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Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

oculus.com

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Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#371

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Because the companies make a large amount of money on the platform. Look at Apple/Google/MS/Sony/Nintendo charging for access to the platform - either explicitly for online play, by taking a cut of sales on the platform, or in the case of the console makers - both. As someone who prefers to play games alone, it's frustrating. The first five minutes after installing Steam is a constantly stream of "stfu and stop shovi…

I get all my games from Codex and Fitgirl. No multiplayer, but you don't want that anyway.

Don't sell CODEX/PLAZA short - there are Steamworks and CreamAPI multiplayer fixes shipped sometimes, and sometimes Fitgirl will add them in with the repack.

(Anybody reading this - there are publicly available NFO files and posts from Fitgirl that indicate what is included in a release/repack. I would never advocate violating copyright, and I certainly do not do so in a personal capacity.)

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#372
post #172

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But did Facebook add any value (i.e. engineering money/hours) to improve the device? What you've listed are all negatives, but there have to be at least a few positives to come out of it.

I suppose. But at the same time, for any new users who value their own privacy the device is now pretty useless, and for any existing users who value their privacy but also want to be up-to-date and get new features, they're also probably going to be locked out in future updates. So you kind of have to excuse them for focusing on the negatives, because they don't get to enjoy the positives. It's kind of a moot point…

The vast majority of those users likely also have a Facebook, Instagram, and/or Whatsapp account.

Without Facebook's funding, none of the recent advancements are likely to exist in the first place. Valve hasn't done it, HTC hasn't done it, Sony hasn't done it. Because it is hard, expensive, and a money losing endeavor (for the forseeable future).

To be clear, I am strongly against the requirement, but am glad the product exists.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#374
post #222

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... except when the non-bad company you bought your DK-1 from gets bought by a bad company.

Non-bad companies could set up "will not get bought by Facebook" poison pills. Say they will release all IP to the public domain when acquired by Facebook. Enforceable contract with a third party.

That's exactly what happened here. The question is whether Oculus's customers will enforce the promises of never requiring a Facebook login.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#375

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Facebook deals in contracts, not promises and even if it was contractually agreed upon, what would you do about it? Sue? At a guess you'd count the money one more time, shrug and maybe send a short apologetic note about how terrible you feel about it. And then count the money again.

I'm absolving Palmer of making a promise he couldn't keep because of Facebook. Palmer is correct here and shouldn't be getting the blowback that he is. Obviously Facebook can do what they want within the terms.

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Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#376

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For me it's the reason, why I never started gaming again. I just wanna buy a game and play. I don't wanna have any spyware on my PC.

GOG is good if the game you want to play is on there - if you don't install GOG Galaxy. You can download an executable installer from their website that is DRM free, can be installed offline, and you can keep a copy of forever.

GOG's weird position on Linux users quacks like a duck in my opinion.

The quotes have a real Tim Sweeney vibe to them.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#377

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No. This development was trivially predictable right when Facebook acquired Oculus. Which is why I bought Vive instead. You don't need to be a genius to see stuff like this ahead of time. All you have to do is refuse to be gaslit and be honest about the high-level drivers of corporate decision-making.

I also spent an extra $100 to buy a Vive instead of a Rift. I didn't predict this exact action but I didn't trust Facebook to keep their fingers off of it

$100 doesn't sound worth not having to use a facebook account to me. you can just make a bogus one with no info on it.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#378
post #299

"If you are an existing user and choose not to merge your accounts, you can continue using your Oculus account for two years." Phew

As someone noted above -- that 2 years is the statutory warranty period for the EU.

They are setting that time limit so existing users can't call to return Oculus saying "I don't agree to these terms" because _they aren't terms yet_ for that user. But by the time they finally require you to log in with the account, it will be impossible to refund because you are outside the legal warranty period for both US and EU.

It's planned exactly to trap people who already bought so that some percentage will "give in" and just log into Facebook so that they don't suddenly have a VR device (and VR library) that's not worth anything to them anymore.

There are far more people who will do this than those that won't, and that's a portion that COULD have returned it if Facebook was allowing them to.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#379

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Just make a fake FB account exclusively for this purpose. If you're forced to use a FB account at least don't link it to your actual profile. I have a separate fake FB account for every service that requires FB.

This is great advice until Facebook blocks your secondary accounts, which might end up costing you access to any data/saves/content tied to your oculus or whatever linked services. Just look at how much destruction Google causes people and businesses by closing down all of their accounts for even accidental associations with flagged accounts.

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Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#380
> We will take steps to allow you to keep using content you have purchased, though we expect some games and apps may no longer work.

Complain as much as you want about Steam, at least they are a games store and store only.

I don't know why anyone would buy games from the Oculus store.

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