Operation Anchorage GFWL

[Telefrog]

Getting the Operation Anchorage DLC for Fallout 3 on the 360 is a no-brainer, but is it the same story on PC?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/fallout-3-operation-anchorage-review

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/27/fallout-3-new-content-adventures-in-gfwl/

I have a question. If I get the DLC for my PC version, do I have to have to be signed in on GFWL to use it from then on?

[H.Bogard]

Good ole GFWL. Microsoft's version of hip-dancing pop star flying into space.

Why do they even bother? GFWL is horrible. There's no separate application to update the fucking thing with, and the messaging/friend invite/matchmaking system is to Steam what dial-up connections in 1999 are to broadband of now.

Fuck GFWL.

Edit : I hope someone more competent replaces this douchebag. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/158375/microsoft_games_for_windows_live_head_laid_off.htm l) Better yet, fire everyone and scrap the whole thing.

[Chill]

That is fucking incredible. I've dealt with GFWL problems before (GTA and GoW), but this takes the cake. I was ecstatic when fallout didn't require GFWL (except for achievements, which I don't care about anyways), and it appeared Bethesda put their foot down. Eh, guess not.

Though I've always expressed disappointment with this "expansion", it seems from that Eurogamer review that this is not worth the purchase anyways.

[Heretic Machine]

I don't know why I even bothered to read the Eurogamer article. I sometimes forget who they are, and mistake them for a legitimate site at which I can be informed and possibly entertained. Basically, it boils down to this: This is like Fallout 3, but more of it; major suckage. I'm not a big fan of Fallout 3, so I'm not buying the content, but I have to wonder what kind of game they played when they can say something like this:

the multi-layered decision-making so brilliantly executed in the full game is put out on its ear.

Or be upset by this:

This is a content pack of the snipe, the grenade toss and of multiple Chinese Assault Rifle unloads direct to the head.

The problem, however, is that for the seasoned wasteland warrior everything is just far too easy...

It's possible to spray your way through Operation Anchorage without ever truly breaking a sweat.

the whole experience feels simple and heavy-handed.

Welcome to Fallout 3, Eurogamer. I honestly have to wonder if they actually played through the base game, because they're basically complaining about the same sort of thing that critics of Fallout 3 were saying months ago. I'd say maybe they're just now coming down from the hype-high that blinded them to the regular game's failings, as they clearly would have liked the original game less if they had been half as critical of it as they're being with the DLC.

I don't want to get into another argument about Fallout 3's merits and failings, I'm really just complaining about Eurogamer. The RPS article, on the other hand, kills the sympathy I had for the head of GFWL after finding out that he was axed this morning. Dude had it coming, apparently.

[Mastergeo7]

Paying for DLC in a PC title.. Yeah, sure...

Valve releases free content, also Stardock, even Bioware. Nice move horse armor guys.

[Panthera]

Oh, c'mon. Stardock is selling a $10 mini-expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire. Why is it wrong with Bethesda does the same?

[biosc1]

Paying for DLC in a PC title.. Yeah, sure...

Valve releases free content, also Stardock, even Bioware. Nice move horse armor guys.

Ironclad releases free updates, some with added content, but the latest expansion is going to be a paid expansion. Bethesda has done this in the past with Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine.

Episode 1 and 2 were short additions to HL2...and they were not free.

Personally, I feel a game that doesn't have multiplayer doesn't necessarily require free updates...especially added content. If programmers are being paid to add content to a game, then they should be able to charge for it. If those same programmers are just fixing bugs or balance issues, then that should be free because that's more of a patch.

[Mastergeo7]

Well, I didn't know about that, thanks for the tip.

[Telefrog]

So does anyone know the answer to my question?

If I get the DLC for my PC version, do I have to have to be signed in on GFWL to use it from then on?

[hunterx280]

I'm hoping that if I hold out long enough they will turn this into free content. I am so busy with other games and life in general that returning to Fallout 3 right now just wouldn't be helpful.

[biosc1]

So does anyone know the answer to my question?

I'm going to say noooooyes.

[Seika]

$10?

Pass. Frack Microsoft & Live.

I'll wait for user-created mods.

[Karak]

I don't want to get into another argument about Fallout 3's merits and failings, I'm really just complaining about Eurogamer. The RPS article, on the other hand, kills the sympathy I had for the head of GFWL after finding out that he was axed this morning. Dude had it coming, apparently.

Well...if they are reviewing this DLC now, on the merits and problems you felt they didn't see before...then is that not improving on what they did in the past...so...what else are they supposed to do?
If staying the course would have caused you an issue, and now changing to judge the game correctly is causing you an issue. Seems like they can not win or do anything right in your viewpoint.

Anyway the review seemed fair to me. I guess I will know more when I get it today.

[violent]

Still glad I got the PC version. I'll just wait until the internet nerds argue until they're blue in the face and the fee is dropped for the PC.

[Jackel]

Yeah, I was going to pick this up..but I might wait and see what happens with the price. I'm busy enough with The Witcher that I'm not too concerned about waiting.

[JayK47]

Man, from the sounds of it they took out all of the good shit and left the mediocre due to it being a simulation. Lame. And it sounds like it will take longer to get the DLC through GFWL than it will to play through it. WTF? And at a whopping $10? When your DLC adds less playtime and less fun than Fable 2's Knothole Island, why even bother?

Being a diehard Fallout 3 fan, I am more than ready to skip this outing. That is until I can get it for a much more reasonable price. Free.

[MagGnome]

I brought up these exact concerns in several threads about the DLC and was basically ignored. :p

That said, I wish they would just release this content on Steam, where they surely sold a good portion of their PC copies.

[Telefrog]

I've just answered my own question. For anyone curious, here's what you do if you want to use the DLC without signing into GFWL every time.

Go to either your C:\Documents And Settings or C:\Users file (Xp or Vista respectivly), go to App Data/Local/Microsoft/Xlive/DLC, keep going until you reach operation anchorage in the CONTENT folder.

Grab the ESM and the two BSA files and move them to your Fallout 3 DATA folder. The same way you would a mod, after that load up the launcher and check Anchorage.

That's nice, except wasn't one of the developer/publisher incentives for using GFWL Marketplace going to be it's supposed security? Apparently, if anyone so chooses, [wink wink] you could just have someone upload their copy of the DLC for anyone to download and place in their data folder.

[RandoM51]

If people really wanted to complain about pay DLC in relation to this mod, they need look no further than the Perk that is added with the mod, a Perk you can't get any other way, a Perk that potentially makes any character that has the DLC better than a character that does not.

Then again, it is a singleplayer game so who really cares about some silly Perk?