Xbox Live. Is it a rip off?

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mevsthor

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My brother brought up a valid point the other day. He was talking about how Xbox live is kind of a rip off. His reasoning was that in order to get Xbox live you have to first be connected to the internet, which isn't exactly cheap. Then after you have the internet you have to pay Xbox live to let you access it on your console, which honestly seems kind of strange to me. Maybe it's just because I don't fully understand how Xbox live works but aren't they essentially just providing a pathway from your console to the internet? I think it would be cool if there was one flat price for like an internet/live membership.
 
I know a lot about xbox but i feel microsoft just wants that extra dollar. :p
 
I don't know if I'd say it's a rip-off per se, but it's definitely a little immoral. When you tout online features as such a big part of the console, only to charge an additional sum of money on top of what you've already paid for the console, games and internet connection, it's unfair to people without lots of money to spare.

I know it's only $60/£40 a year (something like that, I haven't had Live for a while, and I only buy in 1-3 month bursts since I don't play online very often) but over five years that's an additional £200 on top of the price of the console. When the PS3 was initially dismissed for being expensive, it actually works out cheaper in the long run when you factor in online charges.

At the end of the day, nobody else charged for online that generation. Obviously Sony are with the PS4 but that offers a lot of additional perks like free games; as far as I'm aware, Xbox Live doesn't do anything other than what it did with the 360 - correct me if I'm wrong of course!
 
Your logic is off a bit, the flat price for internet and live service would work, if Microsoft was an internet provider. Xbox live requires an internet connection, because it is an online service. You pay for XBL and get the best online video game service available on a console, with the most servers. Trying to play online with the free PSN service on the PS3 was the determining factor as to why all my Multiplayer gamers were purchased for the 360 and also why I'm skipping Sony for this generation. XBL is definitely worth it if you are a multiplayer first gamer, I've had an account for 8 years now.
 
There are actually quite a few things you can do with an xbox live silver subscription. It is wrong of microsoft not to allow you to watch netflix without gold but there are many other things you can do for free.

When it comes to online play, youre not paying for the internet connection. Youre paying for the HUGE amounts of dedicated servers xbox runs to host the games youre playing. Without those youd be stuck connecting peer to peer and having a HORRIBLE gaming experience.

Along with that, youre paying for support, even if you dont need it. Its there when you do.
 
I hate paying for it, but I don't know that I'd say it's a top off exactly . Once you have the subscription you can do quite a bit with it. I will always wish it was free like the play station online play , but I'm willing to pay since most people we know are on there.
 
As a PC gamer, paying for online boggles my mind. On top of that, you don't even get dedicated game servers.

Complete rip off.
 
I don't personally use Live, but I find it funny when people complain about paying for it. If people didn't like the service, they wouldn't pay for it. There are other options. Sony has a very similar product with free online. The fact that people still use Live means that they feel it is worth paying for instead of jumping ship to Sony.
 
You can usually get it discounted if your willing to wait. Amazon recently had a deal if you bought 12 months, you would get $20
worth of reward points.

So in a sense, 12 months for only $40, $3 and change a month.


Right now on Amazon, you can get 12 months for only $47, a little under $4 a month.
 
I don't know that I would say Xbox Live is a rip-off because I have no idea how much went into developing it in the first place and I don't know how much goes into maintaining it. I know it far exceeds Playstation's live network, especially for multiplayer gaming, so in my opinion, it stands to reason that you get what you pay for. If Xbox Live were free like Playstation, it probably wouldn't be anywhere near as nice as what it is.
 
I don't personally use Live, but I find it funny when people complain about paying for it.
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It is relatively cheap, too. People are paying more a month for internet and coffee.
 
Microsoft say that without the revenue they earn from XBL they would not be making any money. Although I do not wholeheartedly believe this, they have all the power to milk what they can from Xbox. But don't renew the next time your XBL ends and just play offline and you'll end up not wanting to feel the need to "make the most" of your paid allowance. You'll play other offline games more and enjoy them more.
 
I don't use live and don't feel any great loss in my life because I don't. the console and game makers are in the business to make money and if they can squeeze you for something they will.
 
I don't think it's a ripoff. I enjoy my experience on Xbox Live and I really can't live without it. I use it for all my games and once my live runs out, I have to get it renewed as soon as possible. Also, they run a lot of deals so it's not that expensive.
 
While I am not thrilled with paying for the internet I am really happy with what I am getting with it. It is what it is and Microsoft is a business that is in the business of making money.
 
Why would it be a rip off? Xbox Live is a premium service, so it costs money. That's how things work these days. I personally think that a Gold membership is totally worth its price. First of all, it isn't that expensive, especially if you buy a 12-month sub. In return, you get to play multiplayer games, but there are pretty awesome discounts for gold members. If you're lucky, you can buy games at 75% off, which is pretty crazy if you ask me. In addition, they have the Games With Gold program that gives you 2 FREE games each month. Although, on Xbox One you must have an active gold membership to be able to play the game, but on X360 these games are yours to keep. So overall, I honestly think that a live membership isn't a rip off.
 
Surely a gamer would have known that getting the service was a price of buying the machine. I don't own one, I play it at a friend's house and help out with the cost of the membership. He needs it more than I do so its not that big of a deal. He also walks my dog when I work late so the whole thing is win win.
 
I mean i feel its worth it when it works. I just dont like paying for something and not getting the full use out of it.
 
I really do not think that it is a rip off. I really thinking that the xbox live is the best thing that has ever happened to the Xbox console.
 
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