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MS eliminates its best new feature: 10 person, 60 min Family Sharing plan for Xbone

C

Crimson_Gold

Member
uncledonnie said:
It'd be more absurd to restrict 60 minute demos this way when they'd be nothing more than an attempt to sell the game.
Click to expand...

Phil did say that if your friend wanted the game, that he/she had to buy it too. This was after the reveal though and was not in reference to the family plan. Though it is funny how the no sharing at all shifted to this insane dream of $6 games when 10 people contributed to the purchase.
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
Tomcat said:
didn't he say that mirror edge will be at ms conference
prince of Persia too
no paywall for sony

yeah he was right on the money.....not
Click to expand...

1) Mirrors edge was shown. Who gives a shit which conference?
2) PoP wasnt shown correct
3) He said PS4 no paywall was unconfirmed.

Lets also forget the many other things he confirmed during E3 and for the past years hes been a member of Neogaf.

nice try though.
 
T

Tomcat

Member
LiquidSolid said:
Ugh. Mirror's Edge wasn't at the MS conference but it was at E3. He specifically said that he couldn't confirm whether there's a PS4 paywall.

The only thing he actually got wrong was PoP and he apologised for that.
Click to expand...

mirror edge/dead rising all these games we knew they were coming before cboat mentioned them. He really didn't reveal anything amazing info. As for the sony paywall he said no even if he wasn't sure. Wrong prediction either way.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
So let me get this straight - the highly touted and supported feature here was only a 60 minute timer? My God, the extent of the PR BS MSFT put everyone through. Yet some are ready to plow down money to a company who treats even their loyal fans like idiots.
 
H

Hellsing321

Member
uncledonnie said:
60 minutes just sounds like the 1 hour check in. Why would they restrict just demos like this? Makes no sense at all.
Click to expand...

Because you are still downloading the full game. Putting a Timer on it is the only way to ensure people don't play through the whole game without getting their own copy. The pastebin said they hadn't decided how many times a person can try a game before they are locked out. So maybe after an hour it kicks you out, but you can go back maybe 2 more times and continue where you left off. It makes far more sense this way than how people were imagining it.
 
J

Jomjom

Banned
ultron87 said:
I don't really doubt the confirmation but I really want to know what possible benefit they'd have for pretty directly lying like that both on that Xbox Wire page and in the Ars Technica and Penny Arcade interviews. It just doesn't make sense as a policy decision from any angle I can consider.
Click to expand...

They didn't purposely lie. They purposely talked about it vaguely at every opportunity. That Major Nelson even told everyone that he was preparing a statement detailing exactly what it was was an admission that they had been very vague.

My guess why they did that is they never saw this feature as a huge benefit, but when all the negative consumer reactions came out (that they didn't expect), they noticed that some people for whatever reason had latched onto this as some godly feature that could save the Xbox One. They then latched onto it and kept talking it up out of desperation to stem the tide of negative criticism, without really knowing how to eventually come out with the truth of what this feature was. Right after E3 it was clear that they were in full SOS mode and needed to do whatever they could to not completely sink the console in gamer's eyes. I think what they did was just try to spout some stuff which could later be spun as not lying based on the vague wording, and hopefully in the meantime save preorder numbers.

Remember the one thing they clearly kept mentioning was that this feature would not be on launch. I bet they were hoping they would not have to go into details about this until long after the launch of the console when the feature would actually be implemented. By that time of course the console's launch and preorders would be past them.
 
O

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
uncledonnie said:
It'd be more absurd to restrict 60 minute demos this way when they'd be nothing more than an attempt to sell the game.
Click to expand...
I think that's exactly why this is more likely - a way to funnel people back into the store. Would be interesting to read the full (real) details, as the Microsoft description of it sounds very misleading if it was indeed a timed demo/trial thing, and it sounds like it was.
 
I

inky

Member
Y2Kev said:
I wish they went through with this just for the laughs.
Click to expand...

Ya, me too. Together with their crappy vision of the future just to see what was the next boogeyman after used games were gone.

The threads here would've been hilarious.
 
H

hesido

Member
Tomcat said:
didn't he say that mirror edge will be at ms conference
prince of Persia too
no paywall for sony

yeah he was right on the money.....not
Click to expand...

Mirrors edge was announced, can't blame him. He didn't say pay wall status was confirmed. Only thing he git wrong prince of persia.

Also for people who think demo wouldn't make sense , on next gen systems you probably wouldn't have to download entire game to play 1 hour of it. Partial downloads will be possible, that lets you start playing a portion of the game quicker.
 
NoLootBoxDev

NoLootBoxDev

Member
ThatGuy707 said:
We should start a campaign to convince people to boycott Xboxes to save ourselves from that future.
Click to expand...

