BASH

If you have ever read these words:

“…in a world of thoughtful and passionate gaming CEOs, Bobby Kotick stands alone. He doesn’t play video games, but he sure knows how to make money off people who do….Kotick doesn’t play his games, and it shows.”

…or these in regards to MW2’s SP:

“Am I glad I played the game? Yes. Can I see myself replaying it? Maybe not. It’s satisfying to step into the shoes of people who are so uncompromising, and the game is brilliant at creating the feeling of moral vacuum, but it’s not exactly a feeling that’s comfortable, or even fun. During many scenes, I found myself simply emptying clips into houses, knowing there could be innocents inside. Why not? I was trying to survive”.

How about these with respect to MW2’s multiplayer:

“Call of Duty came from the PC gaming scene, and it was there that it was popularized. ….it’s sad to see a game that has such a rich history on our favorite platform feel so neglected in its newest incarnation. The port of the single-player campaign is strong; the game looks, plays, and feels incredible on a capable gaming PC. The Special Ops missions are perfect if you’re in the mood for a teeny-tiny LAN party but the multiplayer offerings feel like Infinity Ward is trying to cram a round peg into a square hole.

It’s not what we’re used to, it’s not what we want, and the changes made to the online matchmaking set-up and lack of dedicated servers negatively change the online experience. It’s just that simple.”

…you probably know that they come from one of the best gaming writers around: Ben “Stasis7″ Kuchera from ArsTechnica.com (Opposable thumbs). Ben is the gaming editor at Ars Technica and is on with us to talk about Modern Warfare 2 and its impact on the PC landscape.

Also with us to talk about MW2 are: ibleedv20 from omnilinkit.com, Andy (the impaler) coons  from Loaded at goloaded.com, rudedog from fpsadmin.com and garetjax from codtv.tv. As well, our resident console expert mattks is here from weplaycod.net, @weplaycod.

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Today we depart from our usual format to present a BASH special edition. On BASH to talk to us about himself and his esports organization is the president of Team Pandemic: Chris Lemley.

We have had many current and former Team Pandemic superstars on this program, people such as Nabore, Rob-wiz, and Prank`, but we have never had the brain behind the winning teams. We set that wrong right on this cast.

Chris and I talk on a range of subjects in this interview. We cover some of the history of Pandemic, the rise and fall of CoD competitive gaming, MW2 and we even find time to talk a little bit about the new Korean micro-transaction shooter AVA.

We end our discussion talking about the new direction he wants to take his organization.

Chris is a good pragmatic businessman, a really entertaining speaker and a great advocate of esports and I cannot wait to have him back on this program.

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On today’s podcast we analyze the impact DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke’s words had on all of us PC gamers currently wandering the FPS desert looking for a game to play or mod. GvD gave a great accounting of himself and his new project: Battlefield BAD COMPANY 2 on BASH 126.

When we make the segue from BFBC2 to MW2, you can feel the mood around the round-table change. You can barely hear us from all the teeth gnashing and finger nail clawing.

This was yet another week of watching IW’s release of MW2 stumble towards the finish line.  And if you were a PC player it was yet a continuation of depressing stories.

Of course we take on the big MW2 news of the week, which was of course the Best Buy chat with the game’s devs.

We finish the cast with a positive. CoD:WW’s patch v1.7 is moving along and PC support seems to continue apace with the development of CoDTV.

On the podcast we have ibleedv20 from omnilinkit.com, josh peckler from planetmedalofhonor.com and planetcallofduty.com, rudedog from fpsadmin.com, garetjax from codtv as well as console expert mattks from weplaycod.net, @weplaycod and finally pst*joker  from mycallofduty.com.

The opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of BASHandSlash.com. And now let the rancor and recriminations begin…wa waaaaa.

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BASH is pleased to present Battlefield Bad Company 2’s producer, coming to us all the way from the home office of Digital Illusions CE (DICE) in Stockholm Sweden, it is none other than the legendary Gordon Van Dyke.

Gordon is on BASH to talk to us about all the awesome tech going into his new baby, BFBC2.

This is a wide-ranging interview and we cover a lot of ground. With me to help cover that ground with Gordon (aka “Lex Luthor”) is BASH regular, Garetjax from codtv.tv.

Among the interesting personal facts that Gordon drops our way is that he was a former competitive player (hence the “Lex Luthor” tags), but get this…he was also a PC modder. And his mods are the reason he got to work at DICE. I’m sure his street cred with our community just shot straight up, huh?

Of course we asked about BFBC2 as well.

