Does anyone else refuse to pay for Xbox multiplayer?

I have to pay it as the only reason i bought my xbox was to co-op with my friends, hate the online experience tbh. so i have no other choice than to pay it. trying to save up to go to America in september and its a pain.
 
Joebob said:
I think paying for the service is one of the biggest scams going. You have bought the console and paid for the game so you should be able to play it online as far as I'm concerned.
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Like you've bought an HD console but it doesn't come with an HD cable? or you've bought a console but it comes with our second best controller? Or how about you've bought a console, you can play online, but you can't communicate unless you buy a headset. These aren't fanboy comments, Im just illustrating that all the console 'packages' are incomplete.
 
Your a mug if you pay £40 for it, I've never spent more than £24 for a year. The first 2 years were £13 each.

You just need to look in the right places.
 
Shamikebab said:
Like you've bought an HD console but it doesn't come with an HD cable? or you've bought a console but it comes with our second best controller? Or how about you've bought a console, you can play online, but you can't communicate unless you buy a headset. These aren't fanboy comments, Im just illustrating that all the console 'packages' are incomplete.
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The counter to that argument is that accessories are a one off cost, not recurring :).
 
Shamikebab said:
Like you've bought an HD console but it doesn't come with an HD cable? or you've bought a console but it comes with our second best controller? Or how about you've bought a console, you can play online, but you can't communicate unless you buy a headset. These aren't fanboy comments, Im just illustrating that all the console 'packages' are incomplete.
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Well, yeah the PS3 should have had a HD lead but it didn't. It should have had DS3 in the box but it didn't, etc...

This thread isn't about the PS3 though is it, it's about Xbox Live subscription charges.

Microsoft received money when you bought your 360 and again when you bought the game, then you have to pay them yet again to be able to play the online section of that game - it's a complete rip imo.
 
Shamikebab said:
Like you've bought an HD console but it doesn't come with an HD cable? or you've bought a console but it comes with our second best controller? Or how about you've bought a console, you can play online, but you can't communicate unless you buy a headset. These aren't fanboy comments, Im just illustrating that all the console 'packages' are incomplete.
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I see your point, but at least you can play all aspects of any game you buy with the console package. Asking people to pay twice to play all of their game is quite unfair.

I'm risking sounding like an anti-360 gamer, this really isn't the case. I'm a big fan of the 360 and I love the Live service, I just don't feel I should have to pay for it (after already paying Microsoft for the console and the game (MS takes it's fair share of the game price)).
 
Shamikebab said:
Like you've bought an HD console but it doesn't come with an HD cable? or you've bought a console but it comes with our second best controller? Or how about you've bought a console, you can play online, but you can't communicate unless you buy a headset. These aren't fanboy comments, Im just illustrating that all the console 'packages' are incomplete.
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How about i got an HD console, it came with an HD cable but unfortunately no HD TV :D
Anyway I dont think you should have to pay to play online, but XBL is worth paying for, because off the extras it gives you. Maybe if gold/silver both gave you online play, but perhaps things like achievements, gamer score etc was gold specific. I know its something they cant change now as it wouldnt be fair to silver users who like achievements, but maybe in the future it could be done this way, so everyone can play online but for a small fee you get the nice (non essential for some) extras.
 
Inazuma said:
I'm a long time PC gamer - a long time user of quality, free multiplayer with in-game music and chat support. So when I got my 360 not long after launch, I took a firm stance on not buying into M$'s 'service', especially after paying £60 for a wireless adapter. (Though it is admittedly becoming increasingly more tempting to do so). I was wondering, does anyone hold a similar grudge against Microsoft for making gamers pay for something that's always been free in the past? Am I just being ridiculously stubborn?
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I don't really refuse to pay, it's more a case of the fact I'd never play online even if I did have a Gold account, I use my PC for that.
 