That future will come soon or later. For those who support it, I want to see the day the switch its turned off so they cant play any of their games. I will tell my grandchildren (if I ever have), I was part of the solution, not part of the problem, while we play offline games.

Microsoft wants that future,(possible Sony too), but at least Sony didn't come saying the power of the cloud, 24 hour check in, region lock, and all those bad decisions, and then finally retract because the pre-orders were like 4-1/ 2-1 /8-1, with the excuse of listening to the people feedback.
 
Bitmap Frogs

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
60 minutes?

BWHAHAHAHA

The glorious Microsot endorsed all-digital future we denied ourselves lol.

No wonder they were hazy as fuck about the details.
 
V

vdo

Member
Spazo said:
I dont get the point to download a 10-15 gig file to only be able to play it 45-60mins

This feature is fucking nothing. those are demos. you are not sharing anything here.

if you want to really try the game, download the 1-2 gig demo of the game. that's it.

good job microsoft for doing a useless feature
Click to expand...

It does make it nice for the user that they can use their existing save, but I think it is also a benefit to publishers in that they don't have to put resources into making demo versions of their games - every game automatically gets to use this.

Plus, if the download went straight from your friends console to yours, it would keep the network load off of Microsofts servers, so they didn't have people downloading full versions from their servers all the time.
 
M

Marty Chinn

Member
hesido said:
Mirrors edge was announced, can't blame him. He didn't say pay wall status was confirmed. Only thing he git wrong prince of persia.

Also for people who think demo wouldn't make sense , on next gen systems you probably wouldn't have to download entire game to play 1 hour of it. Partial downloads will be possible, that lets you start playing a portion of the game quicker.
Click to expand...

1 hour demos make sense on their own. 1 hour demos with regards to family share based on everything MS said doesn't make sense. 1 hour check in yes, but 1 hour demo?
 
V

velociraptor

Junior Member
60 minutes? That is nigh useless.

It's quite funny to be honest. We were all equally amazed how Microsoft were willing to let us distribute 1 game amongst 10 people - worldwide no less, only to find out these people are limited to a fraction of the game.

Heh.
 
A

Angelus Errare

Banned
uncledonnie said:
It'd be more absurd to restrict 60 minute demos this way when they'd be nothing more than an attempt to sell the game.
Click to expand...

Isn't that the point though? I mean let's think about all of this completely logically.

MS implements a DRM system that takes first sale doctrine away from consumers due to the move to digital distribution. MS and publishers felt that they were losing money to people buying the game used or borrowing the game from a friend, playing and completing it without ever paying the publisher and developer.

Yet at the same time, people believe Microsoft was going to allow gamers to share games 10 games that they purchased with other gamers. These gamers would be able to download play, and complete these games without paying the publisher a cent and the publisher would be okay with this because? And no one thinks that's utterly hypocritical? That it's a major contradiction? That there wasn't some kind of catch?

Yea, from where I'm looking you'd have to be an utter idiot to think there wasn't going to be some kind of caveat with the PR statement MS gave. Then at no point did MS try to clarify it when asked about it, never brought up this amazing feature during E3 in any meaningful capacity nor did they ever talk it up in interviews.

Just sayin'
 
Flatline

Flatline

Banned
A small evil part of me wishes the DRM backpedal never happened just so that I could see the ENORMOUS shitstorm this reveal about the 60 minutes demo would have brought. It would have been... beautiful.
 
C

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
Marty Chinn said:
1 hour demos make sense on their own. 1 hour demos with regards to family share based on everything MS said doesn't make sense. 1 hour check in yes, but 1 hour demo?
Click to expand...

They were never, ever going to let ten people share one game. The one hour restriction makes it more viable.
 
L

LiquidSolid

Member
Tomcat said:
mirror edge/dead rising all these games we knew they were coming before cboat mentioned them. He really didn't reveal anything amazing info. As for the sony paywall he said no even if he wasn't sure. Wrong prediction either way.
Click to expand...

Uh, he leaked Dead Rising 3 a year ago.
 
Z

Zemm

Member
So according to Microsoft:

dedicated servers = the cloud
demos = game sharing

is there anything else they want to try and redefine?
 
K

koryuken

Member
Averon said:
It's pretty damn obvious the Family Plan was a rushed, ill-thought out desperation play to stem to bad PR MS was inundated with. As you said, downloading massive files for a 1 hour demo doesn't make sense. Why not just download the official demo that's likely an order of magnitude smaller in size and that gives the same experience? What benefit does the Family Plan gives you that officially released demos doesn't already?
Click to expand...

