Poll: What is your opinion on XBox Live?

[squid5580]

You remind me of those hippies who sit around and ***** about the man, but dont know what the hell you are talking about.
People who hate Xbox Live usually just see it as I have to spend money!? If it was even just a penny a year, Im sure people would whine.

I can get a year of xbox live, or a bit less than 4 months of World of Warcraft.

You're creating a straw man argument here, nobody's going to complain about paying for Live Gold and then go have a WoW subscription instead. The same people who won't pay for Live Gold and stick to PC or PS3 instead are the same people who play Guild Wars instead of WoW.

No but people do whine because "all you are paying for is MP" when you aren't. Recently I bought 2 arcade titles that were on sale for gold members. That saved me 800 points which equals out to around a 12-15 dollar savings (because in Canada we get 1400 cards for 20 bucks). Every week there is a new special like that. If I am lucky I could save 52 times a year and the membership will have cost me nothing. I might even make a profit. Or I might save nothing. It is a gamble for sure.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

It's greener and goes "doop" more than PSN.

I like that noise, "doop". It sounds nice.

 

[migo]

That's the same thing that's wrong with PS+ though, it's only remotely worth it if you're already buying a lot. At least with PSN and PS+ you can choose to have free multiplayer which is the most essential part of Xbox Live Gold. You're technically not just paying for MP, but MP is the only worthwhile thing (for most people) that you're paying for, and the discounts are just an obtuse way of justifying the cost.

 

[megapenguinx]

Personally, I HATE XBL. It's total bullshit that you have to pay for Multiplayer, Updates, and Other game features which are all available for FREE on PC. It's just another way of Microsoft to stick their hands into our pockets, as if they didn't have enough money already.

I agree.
Playstation Plus is starting to look a lot more friendly in my eyes (although I don't agree with that whole "cancel the service, lose your stuff crap").
All minor things aside, you only really pay for online play. That should have been free from the beginning.

While I agree that sucks, and makes the PS+ look only worthwhile for people who spend a lot of money already, at least if you reactivate the service you get it back.

I think I will sign up for it when I get my next paycheck. The benefits outweigh the cons at the moment.

 

[migo]

You don't actually have to pay for updates. And besides, the cost of an Xbox plus a years Gold membership is still cheaper than a PS3 or a decent spec PC.

Remember you also have to pay for an extended warranty on the Xbox otherwise it'll be useless to you after a year.

But it comes with a 3 year warranty after the Red Ring incident.

The new ones don't.

 

[agentironman]

If you have to complain about paying $50 a year to go online for content or multiplayer than you have other financial concerns that should take priority. Although if you are a teen then I can understand your frustrations.

I enjoy XBL. I use it mainly for DLC and multiplayer but since moving to Asia it is also a good way to stay in touch with my friends who are also gamers. The problem I have with XBL is not the service but the individuals that use the service. They are annoying as hell and most of the time I have to remove my headset to avoid their comments or worthless discussions.

XBL serves a purpose that is to give most games a 2nd life through their DLC. Of course an earlier comment has a lot of value in that the MS points need to be restructured as it is difficult to purchase things when the prices are all over the place and you are 100 points shy of getting what you want.

When I was in the States for my last vacation I ended up buying $100 worth of MS points so that I do not run into that problem for a while.

All things can be improved. My PS3 is rarely used due to the fact that I find XBL to be easier to navigate and requires quicker updates. So Microsoft wins in my opinion as far as which has the better online component to their systems.

 

[mattttherman3]

My problem is, I can't stop messages from appearing in my inbox, unless I turn my privacy settings to block or friends only, but the problem with that is that I can't talk to random people during a multiplayer game, as my mic and theirs are auto muted.

The messages I recieve?

10TH PRESTIGE LOBBY, MICROSOFT POINTS OR PAYPAL

Leave me alone...

 

[Beastialman]

(American supremacists/racists)

Please dear Christ you don't think that all Americans on Xbox live are supremacists/racist.

Also I think the only real reason Xbox live Gold costs money is because they pay people to actually review complaints filed, and tech support (also free RROD of E74 fixes... but that should be free anyway). Op complained about updates but failed to mention that the fixes for multiplayer glitches are completely free. While yeah for the most part Xbox Lives cost kinda sucks but if you buy a one year for 50 bucks (UK=80ish I believe) that's 5 bucks a month (6.50 a month for UK). That's not that much, just save up your pocket change and you can play XBL.

