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-   -   Question about XBLA & multiple accounts (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/video-game-talk/515860-question-about-xbla-multiple-accounts.html)

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 04:08 PM
Question about XBLA & multiple accounts
 
I have two accounts on my 360, mine, and one for the wife & kids. My account is a new account, since my old account lapsed and is no longer recoverable. Also, the day Halo 3 came out, I exchanged my 360 for a new Halo edition. I recovered my XBLA purchases (made with the wife and kid's acct), but my Oblivion DL's are lost because they were purchased with my old (and expired) account. One of the XBLA purchases that we made was Bankshot Billiards. Now, when I play it on the wife's acct, all is good, but when I sign in with MY acct, it only gives me the trial. Is this right? Before I exchanged the 360, my Oblivion downloads blanketed any account that was signed in. No matter which acct you signed in with, you had the Knights of Nine, Vial Lair, etc... Why isn't it letting me do that with XBLA?

Michael Corvin 10-30-07 04:18 PM
all downloads are tied to the gamertag and 360. You dumped the 360 you downloaded them with originally so the only way to play them is to be signed in to the gamertag you recovered them with.

fujishig 10-30-07 06:04 PM
wait, how does the gamertag lapse and become non-recoverable?

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 06:32 PM
Originally Posted by fujishig
wait, how does the gamertag lapse and become non-recoverable?
If you let it expire, and it stays expired for 60 days (I think, maybe 90), you can't recover that tag, and if you get a new 360, all DL's are lost forever that were associated with that acct.. I let the tag expire because I was going to make a new one anyhow, and all the stuff I DL'd was still on my 360, so no big deal, right? WRONG! When I exchanged my 360, I lost all my DL's. I fought with MS and they basically said "Screw you, buddy!".

fujishig 10-30-07 06:35 PM
Originally Posted by dvdsteve2000
If you let it expire, and it stays expired for 60 days (I think, maybe 90), you can't recover that tag, and if you get a new 360, all DL's are lost forever that were associated with that acct.. I let the tag expire because I was going to make a new one anyhow, and all the stuff I DL'd was still on my 360, so no big deal, right? WRONG! When I exchanged my 360, I lost all my DL's. I fought with MS and they basically said "Screw you, buddy!".
Hmm... I had no idea. Why would they do that? They reserve the gamertag, so you can't even sign up with that same gamertag anyway, right?

Thanks for the info, though. I signed up my buddies with the free month of Live, with the intention that they could use the gamertag again when they get a 360... had no idea they expire.

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 06:40 PM
Yeah, the tag stays in limbo...you can't EVER use it again, but it doesn't 'go back into the mix' either. It's like a dead person's social security number.

mbs 10-30-07 06:45 PM
Originally Posted by dvdsteve2000
If you let it expire, and it stays expired for 60 days (I think, maybe 90), you can't recover that tag,
Holy crap. That is worth knowing, so thanks for sharing.

How does a gamertag go into expiration? Will simply not playing the gamertag for XX number of days do it?

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 06:51 PM
No, if it was a gold account, when your XX months expire and you don't renew your gold membership for said amount of days, it dies. Your DL's will still be playable, as mine were, as long as you have the same 360, FOR as long as you have the same 360. My problem was mine was working crappy, so I exchanged it.

tonyc3742 10-30-07 06:51 PM
How does a gamertag "expire"? Just no activity--silver or gold--for X (60, 90) days?
Can a tag with a gold account expire?

edit: So if I'm gold, then let that Gold lapse (ie don't renew), I can lose my tag? I thought I went silver?

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 06:56 PM
Originally Posted by dtcarson

edit: So if I'm gold, then let that Gold lapse (ie don't renew), I can lose my tag? I thought I went silver?
That's what I figured, especially since I was still playing my DL'd stuff, but boy was I wrong. I lost about $150 worth of DL's.

mbs 10-30-07 06:57 PM
Originally Posted by dvdsteve2000
No, if it was a gold account, when your XX months expire and you don't renew your gold membership for said amount of days, it dies.
Is there no way to transition to Silver after your Gold ends?

If not, what a scam... I have enough invested in XBLA that I would essentially be forced to keep Gold, even if I only needed Silver.

dvdsteve2000 10-30-07 06:59 PM
You may want to check into if & how you can go silver after a gold membership expires. I just assumed, and you know what happens when you assume...you get fucked.

tonyc3742 10-30-07 08:09 PM
Wow. OK, the lockdown on XBLA games with a new console is bad enough, but this is pure-d bullshit. At least it could be argued that the one-360 thing for games/DLC is a piracy prevention, but what's the benefit in MS's eyes to eradicating a gamertag? If I were to lose my (current) piddling 1500 gamerscore points because of this, it sure wouldn't make me rebuy (if sold) and replay the games, I'd say F* it, if they don't want my account, fine.
It does say, for Silver,
"Access Xbox Live Marketplace including Xbox Live Arcade, demos, and trailers", and I can't imaging they wouldn't want to sell games to Silver members, but then again, I'm not Microsoft, and I can't imaging pushing a product with a 33%-100% failure rate.

