24 réponses à ce sujet

[Aaroneous C]

I'm sure this has been answered before but the search on these forums
seems to be broken.



Does Mass Effect 2 for the PC utilize Games
for Windows Live. In other words can I get
achievements synced up to my live account?



Thanks

[Major Alenko]

Sorry but no Because its no longer published my microsoft

[Fuzzyrabbit]

GFWL is something I can happily do without, personally.

[stefan9]

Thankfully no. Seeing as that system cost me my street fighter 4 and batman aa saves when I formatted I would be glad to never play another that uses it.

[Toshley]

No it doesn't, and thank god it doesn't. Why on earth would you want to use that trash?

[KainrycKarr]

Thank you god.

[Aaroneous C]

It's nice to have my achievements synced with my 360 profile. Not a huge deal though.

[aries1001]

I think you can have your achievement synces with your 360 profile if you connect your 360 profile to your ea profile or your bioware account for this social site? Don't quite know how it works, though,

[manoface]

no longer published by microsoft?
and why so much hate for it? worked fine with fallout3, got all achivements for 360 playing on the pc since i had it on ps3 first.

Modifié par manoface, 14 février 2010 - 05:20 .

[Console Cowboy]

rampant elitism.

[charmingcharlie]

This is always my worry about Mass Effect 3 I steer clear of any game that features "GFW" or "GFWL". I am not going to go into the reasons why, if you like the service then great. I personally cannot stand the GFWL service so I don't buy or play games that feature this abomination.



I really really hope Bioware will resist the temptation to make ME 3 a GFW/GFWL title, that would be a complete deal breaker for me.

[Kordras]

Ok, now I want to know what's wrong with it. I used it with Dawn of War II, and it was fine. All it did was sync the achievements with my Live account/let me see what my friends were up to. Did I miss some sinister plot when it installed?

[banshee768]

What is it, exactly, that GFWL would add to Mass Effect that would be worth the hassle? What can it do? I ask, because I've never used it and the official site doesn't actually state what it does, other than add the shortcut to the Games folder instead of it's own folder... I can live without that...

[charmingcharlie]

GFWL is the PC version of Xbox live in other words it allows for online play with other PC's just like Xbox live allows for online play with other Xbox's. The service also allows for achievements similar to xbox live achievements and gives you the ability to update the game whilst inside the game (made totally useless by the fact you have to quit the game anyway to install the update). The GFWL is also a form of DRM and there are activation limits that they don't shout about.

Now my problems with GFWL, firstly there are already BETTER online services for the PC you just need to look at steam which does a much better job than GFWL will ever do. In my experience GFWL online is absolutely atrocious, it is laggy, bug ridden and there is zero cheat protection. As for the achievements ... well I have been a PC gamer for 20 years so I really could care less about the achievements.

Finally the DRM, there are two kinds of activation with GFWL, there is the non secure server side activation and the secure server side activation. The non-ssa DRM limits you to 15 life time installs, there is no revoke tool and every time you install the game it counts as an activation. Once you have used up all 15 activations you are sod out of luck.

The secure serverside authentication is even worse (hence very few companies touch it) this links your game to your GFWL account once linked you can never install that game to any other account (bye bye reselling your game). If you decide to create a new GFWL account you will not be able to install your game and use it with that account either. Thankfully I don't believe there are any GFWL titles that use GFWL SSA DRM (it is that popular) so that is a relief.

We also need to look at just how much support Microsoft actually gives towards GFWL. Since they released the service on the PC Microsoft have done very little to improve it and they are just not committed to the service in any way. Yet if you look at Steam you can clearly see Valve is always updating, fixing and improving the service.

In short there are vastly better services to GFWL on the PC and I would much rather companies used those better services than use the god awful GFWL. If a company insists on making their game GFWL only then I will take my money elsewhere.

Modifié par charmingcharlie, 14 février 2010 - 05:58 .

[Trylane]

charmingcharlie wrote...

This is always my worry about Mass Effect 3 I steer clear of any game that features "GFW" or "GFWL". I am not going to go into the reasons why, if you like the service then great. I personally cannot stand the GFWL service so I don't buy or play games that feature this abomination.

