am i the only one that wants Games for Windows LIVE to succeed?

The only thing I don't like about it is buying downloadable content with Microsoft points. If Microsoft would allow Steam to sell the downloadable content also I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I like the idea of having a cross-platform gaming profile, and I find achievements bring a healthy dose of replayability to games.

But with very few games supporting it, and a pretty awful GFWL client, Microsoft have some work to do on it. Until then, I very much prefer Steam.

Yeah...I mean compared to Steam.. Why use it?Shadowhawk000

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

thusaha

[QUOTE="thusaha"]

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

grumpyyoungman

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"][QUOTE="thusaha"]

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

thusaha

No the service is horrible. Its slow and a waste of time. The way it updates itself is horrible. And its not like anyone really cares about the service. Also the majority of pc gamers don't give a crap about worthless achivements.

"go enjoy your 10 year old ports" quite an attitude we got there umm? there are recent ports that don't have LIVE and what a shock they work extremely well without it.

LIVE is the most useless annoying crap PC has to put up with, it took me around 8 or 9 hours to get GTA IV to work online, because I couldn't log in into LIVE, I was signing with an account that isn't in a region that is supported by LIVE, well by chance I found out after almost 9 hours that LIVE doesn't download/log in into an account for the first time if you have Steam or Xfire running. So yeah, it's awesome.

I don't care about Xbox or PC achievements, especially Xbox since I don't have one, it's glitchy, slow, extremely annoying simple with lots of sub menus interface.

The only good thing about it is the part with achievements and the friends list, that's all, which in short means it's redundant.

"go enjoy your 10 year old ports" quite an attitude we got there umm? there are recent ports that don't have LIVE and what a shock they work extremely well without it.

LIVE is the most useless annoying crap PC has to put up with, it took me around 8 or 9 hours to get GTA IV to work online, because I couldn't log in into LIVE, I was signing with an account that isn't in a region that is supported by LIVE, well by chance I found out after almost 9 hours that LIVE doesn't download/log in into an account for the first time if you have Steam or Xfire running. So yeah, it's awesome.

I don't care about Xbox or PC achievements, especially Xbox since I don't have one, it's glitchy, slow, extremely annoying simple with lots of sub menus interface.

The only good thing about it is the part with achievements and the friends list, that's all, which in short means it's redundant.

DanielDust

i really hate everything about it(but ironically love steam) but ya, i would certainly like to see it succeed, specifically for the fact that the would be more games released on it that would of never been released onto pc in the first place(gears 2, halo 3, etc)kidcool189

i'm sure the apple fanboys here will say "meh! windows blows!". which is fine, go enjoy your 10 year old ports. but for the rest of the world.....when the games for windows stuff actually works, its great. i love the fact that i can get my achievements, gamerscore, etc crossplatform. and honestly, having the achievements and dlc and all that available makes me want to buy the game more. i know achievements give you absolutely nothing except for the momentary satisfaction of that little *dink* sound and a popup, but they are addicting. that being said, the games for windows LIVE portion is only used on a handful of games. i really wish this would take off though as i would buy more games if they were LIVE enabled. anyone agree?grumpyyoungman

If you have played anytime the "old" Dawn Of War & expansions and then you have played Dawn Of War II you can be amazed about how bad is the new multiplayer browser system compared to the older, thanx mainly to the new Steam and GFWL mandatory installment system. Even if the old browse -supported by Gamespy- was far from perfect, at least you could see two dozens of active matches in the main page, instead of the uber-consolized five lines in the new one. In fact, the number. But in fact, the amount of failures in the GFWL tempting to connect to matches, and the boring, intrusive, annoying pop ups with absurd "connection failure" are so high, that is not surprise that the game have less players today than DoW 1.

So yes, you're one of the few people that seems that like the GFWL. Lucky to me, most on my favourite games are based on Battlenet or independet systems not vinculed to these mesh called GFWL.

