360 Silver Live Accts Now Have Week Lag For Free Demos, Etc. >

	2007/12/04 17:19:40: Posted by DM
	Just a quick reminder, folks. With the new fall Xbox360 Dashboard update came a rather annoying limitation on the Xbox Live Silver free accounts. Now, free items such as demos and download packs will only be available to Xbox Live Gold members for the first week. Once the weke is up, then the Silver members will be able to access the free content. MS really wants you to buy that Gold account, oh well. >Link
	Labeled With  xbox360 microsoft xbox live Comments [20]  | Rate this article: -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  | Be the first to rate this article

That makes sense.

actually it dont make sense for the consumer all ms is doing is trying to force live on people

PSN users get everything first day.. they keep it simple and free with one standard

I gotta agree with Sky on this one...who the heck cares about a Demo...just let the people download them the first week if they want to.

I am a Gold member, yet Microsoft completely abused me, and others like me.

I strongly suggest that NO Xbox Live members purchase ANY of the Xbox Live Downloads, or any form of Download...because when your system has a defect, and you need to exchange it, then those games will no longer be playable online...you will be required to be connected to Xbox Live in order to play those games that were saved to your hard drive, because the License is registered to the Console, not the Hard Drive.



Microsoft will then say, "But, it was in the contract." And the fact is that they are correct...Soooo, the 100% solution to the problem is to NEVER download any Xbox Live Arcade or Xbox 360 downloads in the future.

If companies like Microsoft aren't going to treat customers properly, then we should NOT give them our business with services such as Xbox Live downloads!!!

I thought krogan was a 360 fanboy? *weeps eyes*

That's funny. Every game that I bought and kept on my hard drive was still available to me when I switched consoles and put in my original hard drive. I don't know what Krogan is talking about but I have 38 games and every one of them was with me since day 1, no matter how many consoles I went on with the hard drive.

thats great for you cellfish. the fact is its pretty much the same for me as with krogan. my xbox broke i got a new one but now only some arcade games and dlc work for me and some that doesn't. same for my brother's account and we're on the same xbox

I switched hard drives once had no problems. Just downloaded the xbox live profile and that was it.

When your console gets switched by Microsoft, they swap the serial numbers of your old console and your new console in order to tie your downloadable content to the replacement. However, the content is not available immediately. In order to complete the process, you need to redownload the full version of the content to enable the license on that console(with xbox live arcade games, this only takes about 5 seconds). I've had my console fail and followed this approach and so did a few friends.

Remember, this only applies to consoles replaced by Microsoft. In the case of consoles replaced by retailers, you'll have to call customer service and work with them to refund the points which has worked for a few people.

Regardless, some sort of modification to Microsoft's DRM concept needs to change. With Apple and Sony having flexible DRM licenses that seems to please most people, Microsoft needs to change their licensing agreement.

plus after the spring update, you could have everything you bought even after deleting them, all you had to do was to redownload them, at least, thats what i got

This is a buggy update. I smell another update coming soon. Can you say public beta?

Responses:

(1) If you download an Xbox Live Arcade game, the License is assigned to that Console, not the Hard Drive. If you have a system that is defective, and it is replaced, then you will 100% LOSE the ability to play those games OFFLINE...you will ALWAYS need to be connected to Xbox Live in order to play the games...and that sux.

(2) Nine, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I never was a "fanboy." I'm just an honest gamer who goes into great detail to explain things. That is why PS3 fans didn't like me--because the Playstation 3 has a LOT of problems.

(3) CellFish...Switching a Hard Drive would not be something that would cause you to lose your Licenses associated with Downloads, because the Licenses are not assigned to the Hard Drive; they are assigned to the Console.

(4) daveydz3, you are having the EXACT same problem that I am having. You know what I'm talking about, and I thank you for taking the time for confirming what I am talking about.

(5) Deihmos, like I said, switching hard drive or upgrading hard drives doesn't matter. The download Licenses are assigned to the Consoles, not the Hard Drives.



(6) IMPORTANT...weewee, you bring up something that is IMPORTANT...If you have an Xbox 360 Premium system that is defective and is replaced BY MICROSOFT then you can call Microsoft and ask that they allow you to have the Licenses transferred to the new (or refurbished) system that they gave you. You will need to redownload every game, but at least the Licenses will work again. The PROBLEM is that according to the contract, Microsoft REQUIRES that they come into contact with the Console. If you buy an Extended Warranty with a Retailer, and Exchange systems with the Retailer, then you CANNOT ask Microsoft to re-activate your Licenses according to Microsoft's current policies.



