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Microsoft Studios' creative director has some choice words about always-online

bebop242

Member
But it still has to check in initially..... every time you start a game...

I mean we technically do not know what "Always online" means yet.... If it is the game pauses and crashes your save and trolls you when your connection drops then yeah, obviously F that, but if it checks in like PS+ to allow you to play the game and isn't killing the experience then maybe it will be good for developers and bad for gamestop.

What effect does that really have on me? We really don't know yet. If it means NO USED GAMES then MS is likely in trouble....

How or why are you trying to compare this to PS+ which you obviously know nothing about?
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
I think that was a sobering wake-up call. We'll have to wait and see if it actually is crappy research they based it on or not. It's not something we can judge immediately.
Forcing legitimate customers to constantly check-in or else their game fails, _restricting_ use to online only is decisively customer antagonistic. There's nothing but self-servicing corporate "research" that endorses that as a requirement. Hopefully they have the good sense to do a little more research in the next day or so, sampling the response to this and maybe opting to take a different path.

One thing they should definitely take note of here - they don't even have the press on their side in this, not even to at least be complicit in silence.
 
Good thing you're not a mod. I simply read it as him/her not completely understanding how PS+ works. Which, of course, should always lead to the "be an internet jerk" approach.

If you have no idea about a subject, it's best to ask then to take a stance without any credible information to even remotely back up what you're saying. That's just me though.
 
With your "no comment" scenario I take it the background you'd paint to that hypothetical is that it is true? Working from the "third edge" (as opposed to double edged) can you see them confirming it prior to the official unveiling? Perhaps framed in such as way as it isn't as bad as we've taken it to be? So, "online only for game activation" or "online if you want to take advantage of x facility".

Yes. We can either expect a stock response or simply none at all with the non committal response essentially confirming the story.

If it's not true, but there are elements of it that are true, such as online game activation. I'd take the approach of addressing the always online suggestion and focusing on that. That's the primary issue, game activations isn't here nor there at the moment, the real damage is coming from the always online suggestion and it's one that needs to be addressed quickly if it isn't accurate.
 

DaBoss

Member
iZ4Xc7uzxvJUA.gif

FUCKING LOL
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Good thing you're not a mod. I simply read it as him/her not completely understanding how PS+ works. Which, of course, should always lead to the "be an internet jerk" approach.

I would approach that as you if it were not for the child like "grabs popcorn" part.

That goes to the same token of the stickied threads or TOS in which it contributes nothing. It's almost better off for him not to post.
 
So it's still a rumor?

I can't see them doing this, at least how everyone is thinking. Something is being misinterpreted, like maybe you have to go online initially to register or something.

I'd like to think you're right, but there's an awful lot of smoke right now to keep convincing myself there's not a fire somewhere. The whole "3 minute timer" thing is pretty specific. Doesn't make it any less of a rumor, but it's slightly more convincing to me.

I think there will be a bunch of cool new features unveiled and they'll simply say it wouldn't be possible to have those features if the system wasn't always online.
 

BigDug13

Member
There's also a rumor that it will prevent used games, but that's a different topic altogether. Based on what I've ready (Not speculated) Always on, always connected is about never having to boot up your console, will go into low powered state instead of turning off completely and leaving an active connection allowing the console to download and install games and updates while you're away. I can purchase and download a game from my phone and when I get home the game will be ready to play. Firmware updates will install over night so I will never have to wait for a download or install. Games will stream from the disc to the HDD as you play so you never have to wait for game installs but still enjoy the benefits of faster loads.

Maybe I'm looking at just the positives, but all the negatives are coming from speculation.

All of those features could have been implemented without the requirement for connection before you can start the game and without that feature of kicking you out of your game after 3 minutes. All the pro consumer shit didn't need to come with the anti consumer shit.
 
So it's still a rumor?

I can't see them doing this, at least how everyone is thinking. Something is being misinterpreted, like maybe you have to go online initially to register or something.

Who knows though, the third console curse and everything. Either way I'm leaning Sony right now and I only have a 360 this gen. We'll see.

It has more weight than just simply being a rumour, but it hasn't been confirmed or denied.
 
Man this is crazy, the bane gif is the best/most hysterical thing to come out of this "announcement" so ps4 has zero reason to not succeed if its priced right.
 

Minions

Member
There's no official info that it won't be just like that, it's only a rumor that games will stop working.

People are coming out of the woodwork dropping "hints". Can't comment, but pay your ISP" is a pretty interesting comment, after the ones made last night: People should get the internet, and references to "vacuums requiring electricity... IE. Nextbox requiring internet....
 
