Windows 10 Now Offers Offline Gaming

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Hey Microsoft, we wouldn't need an offline gaming mode if you hadn't made it to where an online connection was required for everything in the first place. Ironic, don't you think?

If you’re planning to be in an area with no online coverage, such as on a long-distance flight or a sailing excursion, you can prepare your Windows 10 device to allow you to play offline. Most games available in the Store on your Windows 10 device support offline play, but check the details of the game to make sure yours is supported by searching for your game at xbox.com. Most games with a campaign mode will be playable offline, but games with network co-op or multiplayer features will not work while you’re offline.
 
Microsoft has no clue on what pc gamers and gamers in general want, they can suck it.
Note You can only change your designated offline device three times per year.​
What's up with the limit, this ain't health insurance.
 
Jesus fucking christ...they're fucking clueless aren't they?
 
Click Steam. Click Go Offline. Unlimited.

I just see MS guys with their arms crossed with their hands in their armpits and then pulling them out real fast and inhaling the wretched funk and then repeating. Over & Over.
 
I always go to gog.com first if they have the game I want. The only online you ever need is when you first acquire the game.
 
Microsoft has no clue on what pc gamers and gamers in general want, they can suck it.
Note You can only change your designated offline device three times per year.​
What's up with the limit, this ain't health insurance.

It seems like they just ported over their Xbox home device system to have some sort of offline feature. If you contact their support after passing the 3 device allotment they will usually let you set another device. I think they'll change the policy over time as they have been doing a good job listening to feedback as of late.
 
Wow, so generous of you Microsoft! /s

Microsft says they care about your security but makes you require permanent connection to the Internet which is a security risk. Notice how hard they make it to create a shortcut icon to disco/connect to the Internet? That was never an issue until Win8. In my Linux install it is a simple one click operation to connect/disconnect. F U Microsoft, you are fos.
 
Click Steam. Click Go Offline. Unlimited.

I just see MS guys with their arms crossed with their hands in their armpits and then pulling them out real fast and inhaling the wretched funk and then repeating. Over & Over.

I don't even have to do that with Steam. If no connection, it'll just prompt you if you want to play "offline". No big deal. I had to do that last weekend, cause my connection was down from Fri to Mon.
 
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I think they'll change the policy over time as they have been doing a good job listening to feedback as of late.
are you fucking kidding me?

Listen to what you just wrote. For the love of god! (and i'm not religious). YOu are being apologetic on so many levels it boggles the mind.

At what point do you think its ok for them to have the authority to demand people be always connected?
On what level do you think its then up to the users to have to voice this ridiculous stance so that they then... slowly.... maybe.. possibly.. change it in the future?
This is just ridiculous on so many levels. Absolute fucking insanity. I just can't fathom how ridiculous this is only to then have people actually defend it.. or at the very least... do the mental gymnastics to not even see how ridiculous it is to begin with!

No wonder social justice and political correctness is taking over. This is what happens when natural selection gets meddled with.

I can't imagine the amount of wasted development time spent on purposely limiting things when it should not even be THOUGHT ABOUT! This world is fucking crazy. Why oh why didn't i take the blue pill.
 
Hmmmm, I do not seem to notice things like this one way or the other. Now I know I can play Gears of War: UE or Quantum Break if my internet connection goes down. Sounds good to me but, I cannot recall the last time I ever needed to do this anyways. Same with Steam, I have not had to use the offline mode in forever. (LOL to the MS haters, they will do so no matter what.)
 
I think they'll change the policy over time as they have been doing a good job listening to feedback as of late.
They have?

Are you from an alternate universe? Tell me does windows 10 threat people using computers as complete morons there too?
 
Windows Store gaming is GFWL 2.0

No thanks.
Actually GFWL wasn't that big of an issue. You could create an offline profile, and that was the end of the story. They didn't try to lock you out from your own computer at least. I mean when someone tries to justify their policy by citing "it's for your own protection" you know immediately that they're full of it.
 
