working. Not sure if it has anything to do with Gamespy--I know the original multiplayer browser used Gamespy, but the in-game server browser didn't require a Gamespy account or anything.
 
Tal Shiar Agent

Tal Shiar Agent

Member
Goodbye Star Wars: Battlefront II, its been good. Hopefully someone comes up with a workaround for at least the PC version.

I'm just worried about what will happen to newer games that use Gamespy like Injustice and Civ5.
 
S

Scott Kevill

Neo Member
I'm the developer of http://www.GameRanger.com a PC/Mac multiplayer online gaming service supporting over 600 games that has been running since 1999. Hasn't been talked about a lot in the press, but just hit 5 million registered members last month mostly from word of mouth. Many of these games are ex-GameSpy or already had their existing services shut down long ago.

I've been trying to reach out to any affected developers and publishers, as I'm well-positioned to be able to help out. My only interest is in keeping these games alive, no matter how small the player base is.

I'm not sure if I can help with the console games; that may depend on Glu (I've reached out to them as well).

If there are any games you don't want to see die, please urge the developer or publisher to get in touch while there is still time.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Scott Kevill said:
I'm the developer of http://www.GameRanger.com a PC/Mac multiplayer online gaming service supporting over 600 games that has been running since 1999. Hasn't been talked about a lot in the press, but just hit 5 million registered members last month mostly from word of mouth. Many of these games are ex-GameSpy or already had their existing services shut down long ago.

I've been trying to reach out to any affected developers and publishers, as I'm well-positioned to be able to help out. My only interest is in keeping these games alive, no matter how small the player base is.

I'm not sure if I can help with the console games; that may depend on Glu (I've reached out to them as well).

If there are any games you don't want to see die, please urge the developer or publisher to get in touch while there is still time.
Click to expand...
Halo CE would be nice but I'm not sure if that is hitting Steam or not
 
T

Tain

Member
Htown said:
Meanwhile there are still 30k people playing the original Counter-Strike.

Let people run their own multiplayer servers for these games, ya jerks!
Click to expand...

Some of these games are peer-to-peer only and their functionality will probably be gone for good, like you're suggesting, but others support LAN play. Those games right now are in the state that CS will eventually be in whenever the Valve CS master server shuts down: you'll still be able to play, only it will be more of a hassle to find others.
 
G

Grayman

Member
provo57 said:
Glad we won't have to deal with it in the future, but this is going to render several of my games unplayable. I wish all PC games still had a direct IP option as a fallback to deal with situations like this.
Click to expand...

I was skimming the thread to see if someone else would run a BF2 master server as it does have direct to IP. I usually joined games through xfire.
 
G

Grayman

Member
Deadbeat said:
Wait is wolf et server list done by gamespy? I can't check at the moment.
Click to expand...

I think Quake 3 engine games can add a heartbeat <ip> line to server configs to ping several master servers. The ingame browser may die but a third party app configured for this or a website can be made to still function.
 
E

Eusis

Member
JoeM86 said:
So that's why the Nintendo WiFi Connection is going down. Nothing to do with Nintendo pulling the plug early.
Click to expand...
It is still technically early (May 20th) but that was probably announced while GameSpy was still sorting it out and Nintendo just didn't want to deal with the shit of a simultaneous shutdown. Or whatever, I definitely fully blame GameSpy at this point pending some statements that contradict this belief. Which I don't expect to see.
 
H

Haeralis The BRave

Banned
Scott Kevill said:
I'm the developer of http://www.GameRanger.com a PC/Mac multiplayer online gaming service supporting over 600 games that has been running since 1999. Hasn't been talked about a lot in the press, but just hit 5 million registered members last month mostly from word of mouth. Many of these games are ex-GameSpy or already had their existing services shut down long ago.

I've been trying to reach out to any affected developers and publishers, as I'm well-positioned to be able to help out. My only interest is in keeping these games alive, no matter how small the player base is.

I'm not sure if I can help with the console games; that may depend on Glu (I've reached out to them as well).

If there are any games you don't want to see die, please urge the developer or publisher to get in touch while there is still time.
Click to expand...

That's awesome of you! I love GameRanger. My only problem is that some games I have on Steam, most notably Stronghold Crusader doesn't work because it says that the exe file is invalid.
 
