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Donating a gaming PC, how can I let them try my games in a safe way?

Hey guys,

so I posted here a few weeks ago, with the idea of donating a gaming PC to a nursing home. I talked to someone in charge there today, this might actually happen.

Thing is, to try this out I would probably have to supply the software (Microsoft Flight Simulator being the most important now.)

As I understand it, you can only use the Flight Simulator with a Microsoft account. If I let them use my own account, that would mean a PC with my logged in account would be standing around there in the open, for anyone to access.

Does anyone have any idea how to approach this in a safe manner? I wish I could just buy a physical copy and let them have it for a while, before they buy their own. But even those need a connected Microsoft account nowadays, it seems.

Was also thinking of buying a used Xbox Series S (this might become the long term solution anyway), but same issue with the account, I believe.

(Man, modern gaming keeps finding ways to be annoying sometimes.)

P.S. If you have great game recommendations for octogenarians, bring them on!

intensely_human ,

My octogenarian father loves World of Tanks

hexagonwin ,

tbh i would just pirate and block network

CorrodedCranium , (edited )
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

You could crack your own games. Not exactly legal but it would mean the games wouldn’t require your account to run.

Kind of like how if you share a computer with a sibling you can use a Steam emulator so you don’t have to switch back and forth between accounts or own two copies of the game.

sir_pronoun OP ,

Thank you guys a lot for your thoughts! I will create a new account and pay for a Game Pass subscription, I think I should get it discounted for the first month. If the guys at the home really like it, I will try to find a permanent solution with their admin people.

NoneYa ,

Consider counting that on your tax deductions for the year since it’s a donation. This is all really nice of you and hopefully helps make their lives a little better.

NoneYa ,

It’s a nice gesture, but this is exactly why a lot of people don’t like giving away free stuff. It’s why IT departments are hesitant to give away equipment they are throwing out because some users will come back and expect free tech support. Not saying you’re against doing anything like that, but just that asshole companies like Microsoft make this so damn difficult nowadays that doing as others suggested here to create a new Microsoft account for this is going to get you calls inevitably in the future when they forget the password or run into other issues. And if not, it’ll likely end with them not using it because of the hassle or throwing it out.

I hate to sound negative because it’s an awesome gesture on your part to do and I’m sure in a perfect world, it would be wonderful for some of the residents to get to use something like that.

But since it’s not like the old days of having a CD you pop in but a digital app connected to an online account, you’ll need to do somethings that may cause confusion. It sounds like you’d have to do as others suggest and create a new Microsoft account and have a license for that game on there. Or get a GamePass subscription on that account that would allow access to Flight Simulator and more, but that would mean a perpetual donation for them to use it too.

Someone may come along and suggest a pirated copy of Flight Simulator, but I would strongly advise against that because it can put the home at legal risk if discovered and can cause other issues like if it gets patched in the future.

Carrolade ,

I know someone up there in years that enjoyed the Far Cry series. Didn’t really expect that. shrug

More generally I think it’ll commonly be something that relates to their interests when they were younger. Someone that retired 20 years ago from aerospace engineering might actually really enjoy Kerbal Space Program or even Outer Wilds, a former industrial foreman might like Factorio, for a retired military historian, bring on that Total War.

I can see games like Big Game Hunter and Truck Simulator being more broadly popular with certain segments. Some sports games maybe, like a tennis game or some golf thing maybe, I don’t know much about those. A simpler, realism-leaning racing game maybe. Flight simulator works great here.

The main thing is I’d avoid games with lots of layers of game design and abstraction. It should do what it says on the tin, and there shouldn’t be many steps or abstract mechanics between them and getting into the meat of the game and the core gameplay loop.

Minimal menus is probably a good idea. Like, a Paradox Interactive game would probably be a poor choice, just because they have so much you need to learn to become a proficient player. Fine text can be hard to read too, so menus and tooltips and complex status interfaces are usually gonna be pretty meh for most people. Can’t play Starcraft if you have to squint and lean in every time you want to know how many minerals you have.

Want that learning curve to just get into the initial gameplay to be pretty gentle overall. The experience should be fairly intuitive to real life, and real life doesn’t have that many menus and buttons. Usually, depending on their former career I guess.

Kudos for doing this btw.

(oh, and sorry I couldn’t answer your core question)

shapesandstuff ,

So my solution would be to make a dedicated account, purchase a license on there, and hand it over completely to someone in charge at the facility.

If they don’t have someone who can take care of that for whatever reason, still make a dedicated account and restict apps/access rights via parental controls etc

random_character_a ,
@random_character_a@lemmy.world avatar

I’d read EULAs carefully.

Shouldn’t be a problem with a temporary try, but if there is a bureaucratic rat somewhere, you might receive some ‘cease and desist’ letters.

AFallingAnvil ,
@AFallingAnvil@lemmy.ca avatar

I’d recommend just making a new Microsoft account for them, then leaving the username/password with the staff, ideally someone in their IT crew.

ghostdoggtv ,

Make a new microsoft account for the nursing home and basically use their credentials.

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