I really really hope Bioware will resist the temptation to make ME 3 a GFW/GFWL title, that would be a complete deal breaker for me.

GFW (without live) is a good thing, though. It's not a service but a set of requirements to meet a certain quality. Among these are, for instance, support for "Concurrent User Sessions". Of course, almost nobody would start a game under two different user accounts, but two concurrent sessions also imply proper ALT+TAB-behavior, something a lot of games really suck at adhering to.

Other requirements are a set of certain aspect ratios the game must support.

Another requirements is that the game main menu must never be blocked. Imagine, you just about died AGAIN due to some dumb mistake, but noooooo, you have to watch the death animation.... or not, if the keys weren't disabled...

Modifié par Trylane, 14 février 2010 - 06:26 .

[banshee768]

charmingcharlie wrote...

GFWL is the PC version of Xbox live in other words it allows for online play with other PC's just like Xbox live allows for online play with other Xbox's. The service also allows for achievements similar to xbox live achievements and gives you the ability to update the game whilst inside the game (made totally useless by the fact you have to quit the game anyway to install the update). The GFWL is also a form of DRM and there are activation limits that they don't shout about.

Now my problems with GFWL, firstly there are already BETTER online services for the PC you just need to look at steam which does a much better job than GFWL will ever do. In my experience GFWL online is absolutely atrocious, it is laggy, bug ridden and there is zero cheat protection. As for the achievements ... well I have been a PC gamer for 20 years so I really could care less about the achievements.

Finally the DRM, there are two kinds of activation with GFWL, there is the non secure server side activation and the secure server side activation. The non-ssa DRM limits you to 15 life time installs, there is no revoke tool and every time you install the game it counts as an activation. Once you have used up all 15 activations you are sod out of luck.

The secure serverside authentication is even worse (hence very few companies touch it) this links your game to your GFWL account once linked you can never install that game to any other account (bye bye reselling your game). If you decide to create a new GFWL account you will not be able to install your game and use it with that account either. Thankfully I don't believe there are any GFWL titles that use GFWL SSA DRM (it is that popular) so that is a relief.

We also need to look at just how much support Microsoft actually gives towards GFWL. Since they released the service on the PC Microsoft have done very little to improve it and they are just not committed to the service in any way. Yet if you look at Steam you can clearly see Valve is always updating, fixing and improving the service.

In short there are vastly better services to GFWL on the PC and I would much rather companies used those better services than use the god awful GFWL. If a company insists on making their game GFWL only then I will take my money elsewhere.

Thanks for the info. It looks like GFWL is completely useless to the consumers and just another thing for companies like EA to maintain control of their games. It basicly has nothing an end-user wants.
Achievements are in themselves worthless. Especially in games like Mass Effect where they're insanely easy to get. In Mass Effect 1 they at least served a purpose.

[Kusy]

banshee768 wrote...

Thanks for the info. It looks like GFWL is completely useless to the consumers and just another thing for companies like EA to maintain control of their games.

No point in adding EA hatered here... especialy since GFWL is a Microsoft invention.

[banshee768]

Mr.Kusy wrote...

banshee768 wrote...

Thanks for the info. It looks like GFWL is completely useless to the consumers and just another thing for companies like EA to maintain control of their games.

No point in adding EA hatered here... especialy since GFWL is a Microsoft invention.

It wasn't EA hate specifically, but I can see how it could be seen as that. I meant the companies that release the games, but not the ones that make them. In Mass Effect's case it's EA.

[Kusy]

banshee768 wrote...

Mr.Kusy wrote...

banshee768 wrote...

Thanks for the info. It looks like GFWL is completely useless to the consumers and just another thing for companies like EA to maintain control of their games.

No point in adding EA hatered here... especialy since GFWL is a Microsoft invention.

It wasn't EA hate specifically, but I can see how it could be seen as that. I meant the companies that release the games, but not the ones that make them. In Mass Effect's case it's EA.

Yeah, I get you. It's just that everyone rants about EA while more than half of Microsoft big PC releases are just badly done conversions from Xbox... like GTA4.

[Ricardoy]

GFWL is not that good...some people on "x" country cant login just because their country is not listed.