K

kmg90

Member
I hate Glu, I remember visiting the gamespy website a few months ago (after seeing it's logo popup somewhere in one my PS3 games and wondered what the company was up to as I knew that they were not the same company they were at the start of the generation) and seeing Glu logo I had a feeling Gamespy's days were numbered...


As Glu's main contribution of Pay 2 Play mobile apps that flood both mainstream platforms with.

This is really sad, I hope for developers and publishers come together and prevent so many games from loosing their online capabilities.
 
D

Deadbeat

Banned
Grayman said:
I think Quake 3 engine games can add a heartbeat <ip> line to server configs to ping several master servers. The ingame browser may die but a third party app configured for this or a website can be made to still function.
Click to expand...
Yeah but the game is already nearing death that this might push it to the grave. Only if there is enough of a demand do games get any such attention.
 
A

Asgaro

Member
FuriousBearMan said:
It looks like a ton of active BF2 mods are going to need to do a lot of reworking between now and May 31, 2014.

http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f10...ers-closing-down-pr-affected.html#post1995776
Click to expand...

I was planning on getting into Battlefield 2 again after learning there is a wonderful WW2 mod for it: Forgotten Hope 2.
It's been around for a long time but seems it's still in active development and they are bringing Omaha Beach and Gold Beach as MP maps in the near future.

I hope this doesn't hinder them but I assume it will... :'(

(More info: http://forgottenhope.warumdarum.de/ )
omaha_mini.jpg
 
S

Scott Kevill

Neo Member
wwm0nkey said:
Halo CE would be nice but I'm not sure if that is hitting Steam or not
Click to expand...

At a cursory glance, that should be possible, as GameRanger is already officially supported by the Mac version of Halo.


Grayman said:
Deadbeat said:
Wait is wolf et server list done by gamespy? I can't check at the moment.
Click to expand...

I think Quake 3 engine games can add a heartbeat <ip> line to server configs to ping several master servers. The ingame browser may die but a third party app configured for this or a website can be made to still function.
Click to expand...

Fairly sure both Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Quake III use master servers run by id Software.

Haeralis The BRave said:
That's awesome of you! I love GameRanger. My only problem is that some games I have on Steam, most notably Stronghold Crusader doesn't work because it says that the exe file is invalid.
Click to expand...

Have you checked recently? There's been a lot of shuffling around with the Steam versions of Stronghold vs Stronghold Crusader vs Stronghold Crusader Extreme vs their HD versions. GameRanger is now installed automatically when you install the Steam version of these, so you should have no problems now.
 
P

pirata

Member
No more Civ IV multiplayer...thankfully Civ V is finally up to snuff after the mods, but the thought that I won't be able to play another multiplayer match of Civ IV is a bummer...No more Mario Kart DS either...
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Scott Kevill said:
Fairly sure both Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Quake III use master servers run by id Software.
Click to expand...

They do.

Same for Quake 1-2. Quake 1 didn't need a master server from Gamespy, IIRC. Just they had a better server browser function for Windows at the time.

Additionally, you've been able to direct connect to Q3A with a "quake3://ip.here.right.now" command, IIRC. Similar to the old "steam://ip.or.whatever.here" command that was a security risk. There's apparently an extension/wrapper for your browser that'll do it for Battlefield 1942 as well. So it isn't like it's impossible to connect to servers if servers band together to show server stats on a webpage like 1999-2000 PC servers did. Or do third parties like Gameranger/AllSeeingEye/etc.

The major thing that modern titles (and some of these titles) lost is the LAN and direct-connect-to-IP console command. Even if you can't do the Quake3:// command, you can boot the game up, ~/console pull down and then enter "connect ip.here.to.connectto" and press enter to direct connect. I don't think many games since 2000 have done that if ever beyond Quake.

See You Next Wednesday said:
Well this is one time P2P wins.
Click to expand...

Not really. This is more a server browser master list going down than dedicated servers. You can still host Quake 1-3 servers to this day, but finding them without the master server/browser server is the issue.

It's like X-box Live shutting down but some games would still (theoretically, though I'm sure logically not possible) be possible: They'd be able to go online, but because the X-box Live servers are down, they couldn't reach EA/publisher dedicated servers NOR use the matchmaking (which is basically an automatic and "find me a server quick to get into" browser function) service because the XBL servers wouldn't be there to "find games" to peer-to-peer connect to.

