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[Boy Wander]

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license



The way it sounds here is that only one of those ten can access your library at all at one time. So if you have 20 games shared, and somebody is on there playing Peggle 2, then everybody else (the rest of the "family" group, not yourself) is presumably locked out from the other 19 games.

Having read, It does sound like that yes. But I don't get it. If I make a 'family' with friends, what's to stop one the fuckers playing a game and locking me out of my console until they finish. Doesn't make sense. Equally, allowing anyone of 10 people to play any one of my library except the game I'm playing doesn't make a lot of sense either.

Either I'm fucking dumb (not beyond the realms of possibility) or this still isn't clear....

Edit: I am dumb because I didn't read the bit of your post where it says 'Everyone except you'.

 

[badb0y]

OMG I can see it right.

"Lending Xbox One games HALO 5, GOW 5, Forza, Only $10 to get into my shared library"

 

[rjinaz]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=562309

Touché.

 

[Dysun]

There's no way this works like you hope it does, there will be some unforeseen restriction. "Limited to sharing games after the first 3 months of purchase" Policies subject to change at any time

 

[Karuyag]

my question about this family is...

does EACH account get to choose their families on top of each other?

for example... person A B C are in a family...

are they all locked in that one family?
or does person "B" get to choose another person "D" in another family of 10...
and person C choosing person "E" in another family of 10?

Like a venn diagram deal?

 

[Terrordactyl]

Waiting for the inevitable

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Microsoft's words are trees falling in the forest with no one around. They might technically have made a sound, but I can't hear a dern thing.

 

[LyleLanley]

Only on GAF will you find threads where posters are calling restrictive software practices "awesome" and "cool".

Isn't this less restrictive than most if not all systems for playing digital copies of games? Assuming that I'm correct in thinking that you and one other person can play the same game at the same time. It's almost like a souped up version of DS download play.

 

[ultron87]

Having read, It does sound like that yes. But I don't get it. If I make a 'family' with friends, what's to stop one the fuckers playing a game and locking me out of my console until they finish. Doesn't make sense. Equally, allowing anyone of 10 people to play any one of my library except the game I'm playing doesn't make a lot of sense either.

Either I'm fucking dumb (not beyond the realms of possibility) or this still isn't clear....

It clearly says you'll always have access to the games you've bought:

You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

seems crazy to me.

So I add my cousin to my family and he adds me.

my sister adds me and my cousin

I have access to all my sister and my cousins library? plus if I add 8 other people and we all add each other I have 10 libraries filled with games to choose from.

lol no way.

 

[marc^o^]

I think you just download the game and play.

You "just" download a bluray game and play. And keep the game all the time on your HD for later access? Could auto delete after x amount of time. Could be a limitation on amount of games you can keep at the same time. The catch will be somewhere here.

 

[Jarmel]

If true, this would make co-op games even more popular.

 

[entremet]

Only on GAF will you find threads where posters are calling restrictive software practices "awesome" and "cool".

If you go all digital, this is pretty awesome.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

This sounds like it would do way more damage to games sales than just not having drm. I lend to like one or two other people. This would cut our game purchases in third...

You'd buy less games, but you'd all likely need a gold subscription and some of that money might be used to help offset any losses developers/publishers might face?

It's an odd policy and pretty wide open to abuse if you're patient tho. Until I see it in action, it's just nothing but empty words.

Encouraging words, but still empty words.

 

[Boy Wander]

It clearly says you'll always have access to the games you've bought:

Yes, I've edited my original post to confirm that I am, indeed, dumb...

 

[Phawx]

There's two options:

a) there's a catch

b) every game costs 6$ now

and as b) makes zero sense given their stance on used games I'd go with a)


And how does adding your family members work? Can they be removed or are you stuck with them forever?

Just because 10 people are in the group, only 2 people can use 1 copy at any given time.

I should really probably write up a doc so that people understand the licensing of the 360 and what has been said about xbox one. I've been repeating myself too many times.

 

[Plinko]

This is how I'm understanding it as well:

1) The person who paid for the game plays it any time.

2) Any one of the 9 people on that person's share list can play it but never at the same time as the other people on that share list.

For the new page.

 

[joe2187]

If true, this would make co-op games even more popular.

The death of single player games is on the horizon

 

[Crimson_Gold]

This sounds interesting in theory. The issues arise in actual implementation. This flies in the face of everything that the drm has been put into place for. There has to be more to it. If it plays out exactly like some have interpreted, good for those willing to buy the console and take advantage of it. However, history has taught us that with MS and the XB1, the consumers are not the ones winning in this equation. There is nothing that says that a publisher can't block their game from this practice. Name one publisher that would willingly allow this to happen? When someone trades their used game, they aren't trying to play it anymore. This set up allows people to cycle through games and eliminate the need for trading completely. It'll likely require a higher live subscription fee that gives publishers some designated amount.

