Why is Microsoft not giving Xbox Live free?

[Jumplion]

The reason why Xbox Live arguably a better online service than PSN is because we pay for it. Our money lets Microsoft make improvements to XBL.

That's why even though it costs money, more people are on XBL than PSN. It's an all round better service.

I know I'm probably going to get a few "trollz" accusations or something, but I don't see how you paying them helps improve the service itself.

For one, it's Peer to Peer and from what I understand P2P is worse than the stuff that PSN/PC has like dedicated servers and whatnot (P2P also limits the number of players to something like 16v16), so this means you're essentially paying for something that should be free and is also inferior.
Next, most features you get with a LIVE subscription don't have anything to do with online connectivity. You get stuff like Netflix, Last.fm, something with Facebook and Twitter, whatever. You get a ton of features that most people already have for free on the PC. You're paying for features that you should get for free, and infact you probably already have for free.
And on top of all that, you are being forced to pay for access to half a game's content. Most people throw a hissy-fit when Capcom makes you pay for DLC already on the disk, why should this be acceptable? You've already payed $60 for a game upfront, some of that goes to Microsoft for licensing and whatnot, why should I be forced to pay extra just to unlock half a game's content?

I dunno, if I'm wrong on any of those assertions please correct me. I've enjoyed PSN and STEAM and they've both been great services for me. Personally, I guess, LIVE just doesn't seem all that appealing. The only reason that LIVE costs money is because people are willing to pay for it, so why drop it? Infact, didn't they recently increase the price of LIVE? That, if anything, speaks greatly for how much people are willing to shell out for something they shouldn't shell out for.

EDIT: Oh, not to mention, the LIVE service in anywhere but the US gets shafted severely. They don't even have any of those features like Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN etc... and they still have to shell out more cash for those features even though they're not getting them.

 

[Icehearted]

Because servers cost money to run.
It's either charge you, or do what Sony does, and charge developers who will then be less likely to support you.

Not all games run on servers (Call of Duty 2, Gears of War 2).


They charge because they can, and people are willing to pay for what should be free. It's the same logic behind Avatar crap; make a paper doll, then create a market for dressing up paper doll with 1-5 dollar accessories and watch the suckers spend cash on something that does nothing.

The big mac comparison is lame (and overused). Apples and oranges. It's more like buying a nice looking suit you can wear around the house, but you have to pay a fee to wear it outside with others. Too many apologists will make excuses for the practice, but ultimately it boils down to the difference between having more sense than money or having more money than sense.

 

[WolfEdge]

The reason why Xbox Live arguably a better online service than PSN is because we pay for it. Our money lets Microsoft make improvements to XBL.

That's why even though it costs money, more people are on XBL than PSN. It's an all round better service.

and yet pc gamers have the best service and its costs us even less

Irrelevant. The argument was between Xbox Live and PSN.

Calling the pc a singular "service" is like saying all videogames are made by Nintendo. Aside from that, there's a perceived difficulty in the mind of the common consumer when it comes to breaking into PC gaming, which offsets the supposed worth of the PC as a gaming platform.

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

I agree with Op, while I understand we get DLC quicker, and we have a better service, can't there be a free service that delays or even bans purchase of DLC unless you have live, BUT STILL LETS YOU PLAY THE FUCKING GAMES.

*phew* I just want to play online games with my pals, without the bells and whistles.

Even while paying for the bells and whistles I STILL HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR THE REST OF THE GAME(first strike *cough* *cough*)

 

[Puzzlenaut]

Because Microsoft makes an absolute KILLING off it: 20 million times £40 per year.

M$ makes nearly a billion quid off it every year (which is well over a billion dollars).

 

[gussy1z]

money is tasty. And the be fair a lot of work has gone into it and its pretty good. The more money they can get from it the more the more likely they are to improve it. I thnk PSN are starting to do a similar thing.

 

[dibblywibbles]

Having both consoles I can say I tend to play my multiplayer games on xbox over ps3. I either have the worst ps3 in the world(but I don't hate it) or it hates my internet connection. games just don't run as smoothly unless they're console exclusives. my xbox on the other hand greedily and joyously eats up my bandwidth and always seems a bit more stable when it comes to online play. if 60 bucks is what makes my xbox want to perform to the best of its abilities... I'd gladly pay it because my computer sucks.

 

[Zeraki]

Because it makes them money, and that's all there really is to say about it. I will never use the service again however, just because the experience I had with it.

