For the second time in as many days, we get to be the bearer of bad news regarding server closures and discontinued achievements. Yet again, it is PC titles that are involved.
The first title, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (PC), was the victim of an update on Steam that removes all Games for Windows LIVE functionality from the title. Although players had known that the patch was on its way, there was never an official release date. Most were surprised when the patch was released late last night. Not only has the patch removed GFWL functionality, it has also removed referee functions, LAN support, multiplayer pause and lobby chat.
If you intend to get any more achievements for this game, do not download the patch as it will disable the ability to unlock achievements. Your GFWL save games and replays will not load in the Steam version of the title. Players migrating to Relic's own battle servers on Steam will find their GFWL experience and player levels reset to zero. I'll let developer Relic Entertainment explain why:
We recognize that for some players using the “Games for Windows Live” servers, it will be difficult to part with your experience levels and game-play history. While we wish this was something we would have been able to maintain, we hope that players will look forward to experiencing Dawn of War II from the beginning. With all of these changes, players may find themselves wondering why we are migrating from the “Games for Windows Live” experience to our own battle servers. There are several technical and player-facing reasons as to why we are making this change, and these reasons all add up to significant improvements being made.
The more significant benefits of the Relic Battle Servers are:
- A more stable multi-player experience for our community
- Lag from one player will not affect others
- No more connection problems between peers caused by firewalls/NAT’s being mis-configured
- Prevents certain types of cheats/hacks
- Helps to address those that continually attempt to disconnect before losing a match
- Greater control over de-bugging and technical issues if and when they arise
Thanks to everyone that has supported this amazing franchise so far, we’re looking forward to getting folks back into Dawn of War II!
After yesterday's article detailing the upcoming server closure for WSOP: Full House Pro, several community members also informed us that the servers for Glacier Blast (Win 8) have also been closed. This has rendered all bar four of the game's achievements as discontinued. From now on, players will only be able to unlock the four Puzzle match achievements if they haven't done so already.
Thanks to the many members of the community who sent these in!