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Facebook ending support for separate Oculus accounts on 1/1/2023

  • Thread starter Deleted member 11637
  • Start date

Deleted member 11637

Oct 27, 2017
18,204
I saw this notification just now when launching the Oculus PC app; copying info from the website's FAQ:

For previous generation Oculus devices, including Quest, Rift S, Rift, Go, and Samsung Gear VR:
  • Everyone using a previous generation Oculus device for the first time will need to log in with a Facebook account.
  • If you are an existing Oculus user and have an Oculus account, you will have the option to log in with your Oculus account and merge your Facebook and Oculus accounts. You can also choose not to merge your accounts and continue using your Oculus account for two years.
  • You can continue using your Oculus account until January 2023, but you will not have access to social and some new and updated features. After that, full functionality will require a Facebook account.
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I want to use a name different from my legal name for my Facebook account. Can I do that?

Facebook is a community where everyone uses the name they go by in everyday life, so you always know who you're connecting with. If you need to change your name on Facebook, we have a form available in our Help Center. Learn more about what names are allowed on Facebook.

VR is a new type of environment and we've heard from our community that being able to have a distinct VR username and separate friends is important. This isn't changing. You can still create or maintain a unique VR profile— so you might be Monique Smith on Facebook, but WarriorMama365 in VR.

And if you don't want your Oculus friends to find you by your Facebook name, they won't — just make it visible to 'Only Me' in your Oculus settings. You can also choose what information about your VR activity you post to your Facebook profile or timeline, either by giving permission to post or by updating your settings.
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Source: https://support.oculus.com/fb/?locale=en_US&ref=oculus-pc-app


Plenty of time to switch to a third-party device before then, but I for one won't be spending any more money on the Oculus PC storefront. Bye, bitch.
 
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coughlanio

coughlanio

Member
Oct 28, 2017
516
London, UK
I deleted my Oculus account with purchases (not much, but maybe ~10 titles) and sold my Oculus Quest immediately when it was originally announced. I believe the Quest 2 requires it from launch.
 
Remark

Remark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,632
Man really just destroyed any chance of getting an Oculus headset.

Just gonna put my money towards an Index
 
Gestault

Gestault

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,469
I legitimately deleted my Oculus account (only a handful of purchases, mind you) as soon as they announced the previous requirements for Facebook accounts/data. I simply won't have one of these devices in my house. Yes, the kind of data collection/connection they're demanding felt like a bridge too far for me.
 
iamdelirium

iamdelirium

Member
Nov 25, 2017
402
Here's why this happen.

Oculus Engineer 1: I don't want to work on this user account/login code. It's a mess.
Oculus Engineer 2: Don't we have a team at Facebook to do this for us? Why are you wasting your time doing that when we could work on Feature X, Y, or Z?
Oculus Enginner 1: Yeah, let's just throw it over to that team.
 

Deleted member 11214

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
731
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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They're very largely responsible for the recent surge of modern right-wing fascism. We probably wouldn't have Donald Trump without Facebook so, yeah, fuck them.

About to move into a much larger apt and despite owning an Index I'd love a Quest 2 but I won't give FB a cent, nor access to my personal information.
 
Selbran

Selbran

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,575
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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Facebook's openly allowed racism and bigotry to spread on their platform and made it clear they don't give a shit about anything so long as the price is right. It has been even clearer over the last year as Facebook allows Trump and the GOP to run all kinds of false stories and shit all to make a buck.
 
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Sign My Guestbook!

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May 26, 2018
24,100
iamdelirium said:
Here's why this happen.

Oculus Engineer 1: I don't want to work on this user account/login code. It's a mess.
Oculus Engineer 2: Don't we have a team at Facebook to do this for us? Why are you wasting your time doing that when we could work on Feature X, Y, or Z?
Oculus Enginner 1: Yeah, let's just throw it over to that team.
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Maybe in some company that isn't Facebook.
 

LOLDSFAN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,037
Yeah I got it too last night.

I'm sure by 2023 there will be a better Oculus Quest competitor out there we can buy.

I'm just glad I never spent any money on the Oculus store and kept it solely on the Steam store.
 
shodgson8

shodgson8

Shinra Employee
Member
Aug 22, 2018
4,266
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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Ridiculous statement...As an example of why (even outside of the data side of things) this bit of news is literally from today, Facebook has only just now caught up and decided to remove holocaust denial from their platform:

www.bbc.co.uk

Facebook bans Holocaust denial content

Mark Zuckerberg says his "thinking has evolved" as the social network changes strategy.
www.bbc.co.uk

For the last two years they have been a-ok with it, not even going the free speech route but instead saying that people could in fact be wrong about it happening:

"I find it deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I don't believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong. I don't think that they're intentionally getting it wrong."
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They are a shitty company.
 
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Shark

Shark

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,126
Raleigh, NC
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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There's nothing 'over the top' about hating Facebook and how much harm it does. The Cambridge Analytica stuff alone would justify that hate then there are scandals after scandal on top of that. That's before even getting in to how much harm it does allowing extremist groups to congregate and how much false information spreads through it every minute of every day. It's a horrible company.
 
