How to get rid of GFWL from Bioshock 2

deweyhewson · 04-18-2011, 12:15 AM

--BEGIN RANT--

GFWL sucks. Hard. It's Microsoft's attempt to consolize the PC gaming experience - so they can more effectively milk it like they do already on the 360 - and it's a huge step back for the platform. Of course, many of the bigger publishers are more than happy to utilize it, because nowhere is money milking easier than on consoles; if they can replicate that on PC, all the better!

It has a pain in the ♥♥♥♥ interface, it hides your saved games in cryptic (and hidden) game folders, your saved games are tied to your GFWL account, your game activations are tied to your GFWL account forever (even when purchasing through Steam, so there's one more layer of annoying DRM to deal with), it has constantly running Live software (even when not playing a game), and everything in requires that stupid (and money milking) points system to purchase anything. And in games purchased through Steam which require GFWL, it's yet another overlay running on top of the game, hindering performance. Yes, you can create an offline profile, but you still have to "sign in" to that account every time you open a GFWL-infected game.

It is not even close to as customer-friendly as Steam. Steam only runs when you're playing a game, it uses real world money, it has an interface that is PC-focused and not dumbed down, the games on it operate as they would otherwise (meaning they save their games in normal locations), it's simple and easy to manage your purchased collection, and so on and so forth.

Steam is a gaming platform built for the PC; GFWL is a console platform infecting the PC. And if I wanted to play a console, I'd play a console.

--END RANT

--HOW TO REMOVE IT FROM BIOSHOCK 2--

Just use this to rid the game of this crap: http://timeslip.users.sourceforge.net/ - the link is at the bottom of the page, under the February 21st heading.

Note #1: GFWL will still be required to play multiplayer, since that is what multiplayer works through. There is no way around this.

Note #2: This will NOT help those who pirate the game avoid activating it, as that will still be required through the Securom files with the game. I have no interest in supporting pirates, anyway, so tough.

04-18-2011, 11:10 AM

Thanks a lot! GFWL was driving me crazy!
Not able to play online though

icy1007 · 04-18-2011, 03:49 PM

GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

Evil_Betox · 04-18-2011, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vashounet

Thanks a lot! GFWL was driving me crazy!
Not able to play online though

You're not missing much, its hard to find someone playing this game online.

I waited almost 30 minutes for players to start a match yesterday, not a single soul found.

diavir · 04-18-2011, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icy1007

GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

GFWL is an abomination of a service. Microsoft should be absolutely ashamed of it.

slicendice777 · 04-18-2011, 07:01 PM

I thought it was "ok" at least, and most.

Sure, its annoying as all hell, but once its out of the way, you wont have any more problems. Ever.

04-19-2011, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icy1007

GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

Stop giving order. I never had any technical issues with any kind of software except when Microsoft worked closely on it.
I may be too much subjective but that's like I feel it.
But anyway...

Why should I complain about a product that has always worked?
Why should I keep quiet when I buy something that is corrupted by an useless software?

Then we can all say that Steam is secured enough to get rid of GWFL, which is uncompatible with a lot of machines and furthemore, useless .

davenwolf999 · 04-21-2011, 04:22 AM

I want my money Back, BS2 sucks with GFWL attached to it like a leach.
Well done steam for informing us of this crap. How many updates does this crap want or it it really scanning my pc.
Nearly 10 gig of ♥♥♥♥
GRRRRRRRRRRR

elburro · 04-24-2011, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icy1007

GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

You have to back this one up. How is GFWL awesome? I do wish that it was awesome since I have a lot of friends on XBL and would like to be on the same system they are on but Microsoft left it behind quite a while ago. Heck you can't even join a party from GFWL.

04-26-2011, 08:16 PM

I downloaded the .dll replacement in the OP, but I can't seem to extract it. Using iZarc, it asks me for a password. With 7-zip, it says it doesn't recognize the compression type. Any ideas?

kiratachibana · 04-27-2011, 09:57 PM

Can I play the DLCs if I removed GFWL? Esp Protector Trial.
Since I am using a Japan Live account but Bioshock 2 did not release in Japan...

josiah_rulez · 04-28-2011, 09:14 AM

GFWL might of picked off in the PC gaming market if it wasn't a complete failure.

I hate its interface, Its annoying "sign in" thing when you start a game, But I do love how they put your saves in the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere (bit like steam cloud, but they do it with all their games).

kiratachibana · 04-28-2011, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josiah_rulez

GFWL might of picked off in the PC gaming market if it wasn't a complete failure.

I hate its interface, Its annoying "sign in" thing when you start a game, But I do love how they put your saves in the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere (bit like steam cloud, but they do it with all their games).

I don't think GFWL have cloud save. And some games (like Lost Planet colonies) cannot even backup the save without backing up the profile.

elburro · 04-30-2011, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josiah_rulez

GFWL might of picked off in the PC gaming market if it wasn't a complete failure.

