So what is it you're actually paying for with Live Gold?

[hyperdrachen]

The net coding on some games has been weak but In general I've not had issues with live itself. Maybe some conflicts between the service and your router setup. But to answer the question your mostly paying, to be allowed to play games online. Not a strong point for the service. Nowadays gold members get the occasionaly exclusive, or early demo, and discounts on some content. The demo thing seems purpose defeating, a demo is to promote a game right? Why would a dev want to limit who can download it.

Back when i first got Live i didnt really have an issue with it but now it's highly saturated with ads, many of which are not passable as, hey your a gamer you wanna see this. I'm looking at the Axe, Oldspice, and Doritos advertisements. For a while they had adds that would blare sound when you went across them on the menu, I think they removed it for some rage they were getting in the inbox. I like my xbox but i don't feal like the Gold service is being approached properly. THe only reason I have it is so i can play games online and I don't feal they need a fee from me, and ad revenue to do that. So as far as I'm concerned they can pick, one or the other, and I'll be fine. Promoting TV shows, movies, music or games is fine in my book but deoderant and corn chips can screw off, or the fee can.

 

[Dr. Danger]

I would just like to say...

Then a few rounds in some guy joins with a headset and starts trash talking (again, friendly game of Uno we're talking about here, not Gears of War).

Casual games are the more ruthless of the bunch. Pay attention to what you're doing. Sitting there, no stress, nothing to distract you. Uno is basically begging for people who trash talk or wave their willie at the camera. You're to get a better experience with an actual game.

Blacklight is a bit tricky when it comes to joining a game. I just search for quick match then immediately cancel. Repeat process a couple times until it says something different. It works every time.

 

[Woodsey]

What you get for Xbox LIVE is things that you should get for free at a cost.

Don't get me started on demos being blocked for a week - you're not providing a service to Gold members, you're just pissing off Silver members. Then there's the fact that if I buy a game for full price, I've still got to pay for Gold before I can "unlock" the other half of it (i.e. the Multiplayer).

Valve on the other hand run Steam completely free of charge, with all the features (and some more) but done better.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Is $60 a year a lot of money? I didn't know that was a lot of money.

Basically, I am paying so I can play with all my friends who have 360's and live in various parts of the country. If they all had PS3's then I wouldn't be paying but sadly I can't make that decision for my buddies.

Microsoft charges for it because they are wise enough to know that most people will pay it. Maybe more gamers need to start purchasing stock in the company so they can earn back more than $60 a year in increased value. I love that extra profit because I'm going to retire early with it and send my kids to Harvard.

And before I hear anyone say "but they might go broke and cost you your investment" I will warn you that my long term investment strategy is fascinating only to me. If you say something that silly I will be forced to talk about acceptable risk to profit ratios determined by your age, financial situation and future earnings potential. Nobody wants that.

 

[LordGarbageMan]

Wouldn't know if it's any better but all my friends have an xbox and not a ps3 so I play that. Also the party feature is amazing, not sure if ps3 has that.

 

[Miles Tormani]

You're making a rather weak argument. It's not like motion controls vs rumble was a Sony principle. There was a specific extraneous influence there. And what is very clear with Sony is that they stick with things for a very long time and are rather reluctant to change. Once they've set on something you know it'll stay that way.

Specific extraneous influences do not justify the CEO claiming that certain features are "last generation." They also said early on that the PS3 would always be backward compatible with the PS2. The exact claim was that it was an extremely important feature to them, and they would not want to let go of it for any reason.

Then the Slim comes out...

As for being reluctant to change, how? The PS3 is the system that has definitely changed the most this console generation, and most of the changes have quite literally been the removal of features.

Me? I don't mind paying for Xbox Live. It gives me that extra sense of comfort that even if Microsoft loses money on sales, they can make up the difference through subscriptions. The difference being made up means that they don't necessarily have to cut features just to cut price.

Except for the Memory Unit thing in the terms of the new 360, but who bought those anyway? (Note: I did.)

 

[Mr. Gency]

360's cheaper than the PS3, and now that Sony is gonna start charging for it, we're still cheaper.

Also, there's a mute feature.

Well you can still play online for free.

 

[Kermi]

You're making a rather weak argument. It's not like motion controls vs rumble was a Sony principle. There was a specific extraneous influence there. And what is very clear with Sony is that they stick with things for a very long time and are rather reluctant to change. Once they've set on something you know it'll stay that way.

You're making claims on Sony's behalf for something they're really given us no reason to believe. What exactly has Sony NOT flip-flopped on? They forced SixAxis on us and very few games use it in a worthwhile way. They removed PS2 compatibility. They've removed Other OS support. They brought in rumble after telling several very stupid lies about why they weren't implementing it. Why, oh WHY on earth should I believe they will NOT abuse their PSN+ model to ultimately get people to pay for online gaming?
There is a very small market for the PSN+ model as it has been introduced today, compared to the market they can potentially have for it. Frankly, NOT doing it would be a bad business decision, so maybe you're right - charging for online gaming would be quite uncharacteristic!