Here's a response from Microsoft:

Regarding your inquiry, if you purchased a pre-paid membership and you do not have a renewal set, you will drop from the Gold membership tier to the Silver membership tier when your Gold membership expires. When this occurs, you no longer have multiplayer online gaming privileges. However, you do still have access to all the Silver membership features. Additionally, you keep your gamertag and can download content from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

If you have a credit card renewal set and that card is in decline, you will carry an outstanding balance and will go through the standard decline cycle, not dropping to the Silver tier.
"

so you should be able to keep it, but maybe if you go "idle" and don't log in in X days, they'll kill it.

Decker 11-01-07 01:29 AM
One other thing relating to the original post : I believe if you BOTH log in prior to purchase, then the purchased game will be tied to both accounts and be playable on a new console when either is logged in. I may be wrong, but I think I've read that before.

Michael Corvin 11-01-07 06:30 AM
That doesn't sound right. It has to be just the gamertag actually buying the game otherwise people could have their friends come over, log in and tie it to their account, go home and redownload it on their system.

Decker 11-01-07 09:36 AM
Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
That doesn't sound right. It has to be just the gamertag actually buying the game otherwise people could have their friends come over, log in and tie it to their account, go home and redownload it on their system.
Apparently, they can. Here's the explanation in CAG. Read it and tell me what you think.

Spoiler:
Shipwreck’s Guide To Half-Priced Xbox Live Arcade Games and Marketplace Content

Okay, we all want cheaper Xbox Live Arcade Games and Marketplace Content. Doom might sound a little expensive at $10, but for $5 you might be tempted to go back and re-kill all those demons you took care of 13 years ago. Maybe you’ve been itching to buy some new content for Oblivion or some snazzy Lego Star Wars GamerPics and in true Cheap Ass Gamer fashion want to find a way around paying the dreaded MSRP. Well CAGs, how does 50% off all Marketplace Content with full online play and Achievements sound?


First of all, let’s get the minimum requirements out of the way.


Minimum Requirements:
A friend with an Xbox Live Gamertag Profile (Silver or Gold) that owns an Xbox 360 with a hard drive
You must have an Xbox Live Gamertag Profile (Silver or Gold) and own an Xbox 360 with a hard drive
You must both have access to Xbox Live with your respective Xbox 360’s
You must have Marketplace Points on at least one of the accounts
In order to get the 50% off price, both friends agree to pay half of the full price of the content

Recommended:
One Xbox 360 Memory Unit (this is a memory “card” for those that are not familiar)
Multiple Xbox 360 controllers for each console

Quick Terminology:
To make this easier, let me introduce you to our two friends that will help us through getting our cheap Marketplace content today: CAG A and CAG B. Both of them meet all of the requirements above and CAG A has a memory unit. In the following steps, CAG A and CAG B will be buying an Xbox Live Arcade game that they both want to play, but the same steps would apply to any content on the Marketplace including Game Content, Themes, and GamerPics.

[NOTE: A memory unit was used to test this procedure, but “Account Recovery” would also be an option in transferring Xbox Live Profiles between the Xbox 360’s. Instructions on how to use "Account Recovery" instead of a memory unit can be found here: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...&postcount=98].

How to Get the Cheap Content (AKA The Part You Care About):

Part 1: Getting the Content on CAG B’s Xbox 360

Step 1: CAG A loads his/her Xbox Live Profile onto CAG A’s Xbox 360 memory unit. (System Blade-->Memory-->Hard Drive-->Gamer Profiles-->CAG A Gamer Profile-->Move-->MU)

Step 2: CAG A inserts CAG A’s memory unit into CAG B’s Xbox 360.

Step 3: If CAG B’s Xbox 360 is not powered on, power on CAG B’s Xbox 360.

Step 4: If CAG B’s Live Profile is signed in, sign CAG B’s Live Profile out. (Xbox Live Blade-->”X” Button-->Yes, sign out)

Step 5: Sign in CAG A’s Live Profile. (Xbox Live Blade-->Sign In-->CAG A Xbox Live MU)

Step 6: Go to the Xbox Live Marketplace and find the Xbox Live Arcade game CAG A and CAG B want to download using the Marketplace Points on CAG A’s Live Profile.

