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Microsoft finally admits GFWL is crap

R

RavenSEAL

Diamond Member
Joining the rest of the world at long last, a senior Microsoft employee has allowed for the possibility that the company's matchmaking, stat-tracking, and marketplace service on PC may have been less than successful.

Senior producer of interactive entertainment Kevin Unangst told website CVG, "I think because it was designed originally as a partner to the console service more than the PC service, we had a rocky start."

Unangst went on to promise improvements to Games for Windows Live. Microsoft is apparently listening to feedback from Lionhead (Fable III) and Gas Powered Games (Age of Empires Online) in an attempt to make the service better. Unangst pointed to Halo and Xbox Live, and how Bungie drove a lot of the specifications for the service by requesting features to enable the game the studio wanted to make. He also used Epic and its recent Bulletstorm as an example of this philosophy in action.

"Epic did a great job of promoting [Windows] Live with Bulletstorm. They're pleased with the platform and the service is going to continue to get better over time," Unangst added.

Never mind that I had to give Bulletstorm the three-finger salute to get the game to run (since the GFWL client insisted on updating, which it had to shut down for, but Bulletstorm refused to do anything at all unless I was logged into GFWL, which I couldn't do until it updated). I'm sure Epic thoroughly enjoys its relationship with Microsoft, but I couldn't care less as a gamer.

Bully for Microsoft if it manages to turn GFWL into something better. It's encouraging to hear the company commit to continuing to work on the platform, but we've heard this song and dance before with how the Games for Windows initiative was going to revitalize PC gaming.

Remember how great it was for the PC market when Microsoft delayed (or never bothered with in the first place) the PC version of every high-profile game in its catalog? You know, the ones that the company spent millions of dollars developing and marketing, then released to great success on Xbox? Or Shadowrun? That one got released simultaneously on PC and Xbox. They just used an oversized cone of fire that obliterates the usefulness of aiming skill so that Xbox gamers wouldn't be at a disadvantage. Also, given its shuttering of veteran PC studios like Ensemble and FASA, I remain a bit skeptical of Microsoft's supposed championing of PC gaming.
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http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...es-for-windows-live-possibly-not-amazing.aspx
 
Well, again, it is just the simple fact that input device makes a HUGE influence on how a game is played. It is also the reason why I will never play a FPS on a console unless that console allows keyboard/mouse control/input as a normal PC would.
 
From my experience, I never saw what all the fuss was about with it. I've used STEAM and GFWL, and both have annoyed me equally.
 
Fallen Kell said:
Well, again, it is just the simple fact that input device makes a HUGE influence on how a game is played. It is also the reason why I will never play a FPS on a console unless that console allows keyboard/mouse control/input as a normal PC would.
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That has nothing to do with GFWL as a service. WE GET IT, you are on the PC gaming forum and you hate playing FPSs with a controller! Alert Twitter!

I haven't experienced any of the nightmares I've heard about with GFWL, but then again I haven't really made much use of it either. It's kind of neat that I can earn achievements while playing games on my PC, or access my friends list, but it's also kind of useless. Seems like it would make a lot more sense to seriously dial back how much GFWL integrates itself into games. It shouldn't tie into saved games at all. Never lost saved games because of it, but I know some people have.
 
motsm said:
From my experience, I never saw what all the fuss was about with it. I've used STEAM and GFWL, and both have annoyed me equally.
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I sat for 2 hours trying to update GFWL to play batman AA and it SUCKED. Turns out their servers were screwed and i had to download a version different from what came with the game.

Steam has been spotless for me though.
 
Fallen Kell said:
Well, again, it is just the simple fact that input device makes a HUGE influence on how a game is played. It is also the reason why I will never play a FPS on a console unless that console allows keyboard/mouse control/input as a normal PC would.
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Cool story brah? What does this have ANYTHING to do with gfwl?
 
RavenSEAL said:
I sat for 2 hours trying to update GFWL to play batman AA and it SUCKED. Turns out their servers were screwed and i had to download a version different from what came with the game.

Steam has been spotless for me though.
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Yeah, and I've had more issues with STEAM than GFWL, as I've had none with GFWL. I still rate them rather equal however, as I haven't used it that much, so STEAM has had more opportunities to piss me off.
 
motsm said:
Yeah, and I've had more issues with STEAM than GFWL, as I've had none with GFWL. I still rate them rather equal however, as I haven't used it that much, so STEAM has had more opportunities to piss me off.
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Steam is leagues ahead of GFWL, the friends list, store, voice chat (mostly) are all flawless and the DRM part has not interfered with me once. Its well put together and MS dosent need to go and make their own, they need to team up with valve and help them any way they can.

Only minor complaint about steam is the recent UI update that added ah heck all in features and actually removed some usability, plus where's our download thottler valve?
 
