8 ms·

I was kind of tempted to buy an Oculus headset because a friend of mine had good things to say about it. But the coupling requirement has made buying it impossi

by bambax 6y ago

I was kind of tempted to buy an Oculus headset because a friend of mine had good things to say about it. But the coupling requirement has made buying it impossible, as I don't have, never had, and will never have a Facebook account. One less gadget to worry about.

sneak 6y ago
Do you use Instagram or WhatsApp?
- jodrellblank 6y ago
  Presumably not, because "I don't have, never had, and will never have a Facebook account" covers all things which need a Facebook account, which you know those things do or you wouldn't be mentioning them trying to "gotcha". And if you know it, someone who opposes Facebook that strongly surely also knows it.
  - oauea 6y ago
    WhatsApp doesn't actually require a facebook account, just a phone number. Or at least it used to be that way? Personally I (unfortunately) do use WhatsApp while avoiding all other Facebook products. At least WhatsApp doesn't try to manipulate you and has some form of e2e encryption.
    - Kliment 6y ago
      It does try to manipulate you. It has dark patterns such as nagging for phonebook access, and if you grant and then revoke such access, it hides all your contact names (showing number only) until you re-enable phonebook access. They also store your phonebook contents remotely so they can nag non-users to join and reveal you have become a user to anyone in your phonebook. It's not facebook-level or linkedin-level evil but it's definitely manipulative and nasty. The safe way to use it is on a separate device with no contacts.
  - sneak 6y ago
    No “gotcha”: Both of those things have separate user databases, and can be used without Facebook. Many people who vehemently renounce FB accounts use one or both of them, myself included. I recently deleted my IG (February) due to censorship issues, but still have a WhatsApp account on a burner device for talking to the few people I haven’t been able to get to switch to Signal.
    - jodrellblank 6y ago
      What is the point in vehemently renouncing a Facebook account, but not renouncing giving your data, contact details, phone number, call history, data stream, to Facebook through WhatsApp? It isn't the username and password which is the objectionable thing about Facebook.
      - sneak 6y ago
        You can use WhatsApp without uploading an address book.
        jodrellblank 6y ago
        They can tell your contacts by seeing who you contact, and when you contact them, how often, how quickly they respond, how long the connection goes on, whether it's a lot or little data, voice or text, large or small data. They probably get a better view of your actual contacts than your address book ever has, they're just missing "dentist near my old home" and "aunt I never talk to".
jayd16 6y ago
Can you not just make a throw away account?
- cma 6y ago
  Facebook will typically lock such accounts until you give him pictures of yourself in your house with your driver's license.
  - bilkow 6y ago
    I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted, they actually lock people out asking for an government ID[0] (AFAIK not necessarily yourself in the photo). I also know someone who wanted to change their last name (their current one is already fake) and the system didn't let them without sending an ID. [0] https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=101616510396306 https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=1016165...
    - prophesi 6y ago
      Yeah, I created an account a few years ago, since a few of my friends relied on Messenger / FB Events to coordinate plans. I used anti-tracking plugins, on mobile I used an unofficial F-Droid client for Messenger, desktop only used the mbasic.facebook.com It was probably two months before my account was flagged for "suspicious activity" and asked that I submit a photo of a government-issued ID, which I never obliged.
      - mroche 6y ago
        You’re lucky. I made it 30 minutes after changing all the privacy settings and not providing a phone number then signing in on my phone browser. I accidentally sent in my profile pic for the “suspicious activity” verifier which is totally on me. Instantly got my account disabled and have been unsuccessful at recovering it since June 2019 despite several attempts at sending in my ID as they requested. However, now the create a new account page says there’s an existing disabled account with this email address, but the account support portal says one doesn’t exist! Top notch engineering. Luckily I have my IG account for Messenger login, but I can’t use it for desktop sign-on’s which is pretty dumb.
scaryclam 6y ago
You could get a Valve Index instead. That's not tied to anything IIRC and is at least as good as the latest oculus headset.
- warp 6y ago
  That needs a powerful gaming PC though. The whole reason the Oculus Quest is so popular is because it is a standalone device.
  - ihumanable 6y ago
    Yes, this was why I bought one, before the coupling requirement. My brother got one and loved it, he raved about how fun VR was. I had considered it for a while, but I wasn't ready to commit $1000-$2000 for a capable gaming rig + however much the VR headset was going to cost just to try it out. Oculus Quest was the perfect way to try out VR for me, a couple hundred dollars for a pretty good VR headset. No need to have sensors on polls or anything. Super lightweight way to dip a toe into VR and see if the medium was a compelling experience for me. I remember researching if I had to login with facebook and found that you could just make an Oculus account with an email address. Got it, enjoyed it, still enjoy it. The decision to couple the Oculus Quest and your facebook account puts a seriously sour taste in my mouth though. I think that when that deadline comes up, I'll probably just sell it and buy something that doesn't have that requirement, it will likely be time for an upgrade anyways.
  - scaryclam 6y ago
    The Index does, but there are a number of options that are not Oculus and provide the standalone experience. My point was really: there are other options that are at least as good, so you don't need to ditch the idea of getting VR.
- pdehaan 6y ago
  The Quest is unfortunately still a bit unique as the only standalone 6DoF headset. Edit: not truly unique as pointed out. The Index is more than double the cost for something that requires spending more money for a computer to run the whole setup. ...not that that's for nothing, the results are better than any of Oculus' products graphically. But it's a different product.
baby 6y ago
I suggest getting a facebook account just for the Oculus quest, because it's bomb!
oh_sigh 6y ago
Just make a John Smith account with a throwaway protonmail account. Not a big deal.
- kadoban 6y ago
  Not a big deal until they notice and ban your account, or randomly decide to require more info like you phone number or drivers license. Then who knows if your purcashed hardware or games are even usable anymore.
- zmmmmm 6y ago
  People don't seem to realize how much things have changed on this front. Facebook now uses a whole lot of techniques to monitor new accounts, important aspects of which are that you post things, add realistic (and connected) friends, etc. If your new account does not do those things it will be locked and you will be asked to provide government ID to prove it is really you.
  - felipemnoa 6y ago
    Frankly, why not just use a different social network? Like google+ or myspace. (I kid, I kid) On a serious note, I see an opening for a new social network.
    - dylan604 6y ago
      That will work with Oculus? Doubtful
  - chmod775 6y ago
    So far I haven't been asked for ID on any account, since my fake account is quite well connected with other (fake) accounts. On certain pertinent internet forums you will find threads regularly where people are connecting with other's made-up accounts. They're pretty much indistinguishable from real accounts, so unless Facebook starts implementing an ID requirement for all accounts, they'll never be able to stop this. And even then determined people could be sending in fake IDs. My recommendation for creating a fake account is, once you have seeded it with a few friends, just add most people facebook recommends you. Plenty of real people (the 900 friends facebook addicts) do this as well.

