Xbox One Backlash Was "Unfair," Molyneux Says

[Sansha]

He's probably right that one day the entire world will be always online. But how about we wait until such a time that everywhere has an internet connection and the internet never drops out on us? At this time we can't always be online and so Microsoft making something that is always online is still unsustainable.

This. Until ISP's go town-to-town personally ensuring every person has a stable and acceptable speed broadband connection that's as reliable as their phone line, there will not be a society of always-online consumers.

I don't know about the US or other countries but here in New Zealand we are definitely not ready for a 'always online future.'

Thanks to Telecom dragging its heels and refusing to end its monopoly (in the end the govt had to introduce a law ordering it to break up), the city I live in and around fourth biggest in the country is still having streets torn open for fibre installation.

I imagine rural areas will be worse off.

Fourth biggest? Hamilton?

And I agree. Finally Telecom is doing what we've been asking them to do for fucking years, and they're going to make a killing off it. I'm with Telecom for my internet now (it's a fuckton better to deal with than Slingshot, I'll give it that), and I'm more than ready to pay for fibre.

As long as Steam continues to be used, people getting pissy about Always On DRM will be rightfully ignored

Spoiler: Steam has an offline mode.

 

[xX_GwAx_HaRdScOpZ_Xx]

I'm not sure he entirely understands why the backlash happened. Of course there were some people who thought "OH MY GOD NO USED GAME SHARING THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD" because the are incapable of rational thought, but the main reason for the backlash is that an always online system has little to no consumer benefit. As we have seen with the likes of OnLive and the catastrophe that was SimCity, it doesn't matter what kind of system is forced to be always on, there are always people who don't have reliable internet (or any internet at all for that matter) and there is always the chance of the servers not having the capacity to deal with all these players. Considering that the xbox website was crashed by the traffic from the TGS podcast, I wouldn't have trusted those servers.
This couples with the fact that the kinect has to be plugged in at all times. Think about it: an always on system with an always on camera that can look at you even in the dark. Considering that we now know that Microsoft has been spying on Skype calls, I wouldn't dare put that thing in my home. Microsoft is not a trustworthy company. They have been trying to screw people over since they released windows 8 and we as consumers can't let them do that. That is why the backlash against the xbox one was not only fair, but necessary. The consumer needed to be heard and they were heard, en masse.

 

[Madman123456]

Microsoft tried to force things onto the customer that most customers didn't like (because they're rather invasive and previous attempts in those directions where disastrous.) and then acted like the customer is a moron for not liking what they tell them to like.


Here's a funny conspiracy theory i just cooked up: A conglomerate of Publishers got together and thought to themselves how much nicer it would be if there where fewer choices on the console market; if you make games for a platform that has a quasi monopoly then you'll save on costs for development for other platforms.
So they gave microsoft a big pile of money to develop some ridiculous shit on their platform.
If the customers are dumb enough to accept them, they'll have super awesome DRM and they all will develop for the xbone first and possibly hold back on development for the playstation. That'll go on until the playstation has a market share to low to be a threat.

If the customer doesn't accept that, Sony will rule the market and while publishers will have to accept that the level of control over the customer will stay somewhat limited they'll save money on cross platform development because there wont be any.



But still, Microsoft deserves every bit of hatred they got and some more for being astoundingly ignorant.
When Adam Orth got himself fired after he was being rather ignorant and disagreeable People explained it to him quite often and quite thoroughly.

 

[Smeatza]

My toaster constantly sends me tweets about English Muffins.

It drove me so crazy I had to smash it and leave it at the bottom of a closet.

Wait, are you serious? A toaster that suggests you things to toast? Over the internet?
I''m not sure if that's a point for or against what I wrote lol.
I'm gonna say against, considering the toaster irritated you to the point of having to hide it away.

 

[xX_GwAx_HaRdScOpZ_Xx]

As long as Steam continues to be used, people getting pissy about Always On DRM will be rightfully ignored

There is a difference between DRM and always on DRM. Steam only requires you to be online to start your games, whereas the xbox would require you to check in every 24 hors to do anything. There is also a difference between PC gamers and console gamers. In general, PC gamers can afford better internet than console gamers. This is simply because PCs are a huge amount more expensive than consoles, so you need to be fairly well off just to be able to afford a decent PC. This will probably mean that you also have to money to afford the best internet available to you.
Furthermore, PC is an open system. You don't have to use steam if you don't want to. You can just as easily get games DRM free from GOG or other sites. Steam does not define PC gaming, but most people use it because it is convenient and useful. It allows you to play your games on any PC, it allows you to download games at high speed and it occasionally has massive sales which allow you to buy AAA games for $3. And of course it has an offline mode. That helps.
The point is, on a PC you can still play your games with no internet. On a console where you have to check in every 24 hours, you can't. This is why I will always defend Steam as DRM done right.

 

[xX_GwAx_HaRdScOpZ_Xx]

My toaster constantly sends me tweets about English Muffins.

It drove me so crazy I had to smash it and leave it at the bottom of a closet.