And that's why they were pushing broadband so hard :)
 
O

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
It's kinda hilarious that after all the DRM/locked-down shit that came out around E3 with regards to this machine, people STILL genuinely thought that MS would let them share dozens of FULL GAMES. For free, without restriction, between groups of random people they added from the internet. Just reading that shows how ridiculous it was.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Bitmap Frogs said:
60 minutes?

BWHAHAHAHA

The glorious Microsot endorsed all-digital future we denied ourselves lol.

No wonder they were hazy as fuck about the details.
Click to expand...

What really chaps me is how many on here are ready to plow 500 dollars to a company that has been skating around and treating us like second rate consumers when all we wanted is clarity to all this BS they proposed.

I have run out of things that I've read and straight up dodgy lies or half assed answers by MSFT in the last 1-2 months that they are not in my good spirits right now. I will still judge or praise their games when need be but this is like the stupidest type of falacy they tried to spout out of their mouths and people here (you know who you staunch MSFT guys are) were so supportive of this half baked now deceased feature.

They deserve to get their asses handed to them for treating us like idiots and only wanting the answers to their stupid policies in the first place.
 
S

soul creator

Member
So it definitely wouldn't have been a "omg Xbox redeemed" feature or anything, but I do think it still would be a nice feature to have.

It implied that every single game would have a basic timed demo of the full game, as opposed to now where you have to get a separate special demo build (and not all games have them). And as someone who likes to use the "compare games" feature on the 360 friends list, it seemed like a natural extension of that. I browse my friend's library, go "huh, what's this game that they have 1000 achievement points in" click a button, and start playing it.

Of course, at that point, there's no point in limiting it to 10 people. Might as well just be able to browse the digital library of anyone on my friend's list. And every game on the marketplace would have a demo as well.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Spazo said:
I dont get the point to download a 10-15 gig file to only be able to play it 45-60mins

This feature is fucking nothing. those are demos. you are not sharing anything here.

if you want to really try the game, download the 1-2 gig demo of the game. that's it.

good job microsoft for doing a useless feature
Click to expand...

Both Sony and MS have methods where you're only required to download a part of the game before you start playing it.
 
Portugeezer

Portugeezer

Member
960r7Bo.gif
 
J

Jomjom

Banned
jond76 said:
The sad part is that we'll never know for sure but people here will gobble it up.
Click to expand...

The sad part is that even though nobody will ever know for sure, people here on GAF made a thread condemning the majority for their "complaining" which supposedly lost them this feature with details that nobody will ever know for sure.
 
M

Marty Chinn

Member
chubigans said:
They were never, ever going to let ten people share one game. The one hour restriction makes it more viable.
Click to expand...

But again, in the FAQ they clearly use the example of how you can take Forza with you to another place and play it now and it will be the same thing here except digitally available. If you say it's a 60 min demo, then it's not the same thing or even remotely close. I find it hard to believe that the language they were using means it was a 60 min demo. Again, if that is what they really meant, then ya screw them because that was pretty damn misleading. But going off what factual evidence we have, it suggests otherwise.
 
B

Big-E

Member
The media who brought this issue up as some positive feature need to be judged. It is crazy to me that people whose job it is to be critical just regurgitatespress releases that were buried after the E3 conference and don't apply any critical thinking to the issue. Sony did this whole plan years ago and it was meant by publisher resentment that 5 people could play. This is another reason why the events of yesterday are meaningless as MS will change it around as soon as they feel they can. Any word coming from on high from MS is marketing buzz words and bullshit.
 
M

mightynine

Member
Marty Chinn said:
But again, in the FAQ they clearly use the example of how you can take Forza with you to another place and play it now and it will be the same thing here except digitally available.
Click to expand...

Sure they weren't talking about how you would have access to your games on any console as long as you were logged in to said console?
 
E

Evenbillybob

Neo Member
If the 60 minute cap was real, how could they not see that would blow up in their face?
Why not talk non-stop about this thing at E3? If it really was something amazing, if you really could share all your games with 9 friends, that would be something you would be very vocal about.
After taking a beating from Sony at E3 about DRM and used games, they probably needed something truly amazing about the Xbox One. Maybe, just maybe, they took their Family Plan and tried hinting that it would be something marvelous. They were still very vague about it and there was conflicting messages surrounding it.
But when people find out it was only a glorified demo system, how could they not see the outcome of that? It makes sense that Major Nelson never did make that blog about it.

If the 60 minute limited was for real, wow. How could they ever think that was a good idea?
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
They had the balls to parade and yell from the roof tops that family sharing was worth the DRM, and it turns out to be nothing more than timed demos? Fucking hell MS. I wished they didn't listen to the feedback because announcing this plan would have been amazing.
 
