Poll: Xbox Live's Dilema

[DigitalAtlas]

people paying for XBL gives us hundreds of features, great servers for online, and never once have I had a bad online experience that was the fault of Xbox Live.

Now PSN on the other hand... Let's just say I tend to stay away from their shooters' multiplayer modes during launch week.

 

[Gizmo007666]

Ok lets set a couple things straight here. First XBL gold does reward its customers. How many weekly specials do gold members get that silver don't? Not to mention the contests only available to gold and the early access to demos.

Second a few years back XBL went down for 2 days over X-mas. And what did MS do? Nothing? Pshaww not good ole MS. They rewarded us with a free game. Undertow in fact, at the time a pretty popular game. Or if you already owned it they offered you another game or 800 points (how much Undertow was worth). For a 2 day outage that is not bad.

Anyone whining because XBL is stable so they don't get free stuff are just entitled little brats pure and simple.

Just a point, I thought that was a downtime of 2 weeks, not days? In which case sony giving 2 games for a downtime about twice as long is pretty much even in terms of benefit, however they should really give people the option of having store credit in case they have all the available games that they want.

 

[TheComfyChair]

Have your credit card details stolen and the network taken down for 3-4 weeks and then you can have a 'reward'. Sony aren't valve. They aren't doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they're doing it because they lost their details and shut down the online services for a month.

 

[Ranorak]

This is just another case of gamers being self entitled and greedy.
Why would anyone even think that because PSN gets hacked, XBL users should get compensation.

We should get a reward for loyalty, or something of the like.

Why?!
Why should we be rewarded for using a service that is there to entertain us in the first place?!

Perhaps a few years running paying £40 a year and we don't really see a dime of it back other than playing online. Shops do it, ever heard of a loyalty card?

Of course you don't see a dime back!
You pay for a service to play online, you get online play, weekly discounts, cross game chat, secure servers and it's all optional!

Stores do it to get an edge on the competition, clearly there is no need to do this, because you already have a Xbox and already am a customer of microsoft.

 

[DR3AMCATCH3R94]

while i agree with most of the statements here, i hardly have enough oney to g=keep my gold subscription goin half the time and wen dlc or new game appear on the market place that i want to get i have to wait a month or so to get them and by then theyre are a dozen more new things. so i can see the promise of gettin free stuff for loyally stayin wit xbox. but thats just cuz of my current position, dont hate me for it

 

[NickCooley]

It's fine as it is, the people complaining are self entitled burkes, I'd rather my information stay secure than get some free games.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

So people are whining because they have never received free stuff from Microsoft for being loyal customers? In other words people are whining because they are spoiled little shits that want free stuff. I honestly fail to see the logic in "Your servers are running smoothly and as such we demand free shit!"

Xbox LIVE does reward it's customers. With weekly specials, contests and early access to demo's and sometimes even free MS points. I'm not the biggest Microsoft fan out there but I certainly do know that they do indeed reward their members.

Sony are giving out free stuff because they have a reason to give out free stuff and because they are trying to win back their customers that jumped ship from the PS3 to the 360, not because they want to give away free stuff. Yeah sure PSN's online is free but that's the very reason that it's a pile of crap and I don't remember the last time all my details were compromised through the 360.

I've been a loyal customer to my local Morrisons store for years. Doesn't mean I can expect to go in one day and get 2 weeks shopping for fucking free.

 

[Soxafloppin]

XBL Gold will NEVER be free, theres a crazy amount of people paying for it, and unless a very large portion of them leave, it will remain priced.

 

[Funkysandwich]

Well sure, now random strangers on the internet have the personal information of thousands of people, but hey free games!

It's like having a facebook account you didn't ask for!

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Just a point, I thought that was a downtime of 2 weeks, not days? In which case sony giving 2 games for a downtime about twice as long is pretty much even in terms of benefit, however they should really give people the option of having store credit in case they have all the available games that they want.

Nah, it was only two days.

The rewards program is pretty nice though. You get that 20 points a month for the survey, 5% back on all purchases provided you were gold for that entire month, VIP bonuses of points and free items based on how long you have been a live member, early demo access, and tons of discounts on arcade titles and add-ons on a weekly basis.

Not to mention anybody who feels cheated needs to get off their high horse and realize they are bitching about not getting free stuff because their online service didn't go down.

 

[squid5580]

Ok lets set a couple things straight here. First XBL gold does reward its customers. How many weekly specials do gold members get that silver don't? Not to mention the contests only available to gold and the early access to demos.

Second a few years back XBL went down for 2 days over X-mas. And what did MS do? Nothing? Pshaww not good ole MS. They rewarded us with a free game. Undertow in fact, at the time a pretty popular game. Or if you already owned it they offered you another game or 800 points (how much Undertow was worth). For a 2 day outage that is not bad.

Anyone whining because XBL is stable so they don't get free stuff are just entitled little brats pure and simple.

Just a point, I thought that was a downtime of 2 weeks, not days? In which case sony giving 2 games for a downtime about twice as long is pretty much even in terms of benefit, however they should really give people the option of having store credit in case they have all the available games that they want.

For me it was only 2 days for me but they say the service was sketchy for the holiday break. But that it was never actually down either. Just not up to par.

And that is exactly what they did. If you already owned undertow you got an 800 point refund.

