Why do people pay for Xbox Live?

[Legendsmith]

The problem I have with XBL is that MS is using it as a cash cow and people don't want to accept that.
"If you are not paying, you are the product being sold."
This quote summarises how I feel about free and paid services. If you pay for it, you are not sold. If you don't, then you are sold.
What do I mean by "you are sold?"
I'm talking about advertisement. Corporations pay Microsoft so that they will display their advertisements on XBL, so that YOU will see them. Therefore, they are paying for your attention. You are the product being sold.

Of course, when you buy a service, there are usually no ads, since you are the one buying the product or service. I don't need to explain that.

Now, if the fee for XBL was really low or they didn't ahve many subscribers, it would be understandable for them to use ads and a fee. As everyone here knows, this is not the case. There are easily enough XBL subscribers to pay for the servers.

Remember, Microsoft doesn't run the game servers, they only run the Microsoft servers. The game servers are run by the developers or by third party GSPs. That means that there isn't that much to maintain in the first place.

On and about the PSN security vs XBL security. The fee doesn't pay for them ensuring the security of XBL. No, the reason that PSN was breached was due to an inherent design flaw in the Playstation 3. The Xbox360 is quite secure in some aspects when compared to a Playstation 3.

As ususal when this comes up, I link this. It's a debate between two people; BlackBusterCritic vs one of his own YT subscribers.
Note here that BlackBusterCritic owns an Xbox360, a PS3 and PC.
Part 1Part 2:I'd say the debate there was pretty decisive.

 

[Pyro Paul]

Look at PSN... Now look at XBL.


That is all.

/thread

you know more people have had their accounts hack, personal information taken, and CCN stole over Xbox LIVE then this single PSN attack? infact, did you know that your CCN and personal information is more secure on the PSN servers because they have an additional layer of security?

LIVE on the other hand quiet litterally has very little acctual security outside the initial layer.


Also, i would like to point out.
Sony, realizing that their users are at risk shuts down the servers to prevent any other information from leaking... although an inconvenence, they are protecting their customers.

Even with blatent proof that there is a gapping hole in their security Microsoft will not shut down LIVE nor will they truely adress the problem until the next patch.

 

[meepop]

Well, we pay to not have our information stolen >.>

<..>

So you're implying that Sony being hacked and having the information "stolen" was their fault? They didn't put up security because they under-estimated a bunch of hackers who were mad at Sony for not dropping the case of a guy who was jail-breaking PS3s. How would YOU like it if some guy jail-broke Xbox 360s?

I'm being facetious -- I have no real qualms against Xbox 360, I just don't think that Xbox users need to pay for Gold. I don't even have a 360 for that reason! For God's sake you're sinking money into a game! It's like sinking money into an MMORPG...

 

[Warlord211]

I pay because I don't really care. We do pay for better security(not a whole lot better but hackers can't exactly take the entire network down in an hour). I have both and the only main difference I see is download speed and a better user interface. I have a very good connection at home, I can download something that is 1 gig in about 15 min or less on my Xbox. I try to do the same for my PS3 and it takes 3 hours, even though my Xbox and PS3 are right beside each other. I know that a better user interface is an opinion, but in my opinion Live is more straight forward and easier to navigate, also i don't have to go through 15 menus to download some dlc. Gameplay quality is about the same I see slightly more stability in the Xbox but nothing that noticeable. Overall they are about the same but more of my friends are on Xbox so thats what I play more.

 

[ThePizzaGuy556]

Xbox live's multiplayer service is better in a few ways.

1. player parties so you can talk cross game
2. From my experience of playing both Xbox has more with mics
3. We get map packs before anyone else (most of the time)
4. our servers are more protected

 

[General Vagueness]

for Halo (and I guess a few other games)

 

[northeast rower]

I pay 17 cents a day. It's not going to put me in the poorhouse.

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

Well the reason they pay is kinda obvious, they wanna play online with their Xbox.

 

[Warlord211]

Well, we pay to not have our information stolen >.>

<..>

So you're implying that Sony being hacked and having the information "stolen" was their fault? They didn't put up security because they under-estimated a bunch of hackers who were mad at Sony for not dropping the case of a guy who was jail-breaking PS3s. How would YOU like it if some guy jail-broke Xbox 360s?

