Elder Scrolls Online Xbox One/PS4 Locks Out People Who Buy Used or Rent

[Dusk]

Darwinianevolution said:

sabvre42 said:

Ka-pi96 said:

vivster said:
This would sound a lot better if the title said "Game company blocks content for people who didn't pay the game company for said content".

Guess you were a big fan of the original Xbox One and Don Mattrick then?

I was never a fan of the XB1, but I agree with killing used games - especially ones like this case.

 

There is no subscription, but the game is entirely online. If they allowed used copies to work, they would bankrupt themselves.

They have a projected cost (estimated play time) per player which could not be controlled if unlimited resales were possible. In a period of 5 years, the single game could be resold 2-12+ times. That's both server space and guaranteed service for all those people that contributed NOTHING for the said service.

Additionally, the price is going to drop. How can they justify unlimited server time to an unknown number of players for unknown number of years for 10-30?

I really disagree with that idea. When someone buys an used game they are not getting rights of online out of nowhere, those rights are going from the original buyer to the new user. The fact that the original owner doesn't own the game anymore doesn't change the fact that someone paid to use their services, even if it isn't the one playing right now. Videogame companies have to assume that the copy they sell is going to be used the maximum amount of time possible, and plan accordingly with enough extra content to compensate. If companies don't like that, they should go fully digital.

Unfortunately in many ways this is a user created problem. From the likes of pirates to nut jobs saying they are going to boycott a game and get it used (contradiction btw). So the game is good enough that someone is willing to pay money for it, they just don't want that money going to the people that made it. So they would prefer to pay a company like gamestop money for selling them an overpriced used copy instead of just supporting the people that actually worked on and developed it. 

People will just become more picky about what they buy if this kind of thing becomes a trend.