As great a game as BFBC2 is, they have been a victim of their own success. There have been many who have had connectivity issues.
While I had a few problems day one (a PB update problem), things have gotten much better, but you can just feel the strain in the system as soon as you try and use the in-game browser.
And yes, I too can't stand using the browser...you lose a lot of time waiting for the server list to come up (and many times it does not).
DICE has been responding to these complaints and has the following comments:
Bazajaytee (yesterday):
We are sending out new servers to our providers called "R5". They will be testing them out and changing over the servers by tomorrow evening. This server contains some fixes for the "Connection to the server has been lost" message that a lot of you will have seen.
We are also working on making another new server over the weekend as EA has set up some dedicated front-end boxes just for Battlefield Bad Company 2 which we will update the server to use and should work to improve the stability of connections to EA for everyone.
For some who cannot connect at all (using PLAY NOW or the browser) Bazajaytee says:
That is likely to be solved by the 2nd update when we can make use of the dedicated BFBC2 PC servers.
btw: PC currently has more people playing and are in game servers than both the consoles.
Noticed on Kotaku that this post was taken the wrong way. The PC had more players than either console not more than both consoles combined. You'll need to work to beat both consoles combined effort
It seems that the drama surrounding Infinity Ward from earlier in the week is not over at all. Infinity Ward's ex-president Jason West and ex-CEO Vince Zampella, who were confirmed by Activision to have "left the company," are now filing a lawsuit against their former employer for "breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, wrong termination in violation of public policy, and declaratory relief."
Details of the lawsuit posted on PR Newswire indicate that West and Zampella's contracts were terminated apparently just weeks before they were to receive a huge royalty payment from Activision, presumably for the stellar sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Their attorney, Robert Schwartz, provided this info:
"Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned. Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st."
In other words, West and Zampella are alleging that those accusations of "breaches of contract and insubordination" that popped up in an SEC filing Monday were made up by Activision as an excuse to fire the duo and avoid paying them royalties. It's easy to imagine there was more than just financial reasons behind Activision's decision, but this paints an incredibly shady picture of Activision if true.
Jason West provided his own statement on the events: "We were shocked by Activision's decision to terminate our contract. We poured our heart and soul into that company, building not only a world class development studio, but assembling a team we've been proud to work with for nearly a decade. We think the work we've done speaks for itself."
Grab some popcorn and get prepared for a bumpy ride, everyone. It's going to be interesting watching where this lawsuit goes. Also remember that Activision's SEC filing mentioned that they expected this decision to "involve...litigation." Does that mean they plan to sure West and Zampella as well, or were they expecting to be sued from the start?
UPDATE #3: A source close to Infinity Ward told G4 that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick will address development leads at the studio in a meeting today. Details on the meeting are unclear, but likely related to the events that have transpired overnight (read below). The source says there will also be a second meeting to address the studio as whole. We're certain some interesting developments will unfold once we hear the outcome of these meetings. Stay tuned for updates.
UPDATE #2: News has surfaced that reveals Infinity Ward as not having received any royalties from Activision for Modern Warfare 2. Additionally, the developer may have breached their contract with Activision by holding meetings with other publishers.
According to Binge Gamer, it’s not yet known whether Infinity Ward and Activision made agreements that royalties would be paid, but every source has mentioned that the developer has received no additional compensation.
The same article also points to Infinity Ward as having talks with “rival publishers.” If this is true, then it may indeed mean that Activision’s contract with the Modern Warfare 2 developer was breached.
UPDATE: Security Appears At Infinity Ward, Studio Heads Missing, Activision Investigating "Insubordination"
UPDATE 12:02 AM: Double Fine's Tim Schafer, who had his own troubles with Activision over the release of Brutal Legend, recently commented on Twitter about what's happening between Infinity Ward and Activision.
"Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces," said Schafer. "It's just how the beast communicates."
UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.
In an SEC filing made this morning, Activision cited a human resources investigation into "breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward."
Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It's possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.
"This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation," read the filing. "At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."
Heading all over the web at this moment:- Jason West Gone From Infinity Ward; More Bad News Coming?
Just in case the ApocalyPS3 nonsense from earlier in the day wasn't crazy enough, the beginning of March continues to offer up some utterly insane happenings in the world of video games. The latest comes from Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, who appear to have some bad things happening at their studio.
G4TV reports from "a source close to the...developer" that Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West met with Activision earlier today and then disappeared from the building. Shortly after that, "a bunch of bouncer-types" arrived in the office.
Though no official comment has been provided regarding the situation, G4TV's report describes the mood around the Infinity Ward office as "freaked out and confused," understandably.
Meanwhile over on the NeoGAF forums, an image has surfaced that is supposedly from the Facebook wall of the aforementioned Infinity Ward co-founder Jason West:
While we're as of yet unable to confirm the validity of the Facebook image, West's LinkedIn profile has been changed to show his tenure at Infinity Ward as January 2001 to March 2010 and as a "past" job.
What losing one or more of its founding members means for Infinity Ward as a whole is not yet clear, but we'll continue updating this story as more info comes out. We've also contacted Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling for comment, but we have yet to hear back, and he says via Twitter that he "has no info."
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