Poll: Xbox Live's Dilema

[Valdus]

Wait..so I should get something to make amends for having a service which functions and doesn't result in my credit card info being stolen?

Pffft, I play Xbox and it's fine as is. I would like gold to be free but I don't see that happaning in the long run no matter what problems microsoft have.

 

[utopaline]

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.

Doing fine?? really, have you looked at their stock levels over the last 4 years? the PS division has lost them money constantly since it's launch. Yes the PS3 console now makes a profit when sold, but it still has not recouped it's billions lost over the last 4 years. If is wasn't for their extreme cutting in the television sector (selling all their TV panel factories to Samsung for example) they would have lost even more money. The company is facing a lot of hardships with people not having faith in their products (not talking about the PSN being down at all here) They outsource more products than ever, they can't even compete with VIZIO for goodness sake. They have dropped to the #4 spot for Home Theater products. I don't want Sony to fail, they used to make great products but they need to lose that attitude that people will buy our stuff no matter what.

Uto

 

[setting_son]

I don't feel cheated by not having my account hacked and details stolen. But if any other XBL users do feel 'cheated' that Microsoft aren't giving them a free game I'll offer you a deal - give me your personal details, address and your credit card info and once I'm done clearing out your account I'll get you 800MS points as compensation for being so cheated.

 

[KLJT]

I own both and when a friend asked if I feel like Sony has lossed some of my respect for potentially losing my details i said (and i quote) "Sony may have lossed my details but Mircosoft itself steal from me every month and doesn't give two shita about anything but my money" they said fair enough and i got back to playing my playstation while using Xbox party. Guess which is my prefered console.

 

[omega 616]

It kind of makes me chickle, they obviously thought "wait, there getting free games? How can I make a reasonable arguement to get free games ... I have been loyal? YEAH! I have been loyal so I want free stuff."

Do me a favour!

 

[NinjaRabies]

I am content with gaming on my Xbox without gold, though half the enjoyment of The Orange Box disappeared once I found out it doesn't work on local multiplayer. I can't afford, nor do I have the room for a PS3, not to mention I prefer the xbox controller, but ITT I think, if xbox live gold or whatever it's called, was reduced in cost, I might get a subscription. Hell, I might even invest in extra stuff so I didn't have to use a wire, I would most likely begin buying more games and downloading demos, not to mention using whatever else they have to offer. I know I can download and buy stuff online already, but I don't have a live gold account so I don't bother. I also know that if it became free, a few more would buy them. Even if they have a ps3 already.

Bah, don't mind me. Rambling.

 

[auronvi]

My huge issue with XBox Live is the restraints they put on the developers.

Huge limitations on free content for players (free DLC and the like)
Closed network, no cross-platform gaming (i.e. PC VS Xbox, XBOX vs. PS, or any combination)

Microsoft seems to be getting a "Too big to fail" mentality when that's not the case at all. Gamers are very fast to switch to the next best thing. Playstation 4 comes out (speculation), free cross game chat, better friends list functionality such as joining games and lobbies from the XMB, Netflix, Steam, a good version of Playstation Home, and the Playstation Store all at no cost to the user. What could XBox Live offer then that would warrant the price tag?

The coolest thing that I have seen that very few other developers have taken advantage of was the ability to run UT3 mods on the PS3. What if Oblivion and Fallout 3 could have done that? This was probably not included because they didn't want to make one console version better than the other.

Free and open is always better than closed and pay. Xbox Live[footnote]Poster has an active Gold Membership. Bought it for 30 dollar for the year and only really plays COD with friends but wishes they would just play it on PC instead.[/footnote] is the virtual version of a golf club... a golf club of whiny, racist, prepubescent, children. Ya, a golf club. Didn't mean to be redundant.

 

[Macrobstar]

People go on about credit card info being stolen, bu I would have lost much more money paying for xbox live then with whatever hackers are doing with my info, so as far as I'm concerned xbl gold users have lost more than me

 

[DrEmo]

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?!

What OP is getting at is that Steam, Wii's online network and PSN are all free. Xbox Live is a paid service which gives you roughly the same service for a pretty steep price. Sony is giving PSN users a free game to apologize for their free service's downtime. Xbox owners are starting to see that they get the same service but for a price.


To summarize: PSN, Steam and the Wii all let us play online for free. Steam and PSN let us share content, send messages, keep track of achievements and friends all for free. Xbox Live, what makes you so special?


EDIT: About the loyalty thing, we are paying a monthly fee for a service. The only difference between Xbox Silver (free) and Xbox Gold (paid) users is that Xbox Gold players can play online and get SOME demos a few days sooner than Silver members. Demos are already free, so you're paying around 10 bucks a month to play online.