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"]i'm sure the apple fanboys here will say "meh! windows blows!". which is fine, go enjoy your 10 year old ports. but for the rest of the world.....when the games for windows stuff actually works, its great. i love the fact that i can get my achievements, gamerscore, etc crossplatform. and honestly, having the achievements and dlc and all that available makes me want to buy the game more. i know achievements give you absolutely nothing except for the momentary satisfaction of that little *dink* sound and a popup, but they are addicting. that being said, the games for windows LIVE portion is only used on a handful of games. i really wish this would take off though as i would buy more games if they were LIVE enabled. anyone agree?Ondoval

If you have played anytime the "old" Dawn Of War & expansions and then you have played Dawn Of War II you can be amazed about how bad is the new multiplayer browser system compared to the older, thanx mainly to the new Steam and GFWL mandatory installment system. Even if the old browse -supported by Gamespy- was far from perfect, at least you could see two dozens of active matches in the main page, instead of the uber-consolized five lines in the new one. In fact, the number. But in fact, the amount of failures in the GFWL tempting to connect to matches, and the boring, intrusive, annoying pop ups with absurd "connection failure" are so high, that is not surprise that the game have less players today than DoW 1.

So yes, you're one of the few people that seems that like the GFWL. Lucky to me, most on my favourite games are based on Battlenet or independet systems not vinculed to these mesh called GFWL.

[QUOTE="thusaha"]

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

grumpyyoungman

I want this to fail because they sell "bonus content" (ie updates) that should be free. Oh and achievements are pointless, it's much better to just enjoy the game for what it is and move on when you get bored, not when you get the achievements.

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"][QUOTE="thusaha"]

I don't care about achievements and it's much harder to manage GFWL savegame files.

True_Sounds

I want this to fail because they sell "bonus content" (ie updates) that should be free. Oh and achievements are pointless, it's much better to just enjoy the game for what it is and move on when you get bored, not when you get the achievements.

[QUOTE="Shadowhawk000"]Yeah...I mean compared to Steam.. Why use it?grumpyyoungman

gfwl is awsome for me, i like having the choice of playing the 360 version, or knowing that the pc version will have controler suport and achievements.

What is Games for Windows? Is that some kind of awesome gaming service exclusively for us PC gamers. Supported by a great company that cares about their customers and knows that their success is dependent upon keeping us happy. Is that what it is?

What is Games for Windows? Is that some kind of awesome gaming service exclusively for us PC gamers. Supported by a great company that cares about their customers and knows that their success is dependent upon keeping us happy. Is that what it is?

Gooeykat

[QUOTE="Gooeykat"]

What is Games for Windows? Is that some kind of awesome gaming service exclusively for us PC gamers. Supported by a great company that cares about their customers and knows that their success is dependent upon keeping us happy. Is that what it is?

grumpyyoungman

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"][QUOTE="Gooeykat"]

What is Games for Windows? Is that some kind of awesome gaming service exclusively for us PC gamers. Supported by a great company that cares about their customers and knows that their success is dependent upon keeping us happy. Is that what it is?

Gooeykat

[QUOTE="Ondoval"]

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"]i'm sure the apple fanboys here will say "meh! windows blows!". which is fine, go enjoy your 10 year old ports. but for the rest of the world.....when the games for windows stuff actually works, its great. i love the fact that i can get my achievements, gamerscore, etc crossplatform. and honestly, having the achievements and dlc and all that available makes me want to buy the game more. i know achievements give you absolutely nothing except for the momentary satisfaction of that little *dink* sound and a popup, but they are addicting. that being said, the games for windows LIVE portion is only used on a handful of games. i really wish this would take off though as i would buy more games if they were LIVE enabled. anyone agree?grumpyyoungman

If you have played anytime the "old" Dawn Of War & expansions and then you have played Dawn Of War II you can be amazed about how bad is the new multiplayer browser system compared to the older, thanx mainly to the new Steam and GFWL mandatory installment system. Even if the old browse -supported by Gamespy- was far from perfect, at least you could see two dozens of active matches in the main page, instead of the uber-consolized five lines in the new one. In fact, the number. But in fact, the amount of failures in the GFWL tempting to connect to matches, and the boring, intrusive, annoying pop ups with absurd "connection failure" are so high, that is not surprise that the game have less players today than DoW 1.

