jamyskis: And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don't make your games reliant on third-party online services. On this occasion we can be thankful that it's 'only' the multiplayer which is being mothballed, but still...
When the same thing happens to Steam years down the line, the cries of foul are going to be huge.
At this point, there are so many Steam users that I'd be afraid of potential riots in certain parts of the world if they shut down.
Hopefully, should they ever terminate, it will be a gradual decline so that by the time they cease operations, they won't have too many dependants.
blotunga: This is why I'd prefer that games support simple LAN multiplayer.
And the reason why I refuse to buy StarCraft 2...
Games need to support LAN more and also: an open-source client/server solution (or at least, a solution that uses an open public standard with documents clearly specifying how everything should behave kinda like web standards now for browsers) as an alternative to what Gamespy and Valve provides would solve many problems.
That would open up doors to anybody potentially providing multiplayer hosting services and wouldn't make everyone's multiplayer experience solely dependant on the fate of one company.
