Red Faction Guerrilla - Windows Live can suck it!

[Daehawk]

So I own RFG on Steam. I decided I wanted to play it just now. But WL won't allow me. It says I must log into WL first. Ok so I log in. Now it says I must patch to play. So I can't play without patching even if i wanted to. So ok I patch. It does it's thing and restarts the game. But wait..WL wants me to log in first...umm ok..I log in AGAIN....now wait...it wants to patch...uhh wtf?..ok I patch AGAIN. Does it's thing and wait...it wants me to do it all again and again or I can't play. So now I can't play. WTF is this crap?

I HATE WINDOWS LIVE! I've said since the they came out with WL that it was made to kill PC gaming and I've never been more sure than tonight.

So how am I ever going to be able to play a game I bought and paid for? It's late. Maybe tomorrow I'll check the Steam forums. But this SUCKS!

[Blackjack]

 

You forgot to use those smilies. You have my sympathies.

I'll try my copy of RFG (I also got it via Steam) tonight to see if I have the same issues.

[Razgon]

try updating LIVE without entering the game or steam.

[Huw the Poo]

It's an abomination, Daehawk.  You just won't believe the problems I had with Age of Empires 3 - literally having to piece the game together myself by messing with install files and data files, because GFWL had a total nervous breakdown while trying.  It's a horrible, horrible piece of software and I'm inclined to agree with you that it was designed for the sole purpose of killing PC gaming.

[The Rocketman]

I almost gave up on Batman: AA because of the horrible patch/log in-crap Windows Live made me go through with. I don't remember if I had to actually manually fix something, or if after hours of patching and logging in it worked. But I remember thinking the same as you: WTF? 

[Daehawk]

try updating LIVE without entering the game or steam.

This seemed to work. I opened LIVE and updated it then left it open and started the game. After having to log into it  through LIVE also the game let me play it.

Thanks!!

[CeeKay]

You just won't believe the problems I had with Age of Empires 3 - l

I forgot I boguth that... I need to try that out sometime.  of course I've had good luck with GfWL so far.

[Turtle]

So glad that Dawn of War 2 is ditching GFWL.

[Autistic Angel]

So I own RFG on Steam. I decided I wanted to play it just now. But WL won't allow me. It says I must log into WL first. Ok so I log in. Now it says I must patch to play. So I can't play without patching even if i wanted to. So ok I patch. It does it's thing and restarts the game. But wait..WL wants me to log in first...umm ok..I log in AGAIN....now wait...it wants to patch...uhh wtf?..ok I patch AGAIN. Does it's thing and wait...it wants me to do it all again and again or I can't play. So now I can't play. WTF is this crap?

Dawn of War II is a GFWL game, and on a fresh installation though Steam, it mandates three or four updates before you can play.  They're each patching different aspects of the GFWL client, and once its done, future logins are automatic and seamless.  If I install a different GFWL live game, like Bioshock 2 it might automatically bring down a patch for the game, but that only requires a single restart.

In other words, it sounds like you loaded all the updates for the GFWL client and then quit with the belief that it was just loading the same patch again and again.  If you load up the game and log in once or twice more, you may find the process has completed.

-Autistic Angel

[Daehawk]

That doesn't come across as intuitive ..or sane

[CeeKay]

So glad that Dawn of War 2 is ditching GFWL.

for Retribution or the base game too?

[Turtle]

Just retribution. I've also had cases where GFWL didn't let me get into DoW2, instead it would freeze up. I had to manually reinstall GFWL from an external installer hidden away in microsoft's website to get things working again.

[Autistic Angel]

That doesn't come across as intuitive ..or sane

It would be nice if GFWL pulled down all its updates at once, exited the game, and applied them in a single go.  I agree that its a tedious process having to load them one at a time, with game restarts between each step.

Nevertheless, it's positively euphoric compared to trying to manually patching some games.  Have you ever tried to patch up a release copy of Company of Heroes?  Or The Sims 2 with all those expansion packs?  It's a day-long process!

-Autistic Angel

[Razgon]

try updating LIVE without entering the game or steam.

This seemed to work. I opened LIVE and updated it then left it open and started the game. After having to log into it  through LIVE also the game let me play it.

Thanks!!

You are welcome :-) I've had the same issues, and this way it usually works without a hitch

[Gratch]

I've had one experience with GFWL (Age of Empires 3), and it was so bad that I won't ever use their service again.  How you can fark up a gaming service that completely is beyond me.

[tok]

So I own RFG on Steam. I decided I wanted to play it just now. But WL won't allow me. It says I must log into WL first. Ok so I log in. Now it says I must patch to play. So I can't play without patching even if i wanted to. So ok I patch. It does it's thing and restarts the game. But wait..WL wants me to log in first...umm ok..I log in AGAIN....now wait...it wants to patch...uhh wtf?..ok I patch AGAIN. Does it's thing and wait...it wants me to do it all again and again or I can't play. So now I can't play. WTF is this crap?

I HATE WINDOWS LIVE! I've said since the they came out with WL that it was made to kill PC gaming and I've never been more sure than tonight.

So how am I ever going to be able to play a game I bought and paid for? It's late. Maybe tomorrow I'll check the Steam forums. But this SUCKS!

I did this patch when it originally came out. It required 3 reboots and it crapped out a few times during the process because the server was busy (I presume). The whole thing took about 45 minutes, at which point I wasn't even in the mood to play the game any more.

The STEAM/GFWL games are a similar high wire act... I had to update F1 2010 and I swore it wasn't going to work. Similar thing with STEAM downloading and sending me CD keys, and GFWL doing whatever the hell it had to do. I just get the feeling MS is going to abandon this system in a year or two and just leave users high and dry like the did with the MS Gaming Zone games.

[Daehawk]

Lol I was just telling my wife about MS Gaming Zone. I got X-Wing vs Tie Fighter off eBay and it came with a Zone coaster in it. I had forgotten all about that service. I still don't know why they killed it. As I recall it actually worked.

[CeeKay]

Just retribution. I've also had cases where GFWL didn't let me get into DoW2, instead it would freeze up. I had to manually reinstall GFWL from an external installer hidden away in microsoft's website to get things working again.

on the plus side it should help a friend get into Steam.

[Purge]

IMHO GfWL should patch via Windows Updates if installed. Also, it should not require restarts.

[tok]

Lol I was just telling my wife about MS Gaming Zone. I got X-Wing vs Tie Fighter off eBay and it came with a Zone coaster in it. I had forgotten all about that service. I still don't know why they killed it. As I recall it actually worked.

For its time, it worked great. The matchmaking for Motocross Madness was what I specifically used, but I think all the "Madness" series were similar setups. Just a bulk list of lobbies that were named according to the event. The races were quick, so it was very easy to jump in and out of games without much down time.

I was bummed when the discontinued it. Even though Motocross Madness 1 and 2 were pretty old by the time they pulled the plug, there were still lots of people on all the time.