So yes, you're one of the few people that seems that like the GFWL. Lucky to me, most on my favourite games are based on Battlenet or independet systems not vinculed to these mesh called GFWL.

I think that I haven't miss your point. I have a PS3 and a Xbox 360 and IMO Xfire provides better tools to the player than PSN or MS Live systems: you can track all the hours spent in almost any game, jump on fly in matches in a los of games -mainly shooters-, real time chat, real time voip, take screenshots, record vids -even if Fraps is better suited tool to these last two things-, autodowload patches, create/join to a clan, uploading and sharing those stuff you take, etc. Obviously Xfire isn't for buying stuff (you allready have Battlenet or Steam for this purpose), but works WELL, is not INTRUSIVE nor MANDATORY, so I see no positive aspects in the Games For Windows Live CONCEPTS.

It looks as if in every dimension GFWL is surpased for another platforms that do the work better. May I remark that GFWL failed in his first attempt as a monthly fee platform? But the deep problems weren't the money, but the fact that the PC is in fact a open platform and players -most of them adults- are VERY reluctant to external forms of control. The main contribution to PC gamers from Microsoft in the last 10 years was the annihilation of gaming studios and franchises as FASA Corp and the Mechwarrrior saga. To me MS provides not a single product usefull in the PC gaming department; no IPs, no usefull tools, and definitively DX 10 only in Vista was a bad idea -well, in fact DX 10 was a bad idea all arround-.

So no, I'm not very excited with GFWL even if some of my las purchased games -DoW II, Fallout 3, Warhead...- are afiliated to. In fact, I'm studyng the posibility to reprobe future games with GFWL online interaction.

I enjoy Games for Windows Live as the seamless support for the controller and online portal and my Xbox and my Windows Media Center and my TV and to my iPod Touch and to my laptop while on international trips to playing Xbox in other countries while meeting friends in other countries and tracking their accomplishment then coming back home and having fun.

Best thing ever.

The thing I really hate about Live! is that they are now charging money for limited added content you used to be able to get for free. Achievements are OK but I wouldn't really miss them much if they dissapeared completely.

I won't go as far as saying I want it to fail, but I hope it never becomes #1. There's two reasons.

1. Points? C'mon, I'm an adult. If I'm going to buy something, I'm going to do it with money, not Microsoft points. It's absolutely senseless to tell me that if I want to buy Broken Steel that I need to go to their webpage, "purchase" Microsoft Points, then go over and use the points to buy the DLC. Why can't I just go straight to the DLC page and be charged in dollars? It's just amazingly stupid.

2. While that issue is small, here's where GFWL fails at an epic level. It (attempts to, at least) region locks games. When I finally upgraded my PC last week, I popped in GTA4 and it wouldn't let me into Live because I'm from an unsupported country. You can work around it, but no one should be forced to join a service and then be told that they can't play online or save their game because they're from the "wrong" country. I understand that they can't provide support everywhere, but if someone selects such a country, just put a clear note that GFWL isn't officially supported for that region.

To be honest, I don't like it when these kinds of services are forced upon games. That's probably why I only really like Xfire because it's completely avoidable if I wish. Buy a game from Steam (or uses it for DRM) and you're forced to use it. Same with GFWL. And I actually think Xfire does everything I'd want it to do BETTER than these services. To be honest, I can't see GFWL succeeding right now because there's nothing to really push the service. GTA4 is great (best game of the past few years, IMO) but since it's poorly optimized, it's not a killer app. Microsoft would need a killer app like Halo was for the Xbox (though Halo isn't going to do anything for GFWL).

Edit: I should also add I dont particularly support GFWL because it's going to make PC gaming even more dependent on Microsoft, which hasn't been a very firm supporter of the platform. Frankly, I'd like to see games playable on other OSes.

