- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: MajorHavoc
So what free PC online gaming service offers all that XB Live offers?
None. But:
Gamespy did only offer matchmaking free, yes. They did not, however, monitor your game files, your mods or your installation.
For me, this is what it boils down to. Games for Windows Live will eventually be a spitting image of Xbox Live, with Microsoft monitoring the games which run Games for Windows Live. Yes, this is beneficial to prevent cheaters and it's nice being able to communicate with X360 friends who are online, but it will come at a price.
It will eventually stifle community modding because Microsoft will be able to employ the banhammer as they wish. If Microsoft decides that a new Games for Windows Live game will NOT be allowed to have any modification outside what they want to deliver "officially" (and charge you for via Microsoft points), they'll be able to keep anyone from modding that game.
A hypothetical, if you will, to explain my belief further:
Let's pretend for a minute that Unreal Tournament 2004 is a "Games for Windows - Live" game and let's say that Microsoft decides that community mods/maps won't be allowed to be played online. Since Microsoft monitors the Live service, they could do that. Community Bonus Packs 1, 2 Volume 1 and 2 Volume 2 wouldn't exist - OR, they would exist and Microsoft would "sell" them to you at the cost of 400+ gamer points per pack.
THIS is why Microsoft is pushing Games for Windows - Live, make no mistake. It's not because they're interested in closing the gap between X360 and PC gamers. Rather, it's about control, the ability to use that control to force gamers to buy MS points to keep buying content for the games and, in turn, generate recurring profit instead of making profit only from the original point-of-sale of the game.
Again, I don't mind this on consoles. But for PC games, where games have been supported for years by their community, by folks who make maps or whole game mods, this "new" model, this new level of control, stinks.
As for friends lists, last I checked, xFire was free and functioned really, really well as a friends list. It even shows friends cross platform.
[Edited on 06.04.2007 3:21 PM PDT]