Actually GFWL wasn't that big of an issue. You could create an offline profile, and that was the end of the story. They didn't try to lock you out from your own computer at least. I mean when someone tries to justify their policy by citing "it's for your own protection" you know immediately that they're full of it.
True. It had a few positives but I always felt it was an unnecessary service and really pointless. PC gaming on Windows Store seems to be going down the same path and may end up being worse.
 
Oh jeez.. this is kind of why I am liking Nintendo's move back to cartridges... assuming they don't pull some shit anyway.. Hopefull buying the game means owning the game, as if a book.
 
I'm not honestly sure why this is news. Steam had this same problem a couple years back. If you didn't setup "offline mode" properly before your internet connection went down, 80% of your Steam library wouldn't start.

Welcome to online DRM. Always buy from GoG when there's an option!
 
Remember guys, only terrorists and pedos need offline play; so be sure to report those without an internet connection to the Federal Thought Police.
 
They have?

Are you from an alternate universe? Tell me does windows 10 threat people using computers as complete morons there too?
Maybe I should have clarified I was speaking in regards to the games team at Microsoft not the overall windows 10 platform.

are you fucking kidding me?

Listen to what you just wrote. For the love of god! (and i'm not religious). YOu are being apologetic on so many levels it boggles the mind.

At what point do you think its ok for them to have the authority to demand people be always connected?
On what level do you think its then up to the users to have to voice this ridiculous stance so that they then... slowly.... maybe.. possibly.. change it in the future?
This is just ridiculous on so many levels. Absolute fucking insanity. I just can't fathom how ridiculous this is only to then have people actually defend it.. or at the very least... do the mental gymnastics to not even see how ridiculous it is to begin with!

No wonder social justice and political correctness is taking over. This is what happens when natural selection gets meddled with.

I can't imagine the amount of wasted development time spent on purposely limiting things when it should not even be THOUGHT ABOUT! This world is fucking crazy. Why oh why didn't i take the blue pill.

You're the one going off on a political rant :LOL: I was speaking in regards to the games team within Microsoft not all of the windows 10 platform. I'm not defending their policy I was pointing out what they probably did to get a solution out to the marketplace as people were just starting to bitch about offline games with the release of Gears of War 4 and they had their solution out within a month. Do I like their policy? NO, but I think it's just a quick fix and will change in the future. It gets really annoying seeing everything compared negatively to Steam when Steam was far from perfect when it was introduced and still is to this day. Steam's success pretty much killed Valve games and with no competition that may never change. If Origin, Gog, or gasp the MS store can help make the marketplace better through competition then I'm all for that.

As for their authority, it's their platform and they can do whatever they want. If they keep with bad policies people will leave their platform. It's as easy as that.
 
I'm not honestly sure why this is news. Steam had this same problem a couple years back. If you didn't setup "offline mode" properly before your internet connection went down, 80% of your Steam library wouldn't start.

Welcome to online DRM. Always buy from GoG when there's an option!

A "couple years back" ? I've even playing Steam games offline for more than a decade.

MS has no excuse, the wheel has already been invented and it shouldn't be rocket science to see what the competition is already doing and then be as good or better than the competition. They're a multi billion dollar software company.

All this really proves in the end is that there is absolutely no upside to buying windows store games because of UWP jail. None.
 
A "couple years back" ? I've even playing Steam games offline for more than a decade.

MS has no excuse, the wheel has already been invented and it shouldn't be rocket science to see what the competition is already doing and then be as good or better than the competition. They're a multi billion dollar software company.

All this really proves in the end is that there is absolutely no upside to buying windows store games because of UWP jail. None.

I went on a long deployment a "couple years back", and had to jump through a lot of hoops to get Steam to play nice on a laptop that was off the internet for months at a time. A few years before that it was MUCH worse. Even most recently, a few games (Portal 2 for example) wouldn't work after a few weeks off-line.

