Didn't know until just now, so forgive me if anyone here knew about this already (I looked and couldn't find anything by anyone mentioning it), but on November 5th, John Carmack told Variety that he doesn't think dedicated servers will be an option for Id Software's newest game Rage, instead using a Matchmaking system. However, they're apparently keeping a close eye on Infinity Ward and how they're doing with Modern Warfare 2, and the decision is "not set in stone".I personally don't think it's too big of a deal considering I'm not too excited for Rage, but it is a defining characteristic of PC gaming that I don't believe should fade away. I would predict Rage will not include dedicated servers, given the fairly large sales on the PC this past month, despite the versions shortcomings compared to the console versions.
My first Id Software experience was with Doom on the PS1... Fuck you, I was 8, we didn't have a home PC at the time... Anyway, I remember renting it and hating it, but wanting more after I took it back. So I rented it again, liked it a little better, but still disliked it. This continued. Sometimes it would be several months before I rented it again. I rented it enough times over the next year or two that I could have bought it with the money I spent on it. By the end of that, I had probably gotten around half way through it, and thought it was okay. It was a few years later when I played the original PC version for the first time, and beat it over a couple of hours. I had seen the darkness. I went on to play the big Id shooters, Doom II, Quake and Quake II. I still haven't played Wolfenstein 3D or Quake III, mainly because the former used to seem to me as too old, unperfected, "proto-Doom"; the latter primarily because I went through a stage in my mid teens that playing games that were 2 years old or more made me feel ashamed since that's all I could afford, which was also a factor in me not playing Wolfenstein 3D... I've since grown out of that shit and have both of those games on a list of titles to play before the day I am brutally murdered.
I'll admit, I'm pretty skeptical of the new game given I have not enjoyed Id's previous few games such as Doom 3, Quake 4 and Quake Wars nearly as much as their previous installments. I haven't played the new Wolfentstein, so I can't say if that has reinvigorated my interest in Id's games or not, though from what I played of the demo and read in reviews, it doesn't seem worth it. Rage itself seems like an okay game... But probably not one I would pay $50 for judging by what I've seen of it thus far. If it doesn't have the option for dedicated servers, I think I'll wait for it to go on special on Steam..
What did you think of Rage before Carmack's statements, and what do you think of the game now? How was your first experiences with Id's games and how have they gone since? Have you too felt Id's games have been slipping in quality this past decade or so as opposed to the 90's? What was the first small animal you slaughtered and masturbated over? The forums are on life support.
I did not post this on the blog due to it being such an old story... Wish I would've read the story a month ago.
