Why do console peasants pay to play online?

I never understood this phenomenon as a PC gamer. Lemmings would extol the benefits of Xbox Live back in the day as being some unrivalled gaming ecosystem, and that paying a monthly fee was the only way you could get advanced online features like friends lists and voice chat. You now have cows celebrating "free" games they recieve for being forced to pay to access the internet from their consoles.

Meanwhile, PC gamers have access to Steam, and other ecosystems, free of charge. Steam is the industry leader in online ecosystems, offering an endless stream of community tools, voice chat, free and/or very cheap games, and more.

Paying to play online has been spitting in the face of net neutrality long before it ever became a political issue in the US, and yet Xflop/Flopstation users have embraced it.

Why does the master race make these kind of threads?

I dont.

But yeah, its a scam I'll never be a part of

Because they don't have a choice?

It's pretty funny how people thought Ps3 for $600 was waaaaaay too much, but happily pay $400 for Ps4 + $60/year PSN for 5+ years.....

It's like a cheater free zone tax.

But but "free" games?

Macs are virus free too.

We pay because we don't have a choice it's as simple as that

if you wanna play online on a console you have to pay.

Pretty much this. And it basically equates to $5/month. If you're pissing and moaning about that, you've got bigger problems than SW bullshit

I disagree, I chose to play on the console, I could have used the pc, but I choose the console, because it has a unified platform for multiplayer and friends, because it has no cheaters, because I like to play against other people with a controller.

Okey doke

lol if you actually believe this

didn't expect nothing more than a bit of heavy breathing, some scratching and gnarl from you, you are after all an old man.

Kids will find a way to cheat but he is correct in one thing, and that is cheating is not as simple as on pc and therefore it´s less rampant.

But claiming there is no cheaters at all

not like the pc it hasn't, don't see any aimbots and the likes of that. Besides if you report a glitch that can be used as an advantage or anything, it's being dealt with quite quickly.

I don't pay the XBL fee just to go online, it is to access the closed XBL ecosystem and everything that comes along with it. I think XBL provides great value which keeps increasing over time, although it was a little rough at the beginning when they didn't have background music for instance, today after so many updates I feel I am still definitely getting my money's worth.

The open free ecosystem of the PC has some advantages over a closed one of say XBL or PSN, however it also carries many disadvantages with it as well. Each has their pros and cons the way I see it.

I pay for Xbox Live because I want to play games online, I like the service provided, and I like the free games offered each month along with any discounts to purchasing things from the marketplace. Also I’m not at all interested on gaming on PC so that option is out of the question.

It's hard to cheat on the console, especially on the competitive games that take itself seriously, people get banned quite quickly on games like fifa for instance.

Think you are a bit confused here, Net Neutrality has nothing to do with consoles have a fee for playing online.

But we pay because we have to and with the free games it´s not that bad

>competitive games

>consoles

I won't renew my PS+ subscription when it is over since I never play online and never play the renting game avalaible.

You still have access to the PS store, and voice chat when not a PS+ member so whatever.

Yup, cheaters will always find a way.

After Shawn Layden basically said at PSX in Dec that they don't care about MP I am having trouble wanting to pay them for accessing MP. I play online on Live and I get fun online gaming from MS there.

Everyone pays to a certain extent unless you have a free high speed service with your PC.

Nevermind the fact that its the individual game publishers that ban the accounts, not MS or Sony... so in other words, no platform has a "better banning" rate than another... just another peasant placebo.

This part always puzzles me... you sacrifice so much for a unified platform, yet "friends list" is about the only plus anyone ever mentions.

It's not even a plus... everyone just uses Discord these days.

@MBirdy88: I don't use discord. Many I know don't use discord. NOT everyone uses discord.

I guess you never heard of fifa tournaments, or tournaments of pretty much any fighting game, they happen on the console. They happen in the states as well, don't know what planet you live on lol

Banning of players happens by ms (don't know about sony) as well. There are easier ways to ban players for publishers as well, since it is a unified platform.

Everyone use xboxlive on xbox, not everyone uses discord on the pc, that's a given. It's not because your friends use discord that this is the case for any pc player.

I love giving Sony my money.

Right, maybe I exaggerate, but still.

I have Steam, Discord, Skype , FB Messenger, Whats app. All 1 click away, all running at once with no performance inpact. Typing is alot faster on PCs too.

