Black Ops 2 Adding Ranked Dedicated Servers
Has it been a great 24 hours for revolutionary new tech developments or what? First Minecraft revealed "LAN" - named, of course, after LAN parties, which paradoxically didn't exist until just a few moments ago - and now Activision's pointing its scope at longer-range latency with a new addition to Black Ops 2's scary future war arsenal: dedicated servers. Unlike Modern Warfare 3's, however, these are ranked and everything. "Confirmed: Ranked Dedicated Servers for #BlackOps2," tweeted director of technology Cesar Stastny. See?
What, though, does this mean for Call of Duty: Elite on PC? The service has been MIA since Modern Warfare 3's launch 5823929587949238 battledeathkills ago in Call of Duty Standard Time, and it's shown no signs of surfacing. I asked about it during E3, only to receive an all-too-predictable "we have nothing to announce at this time" followed by a "bleep-bloop, Strike Force will change the way you... bzzt... DLC until the end of time... bzzt... please press the reset button or contact customer service."
Given, however, that the initial delay stemmed from fears over PC's inherent insecurity as a platform, this seems like a curious move. I mean, it's nice that Treyarch's not panicking and locking everything down, but more player control - at least, you'd think - probably means even less of a chance for Elite to reach our war-torn shores. I've mailed Activision to clarify, but I can practically hear the Automated Response-O-Tron 2.0 preparing to transform and roll out. By which I mean type "no comment" and then return to its cold, electric-sheep-less slumber.