 

[Kermi]

Yeah I read your post but it just seemed like you wrote it just to be a jerk, and that post just proved my point.

Oh no, someone on the internet thinks I'm a jerk because my opinion is different than theirs!

 

[Danpascooch]

It can't be LIVE's problem since nobody else has these troubles, but knowing Migo, he'll insist that he's right and we're all lying.

That may have sounded rude to Migo, but he won't see it, I'm already on his ignore list for "not agreeing with him"

 

[holographicman]

the construction of a space colony on planet starbucks in the microsoft galaxy

 

[Miles Tormani]

It can't be LIVE's problem since nobody else has these troubles, but knowing Migo, he'll insist that he's right and we're all lying.

That may have sounded rude to Migo, but he won't see it, I'm already on his ignore list for "not agreeing with him"

Here. I'll quote you so he does see it. Maybe I'll get on the ignore list as well, so we can make fun of him behind his back in light of his obvious immaturity on these matters.

"Oh, well, I don't like you, so I'll just block you and win the argument!"

Totally how that stuff works.

Here's another idea, before you just write off Live as a whole: try playing a game that people actually, you know, play. Like Halo. Modern Warfare 2 I wouldn't recommend because what you think is "lag" is more likely to be straight up modding/hacking.

Oh, wait, it uses the "inferior to touch screen" dual analog controls. Nevermind then.

 

[Nouw]

Migo, no matter how good your connection is, it CAN lag and slow down.
And your problem seems to be with UNO. Ignore anything else, its the fact that you're trying to find a game of Uno that is the main problem.

Also, am I the only one that rarely faces lag. Probably because I don't play any of the new games. Only play Bad Company 1.

]And Sony have never changed their policy on anything ever. Remember when rumble was a "last generation feature" and "impossible" to include rumble with the sixaxis?

They were getting sued for patent infringement at the time that the PS3 was released, the DualShock 3 got released once the patent issues were resolved.

I'd be happy to be proved wrong, but it's seriously only a matter of time before PSN+ is required for online gaming. All they have to do is start releasing games that require PSN+ support to play online, then start removing support for games that don't.

That would be suicide for them.

Microsoft did it and look at them. I agree it would be suicide but thats a road thats inevitable to skip.

 

[Miles Tormani]

Microsoft did it and look at them. I agree it would be suicide but thats a road thats inevitable to skip.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind PSN having a fee to play online. If that's what must be done to improve PSN, or even the PS3 in general, then so be it. Even if it's the same price as Xbox Live.

All it means to me is two less games a year, and for that small sacrifice, I get a potentially better online (or even offline) experience. Who knows? We might even start seeing PS3 slims that have full backward compatibility with the PS2, since Sony can make up the loss with the online service.

 

[Mariakitten]

Yeah I read your post but it just seemed like you wrote it just to be a jerk, and that post just proved my point.

Oh no, someone on the internet thinks I'm a jerk because my opinion is different than theirs!

Your in a pit, stop digging.

 

[major28]

360's cheaper than the PS3, and now that Sony is gonna start charging for it, we're still cheaper.

Also, there's a mute feature.

hey now, you dont have to pay for ps3 online to play online games or matches, you have to pay for xbox live

we are cheaper

 

[Danpascooch]

It can't be LIVE's problem since nobody else has these troubles, but knowing Migo, he'll insist that he's right and we're all lying.

That may have sounded rude to Migo, but he won't see it, I'm already on his ignore list for "not agreeing with him"

Here. I'll quote you so he does see it. Maybe I'll get on the ignore list as well, so we can make fun of him behind his back in light of his obvious immaturity on these matters.

"Oh, well, I don't like you, so I'll just block you and win the argument!"

Totally how that stuff works.

Here's another idea, before you just write off Live as a whole: try playing a game that people actually, you know, play. Like Halo. Modern Warfare 2 I wouldn't recommend because what you think is "lag" is more likely to be straight up modding/hacking.

Oh, wait, it uses the "inferior to touch screen" dual analog controls. Nevermind then.

No wonder he likes touch screen, he only plays UNO!

lol

 

[Kermi]

Yeah I read your post but it just seemed like you wrote it just to be a jerk, and that post just proved my point.

Oh no, someone on the internet thinks I'm a jerk because my opinion is different than theirs!

Your in a pit, stop digging.

It amuses me that you think you've taken the high ground here. You attacked my opinion based on an incorrect judgement of my character, deal with it.

 

[Mariakitten]

Yeah I read your post but it just seemed like you wrote it just to be a jerk, and that post just proved my point.

Oh no, someone on the internet thinks I'm a jerk because my opinion is different than theirs!

Your in a pit, stop digging.

It amuses me that you think you've taken the high ground here. You attacked my opinion based on an incorrect judgement of my character, deal with it.

I was simply stating you are misinformed and judging by your recent posts, quite rude. Make of that what you will.

 

[Levitas1234]

xbox live is a scam for your money, the online games use players as the host so there is no cost for microsoft including live.