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Unfortunately, Batman: Arkham City IS using Games for Windows Live (Eurogamer)

R

Red

Member
AShep said:
Cry me a fucking river. Most people don't have any problems and all I ever see is the usual suspects shitting up threads bitching about GFWL while fellating Steam over and over.
Click to expand...
You are wrong here. The service is objectively poor. It is bad. It is literally worse than every other digital client on PC. That's not up for debate. It can't possibly be.

GFWL was absolute shit on release and has not improved. Not a single time. Not in four years.
 
A

Appleman

Member
I'm a horrible person, but despite this being GFWL (which I despise), I'm still going to snag it day one because of how much I enjoyed the first one...

I'm one of the people who's actually not buying BF3 simply because it's not on Steam
 
B

BurntPork

Banned
WHY

;-; I guess I'll wait for the Wii U GoTY edition... (I can't get it for 360 for the same reason I can't get it on PC with GWFL.)
 
G

GJS

Member
Stumpokapow said:
Someone quoted a post I apparently made listing some of the problems with GFWL earlier.

That particular post didn't also include one major problem. GFWL requires that users install Windows Live Essentials. No Windows Live Essentials, no GFWL. Whatever, no big deal. Except that Windows Live Essentials fundamentally alters file sharing in Windows in a way that breaks most implementations of SMB ("Samba") file sharing. This is Microsoft's fault. They unilaterally changed the spec in a way that prior implementations will fail to connect. The way in which it breaks it was eventually reverse engineered and fixed, but that fix needs to propagate through individual implementations of filesharing.

So if you're like me, and you have a handful of media boxes (some running embedded systems that are not feasible to update), and you have computers running several operating systems, you are being asked to choose between being able to enable file sharing on your desktop, or being able to play GFWL games. For a long while, the problem was actually unsolved in most XBMC installations, meaning the world's most pre-eminent media center wasn't even capable of dealing with it.

In my particular setup, it's less of an issue as of mid-2011 (XBMC has fixed the issue, and my last media center device that doesn't have it fixed runs in the guest room and so isn't used all that often), but this is an example of why GFWL has been a bit of a plague.
Click to expand...
How long has this been the case? What particular parts of WLE are required?

The only trace of WLE on my computer is a hyperlink called "Go online to get windows Live Essentials", I can not find any of the WLE programs and I have a working install of GFWL.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
damn that's nice said:
I love Games for Windows LIVE.

edit: completely unironic

edit2: using my 360's gamertag on the computer? yes why not?
Click to expand...

I liked OK it until I tried buying and downloading DLC and the GFWL client started crashing and freezing my computer and generally being a buggy piece of shit.
 
E

echoshifting

Banned
Sho_Nuff82 said:
The roller coaster this game has been on is fairly amusing.

WB: We're releasing a sequel to what many consider the 2009 GOTY, with bigger levels, more villains, and better graphics
GAF: That's good!
WB: But we must warn you, the game contains pre-order DLC.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: But the DLC are skins from Batman Beyond, Batman TAS, Batman 70's, and The Dark Knight Returns.
GAF: That's good!
WB: The skins are all exclusive to individual retailers.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: But we've also included Robin!
GAF: That's good!
WB: Robin is also DLC, and a cagefighting dudebro.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: The PC version will be the definitive version.
GAF: That's good!
WB: It will use Games for Windows.
GAF: ...
WB: ...LIVE.
GAF: ...can I go now?
Click to expand...

Perfect post is perfect. PS3 for me, perhaps GOTY version for ten bucks during a Steam sale somewhere down the line. I did not have problems with GFWL in AA, but I have had bucketloads in other games. No thanks.
 
I

inky

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
The roller coaster this game has been on is fairly amusing.
Click to expand...