MS doesn't NEED an excuse, they're still developing the platform. People wanted an off-line play ability, and they added it. Not sure why you're getting angry. Steam games are just as much of a "jail" for titles as the MS Store...The only really free games are the pure-DRM free titles like the stuff on GOG. Nowadays you're always tied to some stupid DRM-type platform...UWP, uPlay, Origin, Steam, whatever...
 
Steam games are just as much of a "jail" for titles as the MS Store...The only really free games are the pure-DRM free titles like the stuff on GOG. Nowadays you're always tied to some stupid DRM-type platform...UWP, uPlay, Origin, Steam, whatever...

Actually, no, Steam games aren't just as much of a jail as the UWP-wrappered crap in the MS Store. Not every game on Steam is DRM'd (the publisher of a title flips that switch on or off, not Valve), and even if a game is DRM-enabled on Steam, the Win32 executables and game files are still exposed so that mods and third party utilities can be used with the game. Whereas UWP wrappered games in the windows store obfuscate and eliminate the Win32 executable and game files - and mods and third party utilities do NOT work - and add zero other benefit for the user. Thus the term "UWP jail" - it goes beyond just DRM.

And uPlay, Origin, Steam, whatever - none of them go as far as eliminating the game files. It's only the MS Store that goes that far and takes away that much control. It's the most anti-consumer digital marketplace hands down.
 
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True. It had a few positives but I always felt it was an unnecessary service and really pointless. PC gaming on Windows Store seems to be going down the same path and may end up being worse.
Yes, GFWL was unnecessary, pointless, and easily avoidable.

The windows store is unnecessary, pointless, harmful, restrictive, and unavoidable.
 
The windows store is unnecessary, pointless, harmful, restrictive, and unavoidable.

What is unavoidable about it? I guess if you really really really want to play Gears of War 4, sure, but even the supposed-to-be-exclusive Quantum Break went to Steam.
 
mods and third party utilities do NOT work - and add zero other benefit for the user. Thus the term "UWP jail" - it goes beyond just DRM.
And someone actually gets it.

But I'd like to give up the ball to anyone willing. List all the pros specific to the UWP platform. that benefits PC gamers.
 
What is unavoidable about it? I guess if you really really really want to play Gears of War 4, sure, but even the supposed-to-be-exclusive Quantum Break went to Steam.
I thought it was assumed in the basic premise that PC gamers like to have access to all PC games. If I don't use the windows store I'm still negatively affected by it because I can't play certain games.

Unless we squash the platform by standing together and not buying anything from it, I'm pretty sure there will be more and more exclusives on it, that'll never be available elsewhere.

Oh and one more thing. MS is not bringing XBOX games to the PC, they're trying to bring the whole idea and restrictions of consoles to the PC. If I was OK with that I'd just buy a console. I don't want the console experience on my PC.
 
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I thought it was assumed in the basic premise that PC gamers like to have access to all PC games. If I don't use the windows store I'm still negatively affected by it because I can't play certain games.

I don't recall signing this declaration. I don't expect to have universal access to everything. The fact that Gears is even on the PC at all is something of a minor miracle.
 
I don't recall signing this declaration. I don't expect to have universal access to everything. The fact that Gears is even on the PC at all is something of a minor miracle.
You can't be serious. How can someone with a straight face claim that they're OK with being forced to relinquish all their control and getting trough hoops to play a game. If you want me to take you seriously you can start by answering my question about the benefits of the UWP platform.

MS could make money off PC gaming without locking games behind that. There is no reason for it's existence whatsoever from the user's perspective. And any reason I can come up with for it's existence from MS's standpoint are all sinister ones.

And as far as I'm concerned Gears is not on PC. UWP platform is not PC, it's an abomination combining all the drawbacks of PCs with all the drawbacks of consoles literally. Even the price tag.
 
