Ahh that's different than what was stated... 15 days after delivery is different than 15 days after purchase.

The rumor proved to be untrue, GFWL is still up and running.

Ontario - Consumer Protection Act. After 30 days they can cancel the sale but they cannot charge extra for executing the sale that would not have been charged otherwise.

Assassin's Creed is the reason. On Xbox they are number 10, 12, 30, 49, 60, 173, 212, 227, 1010, and 1024 most popular games (based on sample of ~300,000 gamers and 3,106 games)

Far Cry helps a bit with Far Cry 3 at #64 and Far Cry 2 at #104.

Trials at #151

Yes, I do. You may not get it but Xbox achievements is a hobby of mine - that's why I made the purchases in the first place, simply for the GFWL functionality. I don't care about an active MP scene, which you might not understand either. It's just what I prefer but because the people at Steam thought the way you do, they decided they knew best for everyone and forced patches on people. I'm not saying the devs were wrong to release the patch, most people would want it, but Steam forcing it on people is wrong.

Hell, Microsoft tried it once with a security update for Windows and people went ape shit. Just because it's entertainment the rules are somehow different?

It's horrible because the impetus for the purchase was Xbox achievements. It's horrible because it sets a precedent that they are somehow allowed to change products you've purchased into completely different products. Sure, you may have hate for GFWL - I didn't. Also, GFWL servers are still up and running, I wouldn't have lost the ability to play anything - the odd developer doubled up (steam & gfwl multiplayer) others didn't patch.

It's Steam's insistence on patches on people is necessary that creates the problem. It removes a person's ability to choose whether or not to apply a patch released by the developer. If the developer released a patch that converted GFWL to Steam and that's something you wanted, great! If not, you simply don't apply it and continue to use GFWL. Sure it might mean you can't connect to everyone for MP, but the choice remains with the person who made the purchase not with the distributor of the game.

Yes they do, Microsoft had the same policy. Then they decided one day "nah, we don't want to do it that way anymore" - what happens when Steam makes the same choice?

I own that as well, that one they released a second version and left the original alone.

They also removed the key from the original purchase when they foisted the new version on people so that they wouldn't be able to re-sell their game.

That would be illegal in the jurisdiction I live in.

oh and btw, Microsoft VP said they expect people to be able to access their content for 25+ years... why would I expect less than their stated claims?

I don't expect them to keep it available forever, I expect them to warn me of a fundamental change in their standard procedures and give me notice that the content is about to become inaccessible. In fact, section 2.5 of their terms of service states that they WILL provide notice - they never do though.

What does it matter? The point is that if you buy software for a specific feature and someone patches it out they've fundamentally altered the product you paid for. The car analogy everyone is so fond of: Would you allow a company to change the colour of your car? It's not terrible if they do - it's just a colour after all. What about the body style? The engine?

Steam's current setup is that you can disable automatic updates on a per-game basis, however, only until you try to play it next at which time it forces the update on you. You can run in offline mode for up to 6 months, losing a huge chunk of Steam/some games in the process, but after 6 months you have to go online to re-validate your DRM and bam - updates.

Besides, how is it my fault that I purchased a bunch of games under one set of terms (including the ability to re-download) then having the terms arbitrarily changed to a set of terms I would never have purchased under? It's a bait and switch scam.

Actually, in my case I didn't even get a chance to download it. I purchased a game December 3rd, sometime between now and then it was delisted, when I went to download it less than 60 days after purchase it was no longer possible.

Except the car is under my control. XBL games are not. They limit your ability to perform backups (no drives larger than 32GB), ban your console if you try to install a larger HDD, etc. For 9 years you always had the ability to go back and re-download the content, that was the understanding when you purchased the item. Then suddenly they change the terms so that's no longer the case?

I would need 8 Xboxes or 63 USB drives to backup my content.