I have a Big Fish game offering on CD which I purchased retail that plays perfectly. When I install the same game as a download from Big Fish, I get an access violation message every time I try to start the game. As far as I can ascertain, the only variable between the two is that one requires the Game Manager while the other does not.

This phenomenon was observed by me over a year ago, I might add, so this doesn't zero in on the current iteration of the Game Manager. I believe, however, that this appears to indicate that the Game Manager has been at times problematic in the way it uses resources (I offer this as a possible reason?) before the introduction of the new version.

Fortunately this disconcerting situation has been an isolated incident for me, but I certainly have reflected on what it suggests.

This is also why I'm not all that surprised by the experience one of our posters is having in that the downloaded game from Amazon is working while the same game downloaded from Big Fish does not.

I would really like to see Big Fish identify this problem and eradicate it.

I think we would all like to see that.

The question is, what do we do while we wait for that to happen?

I am not as tech savvy as some of you folks here, but can someone please explain to me why this new GM is affecting our download speeds. For some of us, we already had slower download speeds than other lucky gamers.

I too bought Devil On The Mississippi from Amazon and it plays pefectfully and it's a great gsme.

I suspect you'd need someone more tech savvy than BFG to explain what is going on here. It's not just an issue of slower downloads. It's an issue of inconsistent performance and intermittent errors.

Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. All on the same system.

And for some folks it's been fine from the beginning and all the different builds work as well as the first.

Seems there are a lot of moving parts in GM 3.0 and they are each moving to their own drummer.

Quote "Seems there are a lot of moving parts in GM 3.0 and they are each moving to their own drummer"
I had a wonderful visual image when I read this. A bit like those lttle evil clockwork things that scurry around in "Mystery of Joyville".
One can only hope they all form a fatal tangle and the whole GM explodes out of existence.
Seriously, I fail to understand the paranoia about "losing face" that we in the western world have in our culture just as much as those Asiatic countries we all associate with this.
Why can't BFG just admit a colossal error has been made with GM 3 ,restore the working version and move on. Each tweak, each nip and tuck that doesn't work just makes them look more incompetent. Even more "face" is lost.

It's been 30 days. Not sure how much face is left to lose.

Well, for what it's worth, I had a problem with several games that BFG couldn't resolve for me. One of them was "Devil on The Mississippi". The problem seemed to have begun when I got my new HP PC. We (husband and I) eventually found that the graphics card that came with the new PC did not have onboard memory. We initially had taken it for granted that a new PC and regular updates to the graphics card meant that all was up to speed. Replacing the graphics card with one that has 1 gb of onboard memory fixed the problem. Turns out this was really a simple fix, but one that BFG hadn't thought of. Again, it was a matter of an issue that was specific to my PC and, in the end, not the fault of BFG or the game developer. Not to say this is the case for everyone having problems. But just wanted to share my own experience and something for others to consider. I do sympathize with those for whom new hardware is not a viable option.

For the record, I'm having no problems with the new GM, downloading, or playing games. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I suppose I have been lucky too. I have never had a problem with any of the changes BF has initiated(knock wood).I still think it's the best site around. I like SpinTop also, but have, on 2 occasions been unable to play their games.

thracia

Here's a new approach.

I'm slowly coming around to the idea of just renting games. There are sites that let you pay a monthly fee to play as many downloaded games as you please. You don't own them, of course, and when you let your subscription lapse, your rented games are no longer playable. But then, speaking honestly, how many games is one tempted to replay? (If you decide to buy some them, those you've bought are playable after your subscription lapses.)

Wasn't thinking this way a month ago....

That's a very interesting idea. I didn't realise you could rent games.
I have very rarely ever replayed a game, and never replayed a casual game.
It sounds a good alternative for those who can't use BFG at the moment.

Rent? From where?

Shockwave has a plan where you can download and play any of their games as long as you subscribe to their service. You can pay monthly or yearly.

Here's a bit more detail for those who might be interested.

A yearly membership to the BFG Game Club costs $83.88 and enables one to purchase 12 games at $6.99 each. (EDIT: A yearly membership to the BFG Game Club costs $83.88 and enables the member to download FOR FREE any 12 games valued at $6.99 each (an $83.88 value!) by using Game Credits.)

A yearly membership to Shockwave Unlimited costs $59.40 and enables one to download and play as many games as one might like. If one wants to purchase a particular game, most of them cost $6.99.

To me the question is whether I just want to play a game or if I want to actually own it. I will admit that the balance is tilting toward playing at the moment.

And is Shockwave safe? I dont need unwanted spam!

While this isn't proof of anything, I have gotten no spam since signing up with Shockwave.

You can make your account private so that no one can see your account activity and turn off all email newsletters.

Right now I'm enjoying Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story.

They install web beacons on your computer to track your activities on the web.

Ana

Not exactly. The yearly membership is $83.88 (12 game credits) but the 12 credits are each good for a $6.99 game -- so those 12 games are essentially free, not $6.99 each.

So if I ever get lost on the web, I can call them up and find out where I am?

ETA: BFG has installed a total of 23 cookies on my system, some session-specific and some timing out a year or more from now. They want to know when I visit BFG and what I look at. Pretty typical.

So I just have to spend $83.88 a year to get 12 $6.99 games free?

I know, not exactly.

The way you said it before sounded like you had to pay $83.88 for the membership and then pay another $83.88 for 12 games ($6.99 per game).

Those are almost SpinTop prices!

I don't know what SpinTop prices are anymore.
They used to charge $9.99 when they were having a sale, but $19.99 when they weren't.
Now they no longer seem to have the prices listed on the website. At least I'm not seeing them.

You'll see them once you decide to buy. Ouch.

(That's why renting is starting to look so good right now.)

Something interesting to note, according to the BFG forum there are 469,444 members. According to one of BFGs mods there are less than 5% experiencing trouble with GM 3, but there may be more because BFG knows many won't saying anything even though they are experiencing trouble.

5% of 469,444 doesn't seem to be that many members but when you figure your own expenditures on BFG, and believe others spend likewise, 5% of 469,444 starts to add up.

And here is the difference between BFG and other sites I've used. This same mod stated these less than 5% experiencing trouble are just as important as those who aren't. I once told one of BFG's service techs others could take lessons from BFG.

Hopefully the iron will soon get hot enough to smooth out the wrinkles.