If we didn't pay for Live...

... would you purchase more content from the XBL Marketplace? I, for one, sure would. If that $50 fee was waived, I would probably buy much more arcade games, and perhaps even Xbox Originals and movies. I'm curious to see how others feel also, since if they did happen to make it free (which, probably will never happen), all the content purchases may offset the cost of Live itself. So, what are your thoughts and comments?

PS: This is not a "XBL should be free" thread - just using it hypothetically.

Probably not.

You can get 12 months for $30-$40 in different sales. And I look at it as though Xbox Live is necessary, while spending points is extra. With free live, spending points would still be extra to me.

I don't know, I didn't have any problem paying for live for a long time (I've had it for just about 4 years) lately though, there seems to be more and more problems, and IMO, for the revenue that MS gets for this, they should have people they pay be able to anticipate things like ooh I don't know increased traffic at the holiday season????

as far as would I buy more if it were a free service with pay add ons, nope. I barely buy anything now, and I don't see that changing in the future.

Also as someone stated about maps and add ons for purchase, remember most of the game add ons become free after a certain amount of time. so theres that....

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

After my year runs out I am not going to renew. I found a secret site that allows me to have infinite 48 Hour Trials.

I have like 70 or so on a word file. So it's safe to say I know what I'm doing.

As far as purchasing more stuff off of Marketplace....

Marketplace sucks. I'm not going to pay for ****ing gamerpics or themes. That is just STUPID.

Halo 3 maps for $10? **** that!!! Those maps are garbage.

:P

The amount we pay for Live is so tiny that I don't understand why people complain about it; not saying that the original poster was complaining. As for downloading more content if the service was free, I think this is a moot point. Content itself would cost more to balance off the free service, therefor people might actually download LESS in the end.

Everything has a price for a reason. People out there create gamerpictures and themes, and they want to get paid for them. Companies also want to make money off of these creations; we are in a capitalist world and this is not going to change until the next revolution.

Either war, Live is a great service and I will pay the service fee with a smile on my face. To answer the question though, I wouldn't download more. I'm picky with the downloads I make, I don't feel it necissary to throw my money away on content that won't truly enhance my experience with a certain title or my experience with my 360 in general.

Alright, I've gotten some good answers so far. Just a few things to clear up: I don't mind paying $50 for Live per year at all, but if I didn't pay it, I'd be less bitter in buying things such as Arcade games and movie rentals. Charging for gamerpics and themes - well, that's an entirely new topic on its own (being such a complete rip-off). Furthermore, I want everyone to assume that the prices for the content will be exactly as they are today. And finally, this question doesn't centralize (although it could) around the idea of game-specific content, such as maps and "goodies" - solely content accessible through the dashboard. Also note that there would still be free merchandise including demos and a few themes.

Very mixed points of view from everyone (at time of posting): 5/8/5; Yes/No/Maybe - respectively.

No.

Having a free service won't encourage me to buy stuff I hardly want any more. What sucks about actually buying stuff is you have to have the memory for it, which means either buying a 120gb memory unit or deleting/re-downloading stuff to manage space...

With hardware issues still around, DL content goes to sh!t if you RR, so I rather keep it light on what I buy thru LiVE, at a fee or free.

I'm probably alone in this sentiment but I simply can't make myself spend $50 on Live. It's not the money but it's more the principle of the thing. I don't know, I suppose it has a lot to do with my coming from a predominantly PC gaming background where everything (well, most everything) Live offers was free. It doesn't help matters that the PS3 and Wii have free online gaming either. I guess I simply have a hard time paying for a service that I've received at no cost for most of my gaming life.

I'm also not a fan of paying for extra levels and whatnot. Again, this is all stuff that PC gamers have been receiving at no extra cost for many years. So, even if Live was free, I doubt I would pay money for any of the extra Marketplace "content" anyway.

Me personally I would not buy more stuff from live. The 50 fee is not a deterent at all for me. I buy what i want to play whenever. it took me all of maybe 3 mins after playing the REz demo to buy it.

if you are working with a budget that is greatly effected by the 50 dollar once a yr fee than maybe u should just have the silver acct and have friends over. I love my games but i am not gonna go broke over them

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

After my year runs out I am not going to renew. I found a secret site that allows me to have infinite 48 Hour Trials.

