Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Well, really, why won't they allow you to play just straight multiplayer for free? I don't give a damn about achievements, messaging others during games (which you can do on the PS3), and inviting others to games (which you can also do on the PS3 in a certain way). You already pay your ISP (or your parents do) for internet access. Why play more for multi? This isn't an MMOG.

I hate it when Microsoft gloats about their games; most of which are multi-platform. That means I can buy a multi-platform game for the PS3 and play online for free. Both Live and PSN have the same exact core setup in the game (quick match, custom matches, leaderboards, etc.) So why pay for one and not the other when both are the same? This is why I don't buy 360 games much anymore and I exclusively buy multi-platform games on the PS3.

I know most kids have the time to make the approximately $15.00/month fee worth their time, but I don't. I only have time for maybe a couple of games a month. Why should I pay for something that I may never use when I can have free multiplayer and not worry about a subscription running out?

So, why does Microsoft charge an absurd multiplayer fee. Live is riddled with ads, so you'd think that they would make enough money from them (PSN is ad-free until you get to the store, and even then is Sony PS3-only stuff). Plus, their consoles are cheap and have a high fail rate. Having an RROD 2 or 3 times is not unheard of. So why won't they pull more customers in and make Live free?

It's absurd that Microsoft cares more about money than quality. Then again, this is Capitalism.

EDIT: This may belong in Console General Yib-Yab (Off Topic). Dunno, but it's the mod's call.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Its all about the money...

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

I've also wondered about the monthly fees people pay for XBL when there's the ads. Maybe Microsoft needs the money to make up for all those anti-trust rulings :lol:

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

no because they are a buisness and the more money a buisness can pull in the better

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

I'm okay with it. It's a yearly payment of fifty dollars, which is less than most games nowadays cost.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

but see that's $50 a year i don't have to pay, and i get the same quality of service, if not better cus if i recall around December or January XBL was down and i have always had service with my ps2/ps3 service.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Bill Gates is a money grubbing whore.

Xbox 360 has good games though.

Deal with it.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Fifty bucks is chicken feed, and although you might have better service with psn, you can't play that many good games on it. Just how I see it.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

i could understand if we connected to microsoft servers when we play but we dont, we host the games our selves, XBL is a gloryfied TS server

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Yep

Yep

Lol yep. I though of that myself after their recent $1.3 billion dollar fine.

I've had both and the multiplayer experience is the same. There are little perks with Live, but possibly not enough to make people pay for the service.

Yep

Nope. The majority of 360 games I know of are multi-platform like I said before, which means all you need to do is buy it on the PS3 and you circumvent the XBL fee. That's what I do.

The only downside is that PS3s are more expensive, but you get what you pay for. 360s have an extremely high fail rate vs PS3s and Wiis (which also charge an online fee for their internet service, so I should look into that). According to an article I just googled, 1 in 3 360s fail vs 1 in 100 PS3s and Wiis, but there are more articles that support these numbers.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/07/05...o-for-the-win/

I have a PS3 and a 360, but I'm almost afraid to play on my 360 now because it will RROD. I've had 2 instances and my brother has had 3. Microsoft is losing money like crazy for unfair service and a crappy console, and they still expect you to pay for their service. I guess the only reason now is so that they don't go broke.

True, but the 2 best games I've seen for the 360 are Crackdown and Gears of War.

And, to me, $50.00/year isn't chicken feed. I rarely play online games, but I desire to play GoW and maybe Halo 3 online, but to play I have to play the XBL fee. So, multiplayer games for me are dollars and hour and not cents, and this is what ruffles my feathers. I'm pretty sure Microsoft thought of this but didn't give a rat's ass.

I would not mind if they changed the Live fee to a one-time fee, even if the price went up, because that means that I do not have to worry about wasting 90% of my subscription time. This will never happen, but it would be nice if it did. I can't win a battle trying to suggest the idea to them because too many gamers are content with the current system, so I would have little if any support.

Microsoft reminds me of the Standard Oil Company of the early 20th century (I'm probably wrong on this). I don't mind the entire company, but I do mind their business practice of supporting and bragging about a defective console and making you pay an fee to play online that isn't necessary.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

And here I was thinking that Microsoft had better online service than Sony..