What he's getting at is that we should get something for that. Stores like Starbucks and such have a program where you get a reward for buying stuff from there often. Why doesn't Xbox Live reward its long time members with something? You've been an Xbox Live member for 6 months in a row? Have a 20% discount on your next purchase. You've been with us for a year? Have a free arcade game of your choice. Etc.



Now, about Netflix on the Xbox, I don't know how that works, so I don't know if the price is covered in the gold membership (I can't use Xbox's Netflix service, so I don't know much about it) and I don't know the difference between Netflix on the PS3 or on the Xbox (of Wii for that matter) so I can't really argue that point. If anyone else can, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Why would Xbox owners feel 'cheated'? They're not the ones that had to cope with three weeks of downtime...

 

[SoulChaserJ]

Time to chime in again. Are the people making references to "Microsoft rewarding loyalty" not seeing that they've already started down this path with M$ rewards? I'm not a proponent of M$ by any stretch but you're asking for a program that has already started.

So again I ask....Where is the sense of entitlement coming from? M$ has provided a service, a service Gold members pay for. You knew what you were getting up front. If you wanted something different, why did you bother buying this service?

 

[Extravagance]

I'd like some kind of MP reward, as those things are really expensive and you constantly need them for new DLC. I'm not too bothered about paying for xbox live, because it's not too much of a hassel and I like the features it brings. I'm also not bothered about the PSN free games;

"Playstation are giving me free games 8D" "..But my network wasn't down for ages, and none of my information was stolen. Pretty shitty trade off, don't you think? 2 games for that?" "...Fuck."

 

[Elijin]

So much...

Okay, first off. Private details were stolen. So this quote here...

"Despite it's pitfalls, PSN is free. And with free games for the downtime, you can't really be too angry at Sony anymore."

Just wow. Yep, nothing to complain about now I had a token game thats in the bargain bin anyway, thrown my way! Anyway...

It is silly that people complain. Its also silly that people say 'But what about the rewards system!' This just in. America is not the whole world. Lots of the world is without the rewards system.


But just....yeah...PSN is giving out freebies in a 'Ohgodpleasedontleaveme' gesture, not just because they're nice guys. Dont confuse 'Holy shit we fucked up and need to work hard to win back our fanbase' with 'Being generous'

And yes, XBL users are stupid for asking XBL to match it. Anyone who says 'PSN is giving away freebies, your move MS.' I say to you that MS uses the move 'Dont lose private information and have a month of downtime.' Its super effective.

 

[Dr. Feelgood]

People pay for XBL because it's a much more refined service than the PSN. Microsoft has to have a better service anyways, or else no one would pay for it. After all, we get early access to demos, DLC, and more sweepstakes. I'm not trying to say that PSN sucks, but XBL is better.

 

[cgmetallica1981]

No. People pay for Xbox LIVE because they simply wan't to play online and talk to friends. I have never once heard of anybody buying Xbox LIVE for anything like Netflix or ESPN.

 

[Laser Priest]

Xbox live sucks. It works well, especially the party system, but Microsoft is hell-bent on trying to convert me over to PSN.

Unfortunately, all of my friends are Xbox fanboys who refuse to buy a PS3, so I'm stuck here if I want anyone to play with.

 

[Sethzard]

For that we get a better, more stable service, and any downtime that does occur gets compensated heavily.

 

[emeraldrafael]

The PSN isnt free. Yous till have to pay for it (For me, it was a one time twenty dollar charge).

As to the dilemma, well, the PSN users lost personal info, so Microsoft can always just say do you want your personal info given away for a free game? No, I thought so, shut up and pay.

... Not that I care, I didnt lose a lot, and still love the PSN (and by extension the PS3) over the XBL (and extension Microsoft).

 

[raptormonkey]

Personally I think it is fine the way it is. When my xbox broke within the warranty period it took them only one week to send it back which was a new one. A loyalty card of one month free live and they also renewed the warranty and registered the new serial number. Now considering that I think that is a loyalty bonus enough. Xbox has great service and a large amount of games coming out.

Its how WOW has a current monthly fee because they update it every week and there not feeling any strain even though there is a massive amount of free MMORPG's out there.

Though it might be nice to have something free I think it is not a necessary condolence.

 

[Seanfall]

I really don't care one way or the other. I'm a silver member though I'd like to go to gold some time soon. And yeah something would be nice but...*shrug* do they really need to? I mean they can always pull out: "Least we're not like PSN."