by bambax 6y ago

sneak 6y ago

Do you use Instagram or WhatsApp?

jodrellblank 6y ago
Presumably not, because "I don't have, never had, and will never have a Facebook account" covers all things which need a Facebook account, which you know those things do or you wouldn't be mentioning them trying to "gotcha". And if you know it, someone who opposes Facebook that strongly surely also knows it.
- oauea 6y ago
  WhatsApp doesn't actually require a facebook account, just a phone number. Or at least it used to be that way? Personally I (unfortunately) do use WhatsApp while avoiding all other Facebook products. At least WhatsApp doesn't try to manipulate you and has some form of e2e encryption.
  - Kliment 6y ago
    It does try to manipulate you. It has dark patterns such as nagging for phonebook access, and if you grant and then revoke such access, it hides all your contact names (showing number only) until you re-enable phonebook access. They also store your phonebook contents remotely so they can nag non-users to join and reveal you have become a user to anyone in your phonebook. It's not facebook-level or linkedin-level evil but it's definitely manipulative and nasty. The safe way to use it is on a separate device with no contacts.
- sneak 6y ago
  No “gotcha”: Both of those things have separate user databases, and can be used without Facebook. Many people who vehemently renounce FB accounts use one or both of them, myself included. I recently deleted my IG (February) due to censorship issues, but still have a WhatsApp account on a burner device for talking to the few people I haven’t been able to get to switch to Signal.
  - jodrellblank 6y ago
    What is the point in vehemently renouncing a Facebook account, but not renouncing giving your data, contact details, phone number, call history, data stream, to Facebook through WhatsApp? It isn't the username and password which is the objectionable thing about Facebook.
    - sneak 6y ago
      You can use WhatsApp without uploading an address book.
      - jodrellblank 6y ago
        They can tell your contacts by seeing who you contact, and when you contact them, how often, how quickly they respond, how long the connection goes on, whether it's a lot or little data, voice or text, large or small data. They probably get a better view of your actual contacts than your address book ever has, they're just missing "dentist near my old home" and "aunt I never talk to".