- We go into depth on the Frostbite gaming engine.

- We talk about the possibilities of modding the game.

- We talk about the potential for competitive BFBC2 play.

- We of course talk about the fact that BFBC2 will have dedicated servers.

- The PC beta is also discussed.

Thanks to all the folks who helped make this cast happen: Gordon at DICE, Matt Pruitt, Jino T. and Kelly E. at EA. Thanks guys.

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Though it should have been a runaway romp, the marketing of Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to the iconic CoD4, has been a muddy slog.

Activision, the game’s publisher and Infinity Ward, its developer have seen the game’s release troubled by an ever growing list of issues, many of their own making.

MW2’s ball-handlers have dropped their fair share of pig-skin in the last few months. Here are just the lowlights:

- Activision brass increase the price of MW2 during the deepest recession since the Great One, just because they can. This causes great resentment even amongst the game’s fanboys.

- The PC community forges a 170,000+ petition demanding the restitution of dedicated servers after it pieces together the dev’s plot to have their online experience replaced by a peer-to-peer system.

- PC pre-orders of the game drop, as does Activision stock, soon after the news of the lack of dedi servers hits the internet.

- IW devs single out hardcore CoD PC gamers as bad influences. They are effectively fired. Modders, competitive gamers and tuners go into anaphylactic shock.

- PC Modders revolt after they see that their creativity is harvested and used blatantly in some of MW2’s more appealing features, without so much as any recognition (never mind any monetary compensation).

- Console gamers get a hold of MW2 DVD’s and begin live-streaming SP missions over the internet. Hundred’s of spoiler alerts go unheeded as the game’s closely guarded secrets get spilled.

- Pirated MW2 console torrents are being seeded across the world, two weeks before the game is officially released. This finally dispels the myth that illegal PC downloads were the real problem.

- CNN ireporters call in to say that MW2 lets kids play terrorist characters. The alleged opening scenes of MW2 see the wholesale slaughter of civilians. Acid-tongued CNN readers suggest that the only terrorism is the cancellation of dedicated servers.

To discuss these and many other topics are:

Rudedog from fpsadmin.com

Garetjax from codtv.tv

Bleed from omnilinkit.com

and our guests:

Josh from planetmedalofhonor.com and planetcallofduty.com

console expert Mattks from weplaycod.blogspot.com

competitive player, Andy “The Impaler” Coons from Loaded (goloaded.com)

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BASH 123 detonated over the CoD community like an atomic blast.

It has been a week now and we have all had a chance to recover.

On this week’s BASH, we look forward into the future of Call of Duty. A future that might be missing the elements that brought us into this game in the first place.

Today’s webcast features a status update on Modern Warfare 2, with an emphasis on community reaction.

We also talk about the stinging rebuttal from MW2 developer, Infinity Ward.  Jason West’s reply was particularly strong and no doubt a stiff rebuke to the outcry from PC gamers.

We talk about the success of the online petition against IW and the wisdom of a server strike.

After what has happened, will you buy this game?

SERVER GIVEAWAY!

On to show PC community solidarity is, friend of the show, jimmycorps (jimmycorps.com) who will give away a dedicated 60-slot Linux server to a lucky BASH listener.

Trivia question: Besides PST*Joker, who’s the only other person to win on an episode of BASH’s quiz show “Kill or Be Killed”.

Kill or Be Killed Ep 2

Kill or Be Killed Ep 1

We have on PST*Joker, Bleed, Josh Peckler, Mattks and Ian Tannehill to talk things CoD.

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Rob Bowling, community manager at Infinity Ward was kind enough to join our panel on BASH today. He let us in on the news that IW was taking Modern Warfare in a new direction. The online game on PC has changed. Dedicated servers are out. IW.net is in.

This is a game changer and many of you may not be too happy. I for one will be willing to listen and try it out. It’s all I can do.

For the folks in our community that mod and map, the future does not look as bright as the past.

Thanks to Rob, PST*Joker from mycallofduty.com, Rudedog from fpsadmin.com, Garetjax from codtv.tv, Josh from Planetmedalofhonor.com, MatTks from @weplaycod (Twitter) and weplaycod.com, iBleedv20 at omnilinkit.com and the hordes in our chatroom and ventrilo.

I’m glad the day is over.

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A hectic week for MW2 news junkies. There was a great deal of information released about the game. It started last weekend with the release of the Infamy video and it continued with the GTTV special on MW2.