I'm being facetious -- I have no real qualms against Xbox 360, I just don't think that Xbox users need to pay for Gold. I don't even have a 360 for that reason! For God's sake you're sinking money into a game! It's like sinking money into an MMORPG...

The only reason the guy jailbroke the PS3 was because Sony took away a feature that it not only originally had but was also the reason some people bought it, he was just trying to get it back. You don't see Apple getting all high and mighty over everyone when millions of people have jailbroken ipods and iphones. I understand you're being facetious I'm just explaining that the guy who jailbroke the PS3 was not wrong in doing it and Sony way over reacted and was definitely in the wrong.

 

[MercurySteam]

This is not at all a Live sucks, PSN is better thread, I actually think both services are very similar in what they do and how well they do it. Everything I'm about to say is completely factual.

Yet despite all this, these threads have been done a million times and there's nothing you can say that hasn't already been said. Any poster with 500+ posts has seen one of these threads before so I assumed most of us had the decency to not go over this for the hundredth time.

*Sigh*

The obvious things that Microsoft use the money for its server maintenance (and yes, security updates can be paid for too) plus the addition of Netflix and other media streaming stuff that very few people use (still, it's there). One thing may of us LIVE users noticed with the new dashboard update (apart from it looking a bit stupid) was that downloads were fiercely faster, perhaps to keep up to speed with N protocol wireless or just to improve the experience for all of us. My point is that in the long term, it makes LIVE a better experience for us which I am more than happy to pay around $80AU every 12 months.

I just hope that people stop writing these threads every time they don't want to do something. It's not like you're being forced, just stop telling all of us that have heard these complaints from so many others.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

For a really, really high quality, user friendly online service.

Even forgetting security, *cough* *cough* PSN is simply lower quality.

 

[teebeeohh]

because Microsoft allows them to insult others while they are quickscoping.
I think it's just that, a lot of people buy an xbox to play multiplayer with their friends and gold is priced so that while it's not really expansive it's a nice revenue stream for Microsoft. This is also the reason why if a wizard suddenly enabled cross-platform multiplayer for everything Microsoft would be the one hurting most.

 

[MercurySteam]

You wanna know what you're paying for when you pay for Gold? Timed exclusives and what is essentially a reasonably priced Ventrilo. There are servers for online games, you just don't use them to play on (except most EA games). You are paying for extras that Silver members don't get, same as PSN plus users. The features are different, but the concept is the same. You seem to forget, however, that even with the PS3 games with dedicated servers, as well as any PC game with dedicated servers, somebody paid for that. Not only that, but have you seen the price of a dedicated server rental for something like Bad Company 2 on PC? It's fucking expensive.

I don't mind paying for something if it makes sense to pay for it. MMOs charge a fee because they have to use dedicated servers (which cost money to run), you can't do a peer-to-peer system for a MMO.

The timed exclusives are bullshit whether it's Microsoft or Sony doing it. If Microsoft sends a truck of money to EA for something, Xbox users don't get it sooner, PS3 users just get it later. There's no consumer benefit from timed exclusives. Now, if the 360 version is done first, then I'm fine with Xbox users getting the game first.

And now I'm gone because it's painfully obvious that you're nothing more than a militant Xbox LIVE hater who can't possibly see why anyone would pay for something that they see the worth in and keeps pulling out a sourceless story about LIVE being hacked.

Good day to you, sir.

And yet he feels the need to write a pointless thread that has been done to death over this topic. If he wanted to tell the world he could've just climbed up to a tall building and shouted till he felt better (and then perhaps jumped off).

Jokes, but seriously - this has got to stop. The recent business with PSN only gives LIVE uses more ammunition. Now is the worst possible time to complain about Xbox LIVE.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

This is not at all a Live sucks, PSN is better thread, I actually think both services are very similar in what they do and how well they do it. Everything I'm about to say is completely factual.

My problem with Live is that Microsoft wants to have their cake and eat it too as Microsoft charges you for services they don't provide. The FREE Silver Live account offers services that actually cost Microsoft money and resources to provide. Running and maintaining the servers that store the games, demos, DLC, etc. for everyone to download is at least 90% of the expenses of the Live service. And, all that stuff is offered for FREE through Silver membership because Microsoft wants everyone to have access to their store so people can spend money in their store.

