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Author Topic: Games for Windows Accounts  (Read 4001 times)

Aqizzar

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Games for Windows Accounts
« on: May 11, 2011, 04:42:11 pm »

I recently bought Red Faction: Guerrilla, only to find that saving your progress in the PC version is dependent on having a Games for Windows Live Account.  That ticks me off.  I know Arkham Asylum was Games-Live dependent, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have to make an account to save my game in that - mainly because I tried logging in with Guerrilla using the only information I would have made an account with, and it didn't work.  So I don't have an account.

...Or at least, I didn't think so.  I do have a Windows Live email account, and going to the Games for Windows website, allows me to sign in there under my email.  Since that's my old college email, with my actual name, that kinda worries me.  I'm now a little confused, and very leery.  I'm tired of making a billion, email-clogging accounts for shit all over the Internet just to play games.

So I guess my question is, for people who know this thing better than I do, isn't there some way I can just play the game paid for, without having to give Microsoft another way to track my personal information and send me shit?
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Jay

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2011, 04:57:57 pm »

Games for Windows Live is the same as Xbox Live is the same as Windows Live is the same as...  You get the picture.
They already have your real name in that case, so what is using one more service with the same account going to do?
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Aqizzar

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2011, 05:05:32 pm »

Will, it does accept my old email, so that's a start.  However, it says I have to make a "gamer tag" in order to actually sign in to play games.  Goddammit.

Not to mention, I'd rather people not be able to learn anything about me just by looking at my tag.  How private is this stuff anyway?
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BigD145

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2011, 05:19:08 pm »

Torrent the crack?
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Soulwynd

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2011, 05:23:36 pm »

You can actually use your gmail account on it as well. Technically, you should be able to use any email that's part of the openID emails.
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LoSboccacc

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2011, 05:38:22 pm »

Will, it does accept my old email, so that's a start.  However, it says I have to make a "gamer tag" in order to actually sign in to play games.  Goddammit.

Not to mention, I'd rather people not be able to learn anything about me just by looking at my tag.  How private is this stuff anyway?

it works like the xbox live account. at its core, it is a live account. never had a problem with microsoft spam or such, and the profile from the outside is not very... informative.

but I guess not all games are to be proud of. mine is tainted with A Kingdom for Keflings. if you have an account, you can go yourself on the xbox live site and search for friends at random, just to see which kind of information will became public.
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Nistenf

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2011, 06:56:02 pm »

I think there's a little link (inside the game, in the Games for Window 'thing'), almost hidden that allows you to make an offline profile which is just like that the games that have different profiles for different people playing
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Comp112

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2011, 07:13:36 pm »

Nistenf got it right.

It can be a pain in the butt to find, but you can make an offline account which works perfectly fine. heck, if you made one playing Arkham Asylum, the profile may still be on your computer.
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nenjin

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2011, 07:37:00 pm »

Play Offline FTW. For how deeply they hide that option, you'd think they're contractually obligated to offer it or something.
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BigD145

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2011, 09:04:59 pm »

Play Offline FTW. For how deeply they hide that option, you'd think they're contractually obligated to offer it or something.

Probably the EU made them do it.
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mikefictiti0us

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2011, 11:06:48 pm »

Well at least they fixed the offline account issue. Some of the early GFWL titles required initial internet connectivity even if you wanted to create an offline account, ala Steam not allowing you to use offline mode until you've logged in on at least one occasion. Major pain in the ass for me back when Half Life 2 was released as I was unable to connect to the main server for the first two days after launch, meaning I couldn't play the game that I had just dished out $89.95 for.

That said, for years I've stuck with using modified .exe or .dll injectors which bypass or remove GFWL integration altogether in games that utilize the system. The same goes for other non-MP games I purchase which try to force you to create accounts or authenticate online before you're allowed to play the single player portion of the game. There's a launcher for Red Faction : Guerrilla which disables GFWL, so you might want to look into that provided that you don't want to create an offline account.
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LoSboccacc

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2011, 02:11:05 am »

well, I quite like having saved games stored on the net. It removes the hassle of keeping my computers in synch.

But I may be a very special case as I've more computer scattered around Italy.

Sure, privacy and availability of the internet connection is a concern that weights off the benefits, in the ends it depends of what you need and what you like
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Shadowlord

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2011, 03:23:49 pm »

well, I quite like having saved games stored on the net. It removes the hassle of keeping my computers in synch.

That's one of the things I like about Steam. When my last computer died, my saved games for Valve's games didn't die with it, so I was able to continue playing HL2 on another computer (Not that I hadn't already beaten it, but it was something to do). It didn't run so great, though, and when I got to the helicopter-with-bombs battle it become unplayable, so I ended up playing Gothic II after that point instead.

As far as GFWL, I'd rather use Steam. That said, I do have a gamercard, since I play XBox 360 games. Soo... It wouldn't exactly be any kind of hassle if I had a GFWL game.
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Aqizzar

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2011, 04:18:20 pm »

Alright, the offline account works fine.  Thanks for the help folks, I never would have noticed the option, hidden below the fold on the user-agreement page.  Almost like they didn't want people to know you don't have to make an online account to play a single-player game.

Anyway, Red Faction: G is awesome.  You died.  And I keep trying to pull out my Magic Grapple and Bag of Infinite Parachutes from Just Cause 2.
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jester

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Re: Games for Windows Accounts
« Reply #14 on: May 13, 2011, 03:52:54 am »

Alright, the offline account works fine.  Thanks for the help folks, I never would have noticed the option, hidden below the fold on the user-agreement page.  Almost like they didn't want people to know you don't have to make an online account to play a single-player game.

Anyway, Red Faction: G is awesome.  You died.  And I keep trying to pull out my Magic Grapple and Bag of Infinite Parachutes from Just Cause 2.

seconded.  RFG turns the fun up to 11.  Games for windows live almost shit me to the point where I gave up on it.  I honestly ended up using a cracked version after I actually brought the game to avoid windows live
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