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[Bgamer90]

...By not talking about the family plan (share your Xbox One game library with up to ten "family members" digitally from any system with Xbox Live).

Basically, MS is giving people the full ability to share games digitally. Not physically though. In some ways it's better since when you give a game disc to someone to borrow, you can't play that game (obviously). With this plan though, you can play the game that you bought at the same time that someone else in your family plan is "borrowing" it.

And to be perfectly honest, this would work better for me. I have family members and friends that live a pretty far distance away from me. Instead of going a long distance to give them the disc to play the game, I could just send the game into "family sharing" and have them get it from there within minutes.

This would have been the perfect thing to announce/talk about in reply to the Xbox One controversy I think. Especially since for many people, this would be more convenient than borrowing discs.

The question is though, why haven't they done a good job stating this? It's funny how they seem to be focused more so on what they are doing to discs in terms of restrictions instead of what they're doing when it comes to bringing game sharing into the digital world. But then again, I guess it's good that they are being straightforward and honest when it comes to discs.

Either way though, it seems like MS wasn't prepared at all when it comes to their public statement/interview strategy. I mean, a feature like this will probably not even get recognized by many due to all of the bad news surrounding the Xbox One -- all mainly because of what has been stated publicly by MS employees. Don't get it at all.

 

[itsgreen]

MS missed a ton of huge opportunities...

Nothing new there...

 

[Phawx]

There are still many questions that have been raised over other gaf threads. We'll have to wait and see how awesome/dumb it is.

 

[Bgamer90]

MS missed a ton of huge opportunities...

Nothing new there...

Heh, very true.

 

[quickwhips]

I want to believe it will add value but I'm doing a wait and see. I'm sure we will know more in the next few months.

 

[zeopower6]

Honestly, that family plan thing is too good to be true in the sense that the assumption of how it will work is probably extremely different from how it's actually going to work.

 

[Bgamer90]

I want to believe it will add value but I'm doing a wait and see. I'm sure we will know more in the next few months.

Yeah, that's a smart thing to do.

Due to this being such a contrast to what they are doing to discs, it seems like there almost has to be some sort of catch.

 

[Hana-Bi]

They need it for later. They have only few hands to play. For e3 their first hand was games games games. Maybe for Gamescom they play the "family" hand.

 

[EmSeta]

Honestly, that family plan thing is too good to be true in the sense that the assumption of how it will work is probably extremely different from how it's actually going to work.

I have a feeling this is the case. So my friends and I would only need to buy one copy in total of short single player games? Nah.

 

[thekonamicode]

I don't think they themselves know the details of the Family Plan.

 

[MorisUkunRasik]

Yeah, that's a smart thing to do.

Due to this being such a contrast to what they are doing to discs, it seems like there almost has to be some sort of catch.

That's my plan, digital game sharing seems too good too be true. But maybe they had to impose all that DRM BS to make this possible.

 

[Guevara]

Like everything else, I'm sure it's unfinished.

 

[BRocknRolla]

Does anyone really know what "family" will mean though and what restrictions will be placed on these members if they attempt to play at the same time? I initially thought it sounded like a good way to share games between friends, but I'm not convinced this will actually allow anything remotely like that. I'm sure they could allow that, but I imagine they don't even know for sure what this "family" plan will allow. Definitely could be good for their PR if they allow a lot of options, but that remains to be seen.

 

[Bgamer90]

I have a feeling this is the case. So my friends and I would only need to buy one copy in total of short single player games? Nah.

Here's the thing though --- you all will be giving MS money since you'll need Xbox Live to do this. It's like the fee for Xbox Live would include "game rental fee". Could that have been a reason for the recent XBL price increase? Who knows...

Overall, this is actually better than borrowing discs since you'll be able to play the game while someone else is borrowing it. It's just that everything will be done digital (obviously).

 

[nib95]

Read their small print on that page.

No lending, borrowing etc at launch. It's something they're "discussing" with partners.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

What I don't understand is that if you can truly share games with 10 people in this way, on any other console, why they would not shout it from the roof.

Think about it. They never mentioned this when it came to speaking about sharing games with friends. Instead they said about how you can 'gift' a game one time to a person. Why would they do that?

If true, this goes some way to negating the issue for some people, and so should be used as such. Microsoft are not stupid.