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I don't recall signing this declaration. I don't expect to have universal access to everything. The fact that Gears is even on the PC at all is something of a minor miracle.
Exclusives are by and large just anti-consumer nowadays. The major consoles are all running x86 hardware and they do backflips to make sure their software is NOT compatible with the PC. Advocating different systems for different game is like a throwback to only Warner Bros. theaters showing their movies, only Universal showing theirs, etc.
 
And as far as I'm concerned Gears is not on PC. UWP platform is not PC, it's an abomination combining all the drawbacks of PCs with all the drawbacks of consoles literally. Even the price tag.

This really isn't true. Modding games isn't there for UWA games but most everything else is, most importantly the horse power. GoW 4 is very good if you like the series and does take advantage of PCs.
 
You can't be serious. How can someone with a straight face claim that they're OK with being forced to relinquish all their control and getting trough hoops to play a game. If you want me to take you seriously you can start by answering my question about the benefits of the UWP platform.

I don't really care about the relative pros and cons of the Windows Store. I also don't particularly expect my One Selected Platform to have All The Games, mainly because I don't have One Selected Platform. If I wanted to play Gears, and it was still console-only, I'd buy the console. If the only way to play Gears on the PC is to buy it through the Windows Store, then I'm buying it through the Windows Store. I don't have an expectation as to the level of behind the scenes access I'm given to a particular game. There are certain games where I would desire mods, like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, and games where I wouldn't desire mods, like Max Payne or Bioshock. I take things on a case by case basis.

I also disagree that downloading something from the Windows Store qualifies as hoop-jumping. It's no better or worse than, say, buying a game on Steam. Same concept, same process, same result.

Exclusives are by and large just anti-consumer nowadays. The major consoles are all running x86 hardware and they do backflips to make sure their software is NOT compatible with the PC. Advocating different systems for different game is like a throwback to only Warner Bros. theaters showing their movies, only Universal showing theirs, etc.

The term "anti-consumer" has been bludgeoned into meaninglessness by misuse and overuse. Releasing a game on select platforms is not anti-consumer. You are not owed a release on your specific desired platform. You are not even owed the existence of the game itself.
 
I don't really care about the relative pros and cons of the Windows Store. I also don't particularly expect my One Selected Platform to have All The Games, mainly because I don't have One Selected Platform. If I wanted to play Gears, and it was still console-only, I'd buy the console. If the only way to play Gears on the PC is to buy it through the Windows Store, then I'm buying it through the Windows Store. I don't have an expectation as to the level of behind the scenes access I'm given to a particular game. There are certain games where I would desire mods, like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, and games where I wouldn't desire mods, like Max Payne or Bioshock. I take things on a case by case basis.
You didn't read all my posts or just trying to ignore parts? I said I'd be fine with games not being on PC, but doing what MS is doing with the UWP platform is a big middle finger to all self respecting PC enthusiast. They're trampling on everything that makes PC great, and superior to consoles. They're trying to level the playing field, and I'm making my stand by saying FUCK NO, you're not demoting my PC experience to a console experience.

Mods are great, but if you don't want mods fine, you don't have to have them, for any game. But you do understand that with UWP nobody gets to mod anything, no tweaks, no 3rd party fixes for games. Thousands if not tens of thousands of games are kept alive by the PC community far beyond their normal expiry date. The UWP platform kills even the chance of that. The heart and soul of the PC gaming community.

And then I didn't mention other language territories where games are not released in the native tongue by the publisher because the market is deemed to small, but hundreds of enthusiasts translate the games by themselves into their language to give folks a chance to enjoy games without being perfect in English. Just fuck all those people, right?

Funny that you'd mention Max Payne, since I was one of the few people translating that game into my native language spending countless nights manually replacing the text in the comic bubbles using photo manipulating software. Where I'd not only have to worry about properly carrying over the meaning, but for the translation to fit in the same space. But no, those types of games don't need mods, Terpfen said so.