 

[Papercuts]

There's two options:

a) there's a catch

b) every game costs 6$ now

and as b) makes zero sense given their stance on used games I'd go with a)


And how does adding your family members work? Can they be removed or are you stuck with them forever?

The games only cost $6 if every single family member pitches in for every game, you would all need to want the same games. It also would seemingly only give fully access to the one person who actually buys it.

I can't see it being easy to switch family members, if it's even possible due to that. That would make it more important to pick who is in it as they need to be people with similar game taste to really benefit.

 

[statham]

This will also get people to try to get others to buy XB1. If this is legit, I'm going to try to get all my brothers to buy one. free viral marketing.

 

[Justin]

If I share a game with someone, can I play it too? Does the other person have to have the disc, or can he or she just download the game digitally?

Any game you buy you can always play. One other person in your list at a time will also have access to the game. Everything is digital.

 

[Ding-Ding]

Sorry but there is a catch that they are not talking about.

You dont put DRM on your system to get a large slice of the 2nd hand market. Then allow one purchase to circulate between 10 people.

For a start, 3rd party publishers will go apeshit. Only way I see this happening is if there is a charge and a time limit which will basically be a high priced rental system (whats the chances of 24hr per charge).

There is a reason MS didn't announce this policy on stage and I bet its the same reason they are not going into details

 

[kitch9]

Probably because it would make the pubs mad knowing you can basically get free games by sharing with your friends.

Which would mean it won't happen.

 

[WolvenOne]

Yes, this has been fairly clear since they posted their policies page. Don't understand why its getting all muddled up. The language is clear.

Yep, pretty clear. Odd how Microsoft employees can't get their story straight.

There are two problems with this policy though. The first is that, once you have ten people on a list, whenever a new triple A game is added to that list, "the game becomes unplayable."

Seriously, think about it. If Halo 5's just launched, everyone on your friends list will constantly struggle to play it, will constantly cut each other off, and will be constantly preventing 9/10's of your friends from being able to play. Unless you're all in significantly different time zones, for the people on your shared list, its a glorified demo. This is designed mostly to wet peoples appetites into going out and buying their own copy. Sure, 5-6 months later it'll be fine, maybe, but of course Microsoft is mainly concerned about a games release window sales.

The second problem, is that given the above, its not an equal trade-off. Sharing a glorified demo with friends isn't worth simply being able to loan the full game when you're done with it. Nor, is it worth losing the right to trade, sale, or buy games used once you or somebody else in finished with them. Sure, you cannot loan a physical disk to ten people at once, but that one person CAN actually enjoy that game as they see fit, instead of constantly struggling to find an open time slot.

 

[dest]

The catch here is this: Currently when someone lends you a game you get to play it to completion before returning it. With this new system you are going to be fighting with 10 other people to play the game. Imagine being halfway through Bioshock Infinite and not being able to finish the game because someone else in the "family" is hogging it. Then you might as well go buy the copy, which might be what they are betting on.

 

[immortal-joe]

Scenario:
I'm the owner

Friend A
Friend B

Are sharing games with me.

Friend A is playing game A with me
Can Friend B play game B?

 

[syko de4d]

I will buy a X1 and sell a "sYko de4d Abo" to 9 people. "Pay 10$ a month und you get access to two totally new Games each Month*"

*can only be played if no other play it xD

 

[TheDrowningMan]

What if the "a given time" means that one other person can play the game when the original buyer is doing so? As in, the buyer must act as a 'host' and cannot play a different game himself.

 

[Colonel Nasty]

The catch here is this: Currently when someone lends you a game you get to play it to completion before returning it. With this new system you are going to be fighting with 10 other people to play the game. Imagine being halfway through Bioshock Infinite and not being able to finish the game because someone else in the "family" is hogging it. Then you might as well go buy the copy, which might be what they are betting on.

Or you could not share it till you're done. I would never do all ten me and maybe three others.

 

[Jarmel]

The catch here is this: Currently when someone lends you a game you get to play it to completion before returning it. With this new system you are going to be fighting with 10 other people to play the game. Imagine being halfway through Bioshock Infinite and not being able to finish the game because someone else in the "family" is hogging it. Then you might as well go buy the copy, which might be what they are betting on.

Do it with 2 people. No reason you have to do it with 10.

 

[Digital-Hero]

Awesome! 10 sounds like a pretty good number.

Which they can alter and reduce. Similar to what Sony did for PS3.

 

[Rad-]

I just don't believe this. If this really works like this why the fuck didn't they make a big deal out of this at E3? This is basically digital game lending which is a huge feature.

 

[statham]

This sounds like it would do way more damage to games sales than just not having drm. I lend to like one or two other people. This would cut our game purchases in third...

isn't lending doing the same thing? the people your lending to aren't buying the game.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Not buying it.