[charmingcharlie]

Trylane wrote...
GFW (without live) is a good thing, though. ...

I agree the idea and principles of GFW is a good thing, the implementation of it is awful and leaves a lot to be desired.  All the "Games For Window" scheme is now is a "brand name" for Microsoft.  You just need to look at titles like GTA 4 and Bioshock 2 to see any notion of "quality control" went right out the window.

Now I am not saying that GFW and GFWL are bad ideas I think with the right support, energy and work they could really shine on the PC and make a fantastic contribution to the format.  The problem is Microsoft couldn't give a stuff about PC gaming anymore.  So the two services are next to useless which is why I won't support either GFWL or GFW titles.  After all why should I support them with my money when Microsoft can't even be bothered to support them.

[Trylane]

charmingcharlie wrote...

I agree the idea and principles of GFW is a good thing, the implementation of it is awful and leaves a lot to be desired. All the "Games For Window" scheme is now is a "brand name" for Microsoft. You just need to look at titles like GTA 4 and Bioshock 2 to see any notion of "quality control" went right out the window.

Now I am not saying that GFW and GFWL are bad ideas I think with the right support, energy and work they could really shine on the PC and make a fantastic contribution to the format. The problem is Microsoft couldn't give a stuff about PC gaming anymore. So the two services are next to useless which is why I won't support either GFWL or GFW titles. After all why should I support them with my money when Microsoft can't even be bothered to support them.

That argument is too one-sided in my opinion. There are games with GFW certification that do actually shine, like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Civ4:BtS and The Witcher. These show that it is possible to produce a game that not only meets high standards as far as the game is concerned (very subjective), but that it is also possible to produce games that behave well on the systems they run on. Civ4 and The Witcher don't have the "live" part and never bother the user with anything concerning GFW.

I'd like to reiterate that GFW (without the live part) is not a service. It is a ruleset (and a brand), with the intention to ensure that games do not behave like divas on Windows but rather like every other run of the mill application. And in my experience it hasn't done any harm at all as far as this is concerned.

I don't have any experience with either GTA4 or Bioshock 2 (which are both GWFL titles), but I do agree that GFWL and its online/account stuff is a PITA and I try to avoid it as much as possible.

Modifié par Trylane, 14 février 2010 - 07:42 .

[charmingcharlie]

The problem here is you are attributing the quality of games to the fact they are GFW. That isn't necessarily the case there is no indication that Batman AA, Civ 4:BtS or the Witcher were improved by being GFW titles. All it shows is the developers that made those games did the work.

On the other hand the two games I listed which are GFWL titles illustrate perfectly how useless both GFW and GFWL is. Let's take Bioshock 2 a GFWL title, it clearly states a GFW should be compatible with the xbox controller erm Bioshock 2 isn't. It states that a GFW title should support widescreen resolutions erm Bioshock 2 didn't.

As for GTA 4 don't even get me started that had a massive range of quality control issues across every Microsoft operating system I have been a PC gamer for 20 years and I found the installation procedure one of the most perverse I have ever come across (so much for GFW ease of use). Hell the xbox 360 controller doesn't even work as it should in GTA 4.

As I said I have nothing against the idea of GFW, but now it is no longer a set of certification standards but a brand name on the PC. It is pretty clear that Microsoft no longer has any interest in the GFWL service or the GFW brand. The games you listed were good because they were done by people that understood the PC gaming market not because they were GFW titles.

Any way to bring this back to Mass Effect there is no need for Mass Effect to be a GFW or a GFWL title and I for one would be very disappointed if they went down this route.  If they chose to use the GFW certification or chose to have GFWL integrated into the game it would be a deal breaker for me.  I love Mass Effect but there is no way I would buy Mass Effect 3 if it had a hint of Microsoft sniffing around.

Modifié par charmingcharlie, 14 février 2010 - 08:28 .

[Trylane]

Well, I don't know about installation troubles. I didn't have any with the titles I provided as example. Though to your credit, I believe that some initially GFW(L) titles screw up after things like patching (Fallout 3 and ALT+Tab).

Controller support is not a requirement of GFWL. The only requirement concerning controllers is "if you have any controller support at all, the Xbox 360 Common Controller must be supported at the very least".