Xbox Live Features are worth the money.

[QUOTE="Canvas_Of_Flesh"][QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

I'm paying for:

• Infrastructure that allows the community to self-govern with:
  • Gamer zone
  • Rep
  • Prefer/avoid
  • Feedback
• 2 levels of matchmaking:
  • Preference-based with the features listed above
  • Skill-based using the proprietary TruSkill system
• Functional cross-game invite system that brings you straight into a friend's session
• Closed, secure network that actively checks for modded consoles
• A platform-wide standard, so I know that everyone on XBL is using the same service.
• Compared to the competition, MS seems to be the best connected to its community
  • There's MS personnel dedicated to the Xbox Live community like Major Nelson and Trixie
  • They have MVP, Ambassador and Community Developer Programs. See the gamercards in our sigs? MS didn't make those. But they do have their programmers help community sites.
  • Community Calendar with Ladies Night, Prime Time and Family Game Night, Play with Devs, Game With Fame

Deihmos

And for those that aren't constantly playing online that would all be a waste of time and money. If I play a game online I don't care about matchmaking or prefer/avoid crap...I just want to play a game for a little while. Really not worth $50 a year if you've already bought the game for $60.

I think matchmaking is probably one of the best features and knowing voice chat will be in every game. That is not true with the Playstaiton. You should get a Wii or Playstation if you don't want to pay. I swear some people act as if the fee is something new. It's been like that for almost 6 years. Even gamespot has a subscription that cost $40.00 a year and i never see anyone complaining. Not everything in life is free.

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

tmacscores91

Isn't the silver membership free?

[QUOTE="tmacscores91"]

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

Deihmos

Isn't the silver membership free?

It is. Another person getting carried away and making bad analogies.

People dont always talk on Live. I was playing COD4 the other day and not a single person was talking. Stuff like this is getting common and when you are in a room with people talking it is generally a bunch of racist remarks or a bunch of kids screaming or singing loudly in your ear. It gets annoying.

[QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="tmacscores91"]

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

dhjohns

Isn't the silver membership free?

It is. Another person getting carried away and making bad analogies.

tmacscores91 didn't make the analogy, Deihmos did. And what you pay for and get here at GS is far from what you pay and get with XBL.

Here, you can get about everything you need, news, reviews, forums. You pay for extras.

With XBL, the extras are included with the Silver. But to get to the meat of the service, online, you have to pay.

Now, if GS charged to see the reviews or to use the forums, you might have a point. They don't.

$50 for matchmaking?

People dont always talk on Live. I was playing COD4 the other day and not a single person was talking. Stuff like this is getting common and when you are in a room with people talking it is generally a bunch of racist remarks or a bunch of kids screaming or singing loudly in your ear. It gets annoying.

rockydog1111

Especially on a game with open mics. In those cases, I think a lot of people turn their mic on but don't put them on.

[QUOTE="rockydog1111"]

People dont always talk on Live. I was playing COD4 the other day and not a single person was talking. Stuff like this is getting common and when you are in a room with people talking it is generally a bunch of racist remarks or a bunch of kids screaming or singing loudly in your ear. It gets annoying.

Deihmos

Solution is to play with friends. That is probably one of the easiest things to do on Live.

That can't be the same solution for lack of mics on PSN? I could call my friends with mics, play with them online, and then say that PSN has great mic usage?

[QUOTE="dhjohns"][QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="tmacscores91"]

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

StringGuard

Isn't the silver membership free?

It is. Another person getting carried away and making bad analogies.

tmacscores91 didn't make the analogy, Deihmos did. And what you pay for and get here at GS is far from what you pay and get with XBL.

Here, you can get about everything you need, news, reviews, forums. You pay for extras.

With XBL, the extras are included with the Silver. But to get to the meat of the service, online, you have to pay.

Now, if GS charged to see the reviews or to use the forums, you might have a point. They don't.

$50 for matchmaking?

If you think that all it is for, I will leave you and your ignorance be. It as been stated several times in all of these threads what XBL offers. It is purely subjective on whether you think it is worth it or not. I personally don't find $50 a lot for what XBL offers. I am on it every day. You find it objectionable? Fine with me, but don't fool yourself into thinking people are paying $50 for only matchmaking.

