So there I was, about to order my PC copy of Skyrim, when I noticed that there was a Games for Windows logo emblazoned across the top of the box. Now, while there are many reasons why GfW and GfWL have been terrible crimes against humanity, I don't have a particular problem with the service, mostly due to the fact that I haven't had much contact with games that use it. My computer, on the other hand, hates it. Detests it. It has been perfectly happy to accommodate some truly despicable things over the years (I have reason to believe it was once used in the creation of Rogue Warrior [http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/rogue-warrior]. Rogue Warrior. Can you even imagine) but if I try to play anything that has ever been in contact with GfW, it refuses to run it. Outright refuses. It gives me dirty looks for keeping such filth on the hard drive. We are talking about a kind of hate that is unending in intensity, and impossible to reason with.
(In actuality, the problem probably stems from the fact that I'm still on XP, and GfW insists on having some garbage sign-in assistant program installed, a program that has known, long-running issues with XP compatibility, a problem which Microsoft has been alarmingly recalcitrant in helping people fix.)
Which leads me back to Skyrim. Does anyone know how necessary the GfW stuff is? Is it involved in the install authentication at all? Do we know if it's still involved even if you download it directly from Steam? I'm probably a couple days too early to be expecting hard answers to this stuff - people would probably know more once they've actually started getting it running - but if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
(In actuality, the problem probably stems from the fact that I'm still on XP, and GfW insists on having some garbage sign-in assistant program installed, a program that has known, long-running issues with XP compatibility, a problem which Microsoft has been alarmingly recalcitrant in helping people fix.)
Which leads me back to Skyrim. Does anyone know how necessary the GfW stuff is? Is it involved in the install authentication at all? Do we know if it's still involved even if you download it directly from Steam? I'm probably a couple days too early to be expecting hard answers to this stuff - people would probably know more once they've actually started getting it running - but if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
