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Xbone PR: the 60 Minute Family Plan Revelation

Seems plausible. Sony had announced plans to make playable demos of all retail titles available (via gaikai?) back in february, and there's no reason to assume Microsoft wouldn't have something similar available.

Dressing it up as an amazing, exclusive reason to buy into their console when it's really nothing more than a glorified demo service is just their M.O. Look at the attempts to paint the cloud/azure functionality as something original and innovative.
 

Eusis

Member
Actually a great tool to monetize demos like Psn+. You like what you played? Press this button to unlock the full game! You've already downloaded it...why not? Smart idea. Not a new one but a smart one.
It's why they should've kept it anyway or made it an XBLG incentive with ALL games instead. Unless they were going to allow one hour per day or something anyway, which is the only way this seriously makes sense with the restrictions proposed (only one person at a time and all that.)
 

Pop

Member
And to think some people thought this was going to be unlimited access to any game in your family share network crap.

There's always a catch
 

DR3AM

Member
Fucking MS, they had us believe that we could play the full game without any restrictions. Now we know why they never fully endorsed the idea of game sharing.
 

inky

Member
Moving this post here since this seems to be the new thread.

What's funny is that they DID hint at this. In an obfuscated way. We just never noticed.

Remember when the DRM was first revealed? The easiest complaint was "What if I wanted to take it to my friend's house?"

Remember the response?

http://gamerant.com/xbox-one-internet-connection-requirement/


http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/07/no-fees-for-xbox-one-used-games-but-24-hour-check-in-required-3832010/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/06/microsoft-details-xbox-one-used-games-always-online

We just glossed over that because we figured, during the PEAK of the "24 hour check" freakout, that 1 hour offline for visiting a friend was just more shit on the cake.

Nope.

That was the max amount of time a friend could play a copy. Period

It was in front of our face the whole time.

Now this is interesting. It definitely reads like that, but yes we assumed otherwise (probably because we were still too incensed with what was going on LOL).

Great catch. Needs to be in the OP.
 
i told them they would be eating their words, MS knew what they were doing, they kept EVERYONE in the dark. Almost everyone.

Watching people tout this like it was going to validate their stubborn support of Pre-Xbox180 MS was painful. I only took joy in warning people who were getting too bigheaded abut the nebulous feature.
 

JBuccCP

Member
But gamers complaining online ruined the future of gaming! You guys set us back another generation! I was looking forward to uh.....uh.....not swapping discs! It would be totally worth losing all my abilities to sell or loan my disc just to be a little more lazy, and its not like I can just buy digital anyway if I want to do away with disc swapping! Luddites!
 
I wished Microsoft went with their plan just to see how they would fully reveal this feature

Info missing in the OP, your saved data and such from these glorified timed trials could be used for the full game. The guy posting the pastebin seemed happy that they could then sell the game if the user likes the game after playing the 'demo'

Same. Now I'm just wondering how they'll fuck up their current DRM-less plan. They're bound to do it, surely.

Can't believe they seriously tried to spin ripping off Sony's Full Game Trial idea as a brand new feature only possible with their DRM bullshit.
 

Almighty

Member
I just can't trust MS anymore. This 'sharing' plan is just glorified demo. And they think this would calm the gamers?


Do they really think we are that dumb?

Seems that they do. I mean Jesus if this is true they should of just came out and said so. I guess it is good they decided to scrape the whole thing now. I can only imagine the outrage from people who thought(unrealistically as it was) that they would be able to share full games with family/friends and bought the console for that reason.
 
Called it when this feature was first announced - it made no sense in the larger context of their business model. I knew they would just be offering demos. Hell, I said glorified demos - they're just normal ass demos.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Isn't this just from the pastebin? So this website is just repeating what was said there....

Was the pastebin ever verified?
 

ypo

Member
Hahah wow they really tried hard to fool everyone. Never once did they mention the paltry time limit. Wonder what else are they lying/half truth about.
 

Hotsuma

Member
At the present time we’re no longer going forward with it, but it is not completely off the table. It is still possible to implement this with the digital downloaded versions of games, and in fact that’s the plan still as far as I’m aware.

So they're still going to keep this plan alive for digital downloads? I'll try it and see what it's all about.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Personally this (on top of everything else they tried and only changed because they were forced to) means I'm back at 'not buying Xbox one'

While DRM isn't great, personally I'm more disgusted by the way MS have approached all of this and how they have shown such disregard for their consumers.
 

