Xbox One Games Will Still be Playable When Servers Shut Down

[thethird0611]

Dont you love the Escapist population? The day before today I was reading post full of "YOU CANT PLAY GAMES ONCE SERVERS GO DOWN...".

Then, the next day... "Oh dont worry, once we decide the Xbox One is through its cycle, you will still be able to play all of your games. There is no risk."

Escapist population: "XBOX ONE STUPID".

Instead of saying in a civilized tone, "Hey Xbox, but why not just have it in the first place?" They just spout off random hate because of the group think of this place. There is no "Oh, thats good to hear, but I still have problems", its just... the Escapist, thats all I can say. Makes me think of the whole ME3 thing.

Note: I know 'population' is an exaggeration, but just look at this thread, and the other sub-forums for all the X1 hate.
Note 2: And since I HAVE to say this so people dont say it... Not a fanboy, not buying an X1, I have my own complaints about the system, but im not acting like Microsoft killed my child.

 

[Raine_sage]

Wait I'm confused here. Ok so the reason it touches base with MS every 24 hours is so that it can tell them if you sold/gave away a game within those last 24 hours so they can remove it from your console and transfer the license.

So if the 24 hour check in system is disabled should they stop supporting the servers come next generation, how would buying/giving games work? Would you just not be able to anymore? Or would they change the system so that players can update it manually somehow? But in order to do that it seems like those features would have to be included somewhere in the console at launch which means the 24 hour check in was never necessary to begin with which means it's only a matter of time before someone cracks it anyway...

And now I've gone cross-eyed.

Alternatively they're just talking out their ass or using double speak as some people have mentioned. Saying "We won't drop server support" rather than "It will be able to work offline should we drop server support."

 

[Entitled]

Escapist population: "XBOX ONE STUPID".

No one said that.

People are citing actual problems with the statement, not imitating Hulk-speechin allcaps. That's pretty significant, given that it's exactly the "civilized tone" that you are criticizing, which is pretty easy to misrepresent by making up your own tone.

 

[Fraser Fitzpatrick]

Tell us major, does the phrase "Designed for flexibility" really apply to a console that cuts your access to your games if it can't connect to the internet once every 24 hours?

 

[thethird0611]

Escapist population: "XBOX ONE STUPID".

No one said that.

People are citing actual problems with the statement, not imitating Hulk-speechin allcaps. That's pretty significant, given that it's exactly the "civilized tone" that you are criticizing, which is pretty easy to misrepresent by making up your own tone.

Since you decided to just pick out a line to make your post seem better... give me a second...
""We cant support these costs so we`re shutting down the servers. If you want a gaming experience you need to buy our new console; The Xbox Poo.""
"Seriously, Escapist should not take any of these bastards at their word, and I don't just mean Microsoft, that goes for Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and all other corporate sociopaths. Why would you trust them?"
" But everything we've heard about the console has demonstrated that it is incredibly inflexible and they are completely willing to just screw over the consumer like that."
"These Microsoft executives are just scum, pure fucking scum."
"Yeah, I'm totally fucking done with this shit. If microsoft are gonna go in this direction, the least they could do is be clear about their crap."
"Also, I don't like this guy's hat." (Sorry, this one was funny xD)
"So there is no point in making paying customers suffer through all this bullshit."
"They basically blatantly admit there is a way to turn off the 24 hourly check up and they just don´t give a shit about you."

This is from the front page of this news article. What I typed up earlier was a all capital exaggeration of what would be said, and it encompasses all of this. I also didnt pick the "kinda like my point" ones.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Well this just opens a new can of worms. If this is possible at the end of the generation, then why not just scrap the DRM now? It's the question that begs to be answered.

Um, so people don't PIRATE THE GAMES?

Isn't that obvious?

That's the whole point of DRM.

But the check in process won't do anything to stop piracy as far as we know. It's a simple check that the console is connected to the internet, there is no games library scanning or double checking every game has a receipt, it's just a simple

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole problem with so-called modded consoles, that is Xbox 360s, is that in order to play pirated games on them you both had to modify the console and could not connect to Xbox Live. If you did connect, your console would "brick" as they say.

So, assuming that it's the case, then requiring it to connect to the internet cuts out the loop hole of playing pirated games offline.

Yes, but all the modders need to do is while they mod the console to accept pirated games in exactly the same way as the 360, is to include in their mod a removal of the 24 hour check in procedure, meaning the console no longer tries to connect to the internet.

This is an incredibly easy thing to do, SimCities always online DRM was nullified by deleting two lines of code. Even if Microsoft make the online check in procedure more complicated, once the modders crack the console DRM it'll be automatically included into the Xbox One crack code, and so someone wanting to crack their console will have to go through no extra steps to disable the auto check in.

And because it's console DRM, once someone managed to disable the online check in the crack will be open for anyone to use for the rest of the console's lifecycle. The 24 Hour DRM however, will remain.

 

[Olas]

He kinda tapdanced around the question a little bit, didn't he?

That's certainly something we would not do.

What is? What wouldn't you do? Is he saying that they would not make games that stops functioning after servers go down, or are they saying they wouldn't shut down the servers ever?