You're basically giving the message "I don't care about mods, and I don't care that you do". Would it be that hard to acknowledge that the UWP is anti community, and thus anti consumer?
I also disagree that downloading something from the Windows Store qualifies as hoop-jumping. It's no better or worse than, say, buying a game on Steam. Same concept, same process, same result.
No, no, no, and no. Absolutely not the same concept, Steam is a digital delivery platform, with an option for DRM. Windows store is a jail for gamers, that tries to control how they game, and what they do with their games. The buying process might be the same, but on one side the result is that you have a game that you can do anything you can think of with, on the other side you get to play the game on their terms only. And not to mention all the problems with locked in framerates, multi gpu not working, and other stuff that MS just deemed irrelevant.

You don't even have the choice to choose an installation folder. Of course it's pointless since you can't do anything in the folder. But it's really a great symbol of how far things have fallen. It's a console / handheld device experience. I really can't describe it any better than that. And I don't want that experience. If Windows store would become the only option I'd rather quit gaming than give in to that on the PC.
The term "anti-consumer" has been bludgeoned into meaninglessness by misuse and overuse. Releasing a game on select platforms is not anti-consumer. You are not owed a release on your specific desired platform. You are not even owed the existence of the game itself.
I don't think you know the meaning of the term "anti-consumer" It's everything that needlessly curtails the rights and options of the consumer. And making modding impossible is the very definition of needlessly curtailing consumer rights.

This really isn't true. Modding games isn't there for UWA games but most everything else is, most importantly the horse power. GoW 4 is very good if you like the series and does take advantage of PCs.
PC gaming is not just about the horse-power. Just read my post above.
 
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Exclusives are by and large just anti-consumer nowadays. The major consoles are all running x86 hardware and they do backflips to make sure their software is NOT compatible with the PC. Advocating different systems for different game is like a throwback to only Warner Bros. theaters showing their movies, only Universal showing theirs, etc.

They've always been anti consumer.

Oh thank ya massa! Thank ya!

felipe-massa-ferrari-2006_827x510_41472741997.jpg
 
Terpfen said:
The term "anti-consumer" has been bludgeoned into meaninglessness by misuse and overuse. Releasing a game on select platforms is not anti-consumer. You are not owed a release on your specific desired platform. You are not even owed the existence of the game itself.
No, I think I'm using it correctly. It's not about whether you're OWED something or not, it's about if a practice encourages behavior that is detrimental to the consumer. Look at a recent game, Sunset Overdrive. It's an exclusive for the Xbox, however recently, the developers said they would love to bring it over to PC, but they can't unless Microsoft gives them permission to. So in other words, the will is there. So this is a case where a company is paying money to keep a product OFF another platform.

So am I OWED a copy of Sunset Overdrive on the PC? Of course not. Is a company paying money to intentionally keep the game OFF a platform I want to play on an anti-consumer practice? I sure as hell think so. But please, enlighten me, how paying developers to keep games OFF other platforms are pro-consumer.

dgz said:
They've always been anti consumer.
I'd argue not necessarily. If you look at games in the old days, different systems had radically different hardware. So say you developed a game for the Super Nintendo and wanted it to be the best it could be. The logistics of bringing that title over to the PC or the Genesis might be an enormous technical barrier for the team, or the devs might feel it would compromise the quality too much of the title, so it wasn't worth it. But nowadays, the PS4, Xbox, and PC are all using x86 hardware. There's less barrier to entry for creating a multi-platform title now than ever. I feel like most of the legitimate arguments towards keeping a title exclusive are gone and it's SOLEY to keep you from playing on a different platform now.
 
Oh yea, the old days were different. Back then PC gaming was crap and arcades ruled the world. This whole exclusivity thing started to hurt PC gaming mid 2000s with a nice push from MS. Had they not done that, the PS3 would have been its own thing without interfering too much with the PC side. Plenty of people have both consoles and gaming PCs. My point is why bother? Throw a decent build with a few joypads and you're there. It doesn't make sense to me from a consumer perspective
 
So am I OWED a copy of Sunset Overdrive on the PC? Of course not. Is a company paying money to intentionally keep the game OFF a platform I want to play on an anti-consumer practice? I sure as hell think so. But please, enlighten me, how paying developers to keep games OFF other platforms are pro-consumer.

