What M$ should do with XBL

[imcrazy]

http://editorials.teamxbox.com/xbox/1967/AN-INCONVENIENT-TRUTH/p1

This is a good article on some things M$ should do with its currently over priced and underwhelming gold service.

I would probably been thrown into a rant right now as to how much of a rip off gold is, if it wasn't for the simple fact that I'm only paying about 10 bucks a year (a far more reasonable price).

But in all truth, online gaming on the pc is better than the 360 and its free! At least in my experience anyway.

[oO DARKSAINT Oo]

I don't think Gold is a rip off. Someone has to pay for the use and maintenance of all those servers. I do think that they should throw us some free stuff now and then, like limited picture packs who beta tested Halo 3 or Shadow run. Or a free movie now and again.

[Sniper Kitten]

I think they do a good job with throwing us free stuff...

Aegis Wing, South Park, Austin Powers, tv shows, movie themes and pictures...

Could they do more... yeah, but im satisfied for the 50 bucks a year.

[ENNO]

what id ont get s why do europe get screwed?its 60 euro a year which is ok but we dont get free movies or picture packs?infact we dont even have a movie section like the americans!!and on top when i convert 60 euro to dollar its $80.70c o_0 so yes something should be done..atleast in europe!

[SoccerHooligan]

Its an ok article with little to back up its bold claim....

The only thing I would like to see that isnt done is dedicated servers.... Other than that, you get what you pay for.... If paying about $5 a month for the premium service is too rich for your blood, well gaming is the wrong hobby my friend....

And what of computer gaming? Sure there are some games that allow you to play online for free, however the more popular games usually require fees upwards of $10 a month...

Im fine with paying the money, and theres something to be said about that considering I wont ever shell out cash for maps... I wait till they are free....

[Sniper Kitten]

I figure why not.... lol


A recent podcast has the Gamerscore crew expounding the virtues of Xbox Live, particularly by defending its $50 a year price tag.

"There are bandwidth costs, there are things that go above and beyond", said Chris Paladino of the Xbox Community Team. "I think it goes back to this unified system. We have to have voice communication, text communication, now we're doing cross-platform. There's Marketplace, there are demos, and all these things don't just mystically hover around that you can pull them out of the ether."

Microsoft PR manager Michael Wolf later appended Paladino's statements by emphasizing that, as a Live customer, "you get what you pay for" with the service's myriad of options. And in Wolf's estimation, the customer satisfaction numbers for Microsoft's Live service have been "through the roof". But, as a means of comparison, Wolf also equated it to other services one might pay for outside the realm of gaming.


http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EElklkyklpKNIForHr.php

[lUnAtIc]

People knock PSN. It isn't as good as Live but it's free and it's improving. Live has pretty much maxed itself out. $50 a year isn't going to break people financially. It's a few cups of coffee (thinking of Mocha now) per month. It's the microtransactions that I feel are a rip off. You pay on top of paying. Kind of like taxes on top of taxes. When I had Silver (after Gold ran out) I used to get content at the same time as Gold members. Then MS implemented a delay. Nickel and diming people into getting Gold. Silver was upposed to give you all the content that Gold does except for no online matches. Then MS changed that. I'm surprised that more people didn't protest. Kind of ums up the philosophy and business model that MS has taken with the 360 in general.

[imcrazy]

And what of computer gaming? Sure there are some games that allow you to play online for free, however the more popular games usually require fees upwards of $10 a month...

Well thats just talking one genre, and that is of MMORPGs. IMO those are rip offs to, because not only are they boring as all hell but they charge you money to waste your time per month. But in this case its a little more justified since the servers are hosted by them (unlike on XBL). Besides there are MMOs on 360, and guess what you have to pay extra for those to.

As for the computer gaming comment I will elaborate. On XBL I am almost always hard pressed to find a game in which I don't experience lag, and often times if there is lag its pretty bad. Compare this to pc gaming in which I do experience lag from time to time, but on average it is considerably less than what I experience on XBL, and often times these matches have twice to three times the people in them! If XBL was free, this kind of thing would be acceptable, but for fricks sake I pay to play laggy and 16 player limited games?!

Maybe some of you are content with mediocrity, but if I am forced to pay for something I can get everywhere else for free than I at least expect the experience to be better, not worse.

As for text and voice communication in one place? There is xfire. Its free and on pc. They make money through advertising, yet for some reason I pay for XBL and I still see ads all over the place. I can understand if a company needs to make money to cover costs and even making some profit, but we all know M$ is making a premium for all the BS they are charging customers.

All I want is to feel like my money is going towards something other than the pockets of already extremely rich greedy douchebags.

[SuperSaiyan4]

I have a 360 and PS3 and have to say the PSN arcade games are cheaper than than the XBLA ones.

[Mistah Clutch]

Kind of like taxes on top of taxes. When I had Silver (after Gold ran out) I used to get content at the same time as Gold members. Then MS implemented a delay. Nickel and diming people into getting Gold. Silver was upposed to give you all the content that Gold does except for no online matches. Then MS changed that. I'm surprised that more people didn't protest. Kind of ums up the philosophy and business model that MS has taken with the 360 in general.

what are you talking about? :confused: i have a gold and silver account. everything available to my gold account is available to my silver account...

personally, i don't think that $50 is too much. although, i would like to see less ads and ms should host mp games. wasn't that one of the original reasons why we were paying the $$ in the first place??