Showaddy

Member
Qf0kCRD.png


Wonder how this Facebook group feels now? :lol

Jesus I'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetic. How can you be so naive to actually believe Microsoft would allow you to do this?
 
The family sharing plan, i.e. 10 people having unlimited access to your game library (provided two people weren't playing the same game at the same time) sounded way, way too good to be true tbqh. It sounded way too exploitable and frankly flew in the face of the entire purpose of the DRM plan in the first place, so I'm inclined to believe it was only for an hour, especially considering the whole lending policy of having to have someone on your friend's list for 30 days.
 
Certainly a nice feature to have, much like the really cool PS+ demos PS3 users currently have access too.

It's the wording and delivery of this whole thing that stinks like shit. The way they phrased it made it sound like people were getting unlimited access to family/friend's libraries. So lame, not that I ever believed for a second it'd end up that way.
 

Darknight

Member
Bu bu but guys....Me and 10 others were gonna get a shared library to play all our games and shit. We would each pay $6 for our games! Hell I allow DRM up my ass with such cool, awesome, revolutionary features! Its why I pay top dollar! But you entitled brats screwed it up for us. MS had the future in their hands and you've vanished it even before we got to sink out teeth into it! Damn you to hell.
 

LCfiner

Member
Once again, Microsoft worded this in a such a way as to lead people to believe this was the carrot for the DRM stick.

I posted this in the other thread. their language was incredible:

I just gotta fucking MARVEL at the weasel words used in the initial MS memo about famliy sharing:

"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."

The devil is in the details. "playing from a shared library" is not the same as "playing your shared games" or just "playing your games" because those last two imply playing the whole game. Saying "playing from the shared library" is more vague and does not directly state that the other person is playing the full games in the library. they can be playing time limited demos from a range of titles from the shared library

They also use the phrase "new forms of access" when referring to the access you provide to your shared library. Yeah, the access is now a 60 minute demo as the game streams in. Not the typical kind of access we would expect.

It's one of those things that, in retrospect, is so goddamn misleading and purposefully confusing that it's just fucking beautiful. I grudgingly respect Microsoft's copy writers for wording the plan the way they did.

even the bit when they say "...play your copy of Forza". Yes, they can play your copy of Forza (some direct language, there). How does MS determine what is your copy of a game and not a shared copy? If it's tied to your online, logged-in account so that implies that your account is logged in on that other machine. there's so many little escape clauses in there.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I'm going to get into trouble for a shitty conspiracy theory here but I think part of what happened is that the execs like Phil spencer didn't get the policy totally right and so ms had to abandon the whole thing to save face. Fixing this would have been an utter death blow even though I hope everyone knew in their heart of hearts it made no sense.

Once the truth would have come out on this the damage would have been irreparable.
 
Isn't this just from the pastebin? So this website is just repeating what was said there....

Was the pastebin ever verified?

verified by CBOAT himself.

I'm going to get into trouble for a shitty conspiracy theory here but I think part of what happened is that the execs like Phil spencer didn't get the policy totally right and so ms had to abandon the whole thing to save face. Fixing this would have been an utter death blow even though I hope everyone knew in their heart of hearts it made no sense.

Once the truth would have come out on this the damage would have been irreparable.

Yeah, the whole DRM was already bad, but basically hiding that your awesome sharing system are just a glorified demo service?

WOW, Xbox 180 would have been dead on arrival. Period.
 

Enectic

Banned
Gah, that would have been very disappointing if true. Sounded like it was just a way for someone to "demo" the full version of the game to see if they liked it. So pretty much like OnLive's 30 minute trials except much more restricted and behind a paywall.
 

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
This isn't 'sharing' in any form. It's a demo.

Their language in their description is outright misleading, and on the verge of lying, if this 60 minute limit is correct. I mean it's hard to verify now as it appears to have been scrapped but... how much more deceptive can you get?
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.

The reality seems so different from what they're suggesting here - maybe there was some kind of other plan that wasn't mentioned? Because this spiel seems completely wrong, and intentionally misleading.
 

kuroshiki

Member
Seems that they do. I mean Jesus if this is true they should of just came out and said so. I guess it is good they decided to scrape the whole thing now. I can only imagine the outrage from people who thought(unrealistically as it was) that they would be able to share full games with family/friends and bought the console for that reason.

I have this feeling that as long as MS has those people who engineered this fiasco, they will come back with another shitty plan later.


It's just like politicians. When their 'suggested laws' got vetoed, they don't just stop. They retreat and do it again and again, little by little until it becomes generally accepted.


