[Closed] Xbox live for the kids, what do I need to know?

Set them up a kids account attached to your main account. (unlike what i did)!!

You only need to feed them once a day.... Other than that you can go to work and they'll not even notice you left.

YUP do not link your CC card to it like I did 🙄

You only need one subscription and can set up parent and child accounts, dish out screen time etc.
THis is easy to set up but is a mild ballache to sit down and actually do it initially, which probably explains most of my lad's 10 yo mates playing on their Dad's acounts.

When they want to play Fortnite against their mates who have PS4s (and they will), they can't do it with a MS child account. Cross-platform play only works with adult accounts, no idea why nor who's responsible for that.

You've got a choice.

1) do it as MS would like you to, set-up a Live Account for yourself, if you don't already have one. Then add your kids to your MS family. From there you can monitor and control content over multiple devices (as long as they run Windows / Xbox OS) you can set screen limits, content restrictions (which works well as long as you dont have non-MS browsers in place).

The downside is you'll need a Live sub per account.

2) Set it up with a local account, add the live to it and use Good Old Fashioned Parenting(tm) to manage it.

I used the former because my eldest is a git sometimes.

I think I'm right in say no single player game needs Live, only to access the multiplayer elements of it.

You only need one subscription and can set up parent and child accounts, dish out screen time etc.

Really? I've done all of the above and Lad can't access Live features on his account.

Kids (<10yo) are getting an xbox one for xmas

Set it up now. Get it updated, get your online games downloaded, get your DVD games copied over, get your Xbox.com accounts created using a proper computer (so you don't have to type using the controller - they will need unique email accounts even though they won't use them - just use outlook.com and add them as sub-accounts under your main account in Microsoft Family). Then when you login to the Xbox using the main account everything should pull through.

Then if you do all that you have a chance of them playing it on Christmas day. Do not leave it until the day / night before or on the day or your kids will hate you.

You only need one subscription and can set up parent and child accounts, dish out screen time etc.

Really? I’ve done all of the above and Lad can’t access Live features on his account.

bit of conflicting info there about 1 account/linked account, can anyone else verify?

Cross-platform play only works with adult accounts, no idea why nor who’s responsible for that.

Tsk, ballache.

Scuttler, I did all the setup beforehand when I got PS3 and over the years when we bought games for xmas I'd get them installed and updated beforehand but grandparents are supplying the xbox so not sure I'm going to get chance to do it.

I think I’m right in say no single player game needs Live, only to access the multiplayer elements of it.

Elite dangerous solo on PC needs t'internet access assume it's the same for xbox, dunno if there's anymore similar.

I have mine as the primary account but not Live associated to it these day, my lad is on as my Microsoft family child and the Live is directly associated to his account.

I have mine as the primary account but not Live associated to it these day, my lad is on as my Microsoft family child and the Live is directly associated to his account.

This sounds like a reasonable idea but don't wanna restrict the kids account then not be able to run my games.

TBH I've got issues with the whole, pay for the console, pay for the game, pay for the internet, then pay AGAIN (annually!) to play online, they're taking the piss.

Donk - The issue is primarily one of bandwidth. Some of the downloads and updates (even for games you've bought on disc) are huuuge and even if you have a decent internet connection everyone's at home streaming telly, playing with gadgets and updating Xboxs so telco infrastructure gets a pasting. Plus of course if you're cooking dinner for 26 you really can't be doing with having to press next every 15 mins. I'm not sure how much of it can be played offline but probably not much. You should consider a plan B like get them to take it back unopened, buy yourself one and get them to hand it over using sleight-of-hand style and some different wrapping paper.

the microsoft family thing is actually very good https://account.microsoft.com/family/

set it up - set the times, and you can control remotely. The boy wouldn't come to dinner the other day (some fortnite thing). We gave him fair warning, then just cut his time remotely. It turfed him out. He's not done it since...

then control what he can play, who he can talk to, etc etc

TBH I’ve got issues with the whole, pay for the console, pay for the game, pay for the internet, then pay AGAIN (annually!) to play online, they’re taking the piss

Wait till the VBucks and the Battle Passes come up in discussion. Then add in that you can only add £10 to an account, not the £3.99 you need.... So by the end of week 3, he's got a £3.99 battlepass and a £6.99 Vbucks needed, oh that's £12 more.... but is actually £20 as you can only give him £10 incremements.

Which is where you now say to me "I'm not bloody doing that...." but.... You are 😉

When they want to play Fortnite against their mates who have PS4s (and they will), they can’t do it with a MS child account. Cross-platform play only works with adult accounts, no idea why nor who’s responsible for that.

I think this has recently been sorted for Fortnite, my lad was playing at the weekend (XBox) with his friend on a switch.
He used to have to ask to use my account which he found upsetting as I have NO SKINS!

Set up the child's email account they ask for as your email account - otherwise payments can come out without you knowing about it. It's a clever ruse by Microsoft to send invoices to the child but charge the parent's card without them knowing.