Instead of dumping the frog into boiling hot water, they're now dumping it into a lukewarm pot, though eager to gradually raise the temperature all the way once the frog is settled. I know what MS really wants and what their vision for this industry is, and I'm not going to be lulled into compliance by this half-measure that will could mutate into a full-measure after I've already invested into their product.

 

[LTWheels]

This sounds like it would do way more damage to games sales than just not having drm. I lend to like one or two other people. This would cut our game purchases in third...

Well, I think it's all about getting you into their ecosystem so you will buy more stuff in the future. I think it's going to be a safe bet that Gold will be required, and it's unknown if the sharing involves dlc as well.

 

[Jacobi]

To me this sounds like MS doesn't really wanna do that and plans to exterminate the feature in the future.

 

[WhyIsTheRumGone]

And you cant both coop or play multiplayer at the same time... with this you could.

You can't play at the same time. One at a time.

 

[pr0cs]

I can't see how this would be true, this has to be worse from a sales standpoint than used games if I can share a game with my family that potentially doesn't even live in the same house.

I hope I'm wrong though, it makes the xbox a lot more attractive, especially for my more casual friends that I want to get to try a game and don't live near me to exchange a disc.

 

[ElTorro]

There's no way this works like you hope it does, there will be some unforeseen restriction. "Limited to sharing games after the first 3 months of purchase" or "Cannot share with more than 1 unique user" Policies subject to change at any time

In my mind, I am comparing this feature to iTunes. I can "activate" up to 5 other computers and allow them to play my music. Hence, I would be allowed to share my music with up to 4 other people.

The "obstacle" in this case is that I have to somehow give these people my account and the music files manually. There is no "remote add". I have to reveal my account login information. And this is something, that I would never do with strangers. My credit card is attached to that account after all. This naturally prevents this feature from being overused.

Maybe they will do something similar. You would have to enter your XBLA account on your friend's console manually.

 

[GashPrex]

there is no way that 10 people will be able to simultaneously play 1 copy of a game. I thought we all knew you could share games with family members and you can trade in digital games?

However, the lending part of this is the reason IMO that there is the 24 hour check in - I can't come up with another way to make sure the system was not being abused from a digital perspective.

 

[joe2187]

I love how confusing this has become, and how everyone is trying to explain "the catch"

Keep up the good work MS.

 

[kitch9]

You'd buy less games, but you'd all likely need a gold subscription and some of that money might be used to help offset any losses developers/publishers might face?

It's an odd policy and pretty wide open to abuse if you're patient tho. Until I see it in action, it's just nothing but empty words.

Encouraging words, but still empty words.

Lol no.

 

[Boy Wander]

If it wasn't for the always online thing and the fact that I could potentially lose access to my games 10 years down the line, the sharing thing is fantastic for someone in my position who is a divorcee with a son who lives with his mum. We could share games instead of physically taking copies to each others houses and overall buy more games because we wouldn't need two copies of the same game.

 

[Zoe]

If I share a game with someone, can I play it too? Does the other person have to have the disc, or can he or she just download the game digitally?

This is my gathering:

- You buy the game physically or digitally and it gets entered into your library
- You can play the game at any time
- One person from your "family" can go into your library and start playing any game. Everyone else is locked out from your library until that person is done.
- Family members will have to download the game to play it

 

[spannicus]

This is an awesome feature regardless of all the other shit thats been going on, I mean really how many people are going to share a game with 10 people anyway, more like 2 or 4. I can get down with this if true. It cant all be bad...right?

 

[theDeeDubs]

Sounds cool. I'm sure the "catch" will be requiring Gold, whoever you add will have to add you (taking up 1/10), an hourly ping, and maybe a limited number of total possible shared games at one time (maybe time limited like not eligible for so many days after release). MS cares more about getting you in their ecosystem than they do used games.

 

[entremet]

I can't see how this would be true, this has to be worse from a sales standpoint than used games if I can share a game with my family that potentially doesn't even live in the same house.

I hope I'm wrong though, it makes the xbox a lot more attractive, especially for my more casual friends that I want to get to try a game and don't live near me to exchange a disc.

Maybe the DRM scheme is how they persuaded publishers to allow this?

 

[Dipswitch]

This is the kind of feature they should have been hawking from the rooftops from the get go.

Doesn't quite offset the other restrictions mind you. They need to add more granular control over which games you add to your library. Don't add it, and you can only play the installed game with your disk in the tray. Online check-ins wouldn't apply in those cases and you can do what you like with the game disk.

if you elect to add the game to your library however, that's when this lending functionality becomes active and the cost of entry is the 24hr online authentication requirements and associated restrictions on game sales.

In other words, give people a choice and maybe just maybe you'll get a better response to your online schemes. Having both those things in place would satisfy my concerns.

 

[LTWheels]

The death of single player games is on the horizon

Look at this years E3. Single player games don't exist any more. It's all single player combined with multiplayer now. That's the new trend.