If he means the latter he's full of bullshit, if he means the former it's hard to believe the cloud computing angle will really provide much benefit.

STOP BEING AMBIGUOUS AND JUST TELL US HOW IT'LL WORK, MICROSOFT.

Also: flexibility? I'd think letting me play games off the disk OR the hardrive would give me the most flexibility. Microsoft suddenly thinks disks are the most cumbersome devices in existence and we're all just begging for a way out.

 

[Olas]

Escapist population: "XBOX ONE STUPID".

No one said that.

People are citing actual problems with the statement, not imitating Hulk-speechin allcaps. That's pretty significant, given that it's exactly the "civilized tone" that you are criticizing, which is pretty easy to misrepresent by making up your own tone.

Since you decided to just pick out a line to make your post seem better... give me a second...
""We cant support these costs so we`re shutting down the servers. If you want a gaming experience you need to buy our new console; The Xbox Poo.""
"Seriously, Escapist should not take any of these bastards at their word, and I don't just mean Microsoft, that goes for Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and all other corporate sociopaths. Why would you trust them?"
" But everything we've heard about the console has demonstrated that it is incredibly inflexible and they are completely willing to just screw over the consumer like that."
"These Microsoft executives are just scum, pure fucking scum."
"Yeah, I'm totally fucking done with this shit. If microsoft are gonna go in this direction, the least they could do is be clear about their crap."
"Also, I don't like this guy's hat." (Sorry, this one was funny xD)
"So there is no point in making paying customers suffer through all this bullshit."
"They basically blatantly admit there is a way to turn off the 24 hourly check up and they just don´t give a shit about you."

This is from the front page of this news article. What I typed up earlier was a all capital exaggeration of what would be said, and it encompasses all of this. I also didnt pick the "kinda like my point" ones.

Do you not know how to put something inside a quote box? It's easy, just surround the text with [ quote ] and [ /quote ].

And if you do it correctly it should look like so:

MICROSOFT ATE MY BABY!!!!

 

[Ashoten]

NO he didnt say that the games would be playable. He avoided the question by saying the system was "flexable". Then Told us to buy it and trust them.......nope I do not trust you microsoft.

 

[Callate]

Dont you love the Escapist population? The day before today I was reading post full of "YOU CANT PLAY GAMES ONCE SERVERS GO DOWN...".

Then, the next day... "Oh dont worry, once we decide the Xbox One is through its cycle, you will still be able to play all of your games. There is no risk."

Escapist population: "XBOX ONE STUPID".

Instead of saying in a civilized tone, "Hey Xbox, but why not just have it in the first place?" They just spout off random hate because of the group think of this place. There is no "Oh, thats good to hear, but I still have problems", its just... the Escapist, thats all I can say. Makes me think of the whole ME3 thing.

In fairness, Major Nelson didn't exactly say "when we decide the XBox One is through its cycle" et al. The exact quote was:

"After the XBox One servers are shut down at the end of the new generation, will XBox One games still be playable?"

I'll just say this...We haven't even started this generation, so it's kind of early to talk about the end of the generation. I mean, that's certainly... something that we would not do, that's not the way the system is designed, it's designed for flexibility, but... let's get the system out there, first.

And, sure, there's a fair amount of reflexive hate towards Microsoft in general and The XBox One in specific. But it's also true that there's one hell of a lot of wiggle-room in both the question and the response, and on the whole interviewee seems less interested in answering questions than spinning everything towards positive, market-tested terms like "flexibility" and "the future". It's hard not to feel that it's less a straight answer than one more iteration of the "wait and see" response that we've seen far too much of from Microsoft's spokespeople.

Now, if I were part of Microsoft's PR team, I'd be biting down on the cyanide capsule right about now.

Let me try that again. If I were part of Microsoft's PR team, I'd be cagey about answering questions with definitive, unambiguous answers as well; it seems like nearly everything Microsoft has confirmed about the console in hard-and-fast terms has only served to confirm people's worst suspicions and stoke the fires of resentment. But that's not to say there aren't real reasons for people to be both resentful and mistrustful towards Microsoft, and I don't think they're succeeding in making their case- in part because of both such noncommittal non-answers and the combination of patronizing and glad-handing attitudes with which those answers are dispersed.

And that impression is far from confined to The Escapist. I'm seeing similar things from Penny Arcade, from Edge Magazine, from the message boards on sites like IGN and Gamespot. As of today, the "standard" edition of the XBox One has gone from somewhere in the upper 60s of Amazon.com's top 100 video game best sellers to falling off the list entirely- in part aided by the PS4 Watch Dogs Launch day bundle (#3), the PS4 Battlefield 4 launch day bundle (#5), the PS4 Launch Day edition (#6), and the PS4 Killzone Launch Day bundle (#8).

 

[chiefohara]

Bollocks.

Ye could have made it backwards compatible, ye didn't.

Ye could have passed xbox live and arcade games over from 360 to Xbox One, ye didn't.

Lying sack of %^*%^&

When Xbox one goes out of style ye will show the same amount of loyalty to it as ye are showing to 360 owners now.