(7) IMPORTANT - The License numbers are actually fundamentally different when you download a game to the Xbox 360 Premium instead of an Xbox 360 Elite system.

What this means is that if you originally downloaded all of your Xbox Live Arcade games, and Xbox 360 Downloads to your Xbox 360 Premium system, but your Xbox 360 Premium system became defective, and then you bought an Xbox 360 Elite system to replace it, you can NEVER have the Licenses of your games Re-Activated by Microsoft, not even if they come into contact with it.





(8) If Microsoft wanted to, they could allow you to delete all of your Xbox 360 Arcade games, and have the Licenses completely removed...and then allow you to Re-Download those games for no cost on your Elite system. This would allow the correct Licenses to be written onto the Elite system in a way that would allow you to play your games OFFLINE.

*** But, Microsoft is being rude, and careless with their Customer Service. As a result, I--and others like me--will NEVER download another Xbox Live Arcade game or any type of Xbox Live download that costs money.

Krogan Battle Master Urdnot Wrex:

Exactly my point. The way Microsoft has handled the DRM for downloadable content has been nothing short of aggravating to users who purchased extended warranties through retailers and those who purchased a second console, such as an elite, for the hardware upgrades like HDMI.

MS really needs to rethink their approach, and possibly switch to a licensing structure similar to that of Apple's with ITunes where you had a set amount of units you could place the content on as well as the option to de-authorize all of those machines.

Response to weewee:

I agree 100%

But here is the problem...Microsoft doesn't care...UNLESS we all join together and agree NOT to purchase those Xbox Live Arcade games or Xbox Live Downloads...that is why I am NOT going to buy any more in the future, and I strongly suggest that everyone else make the decision to avoid purchasing Xbox Live Arcade games or Xbox Live Downloads.

If enough people do that for long enough, then Microsoft's wallet will feel the pinch, and they will change their policies!

I'm in the same exact situation as Krogan -- my Premium died and I bought a brand new Elite. All of my XBLA titles that I purchased on my Premium now require that I log into Live in order to play the full version.

So far, it hasn't been an issue since I always log into Live when I turn my console on, but it does bug me that Microsoft has designed the DRM this way. When I called Microsoft to see if they could be of any help, the customer service rep wouldn't even talk to me about it. He kept giving me one word answers "No" "Sorry"... not only was the experience frustrating, but it left me feeling guilty because I had bought a new console. And I was under the impression that Microsoft liked money.

i was going to try the whole call customer service up and work out to get all the dlc and arcade games that i CAN'T play REGARDLESS if i'm connected to live or not. but honestly i've lagged it.

my xbox is being sent in soon and i'm kinda hoping that'll fix the problem

after all they're using the warranty time i had from my original xbox 360 and not the one i got from the retailer after the original died. now that this one has died i'm hoping everything goes right

I changed my console once and all i did was transfer my profile to the new box and i was able to play all my arcade games online and offline. i did not have to redownload anything.

You can sign on without transferring the profile but to play the arcade games I assume you need to make the transfer.

Krogan Battle Master Urdnot Wrex: I changed the console not the hard drive then I downloaded my profile from Live for since it was a new console. Just signing in wouldn't work which I assume you are doing. I didn't know there was some issue with this since I had no problems.

bought 360 elite. kept old 360 hard drive. games play fine even after transfer :D

When I traded in my Ps3 for another 360 I had to redownload all my Arcade games. No big deal. Once I was online I would go to unlock the full version and it recognized that I had already purchased them in the past.

incoming00 and PimpDaddy:

The issue has nothing to do with being able to play the games online. This issue only affects the capability to play your games offline.

For most gamers, this is not a real issue since they're generally connected to Xbox Live. However, for those in a household that contain multiple gamers who each have their own profile, this DRM restriction becomes a major annoyance. The only solution is a workaround in which the profile that purchased the content is logged in with one controller while the other profile is logged in with another controller.

Microsoft needs to fix the DRM so that other users don't have to go through such a process just to play/use legitimately bought content.

I can still play the games offline even after changing the console but not the hard drive.