Step 7: Download the Xbox Live Arcade game by selecting “Confirm Download”. If prompted, save the content to “Hard Drive”. Wait for the game to finish downloading.

Step 8: Once the game is on the hard drive, sign CAG A’s Live Profile out. (Xbox Live Blade->”X” button-->Yes, sign out)

Step 9: Sign in CAG B’s Live Profile. (Xbox Live Blade-->Sign In-->CAG B Xbox Live HDD)

Step 10: Play the game that was just downloaded. CAG B now has a fully featured Xbox Live Arcade Game including Achievements and online play. In fact, any profile that signs into CAG B’s Xbox 360 will be able to play the fully featured Xbox Live Arcade Game.

Part 2: Using the Content on CAG A’s Xbox 360

Step 1: Insert CAG A’s Memory Unit into CAG A’s Xbox 360.

Step 2: If CAG A’s Xbox 360 is not powered on, power on CAG A’s Xbox 360.

Step 3: Sign in CAG A’s Live Profile. (Xbox Live Blade-->Sign In-->CAG A Xbox Live MU) [Note: CAG A’s Live Profile could also be moved back to the Hard Drive and then signed in.]

Step 4: Go to the Xbox Live Marketplace and find the Xbox Live Arcade game CAG A downloaded on CAG B’s Xbox 360.

Step 5: Re-Download the Xbox Live Arcade game. This will not cost any Marketplace Points since CAG A has already bought this game. (Game Download Screen-->Full Game-->Download Again)

Step 6: Play the game that was just downloaded. CAG A now has a fully featured Xbox Live Arcade Game including Achievements and online play. The game is also still fully functioning on CAG B’s Xbox 360. CAG A and CAG B can even play online multiplayer with each other for games that support that feature.

Part 3: Using the Content of CAG A’s Xbox 360 with Other Profiles

(This section can also be used to take your profile to another person’s house and allow them to play the full versions of Xbox Live Arcade Games under their Profile and earn Achievements on their Xbox 360.)

Minimum Requirements:
More than 1 Xbox 360 controller
More than 1 Xbox 360 profile (it does not matter if it is an actual Live profile or whether it is just a local profile, but all features associated with the level of that profile still apply). For these instructions, we will just use CAG C as the other profile.

The Actual Steps:

Step 1: If CAG A is signed in, sign CAG A out. (This is not actually necessary, but it’s generally easier to do this so that CAG C can use controller #1.) (Xbox Live Blade-->”X” button-->Yes, sign out)

Step 2: Using controller #1, sign in CAG C’s Profile. (Xbox Live Blade-->Sign In-->CAG B HDD)

Step 3: Using controller #2, sign in CAG A’s Xbox Live Profile (Xbox Guide Button-->Sign In-->CAG A Xbox Live)

Step 4: Using controller #1, play the Xbox Live Arcade Game. CAG C is now playing the fully functioning game including Achievements. If CAG A signs out, the game will return to Demo form.

The Means that Make all of this Possible:

Each time you download content on Xbox Live Marketplace, there is something called “Usage Restrictions” which I’m sure most people have never bothered to read. So, here it is:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Usage Restrictions
The item you are trying to download is subject to usage restrictions. You can use this item on the first Xbox 360 console that you used to download it. Access to this item will also be granted to all users on this first console. If you transfer the item using a memory unit or other storage device, you will also be able to use it on other Xbox 360 consoles, but you’ll need to sign in to Xbox Live with your Xbox Live account on that console before accessing the item.


Disclaimers:

If CAG B’s Xbox 360 breaks, the games on his console are lost. This is true even if CAG B just replaces the “Core Xbox 360 unit” and is still able to use the Hard Drive from the original Xbox 360. The content is tied to the console itself and not just the hard drive.
This is a potential downfall in the way Marketplace Content is protected and not an issue that arises strictly from the procedures outlined above. Just ask anyone who has had to have their Xbox 360 repaired and then comes to find out that when they re-download their games that none of the other profiles can use the content anymore! (See “Using Content on CAG A’s Xbox 360 with Other Profiles” above for the workaround.)
The Xbox Live profile that purchased the content will not be able to play it on his/her Xbox 360 without being signed into Xbox Live. This is closely related to Disclaimer #1.

Anything else that may go wrong or change in the future. Cheap Ass Gamer does not take any responsibility for any problems that arise from following this tutorial.
There are slightly different ways to get the same results as described in this tutorial, but to try to make this as concise as possible, only one method was described. If you have questions, please post them here and I’ll try to answer them the best I can

Michael Corvin 11-01-07 09:49 AM
Sounds like I'm wrong.


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