The Value of Xbox Live Gold

[BrotherRool]

This is one of my make or break things for the next console generation. If Sony start charging or MS continue to charge, I'm not buying that console.

I game online as a dip in thing, when the mood takes me. Having a free service so I can just check out a random multiplayer from my single player games and see if it takes my fancy is huge. I think Xbox Live Gold does meet it's value, the problem is that not having it doesn't. If you have Gold then you're dandy, if you don't have it you've got a crippled half life of a console existence, no access to apps, no chance of discovering if a game has good multiplayer, no chance to become hooked onto a multiplayer game. You actually just straight up lose access to whole games.

So if you game mainly for multiplayer, the price is cheap and worth the money, if you don't it's bad enough that I would strongly recommend not getting an Xbox

The idea of paying for online access is in theory fine by me - it means I have less screaming 12-year olds in my multiplayer games,

I'm generally not disagreeing with you in that you seem like a multiplayer gamer so the service gives you value (I mean I think you have cross party chat at least which the PS3 doesn't have). Maybe I think your comment about the reviewer not affording $40 wasn't in the best spirit maybe. I only buy a handful of games a year and so you'd be asking me severly cut into my gaming, I can't afford more.

But this particular quoted line? Really =D Really? Really? Reeeeally? Your argument for paying for Xbox Live is that there are _less_ whiny 12 year olds? Xbox live that actually coined the whiny 12 year old meme? I'm always shocked when I switch from the PSN to Live just how many foul languaged loud mouths there are. It's not that 12 year olds don't play the PSN of course, it's that Sony doesn't give everyone a mike, which I can assure is a gazillion times more effective than the online system which has been the butt of every screaming homophobic teenager gag thats ever existed (and they've existed exactly as long as Xbox Live has been running =D)

Saying that you pay for Xbox Live to avoid the whiny teenagers is like saying you bury your head in crack to hide from the drug addiction

 

[Smiley Face]

I primarily play my games on the Xbox 360, and have for... I dunno, at least 5 years. I'd say for the past year and a half, I haven't regularly paid for Xbox Live. Maybe I'll get a month here or a month there if there's some multiplayer I really want to check out (When Mass Effect 3 came out, for example) - but since I lost interest in shooters, I haven't bothered, and that's the way it's going to stay. I've always been against ongoing payments for games.

I dunno, maybe it makes business sense. Maybe the vast majority of people who play shooters on Xbox ONLY play shooters and as such, are already willing to pay, particularly given that Halo is an exclusive. But come the next console cycle, all the PS4 will have to do is put some decent shooters out of the gate, which they will, given that console exclusives are largely a dying breed, and that argument won't hold much weight.

 

[FFP2]

I'm okay with paying +/-60$ a year if it means I don't get hacked to shit regularly.

And before people say that PS+ gives you free games, it's just a rental.

Not trying to flame in any way so I'm sorry if it came out like that.

 

[Tanis]

XBL STILL costing money after all this time only shows how stupid people are.

I've gamed online, with the same games, with post the PS3 & 360.
Nothing was better or worse when it came to lag/glitches.

As far as I can tell XBL is just a tax on the stupid and not really WORTH anything.

 

[Smooth Operator]

A good article from Gamespot for once, that is quite the surprise.
However that tax existed and will never ever go away because Microsoft did the simplest math... it's a locked system and you got no other bloody choice, and now after 7 years they got their monkeys trained to obey and not only will they gladly keep paying but they are Microsoft's biggest PR defense force.

You need to stop these infections before they fester, once that happens you need to do some major surgery.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Xbox Live is completely worthless and I won't ever own an Xbox so long as they charge money for something I get for free on PC and PS3.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

I don't own an Xbox. But speaking as an outsider on this, I can thoroughly say that It is not value for money. If they were to give a free variant (With ads everywhere like they currently have) of XBL, then It'd be more valuable. But ads + A cost? No. Just no. Advertisements are given to the highest bidder, therefore that space is used BECAUSE it was paid for. Microsoft are just getting two times cash on what amounts to a mediocre service (Seen it in action, it's pretty shit). I'm not going to say that Steam is better or that PSN rules above it. But XBL is pretty shit. And it's not value for money.

 

[Tdoodle]

If Gold hasn't already become redundant then it will do soon enough. Nevermind that Sony and Nintendo offer the same service for free, I think as far as Xbox gamers are concerned that's a none-issue because they're getting a "superior service" (I'm not convinced myself it's worth it), it's more that a lot of what Gold offers is becoming available as standard with Smart TVs or more established set-top boxes, such as Sky and Virgin, as well as all the services being available on PC.

Still, as long as people are happy paying for it, it'll remain the standard for Microsoft. And if they want to, let them. I haven't been a Gold member for a few years - unless we include a week pass I used for Gears 3 - and I don't feel like I'm missing out. I've got Steam for the Arcade games I used to get through XBL and all the streaming/social networking apps I might have used on 360 are on PC as well, and I'm lucky enough to have a PS3 as well so I've got plenty of options for online gaming. But if people want to keep paying for a service that's standard everywhere else, that's up to them.

 

[Cyrus Hanley]

It's worthless to me. Especially now with all the advertisements and their discretion to retire apps they feel aren't being used.

