GEARS of War - LIVE GOLD mandatory for Co-op

It's MS, I think we all kinda figured there would be a hitch.

Reported earlier, IGN has just reported that in order to enjoy GEARS co-op, you have to pay for a Windows Live Gold account. Also, the Free silver account offers "limited" online multiplayer, lacking certain features. Talk about an insult, ecspecially with the awsome STEAM community. Unless you already have a GOLD membership, I seriously doubt many people are going to pay 50 bucks for co-op. MS needs to pull the stick out and realize the PC Gaming community is a different market overall.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/35188/Worrying-Gears-of-War-PC-Preview

EDIT: Apparently this might not be true, according to a post from "HAL" found here:

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=191143

Waiting for clarification from IGN...but still curious as to what the "extras" are...

If I have a XBox Live Gold account, is that considered the same thing? Or is it two seperate accounts?

Either way I am not getting GoW for the PC...I already own it on XBox 360.

Wow. So why would I want Gears of War now?

Oh, maybe for the single-player, but GoW is hardly at the top of my list any longer. If coop over LAN is still intact and free of course, then I'm still interested, otherwise :evil:

stupid GFW, what the HELL have they done besides put their damn label on stuff.

50 bucks for online play, absolutely ridiculous, I just scratched this off my "most wanted" list.

You can use your Xbox Live Gold Account for Windows Live enabled games.

I agree this is ridiculous. The PC has always had free online unless it's a MMO. Another instance of Microsoft treading on the community.

when you make an XBL account you get a free month of gold so just beat coop within that free month :Dzero9167

That is a good idea lol. You can beat Gears in a day or two then when the free month is up you play the free multiplayer. haha

It's MS, I think we all kinda figured there would be a hitch.

Reported earlier, IGN has just reported that in order to enjoy GEARS co-op, you have to pay for a Windows Live Gold account. Also, the Free silver account offers "limited" online multiplayer, lacking certain features. Talk about an insult, ecspecially with the awsome STEAM community. Unless you already have a GOLD membership, I seriously doubt many people are going to pay 50 bucks for co-op. MS needs to pull the stick out and realize the PC Gaming community is a different market overall.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/35188/Worrying-Gears-of-War-PC-Preview

mismajor99

ign is wrong. according to beyondunreal.com, it isnt (they are fully updated!)

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=191143

Epic phail for Epic .... they should just keep it free and let the community run the fricken servers like us PC gamers always have ... games last longer this way because communities actually FORM!!!!!!1!!!!

ign is wrong. according to beyondunreal.com, it isnt (they are fully updated!)

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=191143

Kh1ndjal

Thanks for this! I can breathe again!

WTF? Pathetic move,Epic.Greyhound222

I'm pretty sure they were forced into it by Microsoft (as the game's publisher.) Epic believes in charging only for the game..they fought with Microsoft to prevent their users from having to pay for DLC on XBL, for example.

Dirty Tricks...

DX10 got people to buy Vista

This will get people to buy Windows Live service.

Both are things that nobody would pay for it wasn't a gimmick.

MS needs to come out and correct IGN if this isn't true. Why would they not contact IGN immediately on this issue? Paying for Co-op isn't something minor, it would actually be a first in any non-MMO game. I find there to be a serious disconnect with MS and the gaming community, as this is something pretty major.

This reminds me of when MS, in the Games for Windows Magazine(Old CGW), stated that Voice Chat was a Gold Privilege, and than later that being changed. I remember because as soon as I read it in the magazine I posted it here. I beleive it was than later refuted, but that just shows any lack of standards on the PC side. At least with Xbox, you know what you're getting. With Windows Live, it's all over the place. First No XP, now there's XP support, First Voice is Gold, than it's Silver, This latest scenario...blah blah blah...

I still don't understand what exactly was cleared up. What are these "extra's" The forum posters is talking about?onemic

I'm buying this, but for the single player. GFW live is such a scam... who would have thought a developer could get away with charging you to use your own computer as a host for multiplayer gaming. Shadowrun was ruined by this... and in fact is now impossible to play without GFW Live as all other servers are dead... so I've got a shadowrun coaster thanks to this service.

These monthly pay to play and microtransaction scams are adding up. Also, I really wouldn't blame Epic... they seemed to be at odds with a lot of issues over the development of the game. Just vote with your dollar and don't subscribe... or even better, avoid games with unjust monthly fees or microtransactions whenever possible. And for gods sake, support steam games as a free alternative to this bullspit.

[QUOTE="Kh1ndjal"]ign is wrong. according to beyondunreal.com, it isnt (they are fully updated!)

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=191143

teirdome

Thanks for this! I can breathe again!

As long as they have Co-Op over LAN, I'll still buy it.Shadow-Eagle

[QUOTE="onemic"]I still don't understand what exactly was cleared up. What are these "extra's" The forum posters is talking about?zero9167

I don't "pay" to play.thusaha

Yes. You do.

People still really want to hate GFW Live, even if they don't get to actually do the bad things people expect them to. I just finally got a 360, so I'm unfortunately signed up for XBL, and by extension GFW Live Gold. Dang it. I kinda enjoyed being Silver and defending the program. There goes my credibility, mismajor99. :) I do remember that their answers that have caused trouble has usually been 'we don't know yet'-s, not actually saying that something is Gold-only. The GFW Magazine article was the engineer saying we don't know, despite the interviewer hammering them for clarification. People are just taking the 'we don't know' and assuming the worst pretty much every time so far, I think? So far they've really been okay as a program, though - just not as awesome as Steam.Makari

i was waiting for your reply :P

[QUOTE="Makari"]People still really want to hate GFW Live, even if they don't get to actually do the bad things people expect them to. I just finally got a 360, so I'm unfortunately signed up for XBL, and by extension GFW Live Gold. Dang it. I kinda enjoyed being Silver and defending the program. There goes my credibility, mismajor99. :) I do remember that their answers that have caused trouble has usually been 'we don't know yet'-s, not actually saying that something is Gold-only. The GFW Magazine article was the engineer saying we don't know, despite the interviewer hammering them for clarification. People are just taking the 'we don't know' and assuming the worst pretty much every time so far, I think? So far they've really been okay as a program, though - just not as awesome as Steam.mismajor99

i was waiting for your reply :P

You do know that you can't play ranked co-op if you have silver right?

