Crayon
Member
Three took the words out of my mouth.
Microsoft/Phil Spencer to appear at PC Gamer/AMD's PC gaming show at E3
- Thread starter JehutyRunner
- Start date
- Status
Three took the words out of my mouth.
Just a few? Are you aware that there is a large amount of games that was patched and most likely never will be?
If you can't come up with a concrete way that PC gaming would have better if GFWL had never existed then I'm going to stand by my point that MS at worst has been Mostly Harmless to PC gaming. Pretty much benign neglect.
I think... the games that never got patched are probably games that are dead online.
It will be impossible to play one of the very best co-op action games ever (Lost Planet 2) online on PC in the future. How is that not lasting harm?
dgrdsv
Member
Is it? Up to this date Microsoft hasn't come up with any sort of explanation of what would happen if I'll, say, swap my videocard in my Win10 machine with a new one. Win8 is loosing its activation in this case and you need to re-activate it with the product code. Where will I get a product code for my Win10 Uprgade?
Let's not forget that the free upgrade distribution period is limited to 1 year since launch as well. On 1st of August(-ish) of 2016 it won't be free anymore.
Primethius
Banned
Certain games wouldn't have had the awful as fuck transition period between GFWL and Steam.
That alone makes it beyond "harmless."
And some games can't even be played.
Don't forget street fighter X tekken. Damn you gfwl.
The Mad Draklor
Member
Unfortunately, you have given absolutely 0 evidence to back up your claim. All you have been doing is repeatedly insisting an opinion that most people do not agree with.
SEGAvangelist
Member
IIRC, they are even allowing the free upgrade for pirated copies. I imagine all users who upgrade receive a key for the purpose of reinstalls. And why would swapping a video card invalidate your copy of Windows?
alexandros
Banned
Hi Evan, thanks for the link! I admit I am curious to see what Spencer will say at the show, since in the interview he speaks about setting expectations and describing Microsoft's place in an already developed PC ecosystem with multiple services.
Well the Xbox team is working together with the Windows team now unlike before so things are better now. I guess what happened before is that someone in the Xbox division realised that if he killed PC gaming more people would buy an Xbox and he'll get a bigger bonus at the end of the year. Screw the long term consequences though.
Like I said, Mostly Harmless. I mean how long did Lost Planet 2 co-op play last on consoles?
The Mad Draklor
Member
Hence why I said if GFWL never existed, PC gaming would've fared even better.
Oh I get that most people in this thread disagree with me. I'm just saying that if the worst people can come up with is Lost Planet 2 co-op then that's not a big deal.
GFWL is barely a footnote in any history.
The death of Ensemble, now you're talking about something actually real.
PC is not consoles, and that is not an issue that should be happening on PC, where generally a community fond of something can archive / keep a title supported and playable. You seem to misunderstand what makes PC gaming what it is
Crayon
Member
hmm. I have a copy right here I guess I could check. But It's probably enough that I can actually check.
The Mad Draklor
Member
Well, you have missed the part that people have given examples other than Lost Planet 2 co-op.
Yeah and they're not exactly earth shaking. Mostly Harmless still holds true.
Kacho
Member
Any service that prevents people from playing games that they bought, especially in such a short amount of time, can only be considered a bad thing if you ask me.
Not saying GFWL was a good thing at all. I am saying however that GFWL was barely a blip in PC gaming history. And it remains true that the current golden age of PC gaming has happened on Windows.
The Mad Draklor
Member
Not earth shaking, but a huge thorn on the side.
alexandros
Banned
GFWL was a mess man. A mess. Tons of bugs, absurd and often broken updating system, deleting savegames, failure to even launch, the list goes on and on. It was so bad that for a number of years the inclusion (or should I say infection?) of GFWL in a game was a legitimate reason to not buy said game. It was BAD.
Lost Planet 2 co-op and SFxT online on PC doesn't really rate as huge on my scale. YMMV of course.
Well, that's a larger topic then just requiring a publisher in order to release on their console. If that studio wants to make a PC game instead, nothing's stopping them. They're only making the concession if they want to reach a console audience as well, and without the existence of the Xbox, that would automatically default to Sony or Nintendo, and likely end up with the game not releasing on PC as a result. So it's kind of positive in the way that a tie is better than a loss.