However, what should have been  a straightforward marketing bonanza for Activision and IW became anything but…in the PC community that is.  Activision/IW lost the marketing highground and their message was hijacked by rumors of a delay in the PC SKU.

That’s our topic for today’s cast and with me to discuss the issue, as well as to talk about other relevant MW2 tidbits are Rudedog from fpsadmin.com and Xiao from Blackmonkeys.de.

And in a historic first for the program, BASH introduces MaTtKs from Twitter’s WePlayCod and weplaycod.net. Matt, a staunch CoD console community member is on to bring his community’s viewpoint into the cast. Welcome Matt!

In addition, we talk about Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising. How has the release process gone for this new FPS shooter?

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We have tried for some time to get Ian Tannehill, head of game at CEVO, to come on and talk to us but something has always gotten in the way. Whether it was food poisoning (…pork’s not as easy to cook as you might think!), or structural fires (Ian’s a much-in-demand firefighter) something has always kept us from having him come on the show and share his insight.

Well on this week’s BASH, we had Ian get up early to talk to us about the exciting end to season four of the CEVO-P season.

In addition to CEVO’s CoD guru, we have John from efragtv.com.

John and his shoutcasters casted the final game, which saw Loaded go up against Team Pandemic for CoD4 bragging rights in North America. John brings us his thoughts on the championship game and on the season.

Along with Ian and John are my co-hosts.  PST*Joker from mycallofduty.com, Bleed from omnilinkit.com and Rudedog from fpsadmin.com are on to discuss the rest of the news in the CoD world for this week.

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Has Activision’s plans to monetize Call of Duty left the PC irrevocably behind the console in relevance? Does it matter? Can our community do anything about it?

On to talk about these and other topics are pst*Joker from mycallofduty.com, Bleed from omnilinkit.com, John from efragtv.com, Arseynimz from Gamestah.com and Chris from blackmonkeys.de

Topics from the show:

Germans get MW2 without censorship (see source) What’s new in MW2 this week (perky question)? Is Activision leaving the PC community behind? Is there any PC game worth buying? Community info for September

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Today we present BASH 119, recorded live in prime time last Sunday night.

On with us to talk about MW2 was Rudedog, from fpsadmin.com, fresh from his experience at the IW Community Event in Los Angeles. He takes us into the event and tells us what happened and what Modern Warfare 2 has in store for the PC community.

Are we in for a bumpy ride? Also with us today is Garetjax from codtv.tv who will tell us his progress on the CoD:WW CoDTV front.

CoD:WW v1.6 was released this week and we marvel at the logistics of producing the mammoth downloads available to us. Has Treyarch become the developer of choice for the PC community? It sure looks that way to us!

Co-hosting the program with Jock are PST*Joker from mycallofduty.com and Bleed from omnilinkit.com.

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Thanks to Rudedog from fpsadmin.com, you get a chance to sit in on tonight’s MW2 community event in Los Angeles!

Rudedog tweets and skypes us all the info going on behind the scenes at MW2’s first showing to the glitterati of the gaming community.

PST*Joker and Sanity are on hand to listen in.

Thanks to the hundreds that came and listened live!

This cast is the raw, unedited audio of the live cast we did tonight at the community event.

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In this week’s episode, Jock and the gang discuss the Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer video “Flagrunner” that came out this week. Flagrunner shows Capture the Flag (CTF) being played. Missing in CoD4, Infinity Ward, MW2’s developer, has brought back CTF.

We have a big group on to discuss the video and every part of the CoD community is represented. pst*joker of mycallofduty.com, sam from omnilinkit.com, rudedog (fpsadmin.com) are back as well as first time BASHer, adam (aka Uzi) from the competitive gaming outfit Area51 (Area51gaming.com).

In addition to the MW2 vid…we discuss CoD:WW’s Map Pack 3 and its impending release to the PC community.

We touch on the state of CoD competitive gaming.

And finally, we look at the Demon Mod from Demon Seed…or “Bruce Wayne” as we know him by.

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Is that a disturbance in the Force I sense …or have the blackMonkeys.de just gone and created another great mod?

On today’s (live) BASH we bring on Xiao, spokesman for this prolific German modding group, to talk about the new total conversion mod for CoD4 that they are working on called…

STAR WARS: Galactic Warfare

Galactic Warfare is a total conversion, that means that you will not recognize that this was CoD4 other than by the fact that the gameplay will feel CoD-like. Make no mistake, just about everything else is being touched. The scenery, the avatars, the sounds, the guns, the gametypes…it’s all going to immerse you into the futuristic Star Wars universe.