Joni

Joni

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,508
From an ease of use perspective, I love it when I need to make tons of separate accounts to make things. Like remember, the glory days of needing to make two Konami accounts on top of the PSN to play Metal Gear Online.

Shark said:
The Cambridge Analytica stuff alone would justify that hate then there are scandals after scandal on top of that.
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The Cambridge Analytica stuff mostly means Cambridge Analytica should be hated.
 
OzPrime

OzPrime

Member
Oct 29, 2017
161
I want to know what functionality gets lost after 2023. If they let you keep the apps you bought and just eliminated online/social features then I could live with that. If they gimp it too much then off to eBay it goes.
 
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Sign My Guestbook!

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May 26, 2018
24,100
Shark said:
Yeah, no. Facebook allowed the data to be harvested because Facebook doesn't give a flying fuck about its users privacy. That scandal doesn't happen without Facebook being Facebook.
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like this keeps having to be posted, so frequently that I'm starting to believe people just can't comprehend that it's real..

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard

Zuck: Just ask.

Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS

[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?

Zuck: People just submitted it.

Zuck: I don't know why.

Zuck: They "trust me"

Zuck: Dumb f***s.​
 
King of Custard

King of Custard

Member
Oct 26, 2017
244
Desert Land
That's the people on Facebook that did those things not Facebook. There are several groups on Facebook who organise against hate speech and yes Facebook can do more but they are no more guilty then any other company.
 

Deleted member 8752

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
10,122
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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I'm going to add to the dogpiling that you're getting for this post by saying that facebook is the biggest culprit responsible for the erosion of living in society based on facts and logic rather than by conspiracy theories and hate speech over the last decade. No other corporation, other than maybe Google,. has done more to undermine democracy and give power to far right extremists, climate change deniers, flat earthers, and anti-science in general.

They have polarized society and their entire business model preys on your insecurities and attention to make a buck, all while increasing the amount of isolation everyone feels in society.

Facebook is one of the most unethical corporations on the planet dude.
 

Deleted member 8752

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,122
King of Custard said:
That's the people on Facebook that did those things not Facebook. There are several groups on Facebook who organise against hate speech and yes Facebook can do more but they are no more guilty then any other company.
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That simply isn't true. They have very granular control over their algorithms and are in complete control. Go watch "The Social Dilema" on netflix which does a very deep dive on this and features interviews with former social networking developers including highly prominent ex-facebook and ex-google employees.
 
phant0m

phant0m

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,361
Love my Quest, but I'm sure it will be fully supplanted by better tech at that point.
 
F34R

F34R

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Oct 27, 2017
12,022
Wait wait wait... I will not use facebook with my oculus rift s. Can I still use it, without being limited functionally and features, with Steam?
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

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Oct 25, 2017
14,670
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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Part of it I think is from misinformation, but there are also plenty of legitimate reasons to not want to use it. It's also a clear attempt to further force integration to make future antitrust action more difficult, similar to the cross compatibility between WhatsApp, Instagram, and FB Messenger.
 

Deleted member 10629

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,238
I'm glad I didnt buy a Quest when I could. I think I'm going to terminate my Facebook account for good. Too bad I still have to use Whatsapp for work/family purposes.
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

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Oct 25, 2017
14,670
F34R said:
Wait wait wait... I will not use facebook with my oculus rift s. Can I still use it, without being limited functionally and features, with Steam?
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Seems more like a Valve question. You'd still need the Oculus app installed on your PC, but in theory it should still work unless Facebook changes how the Oculus app works.
 
Zafir

Zafir

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,134
Sadly not new news, remember reading about it before.

Probably means I won't ever get a new Oculus headset though, and will hopefully replace my Rift S by 2023.

F34R said:
Wait wait wait... I will not use facebook with my oculus rift s. Can I still use it, without being limited functionally and features, with Steam?
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At the moment you just basically can't play with Oculus friends or play "social" games on the oculus store. You can still play single player stuff on the oculus store, and stuff from other storefronts. This is up until 2023 anyway. Past then it may prove problematic, but I imagine someone will find a way to be able to use the Rifts without relying on the oculus software that mandates facebook accounts. Might not be able to play oculus games anymore in that scenario but should hopefully just be able to use it on Steam.
 
King of Custard

King of Custard

Member
Oct 26, 2017
244
Desert Land
Peltz said:
That simply isn't true. They have very granular control over their algorithms and are in complete control. Go watch "The Social Dilema" on netflix which does a very deep dive on this and features interviews with former social networking developers including highly prominent ex-facebook and ex-google employees.
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So the anti hate speech groups don't exist, posts I've actually read are not a lie.
 

Deleted member 24079

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,287
Well looks like I'll be selling my headset in 2 years then. I don't have a FB account and I guess my Oculus account dies in 2023? Crazy. Good thing I bought it used. Hopefully it works with Steam without needing the oculus app to be signed in. Way to kill VR Facebook
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,152
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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If it was solely an information privacy thing I'd roll my eyes too, because 99.9% of people here are using a smartphone and apps that scrape all the same data, it's almost impossible to avoid. But Facebook is a shitty company for much more malicious reasons, they're actively furthering and empowering hate
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,670
Peltz said:
That simply isn't true. They have very granular control over their algorithms and are in complete control. Go watch "The Social Dilema" on netflix which does a very deep dive on this and features interviews with former social networking developers including highly prominent ex-facebook and ex-google employees.
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Just FYI the social dilemma is basically the tech industry equivalent of Supersize Me. It's best enjoyed as a drama, not a documentary.

