I spent $420 just in online access this generation

I don't mind paying for Gold, I felt like it was a worthwhile service this last gen. Probably spent $250 across the course of 7 years, not bad at all. Next gen though, I'll need some real convincing as I imagine core features of both systems will be roughly comparable.
 
I game on PS3. Sometimes I feel like playing online, but not too often. Never subscribed to PS+, and haven't missed it so far.
 
BigDug13 said:
You don't have to pay for PS+ to play your games online or use Netflix. That's the difference.
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But you do have to pay the price of the PS3's overall design inconsistencies. Loading bar after loading bar to long winded update before you even get the chance to play a game to only find that the ability to communicate with your friends is limited and archaic when compared to steam or XBL.
 
ShapeGSX said:
Gold was $50 to start with on the 360, not $60.

I bought a 12 month card for $20 earlier this week. If you spent that much (and apparently you didn't), that's your own fault. I have never spent more than $30 per year.
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Same here, like others said if you don't care about saving money you won't.
 
From all the XBL I had on my 360 I only paid for 3 months, the rest was given to me by a MS Worker in here.

Still, regret paying those 3 Months of LIVE. Because for the same price of those 3 Months I could have about:

- 9 PS3 Games or more
- 6 PS Vita Games or more

EU PS Plus is indeed the best Service this gen to me.
 
TheGreyHulk said:
let's be honest. people pay for gold because there's no choice but to if you want to play MP. if MP was free, there would be significantly less people buying it. it's just that the 360 is very popular and xbl honestly did outdo psn with party chat, cross game invites, etc. thats where the value was in xbl. psn couldn't keep up because it wasn't designed to run in the same way on ps3 from the gate and they couldn't get it all done afterwards since there was very limited ram to pull from for it.

MS will have a battle next gen if sony does allow us to party chat, group invite, etc on PSN and especially if they do it for free.

the value of it is subjective though. i din't mind paying when i was playing heavily, but once i went to being a light gamer, it wasn't worth it no more
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I have no problem with people saying that they pay for it because MP isin't free and its basically to play with their friends and to access online features.


I have problems with people defending the service though and claiming it gives good value for your money? Really? I would like to dismiss some of these people as trolls but unfortunately its pathetic when I realize some of these people are serious.

Sure PSN isin't the best online service, but I'm not paying $50 a year for the service. It has its share of flaws but LIVE just isin't a serviceworth paying for, (maybe earlier in the generation it was but things change) and that's not an opinion; it is a cold fact.

If they seriously plan on continuing the subscription based model going forward, put in some features that make it worth what I'm paying. I honestly couldn't care less for dedicated servers for every game or the majestic cloud.

I have always spoken against LIVE, even before I owned a PS3. Sony's dumbfounding decisions with PSN and their mistakes doesn't disregard Live's value at all. Yet I still see consistent comparisons.

And then we have posts like these:
Speedy Blue Dude said:
I've spent $300 on Gold and don't regret it at all. Got my monies worth. Great value to me.

Also spent $20 on PS+ to try it out and I regret it so much. Wasn't a valuable service to me.
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Who don't go into anything and just mention >Live is the best, I don't regret anything, great value for my $300. PS+ is worthless, I want my $20 back.

Seriously? You may be entitled to your own opinion but thats the most ridiculous statement I have read in quite some time. And its another reason why I can't stand people who defend the service on comparisons like this. Especially when you think + only offers old free games, which it doesn't. But rather than getting frustrated with another fan of live's services rushing to its defense and explain why PS+ humiliates Live, I'll just let Jim Sterling explain it for me.

http://www.destructoid.com/plus-points-sony-s-ps-plus-humiliates-the-game-industry-243470.phtml
 
I bought a 6 month subscription for SWTOR when it first came out because I thought I'd be playing the game for such a long time. Got 2 months out of it and never went back, even after it went f2p.
 
50 bucks. The first year Live existed.

EDIT: Guess that wasn't this generation. It only seems like this gen has lasted 10 years.
 
bought two and 1/4 years worth, one was at a slight discount of 50 with 800 bonus points, another was 60 will two extra months and the other came with a hdd i bought. terrible deals all around but i do play some fifa and very occasionally other online games. m$ can go blow.
 
Imagine how non-Americans feel. Not only was Live more than $10 more in Canada than the US, but it came with a fraction of the services until as late as 2010.

When the US started to get music, movies, shows etc. All we had was some shitty guild series, viva pinata and some old ass movie trailers or some random music.

I was on the look out for deals here and there, but even with sales, I spent at least over $300-$350 on live access since launch, then factor in the fact I had to buy an elite after 3 RRoD repairs and finally the warranty expired etc. This was a very costly gen for Xbox 360 owners.

If PS4 continues free online again this gen with the PS+ for perks, free games if you want to pay, it's just another thing that will make me move towards Sony.
 
