After one and a half hour I am THERE. I made it through the crashing Steam platform, several language changes in the options menu and multiple downloads of the same patch. Guess what? It works! My new PC game, Dawn of War II is finally starting. I see the intro! YAY!
Here I am. In the dark future of 40K where humanity faces its final hour. Brutal Orcs, mysterious Eldar and blood-thirsty Tyranids threaten the human empire. There stands my force commander in the darkness of the jungle, surrounded by fog, ready to drain his chainsword in the blood of his enemies in order to defend mankind. I just have to click on the iron-faced campaign button to enter the battlefield. But wait…. first I have to login into the…. Games For Windows Live account…anyway… here i go…
*bling*
In front of the the screen of the dark future opens up a white and shiny pop-up window which tells me I have to create a little Windows Live-something account before I can start… Now a browser window opens to create it. Choose your icon! Would you like to be represented by a cute little panda bear or a sweet little baby duck? Type in your mail address and choose a password. You really wanna take the cute panda? Fiiiine – here you go, back to your dark universe…and, hey, have fun!
*bling out*
Eh, yes. Did anyone at Microsoft hear something about immersion? Or usability and consistency? Ok, if I have to create this account so why don`t they use the graphical user interface of Dawn of War instead of this shiny, tiny, whity menu thing? Why don`t they use GUI skins? My Winamp player had GUI skins ten years ago! Why can`t this account creation have these, too?
Let me put this in straight words. It took me 1,5 hours to install this game due to the strange combination of the authentification process via Steam and Games For Windows and several patches. Now, I am in the game and want to play the OFFline campaign and I have to log into a Windows Live account? Now, serious: Am I supposed to have fun?
Listen PC game developers. At my console I have to create an online account once in a lifetime. When I buy a game I throw in the disc. I press play. And I am in the game. Now, tell me again what are you trying to achieve with this funny process for the future of PC gaming?
Btw: Dawn of War II is great fun. But beware: The installation is not.
Tags: Dawn of War 2, game usability, Games For Windows, Steam
DoW 2 failed! Besides the awful installation the game is not “great fun”. Sorry, but I have to disagree with you, Jörg.
Why? Read my review in german on http://blog.iwlonline.de/?p=166
Did you already play multiplayer? Singleplayer gets boring after some time, but as far as it goes for the multiplayer I still think Relic did a great job!
[...] remember how panda bears entered the dark future? Or the anti-usability award 2008? In case you`re not: It was all about the copy protection methods [...]