i thought online play was free...with the silver package thing

im kinnda mad about that

so basically there is no way around it im gonna have to pay to play online...all i want to play is nba 2k8 and marvel allianceGhostDog8

check your pm

i want a pm too

i dont like this paying thingy when clearly sony get to go off with free online but truthfully microsoft has better online anyways

It gave me about a month of xbox live gold membership. But why would it give it to you for free if other people have to pay for it.skatatay

so basically there is no way around it im gonna have to pay to play online...all i want to play is nba 2k8 and marvel allianceGhostDog8

Wow you bought a 360 and thats ALL you want to play online? Maybe you should have just got a PS3.

so basically there is no way around it im gonna have to pay to play online...all i want to play is nba 2k8 and marvel allianceGhostDog8

Microsoft and Sony took a different positions here. Microsoft went for the secure network that is the best it can be, us paying them will make sure of that. Sony went for a free network where it's the developers and publishers that have to do the extra work, this si why some multiplatform games only go online on 360. I personally prefer the PS3 way as I dont play enough to buy a full year of xbox live, but I would like to go online or a few matches one day in the week. I would have gotten a PS3 wasnt it for the bad controller and the lack of games that I want.

im kinnda mad about that

GhostDog8

i want a pm too

i dont like this paying thingy when clearly sony get to go off with free online but truthfully microsoft has better online anyways

deathshand707

what is the difference between the ps3 and xbox 360 online? other then the price.

i mean .. do we actually get better service or anything? it's not that i feel cheated or dont want to pay, i'm just curious.. :)

Nothing is free these days...sighs!!!!!!MsCortana

You mean nothing is free from Microsoft. Don't generalize one situation as ifit represents the entire world market.

you could use xbox connect which is a PC app that streams "system link" content over your PCs internet connection. You can play for free with it but you wont have the unified friends list.

www.xbconnect.com

Explain to me why it should be free. There is a network to maintain, there are servers to maintain. These things cost money people. I'm not sure what Sony offering a free service has to do with MS charging a pittance for theirs; just because I can get a sandwich at McDonald's for $1 doesn't mean I can get a better sandwich somewhere else for a $1.jrobinow

Other than your personal data like friends list and achievements and the marketplace downloads there are no servers for gameplay its all person to person. Thats the big argument for the yearly fee because P2P doesn't require Microsoft to really maintain much since there are no game servers to keep running. Most PC games have dedicated servers for free so why do people have to drop $50 when Microsoft doesn't even have to do anything but store your personal data and keep the download service running on its servers.

So what exactly did you think the gold subscription was for. Stop being cheap and just get it. TM1

thats the thing though i not bein cheap...its not worth 50 dollars...see my dad bought the 360 for me for christmas...i wanted a ps3 but he got it because eevrybody said the 360 is better i dont see how...

you could use xbox connect which is a PC app that streams "system link" content over your PCs internet connection. You can play for free with it but you wont have the unified friends list.

www.xbconnect.com

GIJames248

how do i do that? are there pieces to be baught? and will i be playin on my computer screen?

[QUOTE="MsCortana"]Nothing is free these days...sighs!!!!!!SentryGunner411

You mean nothing is free from Microsoft. Don't generalize one situation as ifit represents the entire world market.

Not just the market, but life in general. Nothing is free. And "free" isn't limited to the notion of money.

PSN is "free". But there's a price you pay with the inconvenience of not having cross-game invites, or 2 levels of matchmaking or MS-organized community events, or having a closed, secure network.

So no, nothing is free.

[QUOTE="SentryGunner411"]

[QUOTE="MsCortana"]Nothing is free these days...sighs!!!!!!VoodooHak

You mean nothing is free from Microsoft. Don't generalize one situation as ifit represents the entire world market.

Not just the market, but life in general. Nothing is free. And "free" isn't limited to the notion of money.

PSN is "free". But there's a price you pay with the inconvenience of not having cross-game invites, or 2 levels of matchmaking or MS-organized community events, or having a closed, secure network.

So no, nothing is free.

im kinnda mad about that

GhostDog8

yeah, it's pretty sad you have to pay for that.

I don't mind paying for the service as the connection is actually good most of the time; what's really bothering me is the fact that it's not a membership connected to your xbox , but rather to the profiles on it. So if you have a brother that wants to play, start creating and paying more than one account.