The only thing "P2P wins" at is being a "tunnel"/work-around by using the LAN option: Which, isn't really a major supported function anymore because people don't really use it for LAN parties nor beg developers for it enough anymore.

Scott Kevill said:
I'm the developer of http://www.GameRanger.com a PC/Mac multiplayer online gaming service supporting over 600 games that has been running since 1999. Hasn't been talked about a lot in the press, but just hit 5 million registered members last month mostly from word of mouth. Many of these games are ex-GameSpy or already had their existing services shut down long ago.

I've been trying to reach out to any affected developers and publishers, as I'm well-positioned to be able to help out. My only interest is in keeping these games alive, no matter how small the player base is.

I'm not sure if I can help with the console games; that may depend on Glu (I've reached out to them as well).

If there are any games you don't want to see die, please urge the developer or publisher to get in touch while there is still time.
Click to expand...

If you're talking to Activision and CoD4 pops up on "move from Gamespy/server browser" throw in that they need to fix that stupid "mic needs to be plugged in otherwise multiplayer.exe won't boot" issue to fix, plz. It's utterly stupid that I have to do three steps for something I won't even bother to use to play multiplayer when other PC titles don't need the damn sound-card to bend over backwards to let it handshake with a mic (that I can then unplug) to play multiplayer.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
TheSeks said:
The major thing that modern titles (and some of these titles) lost is the LAN and direct-connect-to-IP console command. Even if you can't do the Quake3:// command, you can boot the game up, ~/console pull down and then enter "connect ip.here.to.connectto" and press enter to direct connect. I don't think many games since 2000 have done that if ever beyond Quake.
Click to expand...

Valve's titles come to mind.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
JaseC said:
Valve's titles come to mind.
Click to expand...

Right. Valve is probably the exception since they offshooted "forked" Source/gldsource from the Quake engine after-all. ;)

But I'm talking the industry and PC ports in general: They offer dev-console functions and may/may not (hasn't been common lately) dedicated server files to host your own dedicated servers for the browsers to find or direct connect to, but they don't include a direct-connect option in their consoles it seems.
 
B

BeekleMatter

Member
From my understanding... The only thing that will affect Halo CE is that the master list of servers will be gone. Direct IP connection will still work (I think).

Players host the actual servers.
 
E

Eusis

Member
BeekleMatter said:
From my understanding... The only thing that will affect Halo CE is that the master list of servers will be gone. Direct IP connection will still work (I think).

Players host the actual servers.
Click to expand...
I guess it's not that hard for a community fix of sorts; similar to how GameSpy was more about fetching a list of servers to play on initially I imagine someone can do similar for some of these games again and so people play together that way. Bigger problem is that I kind of doubt Halo 1 has even a fraction of the fanbase the likes of Quake had at their peak.
 
P

Piccoro

Member
Update: No problems in 3rd Strike Online. The latest patch applied the same netcode as Darkstalkers Ressurection, who doesn't use Gamespy:
jLEJDQX2bNRSn.png



stfuppercut said:
It's already dead. I tried to play the other day and there was four people playing online.

Still absurd that a game I bought last August won't even work online anymore if I wanted to play with a friend. I'd ask WB and Boon to fix it but they don't give a shit about PC and never even patched it to begin with. Last time I buy a fighting game on PC for sure. Pathetic support all around.
Click to expand...
MK9 on the consoles doesn't have any support also. After finishing MK9, Netherrealm began working immediately on Injustice and dropped MK completely. Very few patches and it is unplayable online.
 
S

Scott Kevill

Neo Member
stfuppercut said:
It's already dead. I tried to play the other day and there was four people playing online.

Still absurd that a game I bought last August won't even work online anymore if I wanted to play with a friend. I'd ask WB and Boon to fix it but they don't give a shit about PC and never even patched it to begin with. Last time I buy a fighting game on PC for sure. Pathetic support all around.
Click to expand...

To me that's the biggest problem. It shouldn't matter how big the player base is, if all you want to do is play a friend.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
Any replacement solutions thought up should be decentralized ones. Replacing expiring Gamespy solutions with just another service still doesn't solve the problem of having a single point of failure.
 
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