But if people like paying for it and Microsoft is willing to charge them for it, they can keep paying for all I care.

 

[IronMit]

My mate moved country for work so gave me his xbox which had 5 months of Live Gold subscription remaining last year So I had PS3 connected online and Live Gold subscription for xbox.

My experience of owning both last year;

Online gameplay lag = exactly the same. Lag has been barely noticeable anyway except 3/4 years ago on MW2.

features: well on xbox I had youtube which was cool, PS3 just has some music and movie subscription rubbish I don't care about. Apparently PS3 can get youtube but it wasn't on the damn app list the one time I looked)

interface: when inviting people to games and talking to them when they come online xbox only slightly lags but the PS3 interface lags/stutters even more (that's probably hardware limitations (RAM) )

When downloading demo's and patches the xbox had consistent speed but the playstation just seemed to die. 549 minutes it tells me to download kingdom of amular demo, so i switched on the xbox instead and it took 20 minutes. This isn't an issue anymore on PS3 but it still was early last year for me.

Xbox membership lets me play online and watch youtube, if I were to pay for PS+ I would get a couple of games free every month and discounted games. Every other month I actually would play a game That PS+ has for free.

When my xbox live gold ended I had no intention of renewing it when I had a PS3 online for free. The service that was marginally better did not justify more cash. That's just my subjective value I put on the subscription. approximately £30 a year so I can invite friends to a game in 3 seconds instead of 5 seconds is not worth it.

 

[Cabisco]

It used to be worth it but recently I find myself repeatedly glancing over at the PS3 section in stores, it's not only free but has more interesting exclusives. Xbox/microsoft hasn't done anything in the past couple years to make me want to buy their next console over Sonys.

 

[Total LOLige]

PSN+ is far better value than XBL Gold, no doubt about it. They only advantage Gold has over PS3 is the party system, I'm not sure PS3 has one. If I had to pay subscription it'd be for PSN+. Also, ads on xbox live for gold subscribers is total bull shit, I've already got a subscription for LoveFilm stop trying to make me get it again.

 

[Bvenged]

I'd agree. For a service that charges money, AND shows Advertisements, they don't offer a lot of value in return.

Same.

Back in the day, it was worth it. You got demos early, exclusive content, good Xbox shows that detailed the latest releases, and the best of online console gaming at the time.

Then avatars came along with their crappy micro-transactions, and I got a bit miffed. Then they made the dashboard basically optimal for kinect but sub-optimal for controllers, and I frowned some more. THEN Microsoft raised the price of Gold, started sticking video advertisements on every fucking page, and dropped 1st party game coverage in the UK (bye bye, InsideXbox, Sentuamessage, etc!).

So what the fuck, Microsoft? I pay you MONEY for a good experience, and while you used to be worth every penny, now you've just shat on it. I don't WANT adverts for Lovefilm or Netflix eating up MY broadband. I shouldn't be paying £4/m for something every other online service offers for free, and they don't have fucking adverts. Go kiss my arse, MS.

It seems like I gave you £40 a year for Gold to help fund a system for advertisers to give you more money. Arseholes.

My opinion of Microsoft/Xbox dropped like a fucking meteor from space when those video advertisements appeared on the dashboard. I don't need to watch the same shitty advert every single time I go on the console. I don't want to watch adverts when I go on my console. At all. NONE. I think the same damn Lovefilm advert has been playing for the past 6 months. So damn stupid, if anything I should be paying NOT to have ads.

 

[Dectomax]

For less than £1 a day, for a years worth of service that provides entertainment and the ability to play the games I love, with the friends I want...yeah, I really don't care. It's not exactly breaking the bank and to be fair, with the regular updates and features they keep chucking at us, it's not a bad deal. Yeah, some things could be better but that's life.

 

[Something Amyss]

I just read this article on Gamespot and though it warranted some discussion.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/xbox-live-no-longer-the-gold-standard-6401861/?tag=Topslot%3bXboxLiveNoLongerTheGoldStandard%3bXboxLiveNoLongerThe%3bReadMore

So what is your opinion on the value of Xbox Live Gold?

While I'd agree with the article premise, the trend is pretty clear towards a "nickel-and-dime" approach to gaming. I don't think we're going to see it go anywhere. Further, it's hard to argue that they need to drop it when they do so well with it. I prefer the PS3 model, and for my money I'd rather have PS+. But still, I don't see them giving up on this gold mine any time soon.

Back in the day, it was worth it. You got demos early, exclusive content, good Xbox shows that detailed the latest releases, and the best of online console gaming at the time.

You realise the early demo feature was added, thus being another example of gating off content, right?

And yeah, adverts can kiss my glorious and bountiful ass. They need to stop shying away from game content, period.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121408-Microsoft-Increasing-Investment-in-Xbox-Live-Ads

Yes, I love paying for ads.

 

[hermes]

The value is harder and harder to justify when I take ads into account.

Before, paying mostly for online gaming was a hard pill to swallow, but at least they had the best service in the market (for consoles), the dashboard was easy to use, the offers were nice and the difference in content with the competition was noticeable. But now the dashboard is a mess, the offers are not that great, the content is mostly the same (as exclusives are now timed exclusives, at best), it lacks the offers of its competitors (like free online and games) and even the premium account is filled with pointless advertisements.