For Live Gold membership, Microsoft charges you for Netflix, online gaming, Facebook, last.fm, etc. So, in order for you to have the ability to watch Netflix, you have to pay Netflix, your ISP, and MICROSOFT!!! Microsoft is not incurring any costs of any kind when you watch stuff off Netflix, Netflix is streaming movies from their servers using their bandwidth to you over your bandwidth that you are paying for, Microsoft is not involved in any way. To prove, rather simply, for people who might not believe that, PS3 users can still use Netflix with PSN down.

Onto online gaming, which is another big slap in the face to Live customers from Microsoft. If you play any third party game (e.g. COD), Microsoft is not incurring any costs or bandwidth when you play COD online as you are not playing on Microsoft's servers (you are not even playing on a server as almost every console online game is player hosted) and the publisher of the game is running the game servers that just track stats and nothing else. For a game like COD, the developer puts probably about half its resources into the multiplayer aspect of the game so about half the money you payed for the game is for the multiplayer. On Live, you have to pay Microsoft to unlock game content (online multiplayer) that you already payed for when you bought the game. The only thing that would make sense is if for Microsoft to allow online multiplayer for 3rd party games for Silver accounts, but only allow Gold accounts to pay first party games online. However, Microsoft isn't going to do that because people would be like, "I can play COD or Bad Company for free, screw Halo and Gears" and those communities would be a lot smaller. Also, Microsoft doesn't even run any dedicated servers whereas Sony does run dedicated severs for a few games (MAG, Killzone, Warhawk, etc.).

The only service Microsoft is providing you for Gold membership is cross-game chat so you are basically paying $60 a year for cross-game chat and that is it.

This is why I will never pay for Live as I'm not going to pay someone for a service they aren't providing, it's that simple. If Sony pulled this, I'd turn into a PC gamer and use Steam, which also provides the same services Live Gold does for free.

obvious troll is obvious.

look, people pay because they are willing to pay. i don't know why my douchebag "i only play games that i can shoot things in" brothers are willing to shell out 27 dollars every 3 months just to play Cash-In of Duty: Crap Ops ALL FUCKING DAY ON MY XBOX BUT I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING BECAUSE THEY OWN THE GOD DAMN TV! but they are willing to pay, so microsoft w therefore will charge. simple as that

 

[Subwayeatn]

Goddammit, why does this topic sill exist? It's been done to death every few weeks for so long I can practically summarize the transcript of the arguments about to be posted:

- XBox 360 owners will rant about "quality service" and "better tech support".

- Playstaion 3 owners will rave that both services are the same except for PSN being available for free, often hinting at some real or imagined superiority PSN exudes like a Mac user in a "Mac vs PC" debate.

- People with enough disposable income to afford both will stop by to remind us of their financial security, accuse both sides of fanboyism, and say that they can't tell the difference between the two to RAEG bait them.

- PC gamers will butt in uninvited to stand on the soap box to set us "poor, unwashed masses" straight, say Steam is a better distributor than LIVE and PSN, and claim superiority over console gaming in general as the "golden haired and golden skinned PC gaming master race" with the infallible logic of a hipster saying "You just wouldn't understand."

Give or take a few (hundred) remarks about PSN getting hacked. The only reason I can think of for you to make this kind of thread at this point is that it's easy post bait. Now hurry up and end this so we can get back to our Portal 2 Cave Johnson jokes and fawning/raging over BioWare releases.

My Hero.

 

[mrdude2010]

Well, we pay to not have our information stolen >.>

<..>

this. microsoft does pretty well at keeping our info safe


although it really does piss me off that they try to make us pay for player servers. i would happily pay for XBL gold if they had dedicated servers. as it is i like playing online, so I currently pay for XBL when i can afford it, but it is seriously stupid that they try to get us to pay for online gold

 

[Eiv]

Post baiting pain in the ass.

I STRONGLY SUGGEST NO MORE REPLIES BEFORE THIS GUY'S HEAD EXPLODES WITH NERDRAGE.

/Levi