They make you jump through hoops if you want to cancel your gold subscription. They won't let you cancel the account on the console, or on the website even though there is a link for doing so. So I called them to cancel, and when I asked them why it was like that they gave me some line about how "people were accidentally cancelling their accounts" and tried to justify it by saying it was like a cell phone service... which made no sense to me.

I honestly think they hope people are too lazy to go through the trouble of cancelling. It was a service I didn't really use, I only tried the $1 thing to try it out, and then I saw that they charged me $10 a couple months later for a recurring subscription I had no prior knowledge of. So I was pretty annoyed.

It's bad enough that Microsoft points are a complete rip-off.

 

[IamSofaKingRaw]

Supposedly, its "worth the money"

 

[SilverUchiha]

The reason why Xbox Live arguably a better online service than PSN is because we pay for it. Our money lets Microsoft make improvements to XBL.

That's why even though it costs money, more people are on XBL than PSN. It's an all round better service.

Steam is free and the service is very good. No reason why XBL can't be the same way.

 

[Zhukov]

Short, pithy and somewhat smart arse answer:

Because people have proven willing to pay for it.

 

[Vykrel]

because theyre making like over a billion dollars a year charging for the service...

 

[gussy1z]

maybe it could be more like steam in a way that XBL could takes a cut when purchasing arcade games, or films, or advertising. Maybe it could be free for us then.

 

[HigherTomorrow]

Because they're a company that's looking to make money.

Deal with it.

 

[Xyphon]

Having owned a 360 with LIVE in the past, I can safely say that the only difference I noticed between PSN and LIVE is that I now have an extra $60 in my wallet. I've noticed no difference between the two connectivity wise. None, nada, zero, zilch. I view LIVE as you're really just paying for the content they have, virtually the same content that PC's and PS3's get for free and you're just being suckered into a P2P system.

As many others have said and will continue to say, they know people will buy it, thus they sell it.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

We get what we pay for, essentially. There is the advanced demos and DLC and such, and I personally like the arcade games that come out for it.

There is also the fact that Sony is losing money on PSN [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106422-Sony-PSN-Losing-Money-Right-Now-Next-Year-Should-Be-Better] unless they can magically work that out in three months I'd imagine they still are.

 

[darth gditch]

I own a Xbox 360 and repeatedly having to pay for a Xbox Live Gold Membership is quite annoying. After a while i started thinking about why Microsoft isn't giving Xbox Live free. Surely its to make more money and the Xbox Live service and benefits is quite worth it but surely they must realize that they lost many costumers to Sony's PS3 due to this and that this is always a major disadvantageous point when used in console wars. I am open to all views and opinions.

Cause servers, bandwith, updates, and the staff to take care of it all costs money? And Microsoft is not going to do something that actively loses money. Especially when there is a large fanbase willing to pay for it.


Companies exist to sell people a product, in this case entertainment is the product, and make a profit. Sony loses money on PSN; they only made PSN free to try to take some of Live's consumer base. Sony would charge if they could. Blizzard charges for WoW for the same reason: there is no such thing as a free lunch.

If no one would pay for it and the service drained more money that it brought in, why in the world would Microsoft offer Live? That would be stupid. The gerbils in accounting at Microsoft probably have done a lot of analysis, balancing the cost of Live and the profit it brings. They probably determined that charging for live brought in more money than offering Live for free would generate in increased 360 sales.

Does that sum my opinion up for you, OP?

To pose my own question to this forum, why do people feel that they are entitled to services they did not pay for? I mean, I can't go to the supermarket and say "I bought your milk, now give me a free glass and free cookies to go with it." I don't think anyone would.

Online multiplayer is a service above and beyond the primary purchase price of a console. Companies are well within their rights to charge consumers for it.

 

[Spygon]

I've never understood how XBL is a good service. There's no community unless you already know people or randomly friend people in games, there's no dedicated servers, the content they put out is godawful (in the UK at least) and it doesn't offer anything you can't get from a dozen other sources on the PC.

I can only assume the people who extol the virtues of XBL have never used a PC.

You just kinda answered your own question xbox live is all in one place you dont have to wonder what chat program people are using on your team.Also you dont see an abundence of hackers like you do in most pc games.Also all players are using the same content so you dont have problems with texture maps working differently and you dont have to wait around for your friends to instal the latest updates all the time because on the 360 if you play the game you have to keep up to date