[QUOTE="Chutebox"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

Of course its worth the money,

The only people who will argue that are those cows who live in a bizarro world where PSN is on par with Live,

blackace

Or people who have a sense of worth.

That's all coming to Ps3 and for free. So once again, Live is $50 a year for nothing, nada. I know $50 isn't much, but people need principle damnit!

You $50 a year is being used for something.

http://console.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTIwOCwxLCxoY29uc29sZQ==

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/personality/trixie/xboxundercover/xboxundercover-xoc.htm

Before coming to Xbox he worked for NATO. "If you're wondering how hardcore Xbox Live security is, it's better than NATO's," he says. Shawn's been on the job for just three weeks.

:o

DOUBLE STANDARD.

Just because its better than PSN, doent mean its better than the free services found on this PC, making that a moot point.

I enjoy xboxlive, if definatly used xbox live alot more then my ps2 or ps3 online thats for sure.

PC online gaming still pwns, but xbox live is hands down the best console online and well worth 50$ a month

[QUOTE="blackace"][QUOTE="Chutebox"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"]

Of course its worth the money,

The only people who will argue that are those cows who live in a bizarro world where PSN is on par with Live,

kozzy1234

Or people who have a sense of worth.

That's all coming to Ps3 and for free. So once again, Live is $50 a year for nothing, nada. I know $50 isn't much, but people need principle damnit!

You $50 a year is being used for something.

http://console.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTIwOCwxLCxoY29uc29sZQ==

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/personality/trixie/xboxundercover/xboxundercover-xoc.htm

Before coming to Xbox he worked for NATO. "If you're wondering how hardcore Xbox Live security is, it's better than NATO's," he says. Shawn's been on the job for just three weeks.

:o

yeah, that reeks of BS.

DOUBLE STANDARD.

Just because its better than PSN, doent mean its better than the free services found on this PC, making that a moot point.

Meu2k7

Not if you only own consoles and don't do PC gaming. :shock: So it is moot for you, but not everybody.

If you think that all it is for, I will leave you and your ignorance be. It as been stated several times in all of these threads what XBL offers. It is purely subjective on whether you think it is worth it or not. I personally don't find $50 a lot for what XBL offers. I am on it every day. You find it objectionable? Fine with me, but don't fool yourself into thinking people are paying $50 for only matchmaking.

dhjohns

Tell me, what does a $50 XBL subsciber get that a silver, non-paying, member doesn't get? Besides matchmaking.

There's no ignorance here, my friend. I have read many posts from many 360 owners. I have yet to really see the reason why $50 is needed. For the most part, it seems to be a switch that gets put in the on or off position depending on your choice to pay. Pay, switch on, online. Don't pay, switch off, no online.

The look is still there, the movies are stil there. I guess you do have to get some late demos.

PSN will match LIVE features eventually. While I know PSN can be a pain in the ass when trying to talk to other people or invite people while in game we are going to be able to do it.

I've only been playing Online with PSN for about a week and the only game i've played is Resistance but i haven't really noticed a difference betwen the two. I use Xbox live for playing games online, downloading the odd demo and speaking to my friend, the only feature i can't do with PSN is speak to my friend and that's because neither of us have headsets.

I've also heard that finding a game is really hard but i've never had any problem finding a game, infact i'm finding and entering games quicker than COD4 and Halo 3 :)

I've only been playing Online with PSN for about a week and the only game i've played is Resistance but i haven't really noticed a difference betwen the two. I use Xbox live for playing games online, downloading the odd demo and speaking to my friend, the only feature i can't do with PSN is speak to my friend and that's because neither of us have headsets.

I've also heard that finding a game is really hard but i've never had any problem finding a game, infact i'm finding and entering games quicker than COD4 and Halo 3 :)

SSJ_Nega

Typical of PSN users.

It is not about whether the features are worth $50 a year or whether you are willing to pay $50 a year for them, the issue is that Xbox Live would still exist whether you paid the money or not. Microsoft need MP gaming to make the 360 a viable platform, and yet they charge a subscription fee for access to their platforms number one selling point.