Netflix's documentaries are generally designed as entertainment first and educational second. That's how you get stuff like Tiger King and Unsolved Mysteries that practically lie to the viewer.
 
hydro94530

hydro94530

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,930
Bay Area
Yeah I won't be using my Oculus account again after this date. Probably not even before this date unless some really good exclusive comes out. Game over and so disappointed they are doing this. Fuck Facebook and everything it stands for.

Edit: Wow didn't think I'd actually see anyone defending Facebook in here :-(
 

Deleted member 7148

Oct 25, 2017
6,827
I have a Rift-S and I deleted my Facebook account as a New Year's resolution in January. I don't miss Facebook at all. However, I did pay for quite a few games on the Oculus store and I don't want to lose them. I'll probably just make a new Facebook account, don't add any information to it, and tie it to my Oculus account and be done with it. I just won't buy any future titles from the Oculus store and will replace my Rift-S when something better and more affordable releases.
 

Deleted member 8468

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,109
King of Custard said:
I still don't get ERA's over the top hate on Facebook
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The headset requires you to be part of a service that will automatically connect you with everyone you ever glanced at from high school on. Despite the overwhelming list of issues I have with Facebook on moral grounds, I would never want to be forced into a service like that over a videogame device. Oculus also specifically told us this wouldn't happen after the Facebook buyout.



Personally, I feel a bit scammed that my account will be shut off. I easily have a couple hundred dollars worth of games on the Oculus store. I'm just selling the device and cutting my losses.
 
KDR_11k

KDR_11k

Banned
Nov 10, 2017
5,235
If FB's primary income stream was actual purchases instead of advertising (ie they get money from consumers instead of from corporations who want data about consumers) they might become less of a shithole because then consumers become their customers instead of their product and being nice to them becomes important to the business.

That said, I honestly think that an unused FB account won't change much what they collect about you, after all they and any other ad network try to build a profile of you just by using secondary information from your browser and such. Just avoiding their account system doesn't keep you off their radar. Any HTTP(S) call to any affiliated service will be enough for them to track your browsing habits, even embedded share buttons will do that. I don't know if they have an even more widespread harvesting mechanism like Google Analytics.

Of course that Facebook Connect social space is a complete nightmare of tracking but I don't believe they can record you in alternative social apps like VR Chat?

My point overall is that I don't think you're submitting anything they don't already know by creating an FB account that you only use for VR. You don't have to browse Facebook after all.

samred said:
this was announced in August, more info: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/oculus-vr-accounts-will-soon-require-facebook-ties/

...if you're getting a brand-new Quest 2 starting this week, on the other hand, you don't get until 2023. Quest 2 won't turn on without a Facebook account attached.
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Doesn't that apply to all Oculus devices now? Can't use them without an account of some sorts and new accounts must be FB accounts. Even if you somehow end up with a new CV1 now you'd have to use the new system to get the Oculus software to run and that serves as the driver for the headset.
 
Ploid 6.0

Ploid 6.0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,440
I'm so glad that one Oculus guy was a horrible person, and that I never was tempted to ever get an Oculus. Screw touching Facebook, whatsapp, instagram with a 10 foot pole.

I really hope my facebook blocker/container add-on actually works.
 
Ororo

Ororo

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,242
Linked my account, the world didn't lit on fire, Zuckerberg didn't show up in my house, the same data that was being mined by FB continued as with other big tech companies so no change there.
 
Nkcell

Nkcell

Member
Jun 24, 2020
756
King of Custard said:
That's the people on Facebook that did those things not Facebook. There are several groups on Facebook who organise against hate speech and yes Facebook can do more but they are no more guilty then any other company.
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Your viewpoint is very simplistic-- "it's just a platform people can do whatever they want with it". This is actually unquestionably false on multiple premises.

1. It's factually false. Facebook directly intervenes. It chooses what content isn't or is allowed on the website. It can remove ads and keep others. Further it has algorithms that it uses to decide who sees what content. It can allow people to live in an insular bubble and get false information if that's what makes it money.

2. It's morally bankrupt. Companies have a responsibility to moderate their platforms, especially if this platform is being used as a news source. Facebook has a new section, it claims to deliver news, and even if it didn't, the reality is many people get their news from it. They have a responsibility to make sure there is honest information on their website. They have deliberately shirked this responsibility in a way that benefits their profits with little concern for the effects on people's lives. They will allow lies when it benefits them, but take down other lies when it doesn't, with no regards to the societal consequences.


Go watch the Social Dilemma. Go read any multitude of articles that talk about these issues in depth and can easily be found.

This isn't a contested issue. There's an abundance of information on this topic. At this point it is morally reprehensible to hold the viewpoint you do about Facebook. Either you are ignorant or you are evil. I hope it's the former.
 
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