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Actually, he is pretty generous and doesn't own Microsoft anymore. :lol:

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Microsoft wants money. It's the same reason that developers and publishers can't decide the costs of DLC and XBL Arcade games (from what I've heard, some of those developers and publishers want their DLC to not cost anything).

Microsoft even went as far as releasing the first next-gen console. Even though looking back it wasn't so bad, Microsoft wanted to make sure that gamers would buy Microsoft's console, so then the run out of money and can't buy another console.

I made Microsoft sound like a bunch of assholes, didn't I?

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

thats sorta true. he is a
Philanthropist but he still is CEO of Microsoft, he just steped down from the day to day running of the company

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Cos it's Micro$oft that's why! :lol:

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

That laughing smilie sure is easily amused.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

well tbf i like the xbox live service and £30 is not much for the whole year i get regular updates and some free things in regards to it crashing that was due to xmas and the large amout on users that joined in a few days. we got compensated for that by a few arcade game "undertow" was ok play it sometimes. they are a business you cant have everything free they still have to pay for the actual live service and are creating more of a community out of it now. so calm down and learn something bout business before you start moaning.

by the way your moaning but $50 but you have a ps3 and xbox 360 so why not just have the 360 and save the extra money that you payed for the ps3 on the xbox live subscription seems like your making excuses now

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

They do. It's called the silver edition.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

silver edition doesn't allow you to play the games online, just brows the marketplace so that you can buy additional content

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

You also get that with the PS3

Then why is the fail rate still so high? That Christmas was 2 years ago and yet the fail rate hasn't changed.

In regards to statement 2; The users had nothing else but PS2, which was ok but I never used it, so they went to 360 and Live for online multiplayer.


PS3 has arcade games. In fact, they have more free content than with the 360 store. Themes and gamerpics are absolutely free. Microsoft charges you for that, and almost everything else. Only demos and a few things here and there are free in XBL marketplace. Hell, Microsoft charges you to change your gamertag name. 800 MPs.

I took economics in tech college, and I know the tactics that Microsoft is pulling off, and I know that Microsoft is putting every little tentacle they can into electronics to make money. My phone runs Windows Moble.

Anyway, in order to stay on top of the Console market, which is an oligopoly (Which is one step below a monopoly), they threw their next-gen console out first. Other than some bugs, it was pretty and nice, but they force XBL on you because there was nothing else. At the same time, they were losing money on this. Fortunately, PS3 were overpriced and Wiis didn't were focused on the young audience, so the 360s did very well, and boy did Microsoft brag about it.

But 360s were the right price because Microsoft didn't take time to consider making a quality product. They cared only about making money, and now it's catching up to them. Their consoles have failure problems and continue to have them. Wiis outsold 360s for a while, and all Sony needs to do is lower the price of their console to increase sales. Note that 360 fail rates are 33%, and they charge you $100 per fix, and they usually send you a refurbished 360 and not a brand new one. That means that you're getting someone else's console with a new part to replace the damaged one (and you better hope they did a quality inspection). Overall, with the replacement fee, by your second console failure (RROD), your 360 just became as expensive as a PS3.

Imagine you never work and someone told you that you could play multiplayer games for $15.00 a month. You'd go for it because that's nothing. This is where you may be.

Imagine you work almost every day of the month and rarely play online and someone tole me that I could play multiplayer games for $15.00 a month. I'd tell him to kiss my ass. This is where I'm at.

Live is for people that play multiplayer causally and not for those that can only play it once in a while, and the fee excludes people like me from playing multiplayer. This is where I get pissed. This is where I end up buying a multi-platform game on the PS3 and circumventing the fee.

I don't know if I'll sell my 360 because I have some good games on it, but I know that I'll never get to play multiplayer on it.

Silver edition is shit. You get access to the arcade and store and that's it.

Silver is strictly a teaser.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Gotta say Kyle, not often you see such a well-constructed post of ownage. High-5!