I have like 70 or so on a word file. So it's safe to say I know what I'm doing.

As far as purchasing more stuff off of Marketplace....

Marketplace sucks. I'm not going to pay for ****ing gamerpics or themes. That is just STUPID.

Halo 3 maps for $10? **** that!!! Those maps are garbage.

:P

FearTheRain

Secret?! You think that twisted site is secret?! I'm pretty sure anyone on the internet knows about that site by now. I really have no idea why microsoft isn't doing anything. Hell, I was even selling some of them codes on ebay because i had so much.

Secret?! You think that twisted site is secret?! I'm pretty sure anyone on the internet knows about that site by now. I really have no idea why microsoft isn't doing anything. Hell, I was even selling some of them codes on ebay because i had so much. DopeyDavoid

SHHHHH

shut up!! lol

Don't tell everyone. :D

Keep this between us and the other 40,000+ people that know about it. :P

I knew about people selling it on Ebay, but I thought it was a legit promotion, so I see no reason why Microsoft should shut it down...

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

FearTheRain

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

[QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

cosmostein77

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

FearTheRain

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

..cosmostein77

I never even said I had a T3. Can you not read ENGLISH? Did you not go to school as a child? I said I have a T1

[QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

cosmostein77

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

I have to agree with you. Anytime someone complains about anything having lag, they magically have a the best, like a T-1000 server (liquid metal, of course).

I actually have just a regular router and had two 360's hooked up to it at once, my friend brought his over, we set up my 32" flat panel TV next to the big screen and we both played COD4 online at the same time, no lag what-so-ever, and I just have regular cable internet.

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

jasonlc3221

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

I have to agree with you. Anytime someone complains about anything having lag, they magically have a the best, like a T-1000 server (liquid metal, of course).

I actually have just a regular router and had two 360's hooked up to it at once, my friend brought his over, we set up my 32" flat panel TV next to the big screen and we both played COD4 online at the same time, no lag what-so-ever, and I just have regular cable internet.

The only time i get lag is when i try and connect to a US host and ive had a 5mb ADSL connection.

[QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

cosmostein77

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

haha... seriously dude, great post.

I wouldnt get more market place content if XBL was free, just stay with downloading the usual demos. XBL becoming free will never happen anyway. The main reason why PC mods, extra content, voice chat, etc. is free is because most of the time those free programs were created by gamers or programmers themselves and share it, which is the exact opposite when it comes to industries.

I dont mind paying the fee for XBL, but I wish that I could do more with it besides purchasing movie rentals and themes. Maybe I want to create my own maps and share them, or make my own custom gamer picture.

[QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

cosmostein77

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

[QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

dkdk999

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

yea never have bad lag ever haha only time you can ever have lag is when ur connections horrible or if u go in like a game with a bunch of people with bad connections its not like at all and if u have a t1 connectin and its lagging then ur geting ripoffed soo stop complaining

i'd like that. it's also rediculous that you have to pay for themes and gamerpics. i understand arcade games and all, but i just want my gamerpics. bulletsword

Think of who your talking about here M$!!!

[QUOTE="dkdk999"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"][QUOTE="cosmostein77"][QUOTE="FearTheRain"]

Xbox Live is a ripoff because the service is laggy.

Don0van

Pay for a better internet connection, its not live dude...Its you.

I have a T1

So, No it's not me.

Think before you speak.

I am suprised you didn't go as far as saying that you have a T3 server in your living room...

Its amazing that as a Live user I have never experience any sort of connection issue aside from the Christmas overload, on the original Xbox or 360, yet I come onto these online forums and everyone seems to have T3 connections and 70" plasma's and have "teh lag"

yea never have bad lag ever haha only time you can ever have lag is when ur connections horrible or if u go in like a game with a bunch of people with bad connections its not like at all and if u have a t1 connectin and its lagging then ur geting ripoffed soo stop complaining

The majority of lag has NOTHING to do with internet speed..... Why do people always blame the internet connection? It makes no sense.

i'd like that. it's also rediculous that you have to pay for themes and gamerpics. i understand arcade games and all, but i just want my gamerpics. bulletsword

Not all gamerpics.

Luckily I like some of the Orig Xbox games, and those gamerpics are free. :P