The thing with free online on PS3 is if I cheat* and get banned, I'll just create another free account and carry on cheating. That's why I hate 2 day & 1 month free trials on XBL. I agree that we should be getting more features on XBL and I think that will change with Xbox One.



*I don't cheat
 
never paid a cent for online, I don't see why others would nowadays(I know that live was awesome back when the 360 came out, not worth it anymore)
 
I did this deal I found on CAG for 2 months gold for $2 once, but that's it.

I'll never pay for a gold subscription no matter what services are behind the pay wall.


Too bad for them, I spend an irresponsible amount of my money on gaming stuff.
 
Rare said:
The thing with free online on PS3 is if I cheat* and get banned, I'll just create another free account and carry on cheating. That's why I hate 2 day & 1 month free trials on XBL. I agree that we should be getting more features on XBL and I think that will change with Xbox One.



*I don't cheat
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Wouldn't banning a console ID or mac address be just as effective and cost nothing?

Random thought:

I wonder if Microsoft is going to paywall the Xbone's hdmi in.
 
Shiggy said:
Hope you learnt something for your future.
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I paid for a year when the 360 came out. I was excited after hearing all the good things about Live. Once I got it I realized it was actually worst than PC gaming. I felt cheated and even blamed GAF.

A friend of mine then offer to buy my 360 (subscription, gamertag and all) and I never looked back. I hardly play online and the PS3 has done well by me in that regard.
 
Mr. Luchador said:
9 Year XBL vet and I feel like a dumbass. What perks or 'loyalty' rewards did I receive in that 8 years? 80ms points, and some dodgy tracksuit thing for my avatar...

Meanwhile people on PS+ are getting free games right, left and centre.

I'm done with XBL.
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Pretty sad in comparision. I laughed when MS gave me 20 points as a birthday gift.

I spent large periods of time as a subscriber without even playing online much, as it's pretty much a required hidden cost of the console. They even make it a pain in the ass to simply cancel the service.

My fault for paying for so long, but I'm never doing it again.
 
Because of Xbox Live Gold my 360 cost as much as a decent gaming rig in the end. When everyone you know plays on a 360 rather than a PS3 or PC it's so hard not to waste money on Gold though. It really does provide poor value though, I've always felt that way.
 
Never paid for online, never will. I've donated to particular servers to help maintain the communities that formed around them which are highly enjoyable, but that was optional. Paying for P2P? No.
 
terrible said:
Because of Xbox Live Gold my 360 cost as much as a decent gaming rig in the end. When everyone you know plays on a 360 rather than a PS3 or PC it's so hard not to waste money on Gold though. It really does provide poor value though, I've always felt that way.
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When you think about it, Microsoft really did figure out how to nickel and dime the shit out of it's customers this generation. $100 wireless adapter, $100 20GB drive if you didn't buy a deluxe, play and charge kits, Xbox Live Gold, face plates, avatar accessories. Insane when you think about it, and I just don't get how there are fanboys for this sleazy company. I'd wager they didn't want this generation to end.
 
I regret buying anything online now because I learned it won't carry over to the Xbox One. That is a joke.
 
RiPPn said:
When you think about it, Microsoft really did figure out how to nickel and dime the shit out of it's customers, when you think about the $100 wireless adapter, $100 20GB drive if you didn't buy a deluxe, play and charge kits, Xbox Live Gold, face plates, avatar accessories. Insane when you think about it, and I just don't get how there are fanboys for this sleazy company.
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They did a few things right at the start of last gen while the Japanese companies couldn't stop tripping over themselves, mostly Sony couldn't stop tripping over themselves. But Microsoft fell asleep near the finish line while Sony got back up and slowly plodded along, improving every step of the way.
 
BigDug13 said:
Not sure why I did it. I kept my Gold subscription going but didn't really play online too terribly much. I bought a shit ton of Rock Band content, but I don't need Gold for that. I guess I kept it active so that it was available right away during those rare times I wanted to play online.

But damn, what a waste of money. I could have put that in the bank and been ready for a next gen purchase by now.

Why is the paid subscription model still going so strong just to play online when the competition offers it for free? I regret doing it this past gen, but those few times I did play online was fun.

I guess the subscription model when I play online so sporatically doesn't make any sense.

Anyone else regret their online subscription dollars spent?
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Well pounds - but no regrets here my friends tend to either only have 360/prefer to play online on that platform so I kinda had to but it was fun though. Having said that though I have probably only bought 3 years full price.
 
SMT said:
Nope, even though I own an Xbox 360, I never touched the online, it's a rip-off.
Sony Playstation Network is free, and IMO better. No racist, sexist, redneck children starting fights with people old enough to be their grandparents.
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Do you play online on PSN? xD I'd say it's a similar experience depending on the game. Just less people with mics. I've made friends much easier on XBL than I have on PSN just because of the funny conversation's I've had. Some of which who have turned into being irl friends. That said I cancelled my XBL subscription over 3 years ago and play online when I want on an online fix PSN.
 