[QUOTE="thusaha"]

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"] do you have a 360 though?grumpyyoungman

yup. But why would you ever have a 360?

i'm sure the apple fanboys here will say "meh! windows blows!". which is fine, go enjoy your 10 year old ports. but for the rest of the world.....when the games for windows stuff actually works, its great. i love the fact that i can get my achievements, gamerscore, etc crossplatform. and honestly, having the achievements and dlc and all that available makes me want to buy the game more. i know achievements give you absolutely nothing except for the momentary satisfaction of that little *dink* sound and a popup, but they are addicting. that being said, the games for windows LIVE portion is only used on a handful of games. i really wish this would take off though as i would buy more games if they were LIVE enabled. anyone agree?grumpyyoungman

[QUOTE="Shadowhawk000"]Yeah...I mean compared to Steam.. Why use it?grumpyyoungman

I play PC Games and Console games but I personally could care less about the cross platform achievement system. As you said, it has no bearing on the core game or even the multiplayer aspect, so why does it matter? Is it because you like a score to show how much of a person is determined when they game?

Also, Steam easily incorporates achievement within their client. Why can't Microsoft just pay Valve to allow for cross platform achievements with XBL and get rid of the bloated, waste of time that the GFWL client is?

I like the branding on the case actually, certainly livens it up.

When I first got my 360 I thought Gamer Scrore points allowed you to buy things in the market place. I was disapointed and didnt think I would give a crap about them. Over time though it became fun to collect them. My first game was Gears of War and I ended up getting 1200/1250. I find that aiming for achievements added a huge amount of replayability to my favorite games.

I also just recently changed to Windows Vista, one of the major factors that influenced me to get Vista was achievments and direct x 10. The Games for Windows Live experience is a complete flop at the moment. Nothing like the 360 Market place. Only a few games are supported. I hope it becomes something but It will never be as popular as Steam.

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"][QUOTE="Shadowhawk000"]Yeah...I mean compared to Steam.. Why use it?Cdscottie

I play PC Games and Console games but I personally could care less about the cross platform achievement system. As you said, it has no bearing on the core game or even the multiplayer aspect, so why does it matter? Is it because you like a score to show how much of a person is determined when they game?

Also, Steam easily incorporates achievement within their client. Why can't Microsoft just pay Valve to allow for cross platform achievements with XBL and get rid of the bloated, waste of time that the GFWL client is?

[QUOTE="Cdscottie"]

[QUOTE="grumpyyoungman"] because of the cross platform achievement system. if you dont have an xbox 360 then i guess gfwl is pretty much pointless. but for people like me that plays pc games, and console games....any time you can mix the two is at least an intriguing idea. im not saying the client itself is great at all compared to the superior steam, but the achievements, friends list, gamerscore, etc all in one deal is cool.LongZhiZi

I play PC Games and Console games but I personally could care less about the cross platform achievement system. As you said, it has no bearing on the core game or even the multiplayer aspect, so why does it matter? Is it because you like a score to show how much of a person is determined when they game?

Also, Steam easily incorporates achievement within their client. Why can't Microsoft just pay Valve to allow for cross platform achievements with XBL and get rid of the bloated, waste of time that the GFWL client is?

I prefer steam. I can buy a game when i want anytime i want and not have to wait in line. Yes i know you can do this with xbox live but steam is o so better.

While Live isn't perfect I do admire the cross platform profile. Being able to play cross platform games with buds on the 360 is a huge step forward for gaming entirely. The problem really is Microsoft in addition to developers not using it efficiently to really progress the potential of what Live can offer for PC Gamers. Many can agree that charging for the service can be quite a bummer, but to have the chance to play against gamers not only on PC, but on consoles is satisfying. At home LAN gatherings are marvelous today having both PC gamer friends and Xbox 360 friends play together eating pizza and trash talking.

The perfect service at this point will be to have all Xfire, Steam and Live features/client in sync to push forward the PC Gaming space.

I also want it to succeed but they need to make some improvements. It also needs some good games using it. I can't count 5 good games that use GFWL.

What is Games for Windows? Is that some kind of awesome gaming service exclusively for us PC gamers. Supported by a great company that cares about their customers and knows that their success is dependent upon keeping us happy. Is that what it is?