 

[iLikeHippos]

Set aside the argument that you have to pay in order to obtain the privilege of Internet Multiplayer. (A superior multi-player, mind. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live])

But, the fact of the matter is, that it costs, uhh, 79$? Unless you're living in a fucking igloo and go by the day obtaining fish in order to survive some frozen wasteland, that is not much. In fact, that is SO very little, I am surprised there is at least one man complaining from the awesome service they still deliver.
But, there ARE around 30+ million people using it. So I suppose one out of the 0.00001% must find a problem.

Free is good, but if life has taught me anything is that free is more than often never better than the ones you pay good money for.
And really, I can't summon the energy to complain. It's an annual cost. Who gives a ####.
Besides, the PSN users are given games for having their information stolen - not because of a free Internet service. This is a one-time occurrence.
Won't likely happen to Xbox Live.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

So with the news that Sony are offering free games as a return on the PSN being down for almost a month, Xbox owners are now feeling slightly cheated. And understandably, in some respects. Xbox Live has so far remained a study network, but you'd expect it to at an annual cost of around £40. And that's where the new problem is coming in.

Despite it's pitfalls, PSN is free. And with free games for the downtime, you can't really be too angry at Sony anymore. Then there's Steam, the biggest gaming network for PC gaming. There's something in common here: they're both free. And the Wii, despite your reserves is the exact same.

Microsoft are starting to feel a strain after the news of Sony's 'Welcome Back' package, as many Xbox users are now claiming that despite Xbox Live never having significant downtime, they deserve something for their loyalty in the face of a monthly subscription.

I'm inclined to agree.

I think the people complaining about this, represent an insignificant portion of the XBL community. I havent heard the first thing about anyone complaining, and the ones that do are probably the ones that are ALWAYS wanting more for paying for the gold service.

Also, I am pretty sure that Microsoft isnt feeling a strain from Sonys "Welcome Back" program, because the whole nasty business that happened to Sony has only hurt them, which is a boon to Microsoft.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Haha Xbox live is a joke, they'll never make it free. At least not for this generation of xbox console.

 

[Amondren]

They should just make it free. Sony's been free from the start and are still doing fine as a company hell they have been down and their going back up and they are still a good company. XBLA should be free and I would probably spend way more time playing and possibly buying things on Xbox.

 

[joystickjunki3]

I do not agree, OP.

If any XBL subscribers are making this argument, which I doubt, then they are simply self-entitled little brats that help give a bad name to our community. I have an Xbox 360 and I am a Gold subscriber; I do not think Microsoft should be paying for Sony's complete and utter fuck-up.

On top of that, it's not like Sony just woke up the other morning and said, "Hey, you know what we should do? Just up and give away countless amounts of money... FOR FREE!!" This is an attempt to win back the loyalty of customers they lost after a colossal mistake. This is the least they could do.

As an owner of a PSPgo (don't hate, please), I am extremely pissed off at Sony for the way they handled the situation, so I absolutely deserve some free shit from them, given the context. Microsoft doesn't owe me anything at the moment.

 

[Matt-Sama]

It's fine. You pay for the stability and the deals of the week among other things.

 

[SoulChaserJ]

I have a few issues with some responses here. Firstly early access to demos, is like saying you have early access to the back cover of a book....Worthless. The three services mentioned in this thread are related but in no way shape or form equal. XBL PSN Steam.

XBL customers now have "rewards" and if that's not enough then tough. This is a pay for service. If you don't like it, don't pay. We will be happy to use the excess bandwidth you're leaving behind.

OT: Try to keep in mind that Sony NEEDS to kowtow to everyone right now. They need to kiss as much ass as possible to try to regain the user base they thought they had...BUUUUUT....they need to do it without losing more money. That's why the free titles in our "Welcome Back Package" are SOE titles. Microsoft doesn't need to do this. XBL is a multi million dollar service, they provide top notch online multiplayer service...They EARN their money by providing a service and keeping it running.

Why should we amass anything beyond that which we pay(too much) for? What sense of entitlement does paying for a service give you(those who are asking for freebies)? Is this what the world is coming to? Everyone looking for a handout? If it is, then I'll be one of the first to voluntarily check out and free up some air for the mouth breathers that are taking over.

 

[Duol]

I want a platinum service to be honest. With servers hosted by MS and fast connections to them, games would have special lobbies to play on these servers. There would be a heightened mod presence within the games getting rid of cheaters, hackers, abusive players etc. Possibly even backup servers so that there would be a gaurantee that it would 'never' go down, although that might be a stretch too far Throw in access to betas for many games (such as halo reach, but not just for those that bought ODST). Maybe even allow special preorder bonuses just to those who have this new level and discounts on older DLC.

I would happily pay 10-20 euros a month for this level of service, doubt many others would though...

You get what you pay for. Simple as.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

*Snip*

THANK YOU.
I can't say I'm Microsoft's biggest fan, but XBL Gold DOES have perks.
As mentioned above: Early access to demos, contests, weekly specials, etc.

Yes, PSN is free to game on. So is Steam, and Nintendo's online system.
But I prefer XBL over PSN's 'sign up for everything' and Nintendo's friend code system. Steam is excellent, but I don't game online on my PC much. I game on my 360, and I find value in my XBL Gold account. Plus it's less than $5 a month for a year. I find that price hard to argue with.

Plus, they even give great deals on the subscriptions at times as well.

I believe around last December is when they were raising the subscription price and it would be $60 for a year instead of $50. Well, for about a week, they had a deal going, for the impending raise in price, if people changed their subscription to a yearly subscription(I was monthly at the time) they got the next full year for $40. So for this subscription year, I am only paying roughly $3.33 a month.