Which means it has to be more complex than this. There must be some other limitation we are missing.

 

[Garrett 2U]

That's my plan, digital game sharing seems too good too be true. But maybe they had to impose all that DRM BS to make this possible.

The DRM is the catch.
To me, if DRM results in a better digital marketplace, I'm all for it

What I don't understand is that if you can truly share games with 10 people in this way, on any other console, why they would not shout it from the roof.

Think about it. They never mentioned this when it came to speaking about sharing games with friends. Instead they said about how you can 'gift' a game one time to a person. Why would they do that?

They did talk about it in the same article they talked about gifting games.
People just thought it seemed too good to be true.
Turns out it's actually true.

 

[Stripper13]

I suspect between the attempt to put a positive spin on everything, the change in policies due to backlash and just general incompetence of communication - that Microsoft aren't really aware of where they're going.

If it materialises, in its current form, it'd be stupid not to brag about it constantly. I'm assuming some changes/restrictions.

 

[Sounddeli]

The good thing about it is they don't necessarily have to be in your family they can a friend or a co worker and could live in another city and through family sharing have access to your games. I think that is pretty cool.

 

[Phawx]

Does anyone really know what "family" will mean though and what restrictions will be placed on these members if they attempt to play at the same time? I initially thought it sounded like a good way to share games between friends, but I'm not convinced this will actually allow anything remotely like that. I'm sure they could allow that, but I imagine they don't even know for sure what this "family" plan will allow. Definitely could be good for their PR if they allow a lot of options, but that remains to be seen.

"Family" means nothing. They flat out said it can be a friend. I think "family" in this sense is that only *one* person can buy games to then share out. So that *one* person will have the most freedom with their library. And everyone else sharing will have to take turns.

 

[BRocknRolla]

The good thing about it is they don't necessarily have to be in your family they can a friend or a co worker and could live in another city and through family sharing have access to your games. I think that is pretty cool.

This is based on what exactly? Sounds like you're guessing what they mean.

"Family" means nothing. They flat out said it can be a friend. I think "family" in this sense is that only *one* person can buy games to then share out. So that *one* person will have the most freedom with their library. And everyone else sharing will have to take turns.

Do you have a source? Do you know they can be anywhere in the country or do they have to be at your house on the same IP address? (Ergo, it would be your "family.") I wasn't aware they made it any more clear. I don't remember anything but the vague wording from their documentation about DRM.

 

[Godot]

They didn't talk about that because it doesn't work like this. Too good to be true.

 

[tino]

They haven't figured out the angle to rape you from the family plan yet, thats why they didn't discuss it.

 

[Bgamer90]

This is based on what exactly? Sounds like you're guessing what they mean.

Yusuf Mehdi (Xbox marketing chief) blatantly states that the people in the family plan don't have to actually be your real family members.

They are fine with it.

 

[zainetor]

if it works that way, you may actually form a small group of people who buy different games togheter.

 

[Garrett 2U]

This is based on what exactly? Sounds like you're guessing what they mean.



Do you have a source? Do you know they can be anywhere in the country or do they have to be at your house on the same IP address? (Ergo, it would be your "family.") I wasn't aware they made it any more clear. I don't remember anything but the vague wording from their documentation about DRM.

m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=585726

"For one, a family member doesn't have to be a "blood relative""
"I could name a friend that lives 3,000 miles away as one of my "family members" Mehdi said."
"You'll be able to link other Xbox Live accounts as having shared access to your library when you first set up a system, and will also be able to add them later on"

 

[Darmik]

I'm not sure if it will work this way. I kind of assumed the people on your family plan need to be registered on your Xbox One and profile. If they have their own Xbox One they need to create their own Xbox Gold account. Not sure how they will regulate this though but I'm sure this is what their intention is.

 

[Salaadin]

It could work really well if its actually how it sounds in that ars article. Im thinking that they arent talking about it for one of two reasons:

1)Its not as good as it sounds
2)It can be exploited to hell and back so they dont want to bring attention to it

 

[Sounddeli]

This is based on what exactly? Sounds like you're guessing what they mean.



Do you have a source? Do you know they can be anywhere in the country or do they have to be at your house on the same IP address? (Ergo, it would be your "family.") I wasn't aware they made it any more clear. I don't remember anything but the vague wording from their documentation about DRM.