Nailed it. It's like publishers are competing against themselves to immediately fuck up any good news they might have:
"Hey, our game is awesome, the press loves it and gamers can't wait to play it!"
"We can't let this happen, let's announce some exclusivity BS that will ensure our most loyal fans will be the most affected. They are loyal though, so later on we will just roll out a GOTY version that includes everything we could've given them from the beginning. Those suckers will but it again anyways."
"We should stick some obnoxious DRM as well, just for kicks."
"Win - Win" (for us, not them)
 
Bucket-o-roadkill

Bucket-o-roadkill

Member
Fuck yeah, as someone who has never had a problem with GFWL, the prospect of playing on pc in glorious eye candy and getting acheivements is a good thing.
 
S

Skilletor

Member
I just got a new PC and wanted to play this on PC. :(

I haven't had any experience at all with GFWL other than the free copy of SF4 I got from EVO.

I...I think I'll risk it.
 
hullostranger

hullostranger

Member
I finished up Arkham Asylum and Dirt 2 on GfWL with out any trouble what so ever. I did have trouble with AA updating the first time around with it but that was fixed by me just installing the latest client off the GfWL website. Smooth sailing from there on.

I really think installing and signing in to the GfWL separately instead of when starting the game makes a big difference. [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Live/PC/DownloadClient]
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
The roller coaster this game has been on is fairly amusing.

WB: We're releasing a sequel to what many consider the 2009 GOTY, with bigger levels, more villains, and better graphics
GAF: That's good!
WB: But we must warn you, the game contains pre-order DLC.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: But the DLC are skins from Batman Beyond, Batman TAS, Batman 70's, and The Dark Knight Returns.
GAF: That's good!
WB: The skins are all exclusive to individual retailers.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: But we've also included Robin!
GAF: That's good!
WB: Robin is also DLC, and a cagefighting dudebro.
GAF: That's bad.
WB: The PC version will be the definitive version.
GAF: That's good!
WB: It will use Games for Windows.
GAF: ...
WB: ...LIVE.
GAF: ...can I go now?
Click to expand...
Haha, this is great.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
dark10x said:
What kind of problems have people had with GFWL? I have a number of games that use it and they all continue to work without problems. I'm not an achievement whore either, but I don't mind receiving them.
Click to expand...
We've had entire threads about this.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404721

Specifically:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22919424&postcount=19
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22920729&postcount=91
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=23421240&postcount=165
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24250068&postcount=181
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24266563&postcount=184
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24267682&postcount=188
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24269761&postcount=196
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24347368&postcount=235
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24350213&postcount=249

And then these threads
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=441980
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413130

just for a sampling.
 
A

aasoncott

Member
Htown said:
just for a sampling.
Click to expand...

Adding my original experience with Arkham Asylum to the mix:

  • Downloaded through Steam
  • Clicked "play"
  • Did first-time install, as usual
  • Game asked for a serial
  • Game loaded, GFWL popped up
  • GFWL asked for a serial, which I entered for a second time
  • Asked for my Live account
  • Told me GFWL needed to be updated; game quit
  • GFWL slowly updated
  • Clicked "play"
  • Game loaded, GFWL popped up
  • Asked for my Live account
  • Told me GFWL needed to be updated; game quit
  • GFWL slowly updated
  • Clicked "play"
  • Game loaded, GFWL popped up
  • Asked for my Live account
  • Told me GFWL needed to be updated; clicked cancel
  • A dialog box popped up said I couldn't save unless I signed into GFWL
  • Rage
  • GFWL slowly updated
  • Clicked "play"
  • Game loaded, GFWL popped up
  • Asked for my Live account
  • Game could finally be played
Click to expand...
 
D

damn that's nice

Junior Member
Crunched said:
You are wrong here. The service is objectively poor. It is bad. It is literally worse than every other digital client on PC. That's not up for debate. It can't possibly be.

GFWL was absolute shit on release and has not improved. Not a single time. Not in four years.
Click to expand...
Meh, so why is there nothing wrong with it if it is bad? Maybe the GFWL store is shit or something, the support is fine. All it does it allow you to get achievements and talk to your friends from Xbox while on PC. IDK you just seem like an asshole when you make such radical claims about a service that is far from "absolute shit"
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
damn that's nice said:
Meh, so why is there nothing wrong with it if it is bad? Maybe the GFWL store is shit or something, the support is fine. All it does it allow you to get achievements and talk to your friends from Xbox while on PC. IDK you just seem like an asshole when you make such radical claims about a service that is far from "absolute shit"
Click to expand...
Please tell me this is a joke post.

