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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

#51

Well this is horrifying. I bought a Quest for a relative. He loves it, but he doesn't have a Facebook account, and has no interest in signing up. I have a Facebook account, but I don't use it, and I certainly don't want to connect my Oculus account. I guess we'll both have to sell our Quests. That means we'll lose all of our game purchases. I came to Oculus with eyes wide open knowing it was a Facebook company, but t…

I'm interested in buying it from you if this is actually the case.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#52
What happens if you were banned from Facebook (for example political censorship or other possible reasons I can't think of off the top of my head)? Is your Oculus device bricked and useless? I'm a fan of Oculus, but this is a bit of a turn off. But I guess if Apple makes their own VR headset, they probably require an Apple account but Apple isn't really a social network so feel less of a risk, same for Microsoft's Mixed Reality headsets too I'd imagine.

Then your purchases and stuff are lost too, I guess as WebXR matures though maybe there will be some great apps you can just pay directly for on the web, but I feel like if rumors of Apple making a headset they'll just skip WebXR and force the app store... I know other headsets including the Oculus supports WebXR but sorta feels like it's a conflict of interest to their own stores to me so wonder how much more advanced it'll get.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#53
post #25
post #13

Palmer Luckey, the original creator had this to say over on /r/oculus: I am already getting heat from users and media outlets who say this policy change proves I was lying when I consistently said this wouldn't happen, or at least that it was a guarantee I wasn't in a position to make. I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it w…

>In hindsight, the downvotes from people with more real-world experience than me were definitely justified. I don't want to assume bad intent, but I find it hard to believe that someone could be so naive about the project and the organization controlling it.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#54
post #32
post #5

>If you’re an existing user and choose not to merge your accounts, you can continue using your Oculus account for two years. At least this gives me enough time to sell my Oculus and buy from another company.

Exactly. I deleted my Facebook account years ago. I have an oculus account. Really disappointing though, it means I either have to link that to my girlfriend’s account or sell the oculus within two years. Realistically I’ll probably sell the quest, stick to buying steam games from now on, and buy a headset from a different company as soon as they get a wireless headset.

Is there anything to stop you from making a fake Facebook with a throwaway email and use that?

Or do they verify accounts in some way now?

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#56
Honestly, the number of times an acquiring company has promised "we'll never do this" and then "done this" is so staggering, I think any acquisition promises should be codified with the FTC during the acquisition process as consent decrees or the like, and it should require regulatory permission to roll back. And then anything claimed not listed as such should just be assumed to be a lie.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#57
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In hindsight, the downvotes from people with more real-world experience than me were definitely justified. I don't want to assume bad intent, but I find it hard to believe that someone could be so naive about the project and the organization controlling it.

Why do you find it hard to believe that someone could be so naive?

A combination of his past successes with Oculus, Facebook's track record, and his extraordinarily high confidence that the thing lots of people were afraid would happen, wouldn't happen

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#58
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exhibit n + 1 on why when you're acquired you're not in a position to promise anything to anyone despite any assurances from the acquirer. Or, from the consumer's side, why those promises should carry no weight.

We see this time and again but ... you SOLD, you're not the captain anymore. If the new captain doesn't make the promise, you can't give it much weight, and if it is Facebook, probably no weight even if they did :(

I suspect they do a lot to make you think you are the captain though to help get you to sell.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#59

Well this is horrifying. I bought a Quest for a relative. He loves it, but he doesn't have a Facebook account, and has no interest in signing up. I have a Facebook account, but I don't use it, and I certainly don't want to connect my Oculus account. I guess we'll both have to sell our Quests. That means we'll lose all of our game purchases. I came to Oculus with eyes wide open knowing it was a Facebook company, but t…

Just make a burner Facebook account. You can do so with a burner email. Annoying, but not horrifying.

Sometimes Facebook requires a photo ID to be submitted before "approving" a new account. Seems to happen when they suspect the person isn't real (fake name, or whatever).

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#60

So if I don't have a Facebook account and I buy an Oculus Quest after October, does this mean I may have to submit a copy of my driver's license just to set up a piece of consumer electronics?

You might not be able to use it even then. I deleted, not suspended, my Facebook account years ago and recently tried to create a new one because there was a Facebook group I needed access to. Created the account and a few minutes later it was suspended with no mention as to why and I was required to submit a photo of my driver's license to appeal the suspension. I did so and ended up waiting weeks before discovering that the account was now permanently suspended with no ability to appeal. No reason given. I literally did nothing between creating the account and it being suspended so I couldn't have violated any policies.
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