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

my xbox has just gone back to microsoft free of charge

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

my ps3 has stayed with me just fine free of charge, and kyle nice

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

[quote=Killer Kyle;4276964]


But 360s were the right price because Microsoft didn't take time to consider making a quality product. They cared only about making money, and now it's catching up to them. Their consoles have failure problems and continue to have them. Wiis outsold 360s for a while, and all Sony needs to do is lower the price of their console to increase sales. Note that 360 fail rates are 33%, and they charge you $100 per fix, and they usually send you a refurbished 360 and not a brand new one. That means that you're getting someone else's console with a new part to replace the damaged one (and you better hope they did a quality inspection). Overall, with the replacement fee, by your second console failure (RROD), your 360 just became as expensive as a PS3.



i didnt pay for my fix i sent it off and it was free:rofl: why did you have to pay?:Puzzled:

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

I had to send my bro's 360 in when they first came out, and they had a fix-it charge. I was reimbursed for it since they actually their first batch was defective (and it looks like that ever batch afterwards =p). I think I had to pay for the second time, but not after that since Microsoft has renewed warranties due to its console high failure rate.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

oh how do you know if they have renewed your warrenty

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

You'd call them I'd guess.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

We took over Microsoft. You will join us one way or another.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

When people stop, they will stop asking people to pay for a service which should be free.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Yeah, I figured that, and if you can get enough people to stop then they will free it up, but that is a very hard thing to do because you would have to get hundreds of thousands or even millions to sign a petition and simultaneously cancel their subscriptions and/or not renew them. It wouldn't be worth it, even with the fee.

Microsoft will never drop the fee. Nintendo dropped their online fee, but Microsoft won't because too many people don't care about paying for the fee and thus they will continue to make money off of it. They don't give a shit about the people that can't make it worth their time. They just want another source of income (or a way to pay for their servers, which I question).

In the beginning of this thread, I was just ranting about how their fee wasn't worth my time because of my lifestyle, but I'm glad to have a fan base that believes in the same thing. I wish we could get enough people together to start something, but if we succeed, there is not telling what Microsoft would do to replace their lost revenue for their Live fees.

Success would be great, but at what cost? Sorry to be this way, but I'm but I'm just trying to be a realist.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

i agree with killer kyle, microsoft wants to make money...

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

I'm no expert on the prices in the US but isn't the cost per month something like $3-4? That's a far cry from $15 per month. To be blunt I quite simply refuse to believe that at that price it's out of reach for someone who can afford over $700 in console hardware (which could quite easily rise to the region of $1000 if you've got the versions with larger hard drives etc).

You've made the rational choice not to buy it because the benefit to you doesn't outweigh the cost. Your money, your choice. It's not Microsoft excluding you.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Actually, I own a 360 and did before I owned a PS3 and had Live for a while, but it didn't change my views about it's unfair fee.

Honestly, the core multiplayer vs. PS3 is no different. I agree that the PS3 costs more, but you get more for free.

There are problems with the PS3 (hardware and software architecture for one), but I'm willing to deal with that for a cheaper online experience that is on par with Live. If Microsoft removed half of the bells and whistles of Live, they could make it free but probably not drop some of their unnecessary market charges.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

i still dont get why your complaing as you have the money to spend on a ps3 after you brought a 360 but cant afford £30 for a years online dont make sense to me

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Because I'm a graduate student, and I make a less than minimum-wage salary to work almost every day of the year (excluding Christmas, Spring, and Fall Break). So, at that rate, a fee does count when I can't spend but 1% of my subscription time to actually play online. That's 99% of my subscription time and money wasted, and that's where I get pissed.

Why can't Microsoft do what Nintendo did and what Sony never had to do and remove their online multiplayer fee? This is what this thread is about.

The PS3 and 360s were gifts from my parents, by the way.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

that makes sense now then im a student at college at the moment and i dont really have any money and cant afford a ps3 due to the intial expense.

id love to have live as free but there is not much we can do about that

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

One you have a 360 you can't be that poor. 2 It's all about money and yeah it's so bad that we get an organized place to download movies, games, music, and EXCLUSIVE DOWN LOADABLE CONTENT that Microsoft gets for us. Stop whining cause it won't happen. I've been XBL since the beginning and guess what i use to have to use my lunch money for school until i got a job. Two weeks of not eating garbage lunch to get that? i like it. then i got a job and man is it easy. SO all in all Microsoft knows what they are doing not you. And if you quit because it isn't then you'll just be like the others. Microsoft = money smart. They make money years after the console is released. If you bought one game and got the 360 for 400 and have live for 3 years you'll have spent $610 meaning that they are playing the economy smart. PS3 500+ games. If they stop buying games because theres a really good one then ps3 is losing money again. God Microsoft probally has milked over 5000+ dollars from me worth of games, DLC, XBox, and 360

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

I sure hope you meant to say Live.

id love to have live as free but there is not much we can do about that


And I pretty much will because I don't give a damn anymore. I have the right to vent, but I can't win.