Their 'vision' is still there. I'm not supporting Xbone or MS until they do total overhaul in management. Fuck you MS.
 

Brannon

Member
Wow.

So many people turned into pissy little boggarts.

So many journalists throwing any integrity left in the trash.

So many members banned...

Over TIMED TRIALS.













Just let that sink in for a moment...
 
N

NinjaFridge

Unconfirmed Member
Of course they did, it's called PR spin and it was a case of "Way too god to be true". It's like opening one of those Nigerian spam mails, your brain should immediately go "This is bullshit".

That is low. Just because you don't have a body you don't want anyone else to be prince of Nigeria.
 

mavs

Member
Moving this post here since this seems to be the new thread.

What's funny is that they DID hint at this. In an obfuscated way. We just never noticed.

Remember when the DRM was first revealed? The easiest complaint was "What if I wanted to take it to my friend's house?"

Remember the response?

http://gamerant.com/xbox-one-internet-connection-requirement/


http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/07/no-fees-for-xbox-one-used-games-but-24-hour-check-in-required-3832010/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/06/microsoft-details-xbox-one-used-games-always-online

We just glossed over that because we figured, during the PEAK of the "24 hour check" freakout, that 1 hour offline for visiting a friend was just more shit on the cake.

Nope.

That was the max amount of time a friend could play a copy. Period

It was in front of our face the whole time.

Funny, but no. That answer was given in the context of gaming while not connected to the internet, and how would you share your library with someone who isn't on the internet? This is an entirely different feature, one they would do well to implement regardless of the DRM situation.
 

Kifimbo

Member
I'm going to get into trouble for a shitty conspiracy theory here but I think part of what happened is that the execs like Phil spencer didn't get the policy totally right and so ms had to abandon the whole thing to save face. Fixing this would have been an utter death blow even though I hope everyone knew in their heart of hearts it made no sense.

Once the truth would have come out on this the damage would have been irreparable.

Yeah, maybe THIS was the last straw. Biggest PR clusterfuck ever.
 

miso_Jeff

Banned
Since people have been asking for a separate thread regarding this revelation, here is a little background:

http://www.heyuguysgaming.com/news/12507/heartbroken-xbox-one-employee-lets-rip-must-read





Discuss...

Basically they're giving you a demo. Which is awesome seeing as not every game, at least now, doesn't come with a demo. I think I remember Sony or the Gaikai guy, Dave Perry, talking about being able to try out every digital title... If Sony is gonna do that, I'm sure MS isn't that far behind.

Based on the outrage, I think people were thinking that Microsoft was gonna allow you to "share" the whole game with up to 9 other people... Which if you REALLY think about it didn't make much sense, why? The whole point of MS going down this road was to avoid pubs from losing money, right? Sharing a whole game among 9 others doesn't look like it's making the dev's any money. If you were thinking about sharing your full game with 9 other people, what makes you think other people aren't thinking the same thing? game sharing chain reaction!
 

Showaddy

Member
I'm going to get into trouble for a shitty conspiracy theory here but I think part of what happened is that the execs like Phil spencer didn't get the policy totally right and so ms had to abandon the whole thing to save face. Fixing this would have been an utter death blow even though I hope everyone knew in their heart of hearts it made no sense.

Once the truth would have come out on this the damage would have been irreparable.

Yep it actually makes sense now. Revealing that people are getting this in return for the DRM would have been another PR disaster.
 

freddy

Banned
The mind just boggles at how much contempt the execs at Microsoft must have for the gamers who shell out for xbox live every year and potential buyers of the system. They must just think the gamers will suckle up to the teet for a new Halo and forget this.
 
I'm going to get into trouble for a shitty conspiracy theory here but I think part of what happened is that the execs like Phil spencer didn't get the policy totally right and so ms had to abandon the whole thing to save face. Fixing this would have been an utter death blow even though I hope everyone knew in their heart of hearts it made no sense.

Once the truth would have come out on this the damage would have been irreparable.

I don't think what you're saying is far fetched at all.
 
Bu bu but guys....Me and 10 others were gonna get a shared library to play all our games and shit. We would each pay $6 for our games! Hell I allow DRM up my ass with such cool, awesome, revolutionary features! Its why I pay top dollar! But you entitled brats screwed it up for us. MS had the future in their hands and you've vanished it even before we got to sink out teeth into it! Damn you to hell.

It's sad that quite a few people were saying this unironically.
 

syko de4d

Member
Haha thats so bad. Even if that had would been released Sony will have instant Gaikai Demo Streaming, i think that beats it by alot.
 
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