Maximilian said:
Steam is leagues ahead of GFWL, the friends list, store, voice chat (mostly) are all flawless and the DRM part has not interfered with me once.
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Well, I have to open and update both STEAM and GFWL, so that is more than enough DRM interference for me.
 
motsm said:
Well, I have to open and update both STEAM and GFWL, so that is more than enough DRM interference for me.
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The only sucky thing is when you buy a game off Steam that requires GFWL... so you're stuck using two services that try and provide the same benefit.

Microsoft should just give up and buy Valve for their Steam service. We all know Microsoft loves buying up things 😛.
 
I must be the only person in the world who hasn't had a single issue with GFWL. (I have about 5 games on Steam that use it).
 
Updating GFWL really sucked, took forever and had so many damn updates over it's life so far. Made you exit the game, plus not being able to save a game without logging in really sucked as well. I just want to play a damn game.
 
I had a few issues updating GFWL. Something with trying to use DLC for batman; huge mistake. I had to 'go online' to use the DLC; but then it wouldn't let me go back 'offline'.

Never had an issue with steam. Occasionally on the netbook it wants me to connect to the internet; but never this bogus cycle of l@)(_@)(#*@#*.
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Anyways I'm not as anti-drm as some folks; and GWFL is fine when it works but when it doesn't work (which is more often than not) I feel like pulling my hair out. I think the only games I have with GWFL are gears of war and batman; maybe two others fallout and bioshock; can't remember. Things with GWFL work fine until it needs an update; then it goes to hell.
 
GFWL was great for denying me the ability to play a game I bought (DoW2).

"lololol you ran out of activations GG noob"

I guess I could give them a call to fix that, but I don't care about that game anymore, and why should I have to call anyways? Just to play my game.

Good thing DoW2 Retribution switched to steam. Now I can switch hardware, reinstall OS's, etc. as much as I want and not worry about being unable to play Retribution.
 
PieIsAwesome said:
GFWL was great for denying me the ability to play a game I bought (DoW2).

"lololol you ran out of activations GG noob"

I guess I could give them a call to fix that, but I don't care about that game anymore, and why should I have to call anyways? Just to play my game.

Good thing DoW2 Retribution switched to steam. Now I can switch hardware, reinstall OS's, etc. as much as I want and not worry about being unable to play Retribution.
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Not to mention DoW2 was the pinnacle of GFWL awful matchmaking. Relic went into a fairly big explanation of how fatally flawed the GFWL matchmaking system is, actually, for anything other than FPSs.
 
motsm said:
From my experience, I never saw what all the fuss was about with it. I've used STEAM and GFWL, and both have annoyed me equally.
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True, but get them together and you would wish someone was never born.

Had a warhammer 40K demo(DoW?) / trial weekend via steam last year (or when ever) that needed steam running (fair enough, you downloaded it that way), which then needed you to log into GFWL, then log into your warhammer 40K account (IIRC).

3 stupid DRM systems on top of each other, and when a friend droped out of a game, had to basically re-start to play with them again.

While the game was enjoyable, that was way too many hoops to jump through, espically as if connection with any of the 3 was lost to their respective servers, the game kicked you all the way out to the desktop.

Not 100% sure, but using GFWL is just too unreliable in my experence to fund any game that uses it. Espically as it nearly appears it punishes anyone on a slow connection / outside of the US.
 
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Love their OS (Win 7 and XP) love some of their hardware (Zune HD) and I love some of their software (Zune music software) but hate just about everything else that M$ does.
 
Fallen Kell said:
Well, again, it is just the simple fact that input device makes a HUGE influence on how a game is played. It is also the reason why I will never play a FPS on a console unless that console allows keyboard/mouse control/input as a normal PC would.
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My friend was telling me he ordered this thing that allowed him to use a kb+mouse on a 360. I forgot what it was called but I think it started with an X and had a 3. I haven't talked to him since he got it so no idea how it is.
 
Wait BulletStorm is made by Epic the Unreal guys?

And why can't M$ just use Steam, they always have to reinvent the wheel ffs.
 
paperfist said:
Wait BulletStorm is made by Epic the Unreal guys?

And why can't M$ just use Steam, they always have to reinvent the wheel ffs.
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Because they think if they can do it better than they can charge you more money. Obviously, look what they did with Live on consoles. I refuse to ever pay for it again, even if I can't play Gears of War 24 or Halo 51.
 
Microsoft is infamous for producing an endless line of bad to mediocre programs. They really make their money off their office programs and operating systems, so its no surprise their support for gamers is often lacking. With the exception of direct x and the x box they just never had much to offer.

I could see them getting better at supporting pc gaming eventually, but I'd take anything they say about a new product with a pound of salt.
 
Pr0d1gy said:
Because they think if they can do it better than they can charge you more money. Obviously, look what they did with Live on consoles. I refuse to ever pay for it again, even if I can't play Gears of War 24 or Halo 51.
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yep, the whole original premise behind GFWL when it first arrived was that the pc crowd would gladly jump like the xbox lemmings and pay a monthly fee for it. that idea bombed so hard they scrapped the fee a couple years later and still haven't recovered other than to subsidize some products to use the service as a badly managed steam.
 
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