[QUOTE="skatatay"]It gave me about a month of xbox live gold membership. But why would it give it to you for free if other people have to pay for it.cmedabomb

$5.66 a month service here :)

Nothing is free these days...sighs!!!!!!MsCortana

Yes there is: a free month of service.....which you can claim.... over and over and over....

welcome to the world of micro$oft..

anything they can charge you for, they will.

In a word...

No.

Nowhere does it say that Silver gives you online play - that's what Gold is all about.

[QUOTE="MsCortana"]Nothing is free these days...sighs!!!!!!SentryGunner411

You mean nothing is free from Microsoft. Don't generalize one situation as ifit represents the entire world market.

Your right, what she should have said nothing that is GOOD is free these days

$50 a year is almost nothing at all if u think about it, games like wow charge like $10+ A MONTH aandrew610

In MMORPG's your paying for a service. (content, server maintenance, constant patching, etc.)

Live offers very little other than a easy interface. Everything Live can do is free on PC. Including playing online on most games other than MMORPG's. No one should have to pay to play a game, especially when it cost $10 more than the games PC counterpart.

That's not including MS for charging you for every god damn thing. I mean, who in the F charges for pic icons and themes. How hard do you thing it is to make them if you could. It's just the fact they charge people for them that pisses me off. How would you like it if everything, pic and wallpaper other than the stupid "Army Halo theme" on your PC wasn't free and you were charged for it.

I would rather have to pay for every other service Live offers other than online playing. I would gladly pay for it. $50 is no problem for anyone. But to charge me to beable to play online. F U in the A, MS. It stupid and controlling. They know playing online is just a must for most of their games, so they figure they might as well earn some extra. Explain to me how PC,WII, and PS3 are doing it free and MS refuses to do the right thing and give you online gaming for free.

Again, paying $50 is not a problem for anyone, it's just the fact that you get charged for doing somthing eveything else offers for free is what is irritating. It's like driving for hrs and finally finding a rest area to take a piss and find out you have to pay a $1 to use it. Why? because it helps pay for the cleaning of the rest area. WTF! Some people are sheep and say, "hey it's only $1. You have to pay to piss Noob! What are ya? Too poor to afford a measly $1 to take a piss?"

And that's when I then proceed to take a piss on the rest area walls.

[QUOTE="aandrew610"]$50 a year is almost nothing at all if u think about it, games like wow charge like $10+ A MONTH Ruckuskromm

In MMORPG's your paying for a service. (content, server maintenance, constant patching, etc.)

[Wall of Text Removed from quote XD]

With live its the same tihng. Youre paying for their Xbox Live server maintenance. YOur also paying for the content hosted on it, and the traffic caused from the millions of people using Xbox live.

Sure, the PS3 has free online... but what does that mean? Their service is a joke compared to Live. From what i heard from people i know who own a PS3, theres almost no one online on PSN, and when there is, its very laggy to play on most games. The content provided on PSN is minimal compared to Live, and there is no free content (Live has lots of free video downloads, and also a few free arcade games).

PC online can not be compared to Live, as there is some big differences. First and foremost, PC online DOES NOT OFFER content downloads, unless you count the internet (downloading/pirating), there isnt a single area for all the content to be offered and organised. Also, when playing on online servers, aside from those your friend next door hosts which has a ping of 5000, the servers that have no lag are paid for by the clan or admins running the server.

/Wall o text

In MMORPG's your paying for a service. (content, server maintenance, constant patching, etc.)

Home is an overcomplicated way offering a way to connect with people. Not everyone is going to be in with it and early reports even from within Sony have said its not turning out to be anything special. Sony should have just stuck to the basics like Live, have a friends list, see what your friends are playing, join them or send invites, join up with a group of friends in a party, or have private chat sessions. Theres no need for a big advertisment ladden second life for people to talk to one another.Ket87

I've tried the closed beta, and wasn't exactly blown away by it. They still have a long way to go, and even pushing it back, yet again, I can't really see the need for it. Nice idea in principle, but its turning into an overcomplicated way of getting into a game

And to the OP - why do you think people would pay for Gold if they could do everything they wanted with silver? Yeah its annoying to have to pay, but if you want to play online at all you have to cough up.

You can get a month free for each gamer tag you make on your xbox. You just delete your tag at the end of the month and make another for another free month. My friend has been playing on and offline for a while now, you just need multiple email addresses, how hard is that to make?andyrae11

True this would work for playing online - but your achievment points won't follow you to a new gamer tag AND MORE importantly if you download any game add on's and pay for them - they will be lost and you will have to repurchase them under every gamer tag you want to use them under.

In the long run - it's worth the $1.10 or so, a week to get GOLD.