Here ya go

Microsoft should be promoting this feature more

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/0...game-policies/

Since its announcement, there has been some confusion over the details of sharing your Xbox One game library with up to ten "family members." Mehdi couldn't give comprehensive details but he did clarify some things.

For one, a family member doesn't have to be a "blood relative," he said, eliminating the extremely unlikely possibility that the Xbox One would include a built-in blood testing kit. For another, they don't have to live in the primary owner's house—I could name a friend that lives 3,000 miles away as one of my "family members" Mehdi said.

You'll be able to link other Xbox Live accounts as having shared access to your library when you first set up a system, and will also be able to add them later on (though specific details of how you manage these relationships is still not being discussed). The only limitation, it seems, is that only one person can be playing the shared copy of a single game at any given time.

All in all, this does sound like a pretty convenient feature that's more workable than simply passing discs around amongst friends who are actually in your area.

Sharing your games digitally? Sweet


This sounds great, and pretty much solves any problem with lending games out, you could share games with your buddy that went off to college, or your older brother that lives in another state, all without having to meet in person.

Also, no disc to get lost or damaged, and you wont have to wait for your friend to return your game.


I think a lot of gamers would like this feature, but all i here is DRM complaints, well this is where digital really helps out with flexibility, more people need to hear this.

 

[BRocknRolla]

Yusuf Mehdi (Xbox marketing chief) blatantly states that the people in the family plan don't have to actually be your real family members.

They are fine with it.

m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=585726

Awesome. Thanks for the update. I'll be very curious to know how all this is handled. PS3 had a similar system where each game could be activated under a number of accounts (Not the same, I know, but it did allow game sharing). I believe this led to people sharing a lot of games this way though without any need to pay for them, so they may have cut it back. Will be interested to see how far MS takes it. If it really is fairly easy to use, it seems like it takes care of many of the complaints about game lending.

It does therefore seem weird that they would say "no lending." Why wouldn't they suggest they have an even better solution? (Unless they're just giving everything in the general vicinity of DRM a mile wide berth.) I guess that's where my skepticism comes from.

 

[Moonstone]

Yusuf Mehdi (Xbox marketing chief) blatantly states that the people in the family plan don't have to actually be your real family members.

They are fine with it.

But this won't help sales and won't make publishers happy. That's even worse than used sales for them.

Then the whole used game blocking doesn't make any sense at all.

I don't have 10 friends I can share my games physically. To find 10 people on the internet and organize it is not difficult. And there is no problem that you can't play those games simultanously. Let 1 people finish the game and the next guy can play it, you get another game for it. You don't need to have a circle of 10 friends, 4 or 5 is easily possible to handle.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

If they didn't shouted and made a big deal about it, is because is clearly not as good as you may think.

 

[R3TRODYCE]

Sounds awesome, Gaf X1 family groups incoming lol.

 

[Garrett 2U]

If they didn't shouted and made a big deal about it, is because is clearly not as good as you may think.

They did shout about it. It was in the article talking about their DRM.
They didn't talk any business at E3 conference, it was all games, so there was no reason to mention it.

 

[Bgamer90]

But this won't help sales and won't make publishers happy. That's even worse than used sales for them.

But this would help discourage disc piracy.

Basically MS is bringing everything you can do now with physical discs into the 21st century (digitally) while at the same time, making publishers happy via putting restrictions on game discs.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

They did shout about it. It was in the article talking about their DRM.
They didn't talk any business at E3 conference, it was all games, so there was no reason to mention it.

They did talked about gold sharing...it was the chance to do so. You don't have the key to block all the backslash and decide not to talk about it.

But this would help discourage disc piracy.

Basically MS is bringing everything you can do now with physical discs into the 21st century (digitally) while at the same time, making publishers happy via putting restrictions on game discs.

You mean publishers will be happy to potentially losing 10 sales for each copy sold?....I don't think so. Something similar in PS3 had to be stopped for the same very reason.

 

[nib95]

Also, couple their small print about lending not being available at launch with CBoats leaks and it would appear they're staying quiet because what they actually plan to offer is far worse. They're waiting for things to calm down first according to CBoat. Hoping they can brush it under the rug so to speak.

 

[BRocknRolla]

But this would help discourage disc piracy.