This is backwards. Microsoft is the game's publisher. They didn't pay anything to keep Sunset Overdrive off PC. Look at it from the other side: do you think the guy who owns the Xbox One feels that Microsoft made an anti-consumer decision by publishing a game exclusive to his platform? I sure as hell think not. And if exclusivity is your definition of anti-consumer behavior, then boy, imagine how the Wii U owner feels.
 
This is backwards. Microsoft is the game's publisher. They didn't pay anything to keep Sunset Overdrive off PC.
Here:

http://www.pcgamer.com/insomniac-wo...verdrive-to-come-to-pc-if-given-the-go-ahead/

They're right they're saying they can't make a PC port without permission from Microsoft. I'm sure part of their contract to publish means exclusivity to the platform.

Look at it from the other side: do you think the guy who owns the Xbox One feels that Microsoft made an anti-consumer decision by publishing a game exclusive to his platform? I sure as hell think not.
I'm not sure what you think you're arguing here, but it sounds like a false dichotomy. Of course he wants games on his platform. That's a completely separate issue of keeping people OFF other platforms. Why should the Xbox One owner care if the game is exclusive as long as it's on his platform? How exactly does he benefit from Microsoft paying money to make sure people can't play it on other platforms? I'm sure he loves it when Uncharted only comes out on Playstation and he can't play that. If there was no exclusivity clause in the contracts, he would be able to play more games, the end.

And if exclusivity is your definition of anti-consumer behavior, then boy, imagine how the Wii U owner feels.
I think you still don't get it. Here's the difference:

Company develops a game for the Wii U, but doesn't want to deal with the hassle of porting it to other platforms = Not anti-consumer, it's just them releasing a product for one platform.
Company develops a game for the Wii U and would like to port it to other platforms, but Nintendo says no way, if you publish with us, you can't publish this game anywhere else = anti-consumer, the company is actively PREVENTING the product from entering a larger market and reaching more consumers.

Do you understand yet? Again, feel free to explain to me how paying a company NOT to release to a wider market benefits consumers compared to having that freedom.
 
Here:

http://www.pcgamer.com/insomniac-wo...verdrive-to-come-to-pc-if-given-the-go-ahead/

They're right they're saying they can't make a PC port without permission from Microsoft. I'm sure part of their contract to publish means exclusivity to the platform.

I'm not sure what you think you're arguing here, but it sounds like a false dichotomy. Of course he wants games on his platform. That's a completely separate issue of keeping people OFF other platforms. Why should the Xbox One owner care if the game is exclusive as long as it's on his platform? How exactly does he benefit from Microsoft paying money to make sure people can't play it on other platforms? I'm sure he loves it when Uncharted only comes out on Playstation and he can't play that. If there was no exclusivity clause in the contracts, he would be able to play more games, the end.

I think you still don't get it. Here's the difference:

Company develops a game for the Wii U, but doesn't want to deal with the hassle of porting it to other platforms = Not anti-consumer, it's just them releasing a product for one platform.
Company develops a game for the Wii U and would like to port it to other platforms, but Nintendo says no way, if you publish with us, you can't publish this game anywhere else = anti-consumer, the company is actively PREVENTING the product from entering a larger market and reaching more consumers.

Do you understand yet? Again, feel free to explain to me how paying a company NOT to release to a wider market benefits consumers compared to having that freedom.


Company develops a game from funds from a contract with company B to be an exclusive title. After said agreement happens and work is finished, you can't expect them to just let you release it everywhere. The fun thing about the internet is we all know very little of what goes on in these business deals other than what someone hears and tells someone and then someone else writes an article.

Believe me, without exclusives the game market will water down, likely at the cost of pc gaming.

Nothing lost with sunset overdrive anyways, was given away on xbone and I still couldnt justify the disk space.
 
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