That's complete bs on MS's part right there.

Live's whole pay for online thing is BS. I swear to god, if Live was free I'd go get a 360 as soon as I could. But right now, I wait for most of the exclusives to be ported to PC so i can get free online. Oh, wait, MS brought live to PC too! I really don't know what marketing strategy MS is trying to master.

Dirty Tricks...

DX10 got people to buy Vista

This will get people to buy Windows Live service.

Both are things that nobody would pay for it wasn't a gimmick.

D9-THC

Actually, DX10 did not get people to buy Vista. Most of the people that bought Vista are the ones that have the money to spend and want top of the line/newest technology computer junk.

Vista is a poorly optimized OS when compared to XP. It'll be at least another 12-18 months before Vista can even start to compare itself to XP performance-wise.

Why would anyone want to play with Vista when it requires more RAM and runs games at a lower FPS then XP? Once Vista has all the kinks worked out and it performs more to XP's level, people will start to come around because games will eventually migrate to DX10. Right now, most people (if they're smart)are not strictly purchasing Vista for just the DX10.

From all the pics I've seen from games that run DX9 and DX10, there really isn't too much of a difference that convinces me to switch over. My computer is DX10 ready....but Vista is a joke and I won't step in that direction until it actually offers a lot more compatibility then it can right now. Thank you very much, but I'll stay with XP until things are completly smoothed out on Vista.

When I upgrade to Vista, it will be when Vista acts exactly like XP; no driver issues, requires less memory and programs/games run just as smooth. 12-18 months....things will begin to change.

As for GoW on PC, if it requires a Live Gold account to play Co-op, this will be one less game I have to worry about buying. I already pay for internet access via cable modem - I refuse to pay to play other games online (this includes MMOs). Only game I'm willing to pay to play is a MUD that I've been playing off and on over the past 15 years.

Live's whole pay for online thing is BS. I swear to god, if Live was free I'd go get a 360 as soon as I could. But right now, I wait for most of the exclusives to be ported to PC so i can get free online. Oh, wait, MS brought live to PC too! I really don't know what marketing strategy MS is trying to master.

Ps2stony

It sure is BS if you're a PC gamer. Xbox players kind of take it in the shorts, but that's their decision to pay to play online with the Xbox - MS has them in their pockets with this corner of the market.

MS will not win the Gold accounts with PC gamers. It'll be a lost cause....I mean, look at the fact that MS couldn't even market the Halo series and Vista properly to PC users.

Microsoft should have released Halo 2 on PC strictly as a DX9 game. Let Halo fans and soon to be Halo fans enjoy Halo and Halo 2 on PC. Let them catch up on the story and enjoy the online frag fests....Then, once Halo 2 has been out for a while, annouce that with the release of Vista, Halo 3 will be available via PC and Xbox 360; however, Halo 3 on PC requires Vista that supports the fact that the game is DX10 only.

This kind of step either pushes people to pick up an Xbox 360 and Halo 3 (roughly a $300+ package if you buy the low end) or upgrade to Vista and get Halo 3 via PC (roughly a $150+ package if you buy the low end). This would have caused non 360 owners that want to play Halo 3 into getting Vista and Halo 3. This would have been a much larger push in the DX10 direction and other game designers and GPU developers would have been more willing to turn towards DX10. We'd be further along with Vista and DX10 ifMS just happened to do things right.

MS screwed themselves with poor marketing. I hope the person that screwed this up with MS got fired....I'd hate to have someone like that working for my company.

Even if you have Vista you have to pay for LIVE to get DX10 support for GoW (according to Games For Windows magazine). M$ is pushing LIVE way to hard. I will forfiet online play before I buy LIVE. Its much different from an MMO because you are paying for service that used to be free and theres no cost for Windows to have extra multiplayer maps and singleplayer missions (pay for LIVE to get them according to Games For Windows). Thats what we pay $50 for and considering its a port we should be paying less.Swiftstrike5

You MUST be joking right? I mean limiting DX10 features to only gold members? That I can't believe. I don't see MS stooping down that low.

Do people just make things up as they go along? DX10 limited to gold members? The difference between the Silver and Gold has been known for a while and it doesn't say anything about Silver members being limited to DX9. These kind of threads just confuses those that don't know better.

DX10 being Gold only has to be the most rediculous thing I have read about Windows Live. If it was Gold only it would have said so on this page and Windows Live is all about multiplayer not limiting graphics. Link

Do people just make things up as they go along? DX10 limited to gold members? The difference between the Silver and Gold has been known for a while and it doesn't say anything about Silver members being limited to DX9. These kind of threads just confuses those that don't know better.

DX10 being Gold only has to be the most rediculous thing I have read about Windows Live. If it was Gold only it would have said so on this page and Windows Live is all about multiplayer not limiting graphics. Link

Deihmos

Swiftstrike misread the info from GFW magazine. It's been settled, no need for flaming him.

That said, with what GFW live did to shadowrun, there is still reason to doubt MS until Gears is released. I will believe there is free quality multiplayer on a silver account when I see it. Personally though, I'm all about the single player so it won't matter that much... I've got quake wars, TF2 and soon ut3.