I hate its interface, Its annoying "sign in" thing when you start a game, But I do love how they put your saves in the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere (bit like steam cloud, but they do it with all their games).

huh? you are thinking of a different service

Kylemaul · 04-30-2011, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icy1007

GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

Yeah, awesome in that it breaks games built for older OSes.

A heads up for anyone that thinks this game is compatible with Windows XP....
Actually, the game itself plays fine in Windows XP as long as you don't mind not being able to save or play multiplayer. You know, those pieces that been integrated with that awesome GfWL.

Due to the GfWL mandatory auto-updating itself to include that Essentials/Assistant piece, and the Essentials/Assistant piece not being compatible with Windows XP, renders this game (and probably others) nerfed to the point of uselessness.

See http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...d-8745be104600 for the proof.

I for one will be sure to avoid buying any game titles that are tied to GfWL from now on. Torrent, anyone?

Here's a list I found of Steam games that are tied to this awesome PoS:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...8782-WECN-1190

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04-18-2011, 12:15 AM	#1
deweyhewson Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 139 Posts: 256	How to get rid of GFWL in Bioshock 2 --BEGIN RANT-- GFWL sucks. Hard. It's Microsoft's attempt to consolize the PC gaming experience - so they can more effectively milk it like they do already on the 360 - and it's a huge step back for the platform. Of course, many of the bigger publishers are more than happy to utilize it, because nowhere is money milking easier than on consoles; if they can replicate that on PC, all the better! It has a pain in the ♥♥♥♥ interface, it hides your saved games in cryptic (and hidden) game folders, your saved games are tied to your GFWL account, your game activations are tied to your GFWL account forever (even when purchasing through Steam, so there's one more layer of annoying DRM to deal with), it has constantly running Live software (even when not playing a game), and everything in requires that stupid (and money milking) points system to purchase anything. And in games purchased through Steam which require GFWL, it's yet another overlay running on top of the game, hindering performance. Yes, you can create an offline profile, but you still have to "sign in" to that account every time you open a GFWL-infected game. It is not even close to as customer-friendly as Steam. Steam only runs when you're playing a game, it uses real world money, it has an interface that is PC-focused and not dumbed down, the games on it operate as they would otherwise (meaning they save their games in normal locations), it's simple and easy to manage your purchased collection, and so on and so forth. Steam is a gaming platform built for the PC; GFWL is a console platform infecting the PC. And if I wanted to play a console, I'd play a console. --END RANT --HOW TO REMOVE IT FROM BIOSHOCK 2-- Just use this to rid the game of this crap: http://timeslip.users.sourceforge.net/ - the link is at the bottom of the page, under the February 21st heading. Note #1: GFWL will still be required to play multiplayer, since that is what multiplayer works through. There is no way around this. Note #2: This will NOT help those who pirate the game avoid activating it, as that will still be required through the Securom files with the game. I have no interest in supporting pirates, anyway, so tough. Last edited by deweyhewson: 04-19-2011 at 08:13 AM.

04-18-2011, 11:10 AM	#2
Vashounet Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks a lot! GFWL was driving me crazy! Not able to play online though

04-18-2011, 03:49 PM	#3
icy1007 Join Date: Oct 2004 Reputation: 5 Posts: 919	GFWL is awesome, stop whining.

04-18-2011, 07:01 PM	#6
slicendice777 Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 28 Posts: 562	I thought it was "ok" at least, and most. Sure, its annoying as all hell, but once its out of the way, you wont have any more problems. Ever.

04-21-2011, 04:22 AM	#8
davenwolf999 Join Date: Apr 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 10	I want my money Back, BS2 sucks with GFWL attached to it like a leach. Well done steam for informing us of this crap. How many updates does this crap want or it it really scanning my pc. Nearly 10 gig of ♥♥♥♥ GRRRRRRRRRRR

04-26-2011, 08:16 PM	#10
_aaron Guest Posts: n/a	I downloaded the .dll replacement in the OP, but I can't seem to extract it. Using iZarc, it asks me for a password. With 7-zip, it says it doesn't recognize the compression type. Any ideas?

04-27-2011, 09:57 PM	#11
kiratachibana Join Date: May 2009 Reputation: 9 Posts: 131	Can I play the DLCs if I removed GFWL? Esp Protector Trial. Since I am using a Japan Live account but Bioshock 2 did not release in Japan...

04-28-2011, 09:14 AM	#12
josiah_rulez Join Date: Sep 2010 Reputation: 3 Posts: 93	GFWL might of picked off in the PC gaming market if it wasn't a complete failure. I hate its interface, Its annoying "sign in" thing when you start a game, But I do love how they put your saves in the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere (bit like steam cloud, but they do it with all their games).