You don't have my job. You'd want to quit in an instant. I'm trying to hang onto it by as much as I can. This is not part of the argument, though.

Microsoft =/= Quality. They put out an OS (Vista) that gained an awful reputation for incompatibility and a console (360) with a 1/3 fail rate. A lot of things with fail rates that high would be recalled, but I know that wouldn't be smart. They should have built it better before shoving it out of the door, but, hey, gotta make money.

They also used the hype tactic with Halo 2 and 3 to make some money, and that actually pushed their net console income out of the red. Hey, it worked on me. Unfortunately, both of the single player games didn't live up to the hype. Who cares, though? The multiplayer was great and they raked in money and Live subscribers.

Finally, and I'm not sure of this name, but it's proprietary products. Basically, they're going to create games that will only play on Vista. Notice that this is already taking place with the 360. For a PS3, you can actually use any SATA RAID laptop hard drive for the game hard drive and any flash storage device as a memory card. Sure, you may not ever use that, but it's there. But if you want a 360 memory card or hard drive, you have to buy a 360-compatible one, and because nothing else fits the 360, Microsoft can set the price to anything withing reasonable limits.

Microsoft will always make money, but they stopped caring about the people by putting out products of lower quality. That's going to bite them in the ass soon enough.

To be fair, this is what I like about the 360:
In game messaging.
It's easier to set up player-to-player chat.
PS3 lacks any real great games at the moment, but I haven't played all of the PS3 games. Too many PS3 games are multi-platform. This may be due to the PS3 architecture being too complicated at the moment. This also makes creating games on the 360 more desirable.

The PS3 will shine soon enough. The 360 is doing well besides it's astromically higher than the other consoles fail rate, but it could do a lot better if Microsoft took the time to design their console well. If they had taken more time to make Live Silver a little more fair and not a teaser product, then I wouldn't be having this conversation right now, but, hey you gotta make money.

I'm done ranting now. I just wanted to express my point, but I know what I want isn't going to happen even if Microsoft possibly could afford it.

Think of this before I go: What's better? Free candy or $5 candy. Think carefully about it.

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Microsoft made the absurd decision to rush out their console in order to gain a footing on the console market. The 30% failure rate seen by 360s is due to the rough edges and poor construction of the system. While the PS3 doesn't really have a large footing in the market, it has an incredibly low fail rate, the technology really can shine and the upcoming games look brilliant (MGS4 anyone?).

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

i did mean PS3 as i can afford £30 for the year of gaming thats a small cost instead of another £100 ontop of that for a PS3 as they are really over priced at the time of me buying my 360 that extra 100 is for booze :beer:

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

Agreed, but I can't afford the $50 not because I monetarily can't, because because I won't be playing online enough to make it worth my money. Think.

Yes, PS3 are overpriced, and it's because they contain equipment that most people won't use (like flash card readers or blu-ray, which is it's disk reader), but I once did a price comparison and it would cost more to make a 360 like a PS3 (not a foothold, but a note nonetheless).

Remember, you get what you pay for. PS3s are coming down in price because possibly the cost of the tech used in it is coming down (especially the hard drives), and the hard drives are increasing in size.

Also, are you going to take a 1 in 3 chance of a console failing and having to wait for 2 weeks without it instead of a 1 in 100 chance of failure, even if the price was higher on the second console?

Re: Why won't they make X-box Live free?
 

well i have no need for all the extra features dont have hd tv or anything i jsut wanna play games with mates :D

and my 360 is with microsoft at the moment but oh well wats a 2 weeks i got a new laptop to entertain me and have been doing more college work which is gd

yh you buy what you want it for clearly the ps3 is better for you and 360 for me its all personal choice