Wait, are you serious? A toaster that suggests you things to toast? Over the internet?
I''m not sure if that's a point for or against what I wrote lol.
I'm gonna say against, considering the toaster irritated you to the point of having to hide it away.

While I really want to flag both of your posts for spam, I also can't stop myself from posting this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec
I'm so sorry.

 

[KOMega]

Hmmm what purpose do we need online for everything?
Yeah we are getting more integrated with the internet and all, but for just sharing stuff in games...
I dunno... I'm not exactly the social butterfly that everybody seems to be.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

He's probably right that one day the entire world will be always online. But how about we wait until such a time that everywhere has an internet connection and the internet never drops out on us? At this time we can't always be online and so Microsoft making something that is always online is still unsustainable.

This. Until ISP's go town-to-town personally ensuring every person has a stable and acceptable speed broadband connection that's as reliable as their phone line, there will not be a society of always-online consumers.

I don't know about the US or other countries but here in New Zealand we are definitely not ready for a 'always online future.'

Thanks to Telecom dragging its heels and refusing to end its monopoly (in the end the govt had to introduce a law ordering it to break up), the city I live in and around fourth biggest in the country is still having streets torn open for fibre installation.

I imagine rural areas will be worse off.

Fourth biggest? Hamilton?

And I agree. Finally Telecom is doing what we've been asking them to do for fucking years, and they're going to make a killing off it. I'm with Telecom for my internet now (it's a fuckton better to deal with than Slingshot, I'll give it that), and I'm more than ready to pay for fibre.

Yep, currently on Orcon but the Slingshot Global Mode (the ISP's vaunted way to bypass geo-blocking) is interesting.

If only Slingshot were actually a half decent company, we had to wait weeks for the bundled router to show up.

 

[Milanezi]

The other day my internet connection wouldn't work, I dunno why, but fact is, right then my only thought was "If this was Xbox One with an always online policy I'd be fucked right now, with an ORIGINAL and NEW game I OWN"... Enough said. He must understand that we must be always protected against crap like that, we do NOT live in a world of flawless connection, when we do no one will complain about this sort of policy, but until then it only protects the corporation and remains a potential damage to the client.

 

[Lilani]

Bold and interesting? maybe. The backlash wasn't as much aimed at the console itself as it was on the way MS handled the situation. It's not the always-on requirement that buried them; it was their 'deal with it' attitude. It's was how after they told us 'don't like what we're doing? then suck it' they expected us to do just that. It was Don Mattrick addressing a legitimate concern consumers raised with 'we've got you covered with our 7-year-old system'.

No Peter, we didn't overreact. We didn't attack microsoft without thinking first. We were provoked by their arrogance and their treatment of us, the customers.

Aaaand this is exactly it. The backlash agains the x-bone wouldn't have been so apocalyptic if Microsoft had approached the outcrys and criticisms with, "We understand your concerns and we'll do our best to alleviate them" rather than, "Don't like it? Well fuck you, you just don't understand us." If Microsoft had made their vision of the future a glass window we can look through and discuss rather than a steamroller that was heading our way whether we liked it or not, then things wouldn't have gotten so heated. But every single time they seemed to be coming out with a bucket of water to put out the flames, it turned out to be a bucket of gasoline. It was a failure of both marketing and PR.

They also failed to recognize that while online-connectivity is an aspect of technology now, and will only become moreso in the future, accessibility, versatility, and customer service are becoming just as important, if not more. Things like online connectivity and social media are only the things that make the rest possible. People are expecting to get more out of their technology, not less, and people are expecting to have more control over what they own. This is why Apple eventually had to let people change the backgrounds on their iPhones and iPads. This is why phones and tablets now come with front-facing cameras. People are expecting technology to work around them and the way they use things, and Microsoft was trying to make people work around them and the way they want their product to be used. Their ideas were generated from forward-thinking, but they weren't at all in line with the current state of their customer base, as far as both their desires and needs.

Were the good ideas? In theory, yes. But in this industry, an idea is worth nothing if the customer doesn't like it.

 

[Sansha]

He's probably right that one day the entire world will be always online. But how about we wait until such a time that everywhere has an internet connection and the internet never drops out on us? At this time we can't always be online and so Microsoft making something that is always online is still unsustainable.

This. Until ISP's go town-to-town personally ensuring every person has a stable and acceptable speed broadband connection that's as reliable as their phone line, there will not be a society of always-online consumers.

I don't know about the US or other countries but here in New Zealand we are definitely not ready for a 'always online future.'

Thanks to Telecom dragging its heels and refusing to end its monopoly (in the end the govt had to introduce a law ordering it to break up), the city I live in and around fourth biggest in the country is still having streets torn open for fibre installation.

I imagine rural areas will be worse off.

Fourth biggest? Hamilton?

And I agree. Finally Telecom is doing what we've been asking them to do for fucking years, and they're going to make a killing off it. I'm with Telecom for my internet now (it's a fuckton better to deal with than Slingshot, I'll give it that), and I'm more than ready to pay for fibre.

Yep, currently on Orcon but the Slingshot Global Mode (the ISP's vaunted way to bypass geo-blocking) is interesting.

