Why do you pay for Live? (serious question)

People are egar to copy someones opinion on this and immediately state: 'because it's the best online experience'.

But I get the feeling some people just say that and don't really know what they are saying.

My question here is; what aspect of Live makes you want to pay that 50 bucks a year? I, personally, actually don't think it's justified but I pay it because I want to play online and I just don't have any other choice.

How about you?

Well, for me the main reason is that because MS has a unified online structure in place, devs don't have to pay extra money to incorporate & maintain online support into their games. This means that pretty much all 360 games have some sort of online support which is very nice. If MS didn't have this unified online structure in place, a lot more games wouldn't have an online component.

And I absolutely love the friend inplementation. Being able to see if a friend is online, what they are playing, what level they are on or their high scores compared to your is priceless IMO. And being able to send an invite or join their game wouldn't be as enjoyable without a stable infrastructure & that's the kind of thing that costs $ to maintain & refine.

Well, for me the main reason is that because MS has a unified online structure in place, devs don't have to pay extra money to incorporate & maintain online support into their games. This means that pretty much all 360 games have some sort of online support which is very nice. If MS didn't have this unified online structure in place, a lot more games wouldn't have an online component.

And I absolutely love the friend inplementation. Being able to see if a friend is online, what they are playing, what level they are on or their high scores compared to your is priceless IMO. And being able to send an invite or join their game wouldn't be as enjoyable without a stable infrastructure & that's the kind of thing that costs $ to maintain & refine.

ColoradoKindBud

can i get an amen for this brotha right here?

Because in modern society you exchange money for goods and or services.W1LDSTYL3

Well, for me the main reason is that because MS has a unified online structure in place, devs don't have to pay extra money to incorporate & maintain online support into their games. This means that pretty much all 360 games have some sort of online support which is very nice. If MS didn't have this unified online structure in place, a lot more games wouldn't have an online component.

And I absolutely love the friend inplementation. Being able to see if a friend is online, what they are playing, what level they are on or their high scores compared to your is priceless IMO. And being able to send an invite or join their game wouldn't be as enjoyable without a stable infrastructure & that's the kind of thing that costs $ to maintain & refine.

ColoradoKindBud

couldn't have said it better myself

[QUOTE="ColoradoKindBud"]

Well, for me the main reason is that because MS has a unified online structure in place, devs don't have to pay extra money to incorporate & maintain online support into their games. This means that pretty much all 360 games have some sort of online support which is very nice. If MS didn't have this unified online structure in place, a lot more games wouldn't have an online component.

And I absolutely love the friend inplementation. Being able to see if a friend is online, what they are playing, what level they are on or their high scores compared to your is priceless IMO. And being able to send an invite or join their game wouldn't be as enjoyable without a stable infrastructure & that's the kind of thing that costs $ to maintain & refine.

eddy5791

can i get an amen for this brotha right here?

Amen. And I couldn't have said it better myself.

People are egar to copy someones opinion on this and immediately state: 'because it's the best online experience'.

But I get the feeling some people just say that and don't really know what they are saying.

My question here is; what aspect of Live makes you want to pay that 50 bucks a year? I, personally, actually don't think it's justified but I pay it because I want to play online and I just don't have any other choice.

How about you?

FearlessSpirit

well have you played any other online service. well for one PSN, is horrible and its free. i did'nt realize what my 50 dollars was for until i played on PSN for my ps3 it was horrible. what i figured out for my 50 dollars was this. one you get a ranked server for all your games, you get a server period for all games online., you get messenger, you get video chat, you get pics, you get headset and voicemail, you get a hotmail account.

for 6 bucks a month you get hella stuff, i cant even explain all of it. but, try psn then try xbla. you'll figure it out on your own. i have 4 accounts online. but, for less then 6 bucks a month theres no service that can beat it for gaming

I pay for it to play with and against others online, nothing else really matters to me.DrD3V1L

I agree. but im thankful for how easy it is to add friends and join them in a game.

I'm also suprised this thread hasn't gotten the usual responses like, "Well its a ton better than the other console, 360 >>> PS3", or "Its only $50 a year, if you bought the 360 plus whatever games/accessories blah blah blah, you should be able to affor live, its cheap." i guess we'll see those if this thread lasts.

But to compare to PS3, I have a PS3 and i give it props because there is very minimal lag in the games i have played soo far, thats one major thing it has over live right now (deny all you want, but games have had lag problems on 360). besides that sony needs to make it easier to see what your friends are doing and join them, then i'll be happy with both.

I just don't care much for all the addons and features that we just don't need. I go online to play games with other people, not to have a message service or anything else. Just find a room and start shooting.

But to bluntly answer the question, its $50 a year, and its an easy service to use and i like it. so its no biggie to me

[QUOTE="eddy5791"][QUOTE="ColoradoKindBud"]

Well, for me the main reason is that because MS has a unified online structure in place, devs don't have to pay extra money to incorporate & maintain online support into their games. This means that pretty much all 360 games have some sort of online support which is very nice. If MS didn't have this unified online structure in place, a lot more games wouldn't have an online component.

And I absolutely love the friend inplementation. Being able to see if a friend is online, what they are playing, what level they are on or their high scores compared to your is priceless IMO. And being able to send an invite or join their game wouldn't be as enjoyable without a stable infrastructure & that's the kind of thing that costs $ to maintain & refine.

MrGame004

can i get an amen for this brotha right here?

Amen. And I couldn't have said it better myself.

Took the words outta my mouth! Amen

I haven't got a Gold Membership. There's not much incentive for me, since none of my friends have a 360, and most people I've talked to on Live have been complete arses (although I know not everyone is like that). I use a free trial if'n i do want to go on.