Basically MS is bringing everything you can do now with physical discs into the 21st century (digitally) while at the same time, making publishers happy via putting restrictions on game discs.

Does that really overcome 9 additional sales though? I mean, I assume two people won't be able to play the same game at the same time, leading this to be impractical for multiplayer focused games, but doesn't that basically sink the sales of single player games? (Assuming people actually take advantage of the "family" of course.)

 

[xbhaskarx]

If true why isn't this getting more attention?

Sounds awesome, Gaf X1 family groups incoming lol.

.

 

[Orca]

Read their small print on that page.

No lending, borrowing etc at launch. It's something they're "discussing" with partners.

Also, couple their small print about lending not being available at launch with CBoats leaks and it would appear they're staying quiet because what they actually plan to offer is far worse. They're waiting for things to calm down first according to CBoat. Hoping they can brush it under the rug so to speak.

That has nothing to do with this topic, or anything people have said here. Read the OP and the link they provided.

 

[zainetor]

Does that really overcome 9 additional sales though? I mean, I assume two people won't be able to play the same game at the same time, leading this to be impractical for multiplayer focused games, but doesn't that basically sink the sales of single player games? (Assuming people actually take advantage of the "family" of course.)

maybe cuz 99% of games will have multyplayer?

 

[nib95]

That has nothing to do with this topic, or anything people have said here. Read the OP and the link they provided.

I've read the OP. I put their family sharing scheme under lending, borrowing etc too. And as it says on their site, these things are not locked for launch. Likely why they haven't spoken about it.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

I'd just like to say, based off that Ars Technica article, Yusuf Mehdi should be the ONLY person from Microsoft doing interviews. Lock Don's ass away until next E3.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I think they haven't figured out how it will work exactly yet.
Its not ready yet.

 

[Amir0x]

There is no way this is going to work how you think it is. No way. You think Microsoft is going to go out of their way to fuck consumers for some arbitrary remote financial gain and then is just going to have an open field day digitally letting people gameshare online up to 10 people? There are going to be hard restrictions and you won't be able to do anything you think you will.

If I'm wrong, it'd be nice (for those getting an XBO), but it simply does not make any sense given what we experienced these past months.

 

[Hattori]

I'm skeptical, it's probably limited to the same IP address as the console. If it works the way they describe then good on them.

 

[Onemic]

I personally don't think it's what most people on gaf think it is. That would be wayyyy too good to be true and really idiotic of MS to not focus on that during their conference.

 

[not psycho]

Does that really overcome 9 additional sales though? I mean, I assume two people won't be able to play the same game at the same time, leading this to be impractical for multiplayer focused games, but doesn't that basically sink the sales of single player games? (Assuming people actually take advantage of the "family" of course.)

Even if nobody can borrow the same game you are playing, that would just mean each 11-person "family group" would buy 2 copies of each 2 player game, and 1 copy of each single player game.

Thus dividing sales of single player games by 11, and sales of 2 player games by 5.5.

 

[Garrett 2U]

I'm skeptical, it's probably limited to the same IP address as the console. If it works the way they describe then good on them.

That is definitely not the case.
They already said you can share games with a friend who lives "3000 miles away".

There is no way this is going to work how you think it is. No way. You think Microsoft is going to go out of their way to fuck consumers for some arbitrary remote financial gain and then is just going to have an open field day digitally letting people gameshare online up to 10 people? There are going to be hard restrictions and you won't be able to do anything you think you will.

If I'm wrong, it'd be nice (for those getting an XBO), but it simply does not make any sense given what we experienced these past months.

Maybe the reason for all the DRM is to transform the marketplace so they can have cool features like this?

 

[Amir0x]

I personally don't think it's what most people on gaf think it is. That would be wayyyy too good to be true and really idiotic of MS to not focus on that during their conference.

Well, onemic, if it is true, one reason for Microsoft not to focus on it would be exactly what people are scheming in this topic: to have online game sharing 'communities' that would essentially allow you to not buy anything, if you picked the right game sharing partners.

Of course, that's a dangerous course in of itself: if the news is accurate, only one of these people could play the game at a time, much like lending a disc out, so if you start putting people you don't trust on there, they might decide to start playing games you want to play at any given moment, making things extremely confusing.