If only Slingshot were actually a half decent company, we had to wait weeks for the bundled router to show up.

He's probably right that one day the entire world will be always online. But how about we wait until such a time that everywhere has an internet connection and the internet never drops out on us? At this time we can't always be online and so Microsoft making something that is always online is still unsustainable.

This. Until ISP's go town-to-town personally ensuring every person has a stable and acceptable speed broadband connection that's as reliable as their phone line, there will not be a society of always-online consumers.

I don't know about the US or other countries but here in New Zealand we are definitely not ready for a 'always online future.'

Thanks to Telecom dragging its heels and refusing to end its monopoly (in the end the govt had to introduce a law ordering it to break up), the city I live in and around fourth biggest in the country is still having streets torn open for fibre installation.

I imagine rural areas will be worse off.

Fourth biggest? Hamilton?

And I agree. Finally Telecom is doing what we've been asking them to do for fucking years, and they're going to make a killing off it. I'm with Telecom for my internet now (it's a fuckton better to deal with than Slingshot, I'll give it that), and I'm more than ready to pay for fibre.

Yep, currently on Orcon but the Slingshot Global Mode (the ISP's vaunted way to bypass geo-blocking) is interesting.

If only Slingshot were actually a half decent company, we had to wait weeks for the bundled router to show up.

So how does Slingshot advertise themselves as the favorite NZ ISP, or whatever they say in their ads?

I was on Slingshot for years, and between dropped connections, arbitrary fees and restrictions, randomly slow connection and really high ping on games, the only reason I stayed with them so long was because it was all I could afford. As soon as I was better off, the FIRST thing I did was switch to Telecom, and I'm fuckin' stoked.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

The anger towards the XBone stopped being unfair when Microsoft constantly refused to clarify details, insulted people for their legitimate concerns and more or less said "Well if you don't like it, deal with it! Either buy a 360 or fuck off, we don't need your business.

By the way, why do people keep acting like the Xbone was going to 'always online', anyway? Because in actuality, it wasn't, it really wasn't: Microsoft 'only' wanted a once-a-day check. The reason I say this is because some idiots say things like "Oh, but now Microsoft can't keep you games up to date" or "Oh, but now you can't benefit from the Cloud because Microsoft isn't going to be able to know when you're online now" (which is fucking stupid by itself, since when did any Online-only games and/or modes need you to be online all the time even when they're not being used), when the fact of the matter is all the 'always online' thing meant was 'You have to check in with Microsoft's parole officer once a day to prove that you're not a filthy pirate, you don't REALLY have to be online all the time'.

 

[Lunar Templar]

*rolls eyes* riiight .... there is such a thing is going about it the wrong way, and Microsoft was/is

 

[Atmos Duality]

The anger towards the XBone stopped being unfair when Microsoft constantly refused to clarify details, insulted people for their legitimate concerns and more or less said "Well if you don't like it, deal with it! Either buy a 360 or fuck off, we don't need your business.

By the way, why do people keep acting like the Xbone was going to 'always online', anyway? Because in actuality, it wasn't, it really wasn't: Microsoft 'only' wanted a once-a-day check. The reason I say this is because some idiots say things like "Oh, but now Microsoft can't keep you games up to date" or "Oh, but now you can't benefit from the Cloud because Microsoft isn't going to be able to know when you're online now" (which is fucking stupid by itself, since when did any Online-only games and/or modes need you to be online all the time even when they're not being used), when the fact of the matter is all the 'always online' thing meant was 'You have to check in with Microsoft's parole officer once a day to prove that you're not a filthy pirate, you don't REALLY have to be online all the time'.

While the system itself wasn't "Always Online", any game could EASILY be made Always Online via a dev package that syncs chosen code to the Azure Cloud at the developer's (or rather, Publisher's) leisure.
If the chosen code is essential for the game to run, then it will function as Always Online DRM.

Knowing what I do about computer networking and game design, I know that Cloud Computing can offer very little processing enhancement for games (for the average American user anyway, my market and the biggest MS is targeting).
The most likely usage in practical terms, is as an Always Online storehouse for publishers; something that the industry has been pushing and pushing and pushing for, for years now (even Mr. Molyneux here is trying to sell it using very stupid logic).

The real question then, is if given the option, would the publishers take it?
I have no doubt that they would; and were hoping to ease the mass-market into accepting Always Online as standard with the Xbone.

 

[MB202]

Thing is, WE'RE NOT AT THAT FUTURE YET! Hell, my Internet on my consoles disconnects pretty infrequently, for reasons unknown, so I don't want to have a system that expects me to stay online when I'm not entirely sure I can do that!

 

[direkiller]

As long as Steam continues to be used, people getting pissy about Always On DRM will be rightfully ignored

PC for the most part dopped the online only thing a few years ago, out of a large backlash. Steam included

most steam games only require it check into the server, then can be offline for the rest of the time the computer is on.
About a quarter of my games don't require that at all, some of these needed internet on there first start up and that was it.
Only one game I own requires online all the time and that is Planetside 2, which is more for the game itself rather then a DRM restriction.