Anyone who has seen me in the EA vs Valve threads knows I'm not a fan of Origin.

I would suck Origin's dick if it meant none of the games I want to play were attached to GFWL ever again.
 
E

echoshifting

Banned
damn that's nice said:
what's wrong with achievements and friends?

i just don't get the hate i've never had a single problem with games for windows live
Click to expand...

What's wrong with acknowledging that there's more to it than achievements and friends?
 
D

damn that's nice

Junior Member
i mean i would never buy a game on there instead of steam but i like playing with my gamertag :\

edit: i guess windows live is designed for people who like xbox live and not steam
 
W

wutwutwut

Member
damn that's nice said:
what's wrong with achievements and friends?
Click to expand...
Achievements tied to points are pretty terrible, but let's ignore that for now.

i just don't get the hate i've never had a single problem with games for windows live
Click to expand...
"I have never had a problem with the service" does not mean "there are no problems with the service". Look up the thread: plenty of people (including me) have posted their horror stories. You can't just ignore all of them.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
damn that's nice said:
i mean i would never buy a game on there instead of steam but i like playing with my gamertag :\

edit: i guess windows live is designed for people who like xbox live and not steam
Click to expand...
Well, it's designed for people that don't like PC games, that is true.
 
R

Red

Member
damn that's nice said:
Meh, so why is there nothing wrong with it if it is bad? Maybe the GFWL store is shit or something, the support is fine. All it does it allow you to get achievements and talk to your friends from Xbox while on PC. IDK you just seem like an asshole when you make such radical claims about a service that is far from "absolute shit"
Click to expand...
wat
 
drkOne

drkOne

Member
damn that's nice said:
Meh, so why is there nothing wrong with it if it is bad? Maybe the GFWL store is shit or something, the support is fine. All it does it allow you to get achievements and talk to your friends from Xbox while on PC. IDK you just seem like an asshole when you make such radical claims about a service that is far from "absolute shit"
Click to expand...
I can talk to my Xbox friends using Windows Live Messenger, can't I? And why would I want to talk with my friends that are currently playing a game, which at best have the keyboard add-on, which is still a pain to use for more than a couple of words. How often do you use it, once every three months?

Achievements? If you want them over all else just get the game on the 360, are you kidding me?

Support is absolute shit, I wasn't able to play Dead Rising 2 after an update because it gave me an error... The only solution that made sense in their reply was trying to reinstall the game... Which didn't solve a thing. Rather than tiring my head fixing something that I didn't have to fix, I got a crack.
I'd say it also took me, on average, 2 minutes to start Arkham Asylum. GFWL is slow as fuck, and that's when you don't have to update the service or the game...
And then you have all those Dirt 3 cases, which are all valid, whether you want to accept it or not.

Don't try to defend a service that has been shitty ever since it came out. Even if you never noticed it.
 
D

damn that's nice

Junior Member
ShockingAlberto said:
Well, it's designed for people that don't like PC games, that is true.
Click to expand...
But I love pC games... In like the last month I've bought all PC games... I don't know fuck this thread I can't handle this.
 
T

Turfster

Member
GJS said:
How long has this been the case? What particular parts of WLE are required?

The only trace of WLE on my computer is a hyperlink called "Go online to get windows Live Essentials", I can not find any of the WLE programs and I have a working install of GFWL.
Click to expand...
When I had to update GFWL the last time (somewhere in may) to be able to play uh... Dawn of War 2 I think it was, it grabbed a new 'full' reinstall of GFWL that also installed the windows live ID assistant as a service that ran every time I booted.
You can turn the service off, but then you can't boot the games anymore.