jayd16 6y ago

Can you not just make a throw away account?

cma 6y ago
Facebook will typically lock such accounts until you give him pictures of yourself in your house with your driver's license.
- bilkow 6y ago
  I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted, they actually lock people out asking for an government ID[0] (AFAIK not necessarily yourself in the photo). I also know someone who wanted to change their last name (their current one is already fake) and the system didn't let them without sending an ID. [0] https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=101616510396306 https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=1016165...
  - prophesi 6y ago
    Yeah, I created an account a few years ago, since a few of my friends relied on Messenger / FB Events to coordinate plans. I used anti-tracking plugins, on mobile I used an unofficial F-Droid client for Messenger, desktop only used the mbasic.facebook.com It was probably two months before my account was flagged for "suspicious activity" and asked that I submit a photo of a government-issued ID, which I never obliged.
    - mroche 6y ago
      You’re lucky. I made it 30 minutes after changing all the privacy settings and not providing a phone number then signing in on my phone browser. I accidentally sent in my profile pic for the “suspicious activity” verifier which is totally on me. Instantly got my account disabled and have been unsuccessful at recovering it since June 2019 despite several attempts at sending in my ID as they requested. However, now the create a new account page says there’s an existing disabled account with this email address, but the account support portal says one doesn’t exist! Top notch engineering. Luckily I have my IG account for Messenger login, but I can’t use it for desktop sign-on’s which is pretty dumb.

scaryclam 6y ago

You could get a Valve Index instead. That's not tied to anything IIRC and is at least as good as the latest oculus headset.

warp 6y ago
That needs a powerful gaming PC though. The whole reason the Oculus Quest is so popular is because it is a standalone device.
- ihumanable 6y ago
  Yes, this was why I bought one, before the coupling requirement. My brother got one and loved it, he raved about how fun VR was. I had considered it for a while, but I wasn't ready to commit $1000-$2000 for a capable gaming rig + however much the VR headset was going to cost just to try it out. Oculus Quest was the perfect way to try out VR for me, a couple hundred dollars for a pretty good VR headset. No need to have sensors on polls or anything. Super lightweight way to dip a toe into VR and see if the medium was a compelling experience for me. I remember researching if I had to login with facebook and found that you could just make an Oculus account with an email address. Got it, enjoyed it, still enjoy it. The decision to couple the Oculus Quest and your facebook account puts a seriously sour taste in my mouth though. I think that when that deadline comes up, I'll probably just sell it and buy something that doesn't have that requirement, it will likely be time for an upgrade anyways.
- scaryclam 6y ago
  The Index does, but there are a number of options that are not Oculus and provide the standalone experience. My point was really: there are other options that are at least as good, so you don't need to ditch the idea of getting VR.
pdehaan 6y ago
The Quest is unfortunately still a bit unique as the only standalone 6DoF headset. Edit: not truly unique as pointed out. The Index is more than double the cost for something that requires spending more money for a computer to run the whole setup. ...not that that's for nothing, the results are better than any of Oculus' products graphically. But it's a different product.

baby 6y ago

I suggest getting a facebook account just for the Oculus quest, because it's bomb!

oh_sigh 6y ago

Just make a John Smith account with a throwaway protonmail account. Not a big deal.

kadoban 6y ago
Not a big deal until they notice and ban your account, or randomly decide to require more info like you phone number or drivers license. Then who knows if your purcashed hardware or games are even usable anymore.
zmmmmm 6y ago
People don't seem to realize how much things have changed on this front. Facebook now uses a whole lot of techniques to monitor new accounts, important aspects of which are that you post things, add realistic (and connected) friends, etc. If your new account does not do those things it will be locked and you will be asked to provide government ID to prove it is really you.
- felipemnoa 6y ago
  Frankly, why not just use a different social network? Like google+ or myspace. (I kid, I kid) On a serious note, I see an opening for a new social network.
  - dylan604 6y ago
    That will work with Oculus? Doubtful
- chmod775 6y ago
  So far I haven't been asked for ID on any account, since my fake account is quite well connected with other (fake) accounts. On certain pertinent internet forums you will find threads regularly where people are connecting with other's made-up accounts. They're pretty much indistinguishable from real accounts, so unless Facebook starts implementing an ID requirement for all accounts, they'll never be able to stop this. And even then determined people could be sending in fake IDs. My recommendation for creating a fake account is, once you have seeded it with a few friends, just add most people facebook recommends you. Plenty of real people (the 900 friends facebook addicts) do this as well.