[QUOTE="Meu2k7"]

DOUBLE STANDARD.

Just because its better than PSN, doent mean its better than the free services found on this PC, making that a moot point.

Deihmos

I think the TC was referring to the PSN and did not mention anything about the PC. Someone tried to inject Steam into the discussion for some strange reason.

The topic title is " Xbox Live Features are worth the money" so someone bringing up a free service with the same features is kinda relevant.

[QUOTE="SSJ_Nega"]

I've only been playing Online with PSN for about a week and the only game i've played is Resistance but i haven't really noticed a difference betwen the two. I use Xbox live for playing games online, downloading the odd demo and speaking to my friend, the only feature i can't do with PSN is speak to my friend and that's because neither of us have headsets.

I've also heard that finding a game is really hard but i've never had any problem finding a game, infact i'm finding and entering games quicker than COD4 and Halo 3 :)

dhjohns

Typical of PSN users.

Probably, but there is only one person i ever speak to on Xbox Live. I've only ever played about two games in a year where i've actually spoken to people while i'm playing and i didn't really like it, so i just speak to my friend over a seperate channel while everyone else is muted so i'm not too bothered if PSN users don't have headsets.

I do wish a headset came with the PS3 though.

[QUOTE="-supercharged-"]

PSN will match LIVE features eventually. While I know PSN can be a pain in the ass when trying to talk to other people or invite people while in game we are going to be able to do it.

Deihmos

Aren't people tired of saying that? I have been hearing the same thing since 2006. People shoudl just wait and see what happens. When was Home suppose to be out ?

Did the ever set a release date? Would be odd if they did considering open public beta starts next month. hmmmm, someone's not using facts.

[QUOTE="Meu2k7"]

DOUBLE STANDARD.

Just because its better than PSN, doent mean its better than the free services found on this PC, making that a moot point.

Deihmos

I think the TC was referring to the PSN and did not mention anything about the PC. Someone tried to inject Steam into the discussion for some strange reason.

That person tried to inject Steam into this thread because the TC claimed that Xbox Live is worth the money, when us Pc gamers have on par or if not better online services for free.

Xbox Live is far ahead os PSN and it's worth the money.

Live is far ahead of PSN - that's true. It has been out for several years.

Live is worth the money - false, or at best opinion. I get what you get without having to pay for it. How is that worth it?

Consider that the PSN is just now getting going as a unified console network. Live started out on the original Xbox. We are piloting the features that will eventually make up the PSN, but for now it is growing and I'm happy to support something that gives me near-equivalent service for no cost outside of the system itself.

You feel the features are worth the money? Fine - that's what you think. You can't convince me, though, to pay for something I'm getting elsewhere for free. So enjoy that.

Coming in at it from a PC gamer angle, it's totally ridiculous to have to pay money for P2P - P2P is peer-to-peer (or player-to-player), which means that Microsoft doesn't even put up servers, which would be worth paying for. Gaming over XBL relies solely on the connection of the host and the players connecting to him. Microsoft basically supplies the interface. It seems silly to have to pay a third-party just to connect to a second-party.

And I can say this as someone who has a Live Gold subscription, because I have some friends who hate PC gaming, and I have to play SOMEthing with those idiots (and some of the co-op 360/XBLA games are quite fun).

But looking at it logically, XBL isn't actually worth paying for on its own terms. People pay for it because they have to if they're trying to play online. You might bring up some XBL features like a unified friends list and in-game dashboard, and I'd just bring up the 100% free Steam.

Today Im playing a great game called MLB "THE SHOW" and a friend sends me a message over PSN. So im like ok let me see if I can find this message without losing my game, well I couldnt do it, and I had to call my friend on the phone. I know LIVE that stuff is kinda taken for granted. I rather pay the fee, rather than to have to do a work around because the PSN programming cant get past that simple task. Does anyone hear me?Coredog777

so um yeah no its not worth it you just don't care about money,

XBOX LIVE is not a magical green wonderland!!!!! its not that good

omg, you had to call your friend on the phone? the horror!stealth82428

Oh noes!!! You are not bothered paying for the phone but you are bothered paying for LIVE!!!!