I did the math, if you do the $50 a year deal, its like $3.75 a month. Which is like...nothing.

In my opinion, its worth its 120%

I haven't got a Gold Membership. There's not much incentive for me, since none of my friends have a 360, and most people I've talked to on Live have been complete arses (although I know not everyone is like that). I use a free trial if'n i do want to go on.

SpigleyMcCheese

Thats not true man. You just have to find the good gamers out there (and there are plenty) and just play with them all the time. Get a group of a solid 10 people and your good to go and you avoid the rediculous people.

People are egar to copy someones opinion on this and immediately state: 'because it's the best online experience'.

But I get the feeling some people just say that and don't really know what they are saying.

My question here is; what aspect of Live makes you want to pay that 50 bucks a year? I, personally, actually don't think it's justified but I pay it because I want to play online and I just don't have any other choice.

How about you?

FearlessSpirit

The fee is totally justified, it's truely unified because you can play and chat with your friends, download demos, watch trailers, get info on games and see all your gamer stats online. I'm on XBL every day man, dunno where I'd be without it!

I pay for it cause i like what it have to offer and compared to other services its definately worth it.

its like asking the millions who play World of Warcraft, why do they pay, cause they like to.

Its only $4.50 a month for an enjoyable gaming experience that extends the replayablility of my favorite games.

If you can't afford $4.50 a month, you shouldn't be playing videos games.

hummer700

Oh If i can afford 10+ new games a year that cost $60 each then I can afford xbox live, infact I have it already.. Xbox live is great but i hate it when you unplug your headset, people will still be talking and it would be heard on the tv.

idk i think it is worth it 50 bucks for 12 months? plus what ever else u get in the box.....i have no problem pay for it

i pay for it (or will.. i'm still on my free first month, but had live for original xbox for years) because for what it costs.. it gives you so much more out of your games. if i didn't have live, every game i have would just sit and collect dust once i've beat the campaign.

sure it'd be nicer if it was free like pc.. but it's cheap enough to make it a worthy purchase.

I think some of you forget there are two types of Xbox Live. Xbox Live Silver and Xbox Live Gold. Silver gives you the Marketplace, 1-on-1 Voice Chat, Message Center, Friends List, and Gamer Profile. Xbox Live Gold gives you all from the Silver and just the only thing different is to play online, get exclusive programming, and be able to compete in Tournaments. So basically you pay $50 to just be able to play online and go join some Tournaments if you would like.

And to answer the question about why I pay for Live is simple. It's just fun playing online, especially with friends. I mean sure you might run into the typical trash talker or a 12 year old cursing at you once in a while but I don't let that ruin my fun at playing my game.

People are egar to copy someones opinion on this and immediately state: 'because it's the best online experience'.

But I get the feeling some people just say that and don't really know what they are saying.

My question here is; what aspect of Live makes you want to pay that 50 bucks a year? I, personally, actually don't think it's justified but I pay it because I want to play online and I just don't have any other choice.

How about you?

FearlessSpirit

I love how the friends list is integrated into all Xbox 360 games. I can be playing something, have someone invite me to their game and It will just change over after I swap the CD. I love the voice chat. I chat with friends in private chat sometimes while playing online. I also enjoy how it just plain and simply WORKS.

Think about it. You can do some of these things on the PC, but they require all your friends to install the same software for connecting to games, same voice chat software, and when you are in a game, you can't easily invite others to your game. I really think Live is a great deal. Besides, $50 a year is only $4 a month. You can't buy a lunch at McDonalds for $4. So its not like you are paying a ton of money for it. Its very cheap. Name another service that gives you the quality, integration, and service for $4 or less a month. And remember, don't say something like Xfire because it does not do what Live does.

1. I like playing online

2. Xbox has most games that I like currently.

3. I like playing online, I have an xbox, so I have no choice but to get Xbox Live gold.

4. Gold adds so many more hours of gameplay(for me at least), 1 360 game will cost you $70 (CAD) which is $10 more than 1 year of XBL. So lets say the average single player campaign of a 360 game has about 30 - 40 hours of gameplay, I myself, will spend ALOT more than 30 hours playing on live in 1 year.

[QUOTE="hummer700"]

Its only $4.50 a month for an enjoyable gaming experience that extends the replayablility of my favorite games.

If you can't afford $4.50 a month, you shouldn't be playing videos games.

bi0hazard187949

Oh If i can afford 10+ new games a year that cost $60 each then I can afford xbox live, infact I have it already.. Xbox live is great but i hate it when you unplug your headset, people will still be talking and it would be heard on the tv.

Hello Fellow Gamer(s). Is that your only gripe? Dude that option can be changed. You can setup the voice to either be on the headset and/or the TV. Both or Just the headset only. Come on you should've known this by now.

Xbox Live is a good service for me, because of its simplicity for one. There's no complicated set up required or at least it wasn't for me. It's clean looking and organized so I can find what I'm looking for with ease.

For 50 dollars a year, I think it is exceptional value for the amount of games you can play online, whether you're playing 1 game or 10 games, it's all covered (except Final Fantasy XI...the bastards lol)

The friend's list is great, especially when you find the right friends to play with, unfortunately I've yet to do that, but I remain hopeful.

I like the fact that you pay 50 dollars a year and you're done with it for the year. There are no hidden costs or monthly bills.

Yes it does suffer from lag now and again...but on the whole, I'd say I have more Lag free games.

The real question is... where would Live be if it was free? Our money is being put somewhere and it's not all profit, people are paid to maintain it, update it, organize it.

I gladly pay 50 dollars a year for a very good service indeed.