Should MS get rid of Xbox Live fee?

I just renewed for $40 from guy on ebay. Free shipping too.

No I buy things on steam sales. Also LOL at getting "free" games that you pay for.

"Latest games at no additional cost"? I like your definition of "latest".

Also, Games with Gold is the same thing. You should read a comparison or two.

I got a ps4 and wiiu. I'm thinking of getting rid of the ps4 in favor of xbox one. I've got a 20gig xbox non hdmi that somehow still meets the criteria to receive the 100 bonus--so scoring an X1 for 250 is a pretty good bargain.

As for the topic I have a feeling MS is going to reduce the yearly fee, at the least. Or, somehow make some deal with Netflix/hulu/amazon where their video service is included in the cost and/or exclusive.

I would love for both Sony and Microsoft to get rid of the paywall but that's not going to happen. Millions of people (myself included) gladly pay the fees to use the online network of these consoles. It's basically printing money for Sony and Microsoft. There is no logical reason for them to get rid of it.

You aren't paying for the games every month, you're paying to play online or use other services. For some reason it doesn't bother me paying for something that I use on a near daily basis and it ends up being cheaper than one beer per month.

I don't think MS is smart enough to do such a thing, but if they did make XBL free it would be a game changer. The need something like this to compete with Sony. A price drop making the Xbone $100 cheaper than PS4 would work too.

Like XBL service ALWAYS works. Don't forget that all the updates at the beginning of the year from MS was them fixing the mess that was dubbed: Party Chat.

That's not his reason for not buying the X1. You pay to play online with each now.

I don't really know what you mean by omitting the fact the only thing psn offers now that xbox live doesn't is the play and share which is quite a shit service.

Say the lemming who hyped useless party chat last gen as something worth paying $60 for,stay in your cave..

I'd rather spend that $50 a year on steam sales. And its the principle. If you show them you're okay with it then things will just get worse. You have to vote with your wallet instead of letting them walk all over you. But if you're fine with being someones bitch then by all means don't let me stop you.

I don't mind paying for it, it costs crap all over a year, I pay NZD$ 130 a month for phone and net, NZD $150 a month for power, then rent at over $400 a week, why the hell would $60 for Live worry me.

Microsoft and Sony already charge enough for these consoles, games, and accessories. Both of them should make online play free for everyone and just move the monthly "free" games to a separate service.

no, im happy our money keeps our banks secure.

Things have gotten better though. Live has gotten cheaper since its launch in 2002 (unless you're a bitch that gets walked all over and you pay directly through them) and you also now get free games every month (you didn't used to). I'm sure you have bought plenty of games through humble bundle/steam sales that you have no intention of ever playing but that probably doesn't bother you at all.

I own 43 steam games and I have played every single one. Regardless, even if I had bought games I didn't intend to play, buying steam games I didn't intend to play wouldn't support a business practice I disagree with but rather show my support for steam sales. There is a difference. The only reason things have gotten slightly better is Sony improving their online. It's not because M$ just decided to be nice. It's because they had to because PS+ was making XBL look like a joke. Unfortunately PSN now has fees because like I said, idiots willing to pay for XBL have shown Sony that online fees are something that people will pay for.

For the amount of ads you're getting on XBL, MS should be paying YOU to brown through all of that crap

lol let just hope they don't raise the price in competition with sony.

I dont even know were to begin with this...

If they got rid of the fee then it would boost sales for them. They already cost more then PS+.

Well, I'll break it down for you, I'm asserting:

• New phsycial/digital copies of games should apply toward rewarding gamers with extended XBLG subscription service.
• Gamers can avoid paying for subscription services outright by maintaining a moderate purchasing of games.
• That MS should consider this because it'll help keep attach rates for games up, and this in turn will result in greater publisher support.
• It'll promote the sale of new games over used.

So, what's your beef?

My beef is that it seems daft to push the consumer towards purchasing a product they may not particularly want (the game) in order to continue the service (live) they do want.

Also who maintains the service?

You would be rewarding devs and publishers by buying the title's and dumping the multiplayer constraints on MS servers, which in your scenario is no longer being paid for by anyone, instead its being given as a free gift for purchasing a title...the profits of which MS doesnt even see.

