I was happy to hear Microsoft's announcement today since I'm a huge fan of Halo and Gears, and I was willing to skip them due to their policies. However, I still have this unsettling feeling about the company and the direction they want to go to. They made their intentions clear at E3 and the weeks prior, and I am unsure if that is the direction I want to go. I will still get the XBO, but definitely not at launch. I will observe them to see how they handle it. Say what you want about Nintendo, but I get a good vybe from them, and in some respects Sony as well. Microsoft = ? for me right now.

I read this from Eurogamer, and I find I agree with the section below

"Microsoft's new policies tell us what it is going to do in the first days of Xbox One, but they don't tell us that its desires have changed, and those desires were responsible for the old policies. Those desires were on full display at E3 last week, where Xbox executives repeatedly manoeuvred the conversation towards connected experiences and the portable game library, arguing that the choices we were losing were not as important as the benefits we gained. This is not true. It is more accurate to say that the choices we would lose are not as important to Microsoft as the resulting alternative. The reason that the original Xbox One policies were attractive to Microsoft is because it wants to own the living room with an Xbox service that can rival iTunes, and they would have been a very neat fit with that objective.

I started off my original post about game ownership by quoting something I wrote during E3 in 2012. "If we are entertained by what Microsoft chooses to do for its own gain," I suggested, "then that is simply a happy coincidence." The coincidence was over, I concluded, because Xbox One's original DRM policies were devastating. All I can conclude today is that the coincidence has been extended. To judge by what Microsoft said at E3, it has probably been done so reluctantly. I see nothing to suggest that the desire behind its original decisions has changed, and until Microsoft convinces me that it understands the significance to gaming of ownership and legacy, I will find it hard not to be pessimistic."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-19-microsoft-restores-game-ownership-and-expects-us-to-smile

So, what do you guys think? It doesn't matter if you wanted an XBO from the beginning or not. I just want to hear the thought of different gamers with respect to this topic.

I think the important thing is the policies are gone. Clearly this is not what they desired, but they realized that the market would not buy what they were selling, and they changed it. I don't really need our desires to be aligned, I need them to cater to my desires if they want my money, and they seem to be doing that. I'm not looking for a soulmate here, I'm looking for a game console. Microsoft's "desires" are quite irrelevant to me so long as they make good games and don't put unwanted restrictions on them

No it just means they realized the XBOX One as it was was going to fail epically after the initial release.. once they saw the response they got on FB and paid attention to gaming sites... and they had to change it drastically.. (The Online DRM Policies) Or get out of the business... cause gamers aren't having that...

That's one way too look at it, and while I disagree with you, I respect your opinion. Those polices could be short term - a bandaid - in the sense that they were only done to please people in the short run before reverting to their original agenda.  And their desires are not irrelevant, otherwise people would not have made such a fuss over their policies.

what MS did today is what they shoukd take note on for now on(also Sony and Ninty)

you guys don't have all the cards; many of won't just lay down and accept what YOU think is best for US! the only good thing for MS is that they learned their humility early compared to what Sony and Nintendo had to go with their consoles; PS3 N64(GC?)

Exactly, with the key words there being initial release. So I wonder, will they continue along those lines, or will they revert in some way to achieve their original vision? Would it be too risky for them to do something along those lines?

part of their clarifaction later in the day said they would not be going back on the policies for the rest of the gen.  Makes sense, you can't really change a product like that once it is on the market.  

That being said, I don't think Microsoft even knew what they desired.  Their executives were out their promoting this thing half heartedly and aimlessly.  They never even came close to making a case for it.  Obviously there was a lot of inner turmoil going on within the company as their messaging was all over the place.  The problem isn't that Microsoft had misaligned desires, it is that Microsoft didn't even know what their desires were.  

Perhaps, now, Microsoft can take a step back and re-calibrate.  Figure out what kind of product they actually want the x1 to be and get the thing back on track.  

All businesses has to make money. Very true. But you need a clientele that you can appeal to without breaking the bank. It's a business, not a charity. But businesses are financial arrangements that cater to both parties fairly. So in essence a business must cater to a clientele in such a way what it will allow it to continue doing so in a financially responsible matter. Microsoft looked after themselves and themselves only, trying to convince you that what they wanted to implement was to your benefit. It was only when they found that those they were trying to convince were not easily swayed, i.e. Microsoft was full of themselves. You had one reality of the Xbox One becoming an utter failure, and the other reality of catering to the consumers. Pretty much, they were forced to serve the consumer if they wanted to keep doing business. They were forced to choose the less of two evils in their eyes.

Right now it would be to risky.. since Sony and Nintendo don't have those kind of policies.. if they were to change their tone... at anytime.. it would make them lose their fan base.. and as thus you would most likely see a lot of One's on store shelves.. now Next Gen.. (If there is one) This may change.. but I think they realise they can't afford to do this.. but I also believe they may try to senak it in.. somehow.. 

I'm not educated in law, but I read on another forum members saying they wouldn't be able to just turn on DRM mid-lifecycle legally. But let's say for arguments sake, they can do it. Sony would again say NO DRM then collect all the future X1 buyers and maybe pick up a heap of people crossing to PS4 and after that...majority will not trust MS again. It doesn't make long term sense for them any way you try to see it.