Complete total and utter Bollocks.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Well this just opens a new can of worms. If this is possible at the end of the generation, then why not just scrap the DRM now? It's the question that begs to be answered.

Um, so people don't PIRATE THE GAMES?

Isn't that obvious?

That's the whole point of DRM.

But the check in process won't do anything to stop piracy as far as we know. It's a simple check that the console is connected to the internet, there is no games library scanning or double checking every game has a receipt, it's just a simple



= No action
= Disable games

There is no piracy check, no benefit to publishers, no benefit to developers, and no benefit to customers, but there are negative consequences for consumers since their product will refuse to work if a superfluous requirement is not met that will not needed for many of the games it will affect.

Are you sure that it's a simple 'is there Internets' check? Even Microsoft wouldn't be that stupid. It would be because of some DRM or account check-in scheme bullshit, but not simply checking if the console can connect to the internet in general. Do you have a reference or something to suggest otherwise?

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

You can kind of finally see the logic once you analyse the (admittedly very vague) family sharing policy. Microsoft must be banking on the idea that being able to play through someone's entire library as long as you can connect to the net (and possibly have a Gold membership) will be enough to encourage people to ignore the 24hr check.

Of course, this carrot and stick approach is rather bold considering that they don't so much hold the stick out in front of you as surgically implant it into your skull.

 

[wsmieszek]

I really do see the reasons behind the check, especially when the entire library is all digital. It could be, however, handled so much better - why the hell won't you just learn from Steam? Yes, conceivably a hundred people could download games from one account and turn the offline mode to play them "illegally". In that case, why wouldn't you make going online really worth it as opposed to forcing it like a parole officer? Achievements, non-local multiplayer, automatic updates, mods, dlc, inbuilt cross-game chat... There are just so. many. better. ways to do this thing...

 

[aba1]

So basically all the bullshit about the 24 hour checkins being "mandatory" and "critical to the console" was complete shit. Thats Microsoft for your forward thinking pro-consumer outlook.

Except, again, that's not what he said. What he said was they wouldn't just shut down the servers at the end of the cycle, not that your Xbone would never be bricked by Microsoft taking the servers offline.

You are right but experience and logic both dictate they will. They shut down the original xbox's online service they already announced that they plan to shut down the 360's online service and most older games shut down their service eventually. Eventually they won't be making money on the XBone anymore and it will be costing them money to host all their games in their cloud and have daily check ups on every single user and they simply won't do it cause it will be costing them a ton of money.

 

[Grabehn]

First: Who's major Nelson?

And second: So they have a bunch of bullshit that is not really necesary and they could not use it, but they want to use it... WOW, Everyone's EA nowadays... or maybe EA turned a bit Microsoft-ish?

 

[Armadox]

Well, first comes my favorite logic on the idea of server issues. How much money does it take to keep servers running indefinitely? Infinite money. Microsoft is not one to spend infinite money, and WILL shit can the servers straight up rather then leave one or two running to keep up with the checks and balances necessary to keep the X-box One running as we think it's designed. This is not a PC, it's not meant to be the gateway movement between work and play. It's an entertainment console, and they'll treat it like such, they don't have to up-grade it or hold the authentication in the same way they have to for PC Operating Systems, because in the end they chock it up to a toy.
Two, what happens if I swipe your disk and install it on my X-box One? You put out a complaint to Microsoft that it's stolen property and I have no right to your license, and I write to them that you sold it to me and that since I have the c.d. and purchase the license as intended does the license you have vanish? How do you fight people selling the disk, then saying it was stolen so they don't have to lose their license?
And situations like this are going to arise. If you purchase a game, and I take it from you before you get to download it, and download it myself isn't the license instantly mine cause it's attached to my X-box One? Not a big problem if your a lone guy, but in a college dorm? Who knows.
I'm just seeing the same issues that arise when servers go down for PC. You know that you can still buy Auto Assault in Big Lots? What do you get if you purchased it for 2 bucks on their discount rack right now? What do you get if you purchase City of Heroes? In a couple years what'll you actually get if you pick up a copy of Halo for the X-box One?

 

[nightwolf667]

So either they're planning to never shut down the servers (which of course is complete bull and is going to enrage people when they do it) or singleplayer stuff can be played offline perfectly fine.

Jesus christ I thought all their digging was done but they're just chucking in more and more shovels into this hole.

They seem to think that if they dig hard enough, fast enough, they'll reach China.

 

[porous_shield]

I hate his responses. It's all well and good for him to say that people should wait for the console to actually come out before answering questions about the end of that consoles lifespan, but they're expecting people to buy an expensive console and then invest in it with games and peripherals so we better damn well know if at the end of the console's lifespan if it all goes to nothing.

Oh well. Microsoft is certainly digging it's own grave with an excavator.

 

[Starke]

So either they're planning to never shut down the servers (which of course is complete bull and is going to enrage people when they do it) or singleplayer stuff can be played offline perfectly fine.

Jesus christ I thought all their digging was done but they're just chucking in more and more shovels into this hole.

They seem to think that if they dig hard enough, fast enough, they'll reach China.

Well, it's cheaper than shipping by boat.