Also, it was pretty much impossible to play Red Faction Guerilla, since the latest mandatory GFWL update KEPT BREAKING THE GAME.
 
R

Red

Member
damn that's nice said:
But I love pC games... In like the last month I've bought all PC games... I don't know fuck this thread I can't handle this.
Click to expand...
With that avatar, I have to question what kind of PC games you're buying.
 
G

Guerrillas in the Mist

Member
Krauser Kat said:
Angry Video game nerds on the internet are clearly the only sample group for the quality of services.
Click to expand...

Yeah, casuals don't care about corrupted saves, an archaic DRM and updating system that takes half an hour to actually get the game going, and one of the ugliest and buggiest UIs in gaming.
 
R

ROBOKITTYZILLA

Member
Stumpokapow said:
Someone quoted a post I apparently made listing some of the problems with GFWL earlier.

That particular post didn't also include one major problem. GFWL requires that users install Windows Live Essentials. No Windows Live Essentials, no GFWL. Whatever, no big deal. Except that Windows Live Essentials fundamentally alters file sharing in Windows in a way that breaks most implementations of SMB ("Samba") file sharing. This is Microsoft's fault. They unilaterally changed the spec in a way that prior implementations will fail to connect. The way in which it breaks it was eventually reverse engineered and fixed, but that fix needs to propagate through individual implementations of filesharing.

So if you're like me, and you have a handful of media boxes (some running embedded systems that are not feasible to update), and you have computers running several operating systems, you are being asked to choose between being able to enable file sharing on your desktop, or being able to play GFWL games. For a long while, the problem was actually unsolved in most XBMC installations, meaning the world's most pre-eminent media center wasn't even capable of dealing with it.

In my particular setup, it's less of an issue as of mid-2011 (XBMC has fixed the issue, and my last media center device that doesn't have it fixed runs in the guest room and so isn't used all that often), but this is an example of why GFWL has been a bit of a plague.
Click to expand...

ugh.. maybe that explains why my Macbook Pro or Mac Mini won't connect directly to my Windows share in XMBC. As a workaround I have been mapping the share on the Mac first and then pointing XMBC to the path of the share.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
Turfster said:
When I had to update GFWL the last time (somewhere in may) to be able to play uh... Dawn of War 2 I think it was, it grabbed a new 'full' reinstall of GFWL that also installed the windows live ID assistant as a service that ran every time I booted.
You can turn the service off, but then you can't boot the games anymore.

Also, it was pretty much impossible to play Red Faction Guerilla, since the latest mandatory GFWL update KEPT BREAKING THE GAME.
Click to expand...
You know your patching delivery system is bad when the only workaround is a link to the executable for the patch that's found on the game's official forum; the sort of thing that GFWL, in theory, is supposed to take care of for you.
 
C

cooltobeyou

Banned
My Xbox Live account was banned when Dawn of War 2 tried to do multiplayer as a gold account without a credit card on file.

Lost my Arkham Asylum save after
Croc.



BUT GUYS I'VE NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH IT SO YOU'RE JUST BEING WHINY NERDS


Edit - Added in tag just in case heh
 
H

hamchan

Member
People that dislike GFWL because it's shit: *thumbs up*
People that are indifferent to GFWL: *thumbs up*
People that are defending GFWL: What the hell is wrong with you?
 
R

Red

Member
cooltobeyou said:
My Xbox Live account was banned when Dawn of War 2 tried to do multiplayer as a gold account without a credit card on file.

Lost my Arkham Asylum save after Croc.



BUT GUYS I'VE NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH IT SO YOU'RE JUST BEING WHINY NERDS
Click to expand...
The "I don't see what's so bad about cancer" people are right on the money with this. The attitude that GFWL is a good system because some people have never had problems with it... so short sighted and flawed.

I've never had a problem with lead paint poisoning, but guess what. I'm not going to start shopping around to paint my kid's bedroom with it.
 
A

alphaNoid

Banned
I've never had a single issue with GFWL in several years. Sure its not the best integration but it works fine for me. *shrug*
 
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