Do You Know Why Microsoft Charges For Xbox Live?

What is the point of this post?

The Gold sub is required if you are on the 360 or One. The question is "why do console users NEED to pay for online play?"

Valve, a far less valuable company than Microsoft, can provide the same level of service, for a far larger user base, than Live does despite requiring no extra fee to do so. You apparently own a reasonable PC, so why is this a hard concept for you to grasp?

 

Because they have servers to keep running, projects to fund, and employees to pay.

That's how business works. They provide a product, you want to use that product, you pay for it.

It's a very simple notion and it's a common practice that's been around for centuries.

 

But then again he's gonna keep comparing the system to valve steam pc etc....

 

Anyone would. Which begs the question...

Why pay MS to simply switch you over to say, an Ubi, EA, etc etc etc game server???

XBL is nothing more than a swithboard which locks all your online games and even cloud saves behind a paywall, yet for whatever reason you people champion this???

 

It's a tiny fee. Full RRP for it is NZ$79.95. Sony charges RRP NZ$89.95 for 12 months PS+. So in my country, XBL 12 month is cheaper than PS+ 12 month. Retailers here sometimes sell it for NZ$49 for 12 months. Most active Xbox users are fine with paying
for their subscriptions. You save more money buying the 12 month subscriptions, vs. The 12x1 month and 4x3 month subscriptions. XBL is NZ$10.99/month, NZ$29.95 for 3 months, and NZ$79.95. I renew mine every February.

Xbox is a hobby. Not everyone can easily afford it. Young adults in Australia and NZ, easily waste $20-$100 a weekend, on junk and "hobbies", and when you compare that to the Xbox fees like Gold subscription, more well of people no matter your age, it's
fairly priced. While for working class people on minimum wage or low wages, they may not see it as fair.

For more info of Xbox Live, Xbox Live - Wikipedia . After reading this article IN FULL, you may develop a hint of appreciation for this Microsoft service. Xbox and PS
are completely different platforms to PC. Most PC's out there today run a Microsoft operating system. If this wasn't a fact, why do game developers tend to release games for PC first rather than Mac? Microsoft looks at Windows 10 as a 'service'. So they don't
need to charge XBL Gold subscription for Windows 10 PC, because there has been privacy issues with Windows 10 and Microsoft could be monetizing by disclosing usage data keyboard strokes etc or what have you, to what have you. I don't really think Xbox One
has this privacy issue yet, as it runs a CUSTOM version of Windows 10. Yes there are privacy settings for Windows 10, and for your Xbox Account, but Windows 10 has been strongly criticized for it's privacy compared with other Windows version.

At the end of the day, Microsoft is a BUSINESS. All businesses charge for stuff, one way or another. If there services are for free, it's likely to spam you with ads. Ads on Xbox One and Xbox 360 are not so bad for Gold subscribers,
compared to free content offered for PC software. I heard Americans, tipping is a common practice. It isn't for Australia and NZ. I know this Australian girl who visited America and she said you pay for the item, GST, and tipping which is like 10% ish. Cause
the American minimum wage is like $10 or something, and they sell food much cheaper than in Australia and NZ. If you visit NZ/Australia, you'll notice food is more expensive when you compare to common food in America. But, why should I pay for tipping this
US. custom. It's meant to be their employer paying them. And Australiasia has high standards of customer service. Without a what-could-be-viewed mandatory tipping in the US. If you refuse to tip in the US, you might get bashed with bad customer service. Though
some would be ok with tipping, it should NOT be made mandatory. This situation could be likened to Xbox Gold. Why pay for it when PC has it free?

 

No matter how tiny the fee, putting everything behind a paywall just to switch you over to actual FREE game servers (EA, Ubi, etc) is not only unethical, it's gansterism.

Oh well, life goes on!

 

Don't get fooled, what is free today could be pay service tomorrow.

While building a market and want to take more market share you go cheaper or free.

That is how all businesses work.

That is why games are cheaper at retailers than Xbox store, and one retailer is cheaper than the other - there is competition!!!

So they try make their services more efficient, so they can charge less.

Microsoft and Sony has pay services for what is free on other places.

And Microsoft can sell games at hiddeous prices on Xbox store - because many find it convenient and have no sense of what money is or where it comes from.

- Mom, I want this game

- ok, here you are, just shut up

If you get employed some day, do you expect those to provide their services for free - why would they do that?

Somebody with money just throwing that away and paying you to be there.

And what you get payed for doing that job - that money you have to manage to last for all necessities in life.

And talk about unethical providing a service and you are free to buy or not - is really ignorance.

And if you feel grass is greener somewhere else - why stick to Xbox?

I do it despite some things need Live Gold - since I can do enough of what I want without it.

If I could not do single player and get updates just buying the game - I would not get Xbox.

But would sign up if online were cheaper - and got rid of this stuff you have to pay for like free games they have chosen for you to play.

Microsoft charge because they can, and enough people sign up.

But change terms every other year - so they are probably not fully satisfied with result.

They look for the formula that make a better business - it's what all businesses do - constantly.

I think Gold will split into several services eventually.

- Gold Oneline

- Gold Games & discounts

or something.

Then each person can decide what they are willing to pay for - not paying so much for things worth nothing to you.

As it is now - I rather get three AAA games a year instead of Gold.

If Gold Online were $25 and still get two AAA games a year - I probably sign up for that Gold Online.

I remember having some fun with GT5 on PS3 and doing weekly time trials etc. New tracks every week. But all were free then, having the game.

I gather Forza have something like that too, have not looked deeply into that yet.

 

Gold will not split but rather go extinct.

 

This is true, and also no need to exist when you are p2p.

 

I don't have anything more to add about the subject of the Gold fee, at this point I would just be repeating myself because people refuse to answer my points, but I would like to explain why I keep comparing Xbox Live and Steam.

Both are services which allow you to buy digital games and for the most part force you into the DRM connected to those services. Both of the services allow you to play online and chat to your friends via voice and text, with both allowing groups chats. They
both have cloud saving for the games on their services.

Both of them take a healthy slice of the money from each game sold on their services. Both of them make fairly good money from the data mining of their customers.

The most important thing however is that the two services act as a gatekeeper to the services of other companies.

Why do I compare Steam and Xbox Live? Because they both provide the same services to their customers.

 

Could be why they don't charge for pc. Windows 10 has like soooo much data collection/mining it ain't funny. No matter what the limited privacy settings options windows 10 has. Microsoft also refers to windows 10 more of a service rather than OS with all
previous windows versions.

 

When you say "people refuse to answer your points", who were you referring to? People with insider knowledge; people who work for Microsoft but who might've responded under a veil of secrecy; or people who are similarly dissatisfied with having to pay a
fee for online services?

You make some very valid points regarding the inclusiveness of Steam, and how it appears to be a level playing field for PC owners, but since I myself have no intentions of ever testing the waters (playing exclusively on consoles since 1993), it's rather
a moot point. I've also spoken repeatedly about this 'gulf' in player mentality - how the Master Race pay more upfront and periodically for their hardware but incrementally less over time for their software.

Some people have already made a case for why Microsoft charges a fee to routinely provide a stable and homogenous network. Given the vagaries of the PC lifestyle and how you're essentially paying to keep on top of a 'spec' war, I certainly won't be trading
up anytime soon. Besides, with the introduction of the One X and more computational power on a shoestring (relative to other expenses), there's really no need to look elsewhere. Unless of course you think the grass is somehow greener on the other side