Om3ga said:
Do you play online on PSN? xD I'd say it's a similar experience depending on the game. Just less people with mics. I've made friends much easier on XBL than I have on PSN just because of the funny conversation's I've had. Some of which who have turned into being irl friends. That said I cancelled my XBL subscription over 3 years ago and play online when I want on an online fix PSN.
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Yeah the lack of an easy way to get voice comms going on PS3 was a huge mistake. Seems like that won't be an issue on PS4. Packed in headset, port on the controller.
 
I've never spent a dime, I had Xbox Live when a 3 free months card came with my copy of Halo 2 and a free month that came with my 360 when I bought it. Live's a rip-off through and through.
 
RiPPn said:
When you think about it, Microsoft really did figure out how to nickel and dime the shit out of it's customers this generation. $100 wireless adapter, $100 20GB drive if you didn't buy a deluxe, play and charge kits, Xbox Live Gold, face plates, avatar accessories. Insane when you think about it, and I just don't get how there are fanboys for this sleazy company. I'd wager they didn't want this generation to end.
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It's really surprising what they put behind their paywall too. Netflix, Youtube, on-time demos, sending messages through xbox.com, etc all need XBL Gold. Rather than create value with their service with free games or whatever they just removed basic functions from non subscribers.

I payed for it though so good on them as a business. If I were a shareholder I'd be pleased. Sucks as a consumer but I had the choice to not pay for XBL Gold yet I still did lol.
 
Why did you pay full price for Xbox Live every year? Its so easy to get one year cards for less. Someone linked to one year cards for $20 yesterday (they sold out pretty fast).
 
SomeOneInaHat said:
But you do have to pay the price of the PS3's overall design inconsistencies. Loading bar after loading bar to long winded update before you even get the chance to play a game to only find that the ability to communicate with your friends is limited and archaic when compared to steam or XBL.
Click to expand...

There's an automatic download feature included in ps plus so those who do pay rarely if ever see a loading bar.
 
RiPPn said:
When you think about it, Microsoft really did figure out how to nickel and dime the shit out of it's customers this generation. $100 wireless adapter, $100 20GB drive if you didn't buy a deluxe, play and charge kits, Xbox Live Gold, face plates, avatar accessories. Insane when you think about it, and I just don't get how there are fanboys for this sleazy company. I'd wager they didn't want this generation to end.
Click to expand...

I imagine they would have had a harder time if the competition was stronger. Nintendo ran off in their own direction with the wii and Sony fucked up with the ps3 for years.
 
daveo42 said:
I bought a 6 month subscription for SWTOR when it first came out because I thought I'd be playing the game for such a long time. Got 2 months out of it and never went back, even after it went f2p.
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Swotr came out for 360? I just tried googling it but couldn't find anything.
 
zeelman said:
Why did you pay full price for Xbox Live every year? Its so easy to get one year cards for less. Someone linked to one year cards for $20 yesterday (they sold out pretty fast).
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Finding sales is just an additonal hoop to jump through for what's still a poor value service.
 
zeelman said:
Why did you pay full price for Xbox Live every year? Its so easy to get one year cards for less. Someone linked to one year cards for $20 yesterday (they sold out pretty fast).
Click to expand...

Because not many people will sift through looking for deals on something that comes off your credit card automatically once per year. Hell, I don't even remember what month the charge came out.
 
EXPotemkin said:
I had an Xbox Live yearly subscription renew a few times. "I might play online, though!" I used maybe three days worth of the entirety of those subscriptions. Giant waste of money.
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Same here. Looking back, I had some fun times with Lost Planet 1 multiplayer, but that was really the last time I played a 360 game online. I had live for about 2 years, Such a waste. Never again.
 
Neuromancer said:
I don't mind paying for Gold, I felt like it was a worthwhile service this last gen. Probably spent $250 across the course of 7 years, not bad at all. Next gen though, I'll need some real convincing as I imagine core features of both systems will be roughly comparable.
Click to expand...

I think you're not paying as much for the service, which can be provided freely, but to remove an artificial restriction or better said a paywall.
 
Pyramid head said:
Xbox live is paying rent on a home you already own.
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haha perfect analogy.

What I find funny is Microsoft had the nuts to raise the price of Xbox Live Gold when they haven't added any value to the service. But like others have said, you have no choice if you want to keep using the 360. That's why I won't touch the Xbone, what's to stop them from raising it to $75 next, then maybe $100 down the road. You'll either pay it or your console becomes worthless. Not going to have my hands tied by a corporation that's not to be trusted.
 
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