In addition to talking about all the great stuff in the new upcoming mod, we also discuss the latest news with Modern Warfare 2. And there’s much to discuss.

Sam from omnilinkit.com helps me host the show.

Come on and listen in…Master Yoda would have wanted you to.

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BASH 115 was recorded LIVE on UStream in front of a worldwide audience of CoD fanatics. Our topics covered everything from CoD Community goings-on, like the DDOS attacks currently underway against anti-cheat sites to the problems IW has been having staying on schedule with MW2.

Why hasn’t IW or Activision even mentioned the PC game? Why has the PC SKU been left completely out of their marketing blitzes? Has something gone awry with the PC community’s flavor of CoD?

That and more on this program.

Cohost: PST*Joker from mycallofduty.com Special guests: iBleedv20 from omnilinkit.com and Decisive Gaming’s [!d]Frag.

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On today’s cast, we look at the CoD news that came at us in the month of July ‘09. With me to discuss that news is PST*Joker of mycallofduty.com, as well …Hitman from codmaps.org makes an appearance to talk about his successful launch of a community file sharing site.

Amongst the topics we discuss are:

-The unboxing of MW2.

-PST*Joker talks to Ice-T about MW2

-Treyarch sets a new standard for support

COMMUNITY NEWS

COMPETITIVE NEWS

-A new version of Promod Live comes out.

-The BASH server running Promod Live is up: 216.246.110.163:29060  thanks to clanwarz.com

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An Estonian, two Swedes, a Singaporean and a Canadian walk into a gaming webcast…yes, it does sound like a setup for a joke, but we really do have all those folks on the show today. Ingram from Estonia and Swedes Trivve and Abhi are on the show to talk about the new competitive standard mod for CoD4: Promod Live v2.

Yet another competitive mod for CoD4 you say? Well…it’s a long story and frankly, I understand quantuum mechanics better than I understand the tortuous path that took this community from PAM4 to Promod Live v2. But we try to explain it on this show.

In a nut shell, Carlisle’s Promod Live (remember BASH 102), which was selected by the CoD Alliance over Promod v4.40 (Trivve) has been supplanted in Europe as the standard competitive mod. Carlisle has retreated from the scene and this has allowed Trivve (and Ingram and Abhi) to step in with an evolved version of their old mod, now renamed Promod Live v2.

On the show we explore the history and politics behind Promod Live:

- Carlisle’s Promod Live was the standard competitive mod. Where has he gone? - Where is the CoD Alliance (TCA), the group that had chosen Promod Live as the competitive mod of choice a few months ago? Will they select v2 as the new king of competitive mods?

We explore what’s new in Promod Live v2 (like new modes like Strat). And , we talk about some of its drawbacks: maxpackets forced at 100 (a hold over from previous Promods).

What is Raf1 (maker of Promod) doing behind the scenes to unify the CoD community when MW2 comes out?

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News from the east on today’s podcast.

Gamestah shoutcaster DeathAdder (DA) from the [JEDI] clan of Singapore talks to us about competitive gaming in CoD.

One of the hot topics: Promodlive v2

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The term “lull before the storm” is a bit hackneyed, but with the impending MW2 media-storm about to hit the CoD community’s coastline very soon…it’s an apt one to use for this week’s webcast.

PST*Joker and I look at the going’s on in the CoD landscape this first week in July and find that there’s a surprising amount of happenings.

Everything from mods to mayhem.

So make sure you have plywood up on your windows and strap in for a listen.

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In today’s cast, PST*Joker and I spend a bit more time talking about the e-drama behind the hacks that felled game-cheat site Netcoders and (in an unrelated event) CoDNerd’s CustomCOD.com.

We also talk about a few other events of the day:

1. Treyarch talks about Map Pack 2 and the PC community. Finally! The tea-leaves look good.

2.  Rob Bowling on MW2 co-op mode: Source

3.  OpenWarfare mod

4.  CoD4 Frontlines mod v5: final version.

5.  GenSherman’s Devil-Dogz celebrate their 3rd anniversary (Jock’s old clan). PST celebrate their 4th (PST*Joker’s clan).

6. From Jamie of Tactics and Cunning:

“Just to let you know I like your website and have included links to it on a new toolbar I set up for our clan.  We’re a UK and European S&D COD clan but I’m promoting it where I can with the emphasis on it being a great place to get the latest COD news, therefore there is a link to your RSS feed and to your website under “Useful Websites”.

Heres a link if you want a look: http://TacticsandCunning.OurToolbar.com/

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