MSFS forum: No account, No access

[Martvl 1]

Before I buy something, I always get some information on internet first. Here on Avsim I find a lot of helpful information about MSFS. Easy to make a decision. Then I wanted to see what people say on the MSFS forum (forums.flightsimulator.com). But if you don't have an account, you don't get access. Does MS have something to hide? I don't like companies who hide there forums. That is not transparent.

Perhaps I'm old fashion, but I don't want to have accounts everywhere. 

Mart

[Lange_666 167]

30 minutes ago, Martvl said:

Perhaps I'm old fashion, but I don't want to have accounts everywhere.

I'm afraid that's the way to go these days. Just like you i don't like that approach but that's the way it is. Games are sold mostly through plaforms, Steam is one of them, Epic another, Microsoft Store yet another.

And if they can, they go for monopoly on certain titles (try to get a recent racingsim title (besides iRacing) outside Steam... Wanna race, you need a Steam account.

If you buy an Oculus VR headset very recently, you have to have a Facebook account, no FB account, no joy. People who have bought it before the changeover can use it 2 years more without FB account, then for them it's also over and out without one.

To have access to the Microsoft Flightsim forum, you need to login with your Microsoft Account and then your XBox game account (even if you don't have an Xbox).

[TheFiddler 5]

1 hour ago, Martvl said:

But if you don't have an account, you don't get access.

..and even if you have an account, you're not yet out of the woods.

I do have one (reluctantly and for other purposes than FS2020 which I don't own; nor do I have an Xbox). So I logged in to the forum and was promptly confronted with the next demand, namely to give permission to "let this app access your info":

"Flight Simulator Forums needs [sic] your permission to: Access your Xbox Live profile information and associated data, and sign you in to its services. Flight Simulator Forums will be able to access basic properties about your Xbox Live profile, including your gamertag, friends list, activity, stats and rankings, settings and content you share. ..." [red colour added by me]

All this to read a forum...

Edited August 21, 2020 by TheFiddler

[Martvl 1]

I can understand that you have to log in to play the game. But to create an account just for reading a forum is insane.

[wim123 758]

it is, and its not going to change.

but...you dont need that forum luckily, so no loss.

[Martvl 1]

No loss at all. I'll just stay with my X-plane.

[airlinejets 709]

Just buy the Xbox Game Pass for $1 for the first month and you can access both MSFS 2020 and the forums.

[FS++ 707]

Or, read Avsim flight simulator 2020 related forums. A very good place to start.

 

[Martvl 1]

8 minutes ago, FS++ said:

Or, read Avsim flight simulator 2020 related forums. A very good place to start.

 

I agree to that.

@airlinejets, I know about the $1 gamepass, but that was not the point. The point is needing an account to read the forum. At the moment I don't want to buy the MSFS, not even for $1.

[Ted Striker 338]

2 hours ago, TheFiddler said:

"Flight Simulator Forums needs [sic] your permission to: Access your Xbox Live profile information and associated data, and sign you in to its services.

So what happens if you don't have an Xbox live account? Do you have to create one of those also just to read the forums or can you just agree to them accessing something you don't have? I got a feeling that if you agree to let them access an account that you don't have that the next dialogue box will say enter your Xbox credentials.....followed by your social security number, birth date,,,,

This is really getting ridiculous.

[beanboy34 0]

I thought this game was supposed to be playable OFFLINE, but it's not.  Every time I start it, I have to log into Xbox live through the internet and it automatically checks for updates.  I DO NOT want automatic updates and anyone who has mods or addons knows why.  This is NOT an offline game in the least.  👿

Edited September 28, 2020 by beanboy34

[conundrum 49]

1. I've been able to access and read the official forums without logging in, both desktop and mobile. Just did again just now.

2. Sure it can be used offline. Just disable your net connection. Though if you don't have your area cached, you might not like how it looks.

[kerosene31 349]

You can read the forums just fine, you just can't post.  Unfortunately this is necessary as otherwise trolls and worse will flood official forums, and those of us who are paying customers can't communicate.  

If you don't trust Microsoft, this probably isn't the sim for you.  

[Ixoye 1,812]

Can't you log in with your Microsoft account that you create with Windows?

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

33 minutes ago, Ixoye said:

Can't you log in with your Microsoft account that you create with Windows?

That was my impression, you just need a MS account not necessarily a XBox Live account.