[jy14898]

The post stated that it was believed duplication improved loading times on computers with HDDs rather than SSDs

[dontlaugh]

Which is true. It’s an old technique going back to CD games consoles, to avoid seeks.

[SergeAx]

Is it really possible to control file locations on HDD via Windows NTFS API?

[pjc50]

Key word is "believed". It doesn't sound like they actually benchmarked.

[wongogue]

There is nothing to believe. Random 4K reads for HDD is slow.

[khannn]

Who cares? I've installed every graphically intensive game on SSDs since the original OCZ Vertex was released.

[teamonkey]

Their concern was that one person in a squad loading on HDD could slow down the level loading for all players in a squad, even if they used a SSD, so they used a very normal and time-tested optimisation technique to prevent that.