Your "dark narrative" has a lifespan of about 24 to 36 hours and is rapidly approaching that mark.

By this time tomorrow, it will be a hazy memory that everyone will have a good chuckle over because of the GIFs -- nothing more.

strongly disagree. there's a reason this's spread to multiple sites: there's a growing, general 'unease' with the online-related behaviors of large corporate entities...
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
Why on earth do you live there?
:)

Almost anywhere in the US you can get cable or extremely slow DSL. A few lucky people have the 3rd option in FIOS. If you live in a rural area well your only option is the slowest grade DSL if you are lucky or even worse satellite. I be pissed if I lived outside the city and bought xbox 720 and it sucked the limited DSL bandwidth I had on DRM checks.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Forcing legitimate customers to constantly check-in or else their game fails, _restricting_ use to online only is decisively customer antagonistic. There's nothing but self-servicing corporate "research" that endorses that as a requirement. Hopefully they have the good sense to do a little more research in the next day or so, sampling the response to this and maybe opting to take a different path.

One thing they should definitely take note of here - they don't even have the press on their side in this, not even to at least be complicit in silence.

I keep drawing parallels to Mitt Romney's campaign team...Which bad research totally ate their assholes out.
 
I'm starting a new rumor...

Durango will come equipped with 4G LTE, unlimited data included with your Xbox LIVE subscription. BAM! Always on, always connected :p
 

Dibbz

Member
There's no official info that it won't be just like that, it's only a rumor that games will stop working.

The fact that always online is even mentioned points to the fact that it needs a constant connection with a server. How do you not understand that?
 
But it still has to check in initially..... every time you start a game...

I mean we technically do not know what "Always online" means yet.... If it is the game pauses and crashes your save and trolls you when your connection drops then yeah, obviously F that, but if it checks in like PS+ to allow you to play the game and isn't killing the experience then maybe it will be good for developers and bad for gamestop.

What effect does that really have on me? We really don't know yet. If it means NO USED GAMES then MS is likely in trouble....

just quit while you're ahead. you know nothing about PS+ or how it even works.
 
There's also a rumor that it will prevent used games, but that's a different topic altogether. Based on what I've ready (Not speculated) Always on, always connected is about never having to boot up your console, will go into low powered state instead of turning off completely and leaving an active connection allowing the console to download and install games and updates while you're away. I can purchase and download a game from my phone and when I get home the game will be ready to play. Firmware updates will install over night so I will never have to wait for a download or install. Games will stream from the disc to the HDD as you play so you never have to wait for game installs but still enjoy the benefits of faster loads.

Maybe I'm looking at just the positives, but all the negatives are coming from speculation.

The point of the thread and outrage is that you'll get kicked from the game/app that you're playing, or that you won't be able to access anything if your connection is spotty. And of course everyone is talking about it...this is NeoGAF, dude.

The positives that you mention are dope, but that's not the subject at hand.
 

tbhysgb

Member
Really try lisening to us on this MS. I've been a supporter of Xbox, Windows, Surface, etc. for years now. I think you guys are generally moving in awesome directions, but this "always on" is just a bad decision because you are (and this is the important part) MAKING DECISIONS FOR THE CUSTOMER. And customers in general don't like decisions being made for them. Give us choice.
I deleted out some of your post so the block isn't so big. I disagree completely. Gamers don't want choice. They want to be told they have to pay 60 dollars to pay online, they want to be told they have to pay 15 dollars for the next map pack because their friends did. Sure enough I bet the price of those map packs jump to 20 dollars next gen. I've seen it first hand, I've seen people shit all over the ps4, you know what their reason was? 720 will be better. I honestly think an always on Xbox won't matter much to the masses. You can bet MS is going to try and secure some sort of mass market appeal.
 
MS seems to be wholly embracing the "games as a service" model. Here's how I think it will go down:

MS will offer Xbox Loop for about $49.99 w/ a mandatory 3 year subscription (likely more expensive than Xbox Live Gold). Basically bringing the cell phone subsidy model to consoles. It will be presented as a cable box replacement with a couple deals with major content producers. Not all of them of course, but enough to turn heads. I also doubt they'll offer an unsubsidized model (ever check what an unsubsidized Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 costs? yikes).

Once your subscription runs out your console is as good as dead, so they're hoping to keep people strung along for years. MS's hope is that the subscription model will make more than the loss of offline customers. They'll probably end up capitulating somewhat and offering some sort of Steam-like offline mode, but there will be no escaping online checks to activate games and such.

It's a bold move and offensive to hardcore gamers, but they stand to profit immensely if they can pull it off.
 

maltrain

Junior Member
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