[QUOTE="stealth82428"]omg, you had to call your friend on the phone? the horror!ProductNumber49

Oh noes!!! You are not bothered paying for the phone but you are bothered paying for LIVE!!!!

Isn't the phone more or less a necessity. I hardly think Live is an equivalent...even on it's best day.

It seems like XBL members do not even know what they are paying for...

Here is the equation

XBL Gold features minus XBL Silver features equals what you paying for...

correct me if i'm wrong... but you aren't paying for friend-lists, being able to chat during games and such... you are ONLY paying for the ability to play p2p... yes that's a rip off.

Thats a horrible example considering you can save your progress at anytime during the game :P

But seriously it is a pain, but in game XMB will be coming soon.

[QUOTE="VoodooHak"]

I'm paying for:

• Infrastructure that allows the community to self-govern with:
  • Gamer zone
  • Rep
  • Prefer/avoid
  • Feedback
• 2 levels of matchmaking:
  • Preference-based with the features listed above
  • Skill-based using the proprietary TruSkill system
• Functional cross-game invite system that brings you straight into a friend's session
• Closed, secure network that actively checks for modded consoles
• A platform-wide standard, so I know that everyone on XBL is using the same service.
• Compared to the competition, MS seems to be the best connected to its community
  • There's MS personnel dedicated to the Xbox Live community like Major Nelson and Trixie
  • They have MVP, Ambassador and Community Developer Programs. See the gamercards in our sigs? MS didn't make those. But they do have their programmers help community sites.
  • Community Calendar with Ladies Night, Prime Time and Family Game Night, Play with Devs, Game With Fame

Canvas_Of_Flesh

And for those that aren't constantly playing online that would all be a waste of time and money. If I play a game online I don't care about matchmaking or prefer/avoid crap...I just want to play a game for a little while. Really not worth $50 a year if you've already bought the game for $60.

Hey... regular broadcast TV is just fine too. Has good programming. Very basic features. And it's free.

But there are those of us that wouldn't mind paying a fee for more features and more programming found on cable or satellite TV.

Different strokes and all that.

Xbox Live is far ahead os PSN and it's worth the money.

Live is far ahead of PSN - that's true. It has been out for several years.

Live is worth the money - false, or at best opinion. I get what you get without having to pay for it. How is that worth it?

Consider that the PSN is just now getting going as a unified console network. Live started out on the original Xbox. We are piloting the features that will eventually make up the PSN, but for now it is growing and I'm happy to support something that gives me near-equivalent service for no cost outside of the system itself.

You feel the features are worth the money? Fine - that's what you think. You can't convince me, though, to pay for something I'm getting elsewhere for free. So enjoy that.

skirlnik

LIVE is worth it for the simple fact that almost all my friends have LIVE too. Great times :D_KenKittyragi_

Yea Im so happy all my friends stuck with the PS franchise and went out and got PS3s, its so much harder to together and play videogames the older you get with work/college/girls....its a great alternative.

LIVE is worth it for the simple fact that almost all my friends have LIVE too. Great times :D_KenKittyragi_

[QUOTE="_KenKittyragi_"]LIVE is worth it for the simple fact that almost all my friends have LIVE too. Great times :DxTHExJUICEx

Yea Im so happy all my friends stuck with the PS franchise and went out and got PS3s, its so much harder to together and play videogames the older you get with work/college/girls....its a great alternative.

[QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="tmacscores91"]

duh, b/c gamespot at least u can get on for free, u dont have to pay the 40. XBL requires the 50, do u think that if they had a free service that people would complain...

dhjohns

Isn't the silver membership free?

It is. Another person getting carried away and making bad analogies.

Uh, you cant freaking play online with the silver membership. That's the problem. They make you pay to play online, they dont make you pay for all the neat little features.

[QUOTE="_KenKittyragi_"]LIVE is worth it for the simple fact that almost all my friends have LIVE too. Great times :DDXGreat1_HGL

Wow. 3rd grade?