Bought TOW from the Microsoft Store....

[waltc]

...and I am seriously considering a refund, unless some kind soul(s) can help me out here....;)  I had planned to buy the game when the selling price dropped below $60, anyway, and so when the game went on sale the other day for $44.99, I decided to go ahead and jump in.  I had played the game on the Xbox Game Pass for PC, and I made certain assumptions about a couple of things that would and should change after I bought and paid for my own copy:

1) That I wouldn't have to worry about the "always online" requirement...

2) That I'd be able to unlock the game completely from the copy-protection the whole game is wrapped in, and run the game direct from the executable.

3) Even decided to forego my own rule about not buying a game which didn't give me my own installable copy to archive--I have several drives that Archive my games.

Doesn't seem like either 1) or 2) is true for my paid-for copy.  I can understand trussing the game up like a Christmas hen for Game Pass users--that made perfect sense.  But hey, I don't like being treated like a crook after I bought my own copy.

--The one bright spot I found so far is that even after changing the ownership of the privatedivision.theouterworldsWindows10xxxxx folder--I can still play the game.  But I still cannot run the game from its executable even though I can now see it!  When I took ownership of the folder in Game Pass PC the copy protection kicked and wouldn't let me even play--would begin downloading another game install, instead.  I could see that for Game Pass PC, certainly.

So why does the game insist on going around its elbow to spite its face with all of the copy protection applied to people who own the game and paid for it and can prove it? It attempts to synchronize with the Microsoft cloud even when I have turned off the cloud in the game.  I downloaded and installed the game anew after I purchased it, but the game calls home and labels the game on the loading screen with my Game Pass PC handle--and then "synchronizes" with the Microsoft cloud to access all the pre-1.2 saves I had made--locally, or so I thought.

Is there a doctor in the house?...:D --who knows how to disable the "phone home" requirement and how to play the game from its own executable?  I want to play the game *my way*--not anyone else's way.  I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation at all.

[213374U]

As far as I know, that's the way the UWP works. Its behavior doesn't discriminate between a Game Pass app and a purchased "licensed" one. Windows Store DRM is... overzealous, to put it mildly. Modding is basically a no-go in that platform due to it.

As far as the "phone home" component of it is concerned, you can designate one (and only one) device as your offline device through the Windows Store App settings. That should stop the game from syncing with cloud saves and all that, but seeing how difficult it is to stop all unwanted network behavior from W10, that may actually not be the case. Have you tried this?

 

 

[waltc]

So, does the Epic store version of the game do the same thing?  Or is all of that just Microsoft?  --what copy protection is found in the EPIC store version of the game? Maybe I should refund the Microsoft copy and purchase from Epic....

As I say, that sort of copy protection is fine for the Game Pass--but not for purchased copies.  I should've looked into this more carefully before I pulled the trigger.

Edited December 27, 2019 by waltc

[213374U]

Epic Store launcher has an offline mode that is similar in function to Steam's. Beyond that, however, I'm afraid I won't be much help -- I use neither Epic launcher nor the Windows Store. I remember reading that even in offline mode, it's not 100% completely offline, as people reported that they couldn't run their games when the Epic Games Store servers were down. In this sense the Epic launcher is the DRM, but it doesn't add any other copy-protection systems on top of it. The Epic launcher does not take control of folders away from the user at least, which permits modding.

For the time being, there is no 100% DRM-free release of this game.

Edited December 27, 2019 by 213374U

[waltc]

1 hour ago, 213374U said:

Epic Store launcher has an offline mode that is similar in function to Steam's. Beyond that, however, I'm afraid I won't be much help -- I use neither Epic launcher nor the Windows Store. I remember reading that even in offline mode, it's not 100% completely offline, as people reported that they couldn't run their games when the Epic Games Store servers were down. In this sense the Epic launcher is the DRM, but it doesn't add any other copy-protection systems on top of it. The Epic launcher does not take control of folders away from the user at least, which permits modding.

For the time being, there is no 100% DRM-free release of this game.

Thanks for the reply!.....I'm going to check into this....it could have something to do with my msft account & the temporary Game Pass PC authorization (Good to 1/20/20)--got it with my 5700XT but didn't want to use it until TOW was released on the service--may be commingled somehow--if I can't mod the game later it's not something I want to keep!  I may refund on the MSFT store and pick it up from Epic--ah, really do loathe this "exclusive" crap.  Why do developers want to see the people who buy their software jump through hoops?  It make no sense to me. 

[waltc]

Update:  Got a Microsoft tech on the line in a chat--and he couldn't help me, either--He thinks it's the fault of "the developer" which he said was privatedivision, and so mixed up his "developers" with his "publishers," if the guy even knows the difference...;)  Anyway, he was nice enough and polite and I put in a refund request.  So we shall see.  

Since you've been so helpful so far, 213374U, can you tell me if the Epic Store version allows for mods?  With the UWP version of the game, I can't even put an empty folder in either the root directory of the game or even in its parent directory, so it's a cinch it's not modable in that form.  I think I'll ask about mods in the General forum just to make sure before I pull the trigger on the Epic site. Thanks again.

Maybe if you don't know you could ask a friend or associate?

[waltc]

I'm now downloading the game from EPIC--but I feel confident because of the fact that a Nexus mod group exists for The Outer Worlds.  I'll come back when it's finished with the final word on the subject.  Almost forgot to mention that I bought the game from EPIC for $34.99...!  Not bad--now it it will let me mod, we'll be cooking with gas....;)

Edited December 27, 2019 by waltc

[waltc]

Final Update!  The Epic store version is fine--none of the draconian DRM Microsoft has apparently chained the game into!  I wish Microsoft luck in selling their PC games that cannot be modded and that are copy-protected to the hilt--so that you cannot even create a folder in their game directories!   That sort of thing may be fine for console users--but it is wholly unsatisfactory for people playing their games in an x86 PC environment! 

[213374U]

Ehh... sorry, I didn't see any of this before you pulled the trigger. Glad you sorted it out, though.

(if you want to ping users so that an alert shows for them, you can do so like this: @213374U)

[waltc]

No problem, 213374U --I can at last run the game from its executable!  No game folders from the EGS were so festooned with layers of copy protection that I couldn't even open the folders--had to actually take possession of the directories just to open them in the Microsoft store version--and several of the files therein are locked up so tight that you can't take possession of them--and all of this *after* I bought my copy and reinstalled the game from the Microsoft Store.   I have deleted all traces of the Microsoft Store version from my drives!  Evidently, the Microsoft Store is treating its software purchases just like its Game Pass for PC games!   As I mentioned, it's understandable for Game Pass PC--I have no problems with it there, because users aren't actually buying their own copies (licenses, etc.  But a "license" isn't much good without a copy of the software, is it?)  You have to sample the game bought from the Microsoft store to really appreciate how draconian the copy protection is--I've left a lot on the table in my description.  Should serve as a warning for buying PC customers, however.  I know that for me, once bitten is twice shy.

Thanks so much for your input!  Here I was thinking either Obsidian or more likely Private Division had ensnared the game in this prison cell--now I know it was Microsoft Store's doing all along.  Seriously, this kind of information needs to circulate widely for people when a game is released--it would have saved me all of this hassle. I think the game developer has a duty to make these facts known--I had no idea of the UWP restrictions!  What was Microsoft thinking?

Anyway--I love the game--the 1.2 patch is fantastic and cured a couple of minor problems I had noticed the first time.  I really thought the game was extremely well done even in the original version.  And now--thankfully--I'll be able to play it and enjoy it fully.   Thanks for the advice--I had been thinking about the issue all wrong!    (No need to reply unless you want to.)  Thanks again!