WON2

WON2, is the user created and operated sucessor to the World Opponent Network or WON online gaming service, for playing Half-Life and its Mods.

Related Topics:
WON - Half-Life - Mod

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Following the shutdown of WON on July 31, 2004 by its owner Valve Software, in favor of its own Steam system, there was considerable controversy within the Half-Life communities over Steam's reliablity, security and privacy. Some users, especially those on dial-up, with older computers or outside North America, found it difficult if not impossible to use Steam. While others considered Steam to be a "resource hog" on their computers and a form of Adware or Spyware. There were also concerns about security, especially that of credit card numbers used in online purchases via Steam, and whether or not it may become a subscrition-based Pay-To-play service.

Related Topics:
July 31 - 2004 - Valve Software - Steam - Adware - Spyware

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As a result of these concerns, along with the desire by some to simply continue playing the older games the way they had for years, various players and groups developed their own solutions which allowed them to play the older, Non-source (not Half-Life2) engine, Half-Life games without Steam. In late November 2004, some of the largest of these groups, in particular The SteamlessProject.nl and No-Won.net, merged to form WON2. The network grew and maintains a steady size of about 300 gaming servers with usually 500-1000 players online at any one time. Most of its master (backbone) and content servers are based in Europe, especially the Netherlands.

Related Topics:
November - Netherlands

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While WON2 is miniscule in size compared to its predecessor and Steam, Valve still regards it with suspicion and hostility. But due to the fact WON2 only runs the older, non-source games, its decentralized nature and the fact it is run primarily overseas, Valve can legally do nothing against it. WON2 is not without problems, though. There are currently, no Authorization (or Auth) servers to assign unique player IDs and enforce bans for cheating or other misbehaviors. Bans must be made by IP, which means perminent or even long term bans are impossible. Other problems include, the need for more Master servers outside of Europe (as previously noted) and the fact over 90% of WON2's game servers run older versions of Counter-Strike . However, for those who enjoy these older games, WON2 seems to provide a viable alternative to Steam.

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