As far as I can see, XBox Live is linked to the account you bought it on - so my Child accounts can't use Live, which I need to fix so they login as themselves and get time limited.

Only set it up last week, but it seems like you can't share a Live across the household. Which is rubbish.

Buy Game Pass - a Netflix-esque service where you can play all those games for free. Look for discounts, normally £8 per month but you can get an introductory month for a quid and there will be discounts available after Christmas (probably). Worth it, probably more worth it than Live in your use case. Play Forza.

I should add you do get some pretty good games for "free", as in Free to you forever on Live too

As far as I can see, XBox Live is linked to the account you bought it on – so my Child accounts can’t use Live, which I need to fix so they login as themselves and get time limited.

Only set it up last week, but it seems like you can’t share a Live across the household. Which is rubbish.

See here

Wait till the VBucks and the Battle Passes come up in discussion.

in game purchases are special treats only, especially for useless cosmetic shizzle like new skins, I'm pretty good at saying no - aslong as my mrs doesn't know how purchase stuff for them I'll be fine 🙂

Set up the child’s email account they ask for as your email account – otherwise payments can come out without you knowing about it.

I've had issues with kid specific accounts before, sounds like I need to think carefully about this one.

you can’t share a Live across the household. Which is rubbish an excellent business model for fleecing your customers

FIFY

.

This is bloody confusing.
My lad has a xbox 1, i think I set up and account years ago but he doesn't play on live (I mean he doesn't play online with friends. We bought him a new FIFA game for xmas, am I going to spend 1/2 the day faffing about resetting passwords and accounts and feeling like a clueless idiot?

Bimbler

Member

See here

Cheers Bimbler, that looks good. SO I create my own account buy xbox live with that and set it as the "home" xbox, setup kids with their own account and they can play online with my Live account. I assume any games that have passes or codes or what have you, need to be installed on to the kids account?

franksinatra

Subscriber

This is bloody confusing.

This concerns me aswell. if I buy a game is it installed onto the system, my admin account, the kids account or a combination of? If I have Live and I install the game but kids get in game purchases, what happens then if the game purchase was linked to my account?
I'm sure it all works well once you know what you're doing but it does seem a bit complex (and I'm a long time gamer who "does" IT)

If you have live, you buy game, he cannot play it. So what you do is either buy with his account and using your PayPal, or buy for him.

Set it up now.

Very, very much this.

Trying to downloads and updates on Christmas Day or the following days will destroy your soul

It took me three days of a devastated seven year old to learn this lesson

Go to the grandparents house, get the xbox and set it up.

Do it now.

Cheers Bimbler, that looks good. SO I create my own account buy xbox live with that and set it as the “home” xbox, setup kids with their own account and they can play online with my Live account.

Yes

I assume any games that have passes or codes or what have you, need to be installed on to the kids account?

Dunno, sorry.

If you have live, you buy game, he cannot play it.

Wrong.

If you set it as a Home console then anything on the console is open to other accounts using it. So my missus can access everything I download via Gamespass, Live or whatever and play online with it. Similarly my daughter can do the same with her child account albeit only after I have allowed anything that breaks the age restriction (which is a surprising amount).

This concerns me aswell. if I buy a game is it installed onto the system, my admin account, the kids account or a combination of? If I have Live and I install the game but kids get in game purchases, what happens then if the game purchase was linked to my account?
I’m sure it all works well once you know what you’re doing but it does seem a bit complex (and I’m a long time gamer who “does” IT)

We've got a couple of games at home now, most came on dics, a few from MS store and one really shady one via eBay when you had to sign into a live account, D/L the game then sign out of it again...

Anyway, they work both on my account and my Sons, it's just the Online gaming thing that doesn't work for some reason.

As for purchases - MS family is probably the best tool I've used for managing kids accounts, you can set an age limit to what games they can access, so for example, unless I specifically give my eldest access to it, he cannot play GTA V, he can download free apps / media that are age appropriate, but if he wants a app thats not age appropriate OR costs money, he has to send a request that arrives in my e-mail account, it also pops up on my desktop in work or any other MS device I log into with my live account or my work Live accounts (as they're linked).

It takes a bit of work to get set-up, but do it now, not Xmas morning or you'll never do it.

Same goes for setting up the machine, they don't usually need massive patches, but the servers are glacial on Xmas morning.

My kids play off my account just like most of their mates.

The TV is in the living room so i can keep an eye.
he account is linked to my Paypal which means i get an alert if money has been spent. We have had one issue - I would be very surprised if we have another one. 😉

Also worth looking at EA Access, costs very little and you can fill your xbox with loads of games.

If you set it as a Home console then anything on the console is open to other accounts using it

Interesting.

This has done nothing to reassure me. I've got a wrapped up game box in the loft, I don't even know if it has a disk in it now. Looks like I'm going to be shouting at a screen for the next few evenings trying to sort this out.

Things like this make me feel old.