The basis of your idea seems to stem on the gamer juggling product and services in an unnecessary convoluted manner. Its far easier to simply buy a subscription for x amount of months and purchase the games you want when you want on the understanding that the service will still be valid.

MS already include 1 month gold cards with new console bundles and some games, this is to highlight the benefits of the service they offer so people continue to pay for it. Attatch rates are not the business of the LIVE network service, their focus is on maintaining a great online experience. Its the jobs of devs to make sure attach rates are high by making great games.

It took PSN years to catch up to XBL with everything other than giving out free games and we all know that Nintendo's online service is inferior to a 2002 version of XBox Live. You still end up saving money if you do sign up to PS+ and Gold so that's another reason why a vast majority of people don't give a shit.

Steam Sales and Humble Bundle are A LOT worse for the gaming industry than spending £2 a month for Gold or PSN+. There is no point buying Steam games at release anymore.

Steam sales are good for me the consumer where as PSN and XBL fees are not. That's what I care about. Me the consumer. Not some big company that sold me their hunk of plastic that only lets you play online with other if they give you their permission.

Okay. I take it you feel the same way about health care, school fees and internet prices etc in the US.

This conversation and forum are about gaming. If you want to talk about things besides gaming I suggest you go somewhere else.

I mean.. how would you lead into that one. How does one step into a meeting and bring that up?

"So guys, I've put a lot of thought into this, and I've decided that we should stop printing money."

I don't want to talk about them but we are discussing money. If XBL and PSN+ fees aren't good for the consumer then neither is owning a console..

I leave you to make your own conclusions.

It would be great if all services were free. But given that Sony took a page from Microsoft's book of charging to play online, I'd say Microsoft won that race. PS+ does offer more incentives, true... but paying for online is paying for online, and I don't see it going away any time soon on Sony or MS's platforms. At least neither one is as craptacular as the free WiiU online model.

Do you own a 360, One, PS3 or PS4?

If people didnt pay for it then I have no doubt that XBOX Live would still be there without the fee. M$ probably make more off the ads then they do subscription fees.

By the looks of it, it's not going to happen any time soon.

This question is maybe pointed in the wrong direction. Check to see if your pointing finger is broke. Check all 5 on the end of that club.

If it happened, I would literally go out and buy an xbox one today.

But MS isn't going to abandon the one free money sponging tactic they've been able to make most people accept as "OK" since entering the console industry. Just look at how many people defend it in this thread; that in itself is what convinced Sony to take a little slack off their backs and add a charge too.

It's comical how idiotic people look defending M$ on this when "poor/near bankrupt" Sony did it for an entire generation EVEN when the system itself looked to be in a grim situation.

It is funny that regardless of all the changes Sony felt they needed to do with PS3 last gen in efforts to cut costs and save money..the "cost" of maintaining and updating the online service was never EVER even mentioned. Add to the the fact that basically every service XBL had PSN received with updates except party chat, and you begin to realize that M$ needing to charge to uphold the "quality" of the service is extremely exaggerated.

How hard is it to feed a couple hamsters?

I mean really?

I wish they made XBL for 360 free, There is no way im paying again to play some old games i have -_-

Thinking about the fact that there are millions of subscribers, and the fact that Sony did it for an entire generation for free ( all while providing more dedicated servers for exclusives) the most MS or any company should as for online like these is $15. That is probably the price Sony would have naturally came up with if they needed to charge if they didn't have MS's pricing structure to work off of.

Think Sony went from Free straight to $50, lolz. Honestly neither of them should charge to play online at all, but the most they probably need from each customer to actually maintain upkeep is $10. Remember, you are multiplying that number by millions, but all it is doing really is lining executive's pockets.

Here is an interesting article on this very topic

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/04/20/always-on-microsoft-xbox-live-subscriptions-up-to-46m-will-never-be-free/

from 2013 and says there were 46 million XBL accounts.

let's estimate and say that half of them are paid that's 23 million.

Now a little math. 23m sub x (let's estimate based on discounts) $45 per account = 1035000000 PER YEAR! yeah..for maintenance and upkeep.

Now take into account that MS has been charging this fee every year since 2 generations ago and ask yourself did it really require $50 per year ($1035000000) with the level online that the original xbox offered? That answer would be the same as now.