Bulletstorm - newest FPS from Painkiller's People Can Fly

Sulphur on 19/1/2011 at 19:03

GfWL can go suck a bag of herpes-infested dicks. If it's on Steam, it doesn't need GfWL, period. I don't need multiple layers of DRM redundancy that I have to cycle through just to get to the goddamn load savegame screen.

Stitch on 19/1/2011 at 19:18

Quote Posted by dethtoll

Cliffy is a bigger douche. Read his twitter sometime, it's like looking into the mind of the offspring of Dane Cook and Chad Kroeger's hair.

I have no idea what is going on in this thread, but I feel that attention must be drawn to this quality zing.

Bjossi on 19/1/2011 at 20:20

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

I use GFWL in like 8 games. Currently using it for GTA IV and DoW2 multiplayer. It is completely fine.

Speak for yourself bud, luck ain't free and widespread.

SubJeff on 19/1/2011 at 20:57

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

I use GFWL in like 8 games. Currently using it for GTA IV and DoW2 multiplayer. It is completely fine. I have never had an issue with it, and don't get all of the vitriol. I actually like it.

I only use it for DoW2 and Batman AA. I'm sure it's responsible for loss of saves in Batman. Both these games are through Steam so I don't see why I need to create ANOTHER damn account. It's irritating at best.

june gloom on 19/1/2011 at 22:21

GfWL is an unnecessary evil, but I put up with it as long as it doesn't get in my way.

gunsmoke on 20/1/2011 at 03:51

Quote Posted by Bjossi

Speak for yourself bud. luck ain't free and widespread.

I am bud. YMMV. And lol @ 'luck'. Software doesn't require 4-leaf clovers to work properly.

God, people in this thread are really taking my positive experience with a piece of software so Goddamn personally. Relax, just reporting that it isn't worthless and broken for some people.

EvaUnit02 on 20/1/2011 at 04:48

@Gunsmoke
Well for one a GfWL client update deleted my fucking Gears of War saves. I had completed the game by that point, so it wasn't such a big deal, but it's still annoying nonetheless.

Someone on another forum asked me why GfWL sucks and I gave them an in-depth reply. Here's a copy-paste.

Quote Posted by EvaUnit02

GfWL is prone to randomly delete all saves in some games, the PC version of Gears of War 1 is particularly notorious for this.
Saves are encrypted, so if you're transferring them between Windows installations, you have to use the same Live Gamertag (user account) - simply copy-pasting them into the right folder isn't enough. (http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?59472-saved-games-after-windows-re-install) Saves made with Offline accounts are even trickier, you have to back up the entire offline profile in addition to the saves.

Live is a disease to both PC developers and consumers. Like with Xbox 360, EVERY patch delivered through GfWL by a developer/publisher must go through a certification process that can take a few weeks (up to at least a month before a patch is uploaded to Live). The first time you submit a patch for a particular game it's free, but with every subsequent patch (or if that first patch failed the initial certification) you have to pay $10,000 USD to MS. I bet this is often why GfWL games get abandoned support wise pretty early (aside from maybe the PC version being a poorly ported after-thought in a lot of cases).

Fallout: New Vegas uses Steamworks DRM. I can guarantee you that if they had used GfWL the (http://store.steampowered.com/news/?appids=22380&feed=steam_updates) day one hotfixes that F:NV PC received wouldn't have happened, nor the v1.1.1 "preliminary PC patch" from mid November. With Bethesda using Steamworks they can patch the game however many times as they like, without paying any royalty fees to Valve, nor having it held up in "certification" for up to 4 weeks.
Fallout 3 used GfWL as its DRM. Aside from one initial hotfix, and it only received largely "big accumulative patches", whose main purpose was to provide compatibility with incoming DLC releases - all because of the GfWL fees.

Compare the changelogs between the PC and 360 versions of either Left 4 Dead game. You'll see that the PC versions received far more updates than the 360 version, that were delivered faster. Valve were forced to use MS' certification process for patch delivery, hence the 360 versions only receiving large accumulative patches. Portal 2 for PS3 will be the best console version, because Sony give developers far more autonomy for software frameworks. Valve being allowed to port Steamworks to PS3 means that Portal 2 for that console will receive patch support that's on par with that of the PC version. Meanwhile the 360 version will be saddled with the same aforementioned bollocks as L4D 1 & 2.

MS' certification for patches/DLC/etc is pretty bullshit. A few Fallout 3 patches introduced massive game breaking bugs (eg most mods were broken by the v1.5 patch). It must be really a fantastic process if such massive showstoppers can just slip under MS' noses. Also most of the Fallout 3 DLC's had botched launches on both PC and 360, which were usually Microsoft's fault rather than Bethesda's (unlike with the patches that broke thing).

Certain Live features (eg MULTIPLAYER FUNCTIONALITY) of a game won't work if you (http://community.codemasters.com/forum/dirt-2-game-pc-1313/400461-will-codemasters-give-new-cd-key-those-players-unsupport-countires-need.html#post5924062) live in an unsupported country, of which (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/countries) there is only 35 at this time.

There's two types of license key implementations available for GfWL titles, the far more common GfWL DRM implementation only carries 15 activations per key (and there's no way to revoke an activations. Once you've exhausted all activations, you have to contact MS tech support and beg for a new key). The alternative which is locked to your account, like Steam, is barely used by anyone except Codemsters for good reason, publishers know that Live service in only available 35 countries. If the key isn't locked to a single account, the consumers who're in the unsupported countries still have the work-around to play their copies online (or utilise other GfWL features) by creating Live accounts that are registered to Eg a UK or US address.

This is why people shouldn't get angry if a game uses Steamworks. The alternatives like GfWL are much, much worse. Steamworks has almost all of the benefits of GfWL minus all of the aforementioned shitty pitfalls.

Koki on 20/1/2011 at 07:04

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

Relax, just reporting that it isn't worthless and broken for some people.

It IS worthless. You're just willing to put up with it. That doesn't make it any less worthless.

Eldron on 20/1/2011 at 23:36

Quote Posted by Koki

It IS worthless. You're just willing to put up with it. That doesn't make it any less worthless.

Worthless would mean that it doesn't work at all.

My only complaints are the visible layer it is, the UI is clunky and it's an additional login on top of any steam game that uses it (in this case dawn of war 2)

But it works.

nicked on 21/1/2011 at 06:49

It's worthless in that it makes no improvements to the end user's experience. No game is made better by having GFWL.