Quote Originally Posted by Aulayna View Post
Don't get me wrong I fully agree that some of the policies were harsh and some of the thoughts aren't exactly 100% accurate but Skyblade asked where people were coming from so I summed up what the general to and fro of it was based on what I've read from both sides of the fench.
I wasn't in any way intending to accuse you of agreeing with Microsoft's old policies if that's how it seemed. I realized you were playing devil's advocate, and I know some people make these arguments sincerely. I just felt it worth addressing them anyway.

But to touch on one point as I'm at work and don't have much time:

As far as physical copies? If you want to play from the disc you can anytime on any machine. Want to install it on your hard drive? That requires an internet connection and works the same way as digital copies except maybe you only get the one license to install it, and once you trade it in, all that needs to happen is a store scans it and it's de-authorized so next time you're online you lose the installed copy.
Which would require a substantial hardware installation at retail locations and there's no guarantee the store will even use it. Plus it further reduces revenue of fledgling independent retailers who can't afford such POS systems. The other ultimate irony is it would need an internet connection to update/revoke licenses. "Oh sorry our connection is down, you can't trade games in today."
Yeah, I was thinking about this after the fact, particularly since the idea of having certain retailers being able to de-license games didn't set well with me to begin with when that was Microsoft's plan and here's a simpler solution: each physical disc has a code which allows one local install (it could be more than one though really. The number isn't really important). You can still play from the disc on any machine, and you can install the game on the hard drive, and use the code included with the disc (probably even stamped on it to prevent loss) to activate the install on your machine. But make the codes reusable. If you install the game on a new machine, it the code will register it to that machine and deactivate the previous install the next time that 360 is online. Simple for the consumer, no extra steps for retailers purchasing used games, anyone can sell their game to anyone else, etc. On the consumer end it would be quite an elegant and easy to implement solution. And the risk of people trying to exploit this to pirate something is slim to nil.

And if the customer tries to install it but the code doesn't work for some reason, call up the companies support line, give them the code, they give you a new one and deactivate the old one.

Now, apparently, some people were all for the idea of sharing plans so perhaps that is an avenue that can be explored with authenticating machines like how iTunes works (similar to your example). Though I suspect the pressure here is coming more from the IP owners and publishers than the hardware manufacturers themselves and they're probably concerned with "what if this person never connects the de-authenticated machine to the internet again." A relatively minor issue to most of us I'm sure but a potential loss of revenue in the eyes of the bean counters.
Honestly, I think the question of "what if the person never connects the de-authorized machine again" is a non-issue as well, and really no different than used game sales are now. Odds are when someone finishes the game, they never go back to it. I doubt the number of people trying to actively pirate games by these means would be very high. If anything, the idea of sharing games with family represents a more credible threat to their sales in my eyes, and even then, for the majority of people it's a non-issue.

Then again, I'm fairly firmly in favour of the notion that companies are probably spending more money trying to stop piracy and used sales than it's actually costing them. But more importantly, I think we've come to a point with the fallout from E3 where even if it was the publishers pushing Microsoft for these DRM measures in the first place, they've recognized that customers won't stand for it and that it's in their best interests to back off. Which largely explains why companies like EA and Ubisoft were doing an about face on used games inside of 24 hours of the Microsoft presentation, and why we're seeing more and more companies back off of things like online multiplayer passes. Whatever they may have wanted before, they're realizing now that these are fights they aren't going to win.