S

Steve Youngblood

Member
Marty Chinn said:
But again, in the FAQ they clearly use the example of how you can take Forza with you to another place and play it now and it will be the same thing here except digitally available. If you say it's a 60 min demo, then it's not the same thing or even remotely close. I find it hard to believe that the language they were using means it was a 60 min demo. Again, if that is what they really meant, then ya screw them because that was pretty damn misleading. But going off what factual evidence we have, it suggests otherwise.
Click to expand...

Via the Family Share plan, or by logging into my own account? Because if we're talking about the latter, that should work still I would assume. I mean, I've had that kind of functionality for years via Steam.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Spazo said:
I dont get the point to download a 10-15 gig file to only be able to play it 45-60mins

This feature is fucking nothing. those are demos. you are not sharing anything here.

if you want to really try the game, download the 1-2 gig demo of the game. that's it.

good job microsoft for doing a useless feature
Click to expand...

I think MS' idea is the game is already on your Xbox because your friend came round to play it and downloaded/installed it. So why not take advantage of that and let you try it out and pay to unlock it?
 
C

Crimson_Gold

Member
Evenbillybob said:
If the 60 minute cap was real, how could they not see that would blow up in their face?
Why not talk non-stop about this thing at E3? If it really was something amazing, if you really could share all your games with 9 friends, that would be something you would be very vocal about.
After taking a beating from Sony at E3 about DRM and used games, they probably needed something truly amazing about the Xbox One. Maybe, just maybe, they took their Family Plan and tried hinting that it would be something marvelous. They were still very vague about it and there was conflicting messages surrounding it.
But when people find out it was only a glorified demo system, how could they not see the outcome of that? It makes sense that Mayor Nelson never did make that blog about it.

If the 60 minute limited was for real, wow. How could they ever think that was a good idea?
Click to expand...

The same way they thought the mandatory online and the DRM were good ideas. MS was out of touch on this one
 
U

Unspeakable Evil

Member
So where are the people that were pissed about this? This Blaming Gaf,nerds, and the so called internet minority. This hurr durr Internet nerds!!! What the hell was the point?
 
E

Eusis

Member
GK86 said:
They had the balls to parade and yell from the roof tops that family sharing was worth the DRM, and it turns out to be nothing more than timed demos? Fucking hell MS.
Click to expand...
Maybe it was really meant to be bullshit lipservice for why digital purchases ALSO had to be subjected to this despite lacking a disc to trade in.

How they were acting with this has been utterly pathetic. We can't IMAGINE the worst case scenario Sony may've had in store given we didn't really predict something like this dumb approach to game sharing either, but from what information we had the worst Sony would've done was the RFID disc "activation" crap, and even then I could treat it as a pure digital platform with all the freedoms I currently have on PS3, or so it'd seem to me. Not this compromise no one wants the XB1 would've been.
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
Evenbillybob said:
If the 60 minute cap was real, how could they not see that would blow up in their face?
Why not talk non-stop about this thing at E3? If it really was something amazing, if you really could share all your games with 9 friends, that would be something you would be very vocal about.
After taking a beating from Sony at E3 about DRM and used games, they probably needed something truly amazing about the Xbox One. Maybe, just maybe, they took their Family Plan and tried hinting that it would be something marvelous. They were still very vague about it and there was conflicting messages surrounding it.
But when people find out it was only a glorified demo system, how could they not see the outcome of that? It makes sense that Mayor Nelson never did make that blog about it.

If the 60 minute limited was for real, wow. How could they ever think that was a good idea?
Click to expand...

Maybe they DID see it blowing up in their face with all the other negative shit that was going on. Hense, the backpedaling.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
bangai-o said:
it could have been sixty hours instead of sixty minutes. we dont know for sure.
Click to expand...

CBOAT already noted 60. Not the good 60 hours but the bad and misleading or straight out not even ironed out 60 minutes. But hey, here's 500 dollars for MSFT, those good chaps.

I cannot stand how they have treated us and tried to pull the wool over our heads. It's mainly the ones who were so defensive and ready to put up with the BS regardless.
 
M

Marty Chinn

Member
mightynine said:
Sure they weren't talking about how you would have access to your games on any console as long as you were logged in to said console?
Click to expand...

Steve Youngblood said:
Via the Family Share plan, or by logging into my own account? Because if we're talking about the latter, that should work still I would assume. I mean, I've had that kind of functionality for years via Steam.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure this was via the Family Share plan. Here's the direct quote from the FAQ:

Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One. Just like today, a family member can play your copy of Forza Motorsport at a friend’s house. Only now, they will see not just Forza, but all of your shared games. You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.
Click to expand...

I've bolded the exact part I'm talking about.
 
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