Had my xbox stolen and all my game saves everything I've ever down loaded is saved on the servers, so you get back up and running in no time.

so its well worth it in my case.
 
zealot said:
Had my xbox stolen and all my game saves everything I've ever down loaded is saved on the servers, so you get back up and running in no time.

so its well worth it in my case.
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Yeah that is pretty cool, did you get your game saves back? or was it just your Gamertag?
 
wouldn't be gamesaves they are stored on Harddrive or mem card, so would be redownloading DLC and gamertag which PS3 does also for free
 
What do you actually pay for with Xbox Live? As far as I can tell, all the voice chat, friends list functionality etc is built into the console firmware and the games are all peer to peer - so the payment is 100% profit for Microsoft.
 
The only reason I pay is for the cross game interactions, I like to play single player games until all my mates are 'trickling' online, chatting to the odd one or two, and then when everyone is ready, I get a cross game invite for some COD4 or something.. for me that just means the little time that I allot to play games, I am always playing games, and for that reason alone I pay £25-£30 a year, but as many have said, I'd rather it where free.. unless we are talking dedicated servers..

Now that Sony have announced officially that cross game chat is being added, at least we can now be playing single player games and 'coordinate' a MP game.. if they could sort out cross game invites, then PSN will be a no brainer for me..

However, I do worry that although on PSN it's free, who is paying for the dedicated servers and login servers, etc, etc.. it does look very obvious that Sony are wanting to recoup the money from Advertising and HOME transactions, which I believe is not a good thing for the consumer..
 
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Joebob said:
What do you actually pay for with Xbox Live? As far as I can tell, all the voice chat, friends list functionality etc is built into the console firmware and the games are all peer to peer - so the payment is 100% profit for Microsoft.
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* Mottos for display on gamer profiles
* Game achievements, which are earned during gameplay
* Reputation rating which is voted on by other players who decide to either prefer or avoid another player
* Gamerscores, which are a total of a player's achievement points
* Friends list, which is a list of a player's chosen friends, up to 100 friends allowed
* Recent player list, which lists the last 50 players a user has played with
* Complaint filing system, which allows a user to report another user that has broken that Xbox Live Terms of Use
* The Xbox Guide, which opens a window on the left side of the screen at any time for easy access to common features
* Windows Live messenger integration
* Access to Xbox Live Marketplace content, including new game content, games and movies
* Voice Chat (wireless or wired headset required)
* Video Chat (Live Vision camera required, with headset optional for chatting, this is on Gold membership only)
* Multiplayer online gameplay (Gold only, unless a 48 hour trial code is used)
* Enhanced matchmaking using cumulative gamerscore, reputation, location/language profile, skill level, and gamer zone
* Bio section in which one can list personal interests, URLs, etc.
* Parental controls, limiting children's exposure to other users ("Family Settings")

Also full downloadable movie and full Xbox 1 games.

There is probably more but I just snagged that off the Wiki page. I'm not making excuses, just answering your question :p


Spunj99 said:
"Decent" voice comms is obviously a matter of opinion...the sound quality coming across those mic's is pretty bad. Does the codec depend on the game?
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Have you actually used voice comms over Live? The sound quality is fine, I've never had a problem with it and I'm sure many others haven't.


I don't mind paying for Live, at the moment. I do feel it's too expensive though but I wouldn't pay full price for it anyway.

I understand that a lot of people might not use the features of Live and wonder what they're paying their money for but there are lots of people that do use a lot of the features, such as in game messaging and voice chat. I use both of those frequently.

Live is just so easy to use. Say I'm playing a game online and I see one of my friends come online and I want to invite them to my game, as the 'xxx has come online' message appears on the screen I hit my guide button then hit 'Invite to game' job done.

As PSN / Home gets better and becomes a unified service with in game XMB MS are really going to have to do something with the pricing, as it stands right now Live is still the better option.

Oh, and there are lots more people playing online on Live than there are on the PSN. For now.
 
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