Yea, but we don't know how many, that's the thing. We can suggest that there aren't many now after already accounting for those that have bought an Xbox over the last three generations... but you could do that with consoles in general. If you remove all of them, PC gaming would likely explode as a result. It's not just PC gamers that are a factor either. Many of those console gamers have a serviceable PC too, and these games are the difference between an Xbox One and a PS4. I can imagine it being a sizeable number of gamers altogther.
Because time is infinite, Microsoft is a tiny blip on the history of PC Gaming.
Mostly harmless.
The Mad Draklor
Member
They were all quite bad and when they all add up, it's one big clusterfuck of a mess.
When a service is so bad that it drives consumers away from purchasing games, something is definitely up.
derExperte
Member
Bulletstorm will completely stop working when GFWL does because it doesn't support offline profiles. As far as I'm concerned that's a dick killing shame.
Teletraan1
Banned
Someone downplaying GFWL's shittiness. Now I have seen everything. There really is a defense force for everything.
What I'd be downplaying is GFWL's impact on PC gaming. But I'm not doing that either because it's impossible to do so. Like I said,
1. GFWL is barely a footnote in gaming history and
2. the current glory days of PC gaming are happening mostly on Microsoft Windows.
Which is to say the knee jerk basing of Spencer ITT is a bit hysterical (in both senses of the word).
Edit: Especially considering that most of those decisions were made under Ballmer/Allard-Mattrick rather than Nadella/Spencer.
Primethius
Banned
The glory days have nothing to do with MS. And the treatment Spencer is getting is based directly on past MS acts.
And you can keep asserting it'll be barely be a footnote, but I'm sure everyone will remember GFWL. As that god awful program where MS tried to screw over as many people and games as possible.
I want a Gears 4 multiplatform announcement (X1, PC).
Not to mention microsofts attempt to paywall online play on PC
The fact that they're happening on MS windows (just like the past few PC golden ages have) means it has quite a lot to do with MS. It's their technology and platform isn't it?
*shrug* it's always odd to me that that the people heading a department or company seems to be less important to commenters than the name at the top of the building.
It's already barely a footnote.
Primethius
Banned
...
Just because it's on their platform doesn't mean that MS had anything to do with them or MS caused the current state of PC gaming.
Just because it's on their platform doesn't mean that MS had anything to do with them or MS caused the current state of PC gaming.
Twin Tails
Member
Wireless Xbone Controller thingy plse.
Not saying MS caused it. I am saying it has quite a bit to do with them.
Microsoft had as much to do with how well PC gaming is doing as Blizzard did in making Dota an international hit and its own game genre.
IE Fuck all
SodiumBenzoate
Member
Everyone's expecting DX12, but what about PC to Xbone streaming?
Also this please!!
Also this please!!
dgrdsv
Member
The upgrade will be distributed via Windows Update as a patch. Where do you plan to get any kind of a key in this process?
As for the videocard - I dunno, ask MS. But this has happened to me several times already.
Dictator93
Member
It only made me restart dawn of war II 13 times before I could play it. It wasn't that bad!
I lost my last stand progression on two different versions (twice each) before I gave and said fuck it and refused to play it anymore.
How is Ori and the Blind Forest an indie game?
SEGAvangelist
Member
8.1 was distributed as a patch as well, and used the previous Windows 8 key. Something similar will likely happen. Also, I've never been required to re-enter a Windows key after installing a new video card, and I've changed mine many times.
Primethius
Banned
Only so far as it's on their platform. You put it in the same context as if the "knee jerking about Spencer" was hysterical because, presumably, MS has made some greater contributions to PC gaming outside of the platform.
Because otherwise, I'm not really sure how such a thing is hysterical given MS's acts in the past have pretty much been shit.
Dragging PC game longevity down to console level is certainly what I'd classify as lasting harm!
I wasn't even one of the primary GFWL detractors when it was still running, but killing it off without providing a generic replacement for all games put me over the edge.
I'm surprised that people are claiming that the platform isn't important. It kinda is. Would PC gaming have been as successful on the disjointed scene of Linux distros? Or on the closed hardware world of Apple?
Gamespy's death caused far more harm than GFWL's death I'd wager. Any game tied to an online service needs to have the original publisher put the work it to replace with another online service.
EA and dead MMOs did far more to consolify the online life of a PC game than MS did.
Primethius
Banned
The current state of PC gaming is different then the state of PC gaming some ten years ago. It was on the same platform.
If you cannot take the platform out of the equation to talk about the actual factors that are contributing to the growth of PC gaming, I don't know what to tell you.
- Status