However I will say this (someone on another forum) mentioned that the biggest reason XBL is BS is because of multiple people sharing one console, I whole heartedly agree with this. Microsoft should be forced into making the cost for Xbox Live cover the console not the account (of course then you'd have the problem of switching consoles... or hardrives... then you'd have to spend 20 bucks for a transfer cable.

tl:dr, if you don't like it, you have join XBConnet http://www.xbconnect.com/

 

[TelHybrid]

(American supremacists/racists)

Please dear Christ you don't think that all Americans on Xbox live are supremacists/racist.

Not all of them. Did I say that?

Just after 90% of my matches with Americans involving me being mocked over my accent with the term "British piece of shit" thrown at me, you can see where my dislike for the community comes into it. That example was one of many.
It's usually either a troll, or an elitist.

 

[TelHybrid]

That's not that much, just save up your pocket change and you can play XBL.

I can easily afford it. No need to be presumptuous. I just don't see why I should pay for peer to peer, when PC offers a better online platform (dedicated servers) for free. PS3 does too.

 

[Beastialman]

That's not that much, just save up your pocket change and you can play XBL.

I can easily afford it. No need to be presumptuous. I just don't see why I should pay for peer to peer, when PC offers a better online platform (dedicated servers) for free. PS3 does too.

Actually Dedicated servers aren't free and they are costly and constantly ask you for donations because someone has to pay bandwidth. PS3 does it for free since they don't give you as good as technical and online support (banning people, keeping it run smoothly).

 

[antidonkey]

XBL is a great concept, executed quite well, but destroyed by the people that use it. I don't have an xbox and if I did, I certainly would pay for XBL as I have no desire at all for multiplayer on it.

And for those that don't know, it's quite easy to hook a pc up to a big screen tv and run the audio to your home theater.

 

[godofallu]

Personally, I HATE XBL. It's total bullshit that you have to pay for Multiplayer, Updates, and Other game features which are all available for FREE on PC. It's just another way of Microsoft to stick their hands into our pockets, as if they didn't have enough money already.

yeah I mean it's not like online servers cost money, or DLC takes labor hours to create.

I had no idea Microsoft was the only one who created add-on DLC for the 360, I thought the actual developers made that. Huh... I wonder why the PS3 doesn't charge to play online though, when it must make all of its own DLC too...


/sarcasm.

You do know that most of the multiplayer games you play on the 360 use official Microsoft servers for the majority of their matches. Servers aren't free to have, and updates aren't free to make.

The ps3 only gives it free because they have the inferior product and don't provide servers to companies. If they could charge for their service they would in a second, but they can't because it can't compete with XBL.

I pay 4 dollars a month for xbox live, to me that doesn't even count as paying a fee since it takes me like 10 minutes to make that much. I guess to children that might seem like a big deal though.

 

[captaincabbage]

I reckon it's bullshit personally. I don't wanna pay to use internet I've already paid for, regardless of the games the 360 may have, I don't reckon it's worth it, same as MMOs.

Why would you pay for internet twice on 360 when you could get it for free on PC and even PS3? It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[squid5580]

I reckon it's bullshit personally. I don't wanna pay to use internet I've already paid for, regardless of the games the 360 may have, I don't reckon it's worth it, same as MMOs.

Why would you pay for internet twice on 360 when you could get it for free on PC and even PS3? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Because you aren't paying for the internet twice. There is alot of value in having a Gold membership once people get past all the stereotypes and the initial "OMG I am paying for the internet twice". First off is all the contests. Every week there is at least one to win anything from 1000 point card (for me value at about 15 bucks) to entire home theatre systems and new 360s (sometimes special, signed or dipped in gold). And all you have to do is enter is download a gamerpic (which are on average about 20KB) and some are pretty cool. I am rockin a Batman pic I got from entering a contest. Every week content goes on sale. If I had been patient I could have bought all the Dragon Age Origins (including Awakenings) DLC for half price. That would have saved me 30-40 bucks if I had taken advantage of it. Now you throw MP and party chat (and all the other bells and whistles) on top of that for 60 bucks a year (I am sorry but if you are buying by the month you are foolish) then how is that not a good deal?

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

I don't use it because I don't have internet where my Xbox is. So I have no opinion. I find it's cool to play with your friends and get updates and all that, I just wish it didn't cost so much. It's about $50 a month right? Seems a bit much to me.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I don't own an XBox, but I think it's bad that XBL is the only multiplayer software you have to pay for. Had they made it free like Steam or PSN, it would be loved a lot more.

 

[Oomii]

I love it, it isn't without its flaws, but in my opinion it is the best console gaming network (And yes, I do have a PS3 as well). Plus it is only $50 a year, that is like $4 a month, that really isn't that bad.