So yea ok, maybe not everyone uses Discord (why the f*ck not its 2018?).... the overall point is, communication is not hard in the slightest...

Such a minor thing for so much loss.

Was not aware MS ban... probably similar to how Valve does it?

@MBirdy88: Im just having a laugh. Discord is very widely adopted, your point stands.

Because console gamers easily bend over for their favorite companies. They put these companies interests before them. PC gamers don't have this problem, they said F**k off to MS, said f**k off to paid mods and I'm damn sure they would even leave steam if they tried to pull pay to play online shit.

@UssjTrunks: We pay online because we can afford it, and unlike PC it means we don't have cheats.... Oh, and we get games included for that price too.

Yeah no, I don't bend over for a company. Im just a different human being than you. As such I like different things than you. $5/month isn't enough to make me upset. You people act like they're charging as much as Spectrum charges me for Internet. I understand its argument ammo but its a pittance.

They did have a choice but just decided to accept it because they didn't know any better. You never payed to play on PC and console before M$ started the trend while Sony was still free. M$ tried it with PC and GFWL when gears of wars was released and it failed miserably PC gamers refused to pay, no GFWL game had a fee after it to play online. Console muppets are the reason why you pay to play online, pay for simple DLC, micro-transactions and loot boxes.

Compare Call of Duty when it was PC exclusive to now its a mess. And i dont mind if company's offer a monthy service for access to play games etc but online should always be free.

It does suck I can't deny that I mean paying to play online on top the fact that I already pay to have Internet? it's really silly

I would have liked to go pc exclusive but unfortunately pc has nothing I would call even remotely interesting in terms of games so console it is

It was either "pay to access online" or "don't pay and don't access online". Not quite a choice there is

You never payed to play on PC because it's not ruled by a single company.

I like how hermits ask this, as if paid MMOs were never a thing and weren't incredibly popular. Everquest, Final Fantasy XI and WOW cost more, and that price only covered a single game. Not to mention the countless millions spent on microtransactions...

Because there is a different in GaaS and Charging to access Peer 2 Peer games (of ANY kind) from a friggin middleman?

With Subs and Micro transactions, they go straight to the company, with PSN/XBOX LIVE you are being forced to pay for additional services BEYOND that that you didn't even need/want to begin with.

Oh, and Micro transactions and Subscription MMO's are on consoles NOW.... your point doesn't even make sense.

That has nothing to do with paying for the service. It has everything to do with the consoles being a closed platform. Cheaters would be less rampant even if consoles had free online.

There is nothing they wouldn't provide you except these so called "free" games you get to rent every month for your payment. Otherwise, even if they didn't charge you, all other services would be exactly the same.

We pay because we can afford 5 bucks a months, you PC gamers need to save those 5 bones cuz you’re gonna need them the next time you have to upgrade your graphics card.

This is not even comparable.

Not entirely true. MS tried to make PC gamers pay to access online for their games. No one paid; and now it's free. If PC players had paid, and graciously bent over to take it in the keaster, more services would be charging today; even Steam would consider dipping into the profits. The same exact scenario would have played out on consoles had console gamers not opened their wallets to the madness.

MS tried it on their GFWL service, they couldn't lock down all the games on PC while they could do that on their console.

Yes, but that still doesn't change the fact that they would have eventually made online free had no one paid on console. Consumers shape how companies develop. The companies cannot make you pay; you choose to do so of your own volition. If people stopped paying, they would have opened online up for free, and you'd have a completely different ecosystem today.

It's still pay to play. In this case, about $15/month on a platform with numerous free options, versus $60/year on a platform with few free alternatives (Sony allows some free MMOs to side step PS+, I'm not sure about MS). Fleeced is still fleeced.

Right, PC is an open platform with countless free options that gamers choose to pay to play, while consoles are a closed platform where gamers have little choice but to pay to play. The end result seems pretty similar to me, particularly when threads are made boasting about PC gaming revenue bolstered by subscriptions and microtransactions.

Subscription or Micro transactions for games that are constantly evolving (Games as a Service) pick one. (Ofcourse, in many you can get away with playing for free).

It's not the same thing. stop pretending it is.

Lol yeah $5/month is such a big deal. Anyway, the cost is worth it to me, since I get 4 free games a month (on XB1).

It's funny how some PC gamers make fun of console gamers having to spend a few bucks for XBL/PSN, yet will spend hundreds (or even thousands) on just a graphics card. Lol. Each to their own.