Activision really is a PITA

[BarkingGhostar]

OK, so my friends all labored into buying a One and we are now playing COD IW/MW and BF1. I actually bought a second One (S, this time) and noticed that while I was able to install the digital download of BF1 on both my One and One S and play without a disk (hence the digital d/l), I still have to have the disk in the console in order to play COD.

Seriously, the install for IW/MW is something on the order of 100GB and I still have to have the bloody disk inserted to play? I do not get it. What is it that Activision sees lacking in EA's model that they still feel the need to require a disk to play? Both already have access to my XBL profile and know practically everything that M$ knows about me.

To me, it is asinine things like this that make me feel good about others bootlegging stuff. Activision isn't making itself convenient for me to like them. So, when I am on the S (upstairs in my office) I will play BF1 and not COD. Does Activision care? Of course not. They already got the money.

 

[Lil Frier]

That's not an Activision thing at all. It's how the Xbox One OS works. If you own something digitally, you have two things set up there:

1. You have your "Home Xbox," where anyone can play the game on that Xbox without your being signed in.
2. You can play your digitally owned games on any console while you are logged in.

So, it's a means of game sharing that isn't official, and it lets you access your digital library on the road. It's only for digital stuff, though. If you own a game physically, you have to insert the disc for any game you want to play on any console. No games sharing there. If your XB1S came with a digital copy of CoD, and you had a physical copy of BF1 you'd be coming in with the exact complaint against EA instead, because it's an Xbox thing, not a publisher- or developer-specific one. It's Microsoft, and the PS4 does basically the same thing, from what I understand.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Playstation 4 and Xbox One are both the same. If you bought the game on disk, you have to have the disk in the drive to play the game. Doesn't matter who published the game.

You said you digitally downloaded Battlefiled 1....that's why you don't need a disk. Obviously you bought the retail disk for Call of Duty. If you had bought the retail disk for Battlefield 1, you would also have to have the disk in the drive to play it.

All games have to install to the hard drive too. That is the same on Playstation 4 and Xbox One

 

[cmdrdredd]

Playstation 4 and Xbox One are both the same. If you bought the game on disk, you have to have the disk in the drive to play the game. Doesn't matter who published the game.

You said you digitally downloaded Battlefiled 1....that's why you don't need a disk. Obviously you bought the retail disk for Call of Duty. If you had bought the retail disk for Battlefield 1, you would also have to have the disk in the drive to play it.

All games have to install to the hard drive too. That is the same on Playstation 4 and Xbox One

Yep that's the DRM. Unlike on the PC, there is no activation code after you install the game to acquire the rights to play the title. You need the disc. This prevents you from loaning out the disc for a hundred friends to install. Plus it means you can install and play the game without an internet connection.

 

[Lil Frier]

Yep that's the DRM. Unlike on the PC, there is no activation code after you install the game to acquire the rights to play the title. You need the disc. This prevents you from loaning out the disc for a hundred friends to install. Plus it means you can install and play the game without an internet connection.

Well, there IS an activation code, but it means going and buying a digital license (on top of the physical one). They did an OK job by offering the Home console sharing as a decent compromise between physical's ability to share and digital's account permanence.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Well, there IS an activation code, but it means going and buying a digital license (on top of the physical one). They did an OK job by offering the Home console sharing as a decent compromise between physical's ability to share and digital's account permanence.

I was referring to a physicla PC game where you can install from the disc but you have to activate the game via a code they give you inside the box before it will function. The only exception are DRM free titles such as The Witcher 3.