5 Easy Ways Microsoft Could Have Avoided Pissing Everyone Off

Increasing the price of anything makes tends to make people angry. How could Microsoft have avoided the backlash against the Xbox Live price hike?

[CombatEvolving]

What the fuck am I going to do with 100+ friends? Even with 30 I only talk to half.

Why should I pay(especially when it has ads) for a community game I don't want.

Not a very good article, good thing it is an opinion piece.

Maybe something actually useful like dedicated servers.

[Chuk_Chuk]

If what i heard is correct and MS makes roughly $1.6 billion dollars annually then i'm surprised that the big name games and even some of the not so big named games don't have dedicated servers.

[amiga-man]

Why are people content to pay more for there internet, microsoft don't own it but xbox owners seem to think they do, if microsoft made online free like everyone else, who really would pay $60 for xbl.
wake up people microsoft do not own the internet so stop giving them money for nothing.

[dtalon3]

no one owns the internet but I bet you pay $50-$60 bucks a month to your ISP and I don't see you complaining to them? oh is that because your an xbox basher or because somehow in your head its okay to get access for internet for $60 bucks but not have online community features and pay for them.

I am gonna go cry in a corner because Im a bitch and don't want to pay $5 a month for xbox live.
/s

[amiga-man]

My point exactly, i have already paid my ISP subscription, to use the internet, so why in microsofts world am i paying them.
Make the online free to use, I would have no problem then with them charging for xbl, unfortunatly this wont happen because they know, xbl isnt that important playing online is, but you pay again lol why?

[lowcarb]

Why can't MS just make online gaming free for silver and remove all other features (xmb,netflix, or whatever)until they upgrade? That would solve this whole conversation. Heck they could even have it to where silver online gamers can't join gold matches or maps until they upgrade. So many simple fixes yet the mighty dollars seems to have corrupted the core of cybertron.

[Adrela]

Because even though the connections to do online gaming is player to player, you still have to have a server that does the connection. And that costs money.

[vickers500]

"And that costs money."

Which they are getting plenty of from ridiculously overpriced accessories and xbox live (and those that would continue to use xbox live if online were made free). And probably a crap load of other sources that I don't care to look up.

Sony gets to give online free to people by micro transactions (ps home sales) and by playstation plus revenue, so why can't Microsoft just offer online for free when they are getting SOOO much damn money? It's because they're the greediest console makers in the industry today.

[Sam Fisher]

how can it be free if ur paying for gold in the first place, twitter, facebook and etc are (if you really think about it) being payed for the minute u hit the upgade to gold button.

and i like how ppl dont say ps3 is expensive anymore like when it first came out, i guess ppl wallets are getting hit hard now with M$ annual "investments". just find it funny, thats all.

what happened to the whole you got to pay to play motto. hmm, i guess ppl realized by now.

[big_silky]

I actually haven't seen any backlash from the 3 or 4 360 owners that still visit N4G, it's the "other" people causing a ruckus.

[Bobbykotickrulesz]

I own a 360 and feel like it's a waste of money blowing an extra 10 dollars on services I can get for free.

All I want is to be able to play online, and I can get that free on PS3. I'm not a girl so Rapebook, Twitter and all that other garbage means nothing to me.

[OSU_Gamer]

The majority of 360 owners don't care.

I talk to plenty of them that don't visit N4G. All they say is" I use XBL so much that its not a big deal."

And its awesome you can use PSN for free, but it just isn't the same. IT is AMAZING FREE service and Sony is the shit for making it so good, but I have both services and XBL is still worth paying for. No matter how much N4G PS3 fanboys want to complain, it is inexpensive.

As soon as Sony fixes the most basic things in PSN I will be happy to stop paying for XBL. Until then...stop telling everyone else that something is expensive. Get a job.

[JoySticksFTW]

I have to admit, I use my 360 mainly for exclusives now

I use the PS3 for everything else including online

Though I do think that Xbox live is better in some areas than PSN, it's not so much better to warrant an annual fee

And I'm saying this as a PSN Plus user with an annual $50 subscription...

Xbox Live has a fee for functions that should be free for console users like playing online. Any talk of raising the price should be unacceptable.

[T9X69]

I have to agree with OSU_Gamer. I told all my friends on XBL about it before they got the email and not a single person visits N4G or any other gaming site at all really, and they don't have a problem with it. They just play games and enjoy themselves so paying $10 doesn't seem to bother them. I'm not particularly happy about it, but every site I go to with 360 owners or any of my XBL friends, don't have a problem with it. People on N4G are to caught up in the "console" war that they spend to much time bitching about everything instead of playing games. Gaming is an expensive hobby, so if you don't like the price hike stop paying for it, its not that hard.

@niceguyWii3 - You act like MS jacks the price up all the time, this is the first time in what, 7 years? XBL is a paid service to begin with, just like any other paid service its enviable for the price to go up eventually. If you don't own the 360, then don't worry about it, it doesn't concern you. If you do own a 360, pay for it if you enjoy the service, or cancel your membership. No one is forcing anyone to pay an extra $10 a year.

[niceguyWii3]

agreed^
@ osu It is not worth 60 dollars it isnt Xbl has nothing over psn to justify that price NOTHING!!! Any kind of so called app you have psn will always have thanks to its ....browser. What I dont get about you xbots fiends is that no matter how much they jack up they price you guys continue to bite, when will you guys say enough is enough?

[OSU_Gamer]

Stop calling people xbots because people don't agree with your fanboy biased opinion. I own a launch PS3 and it is my favorite and it is the best console this gen. But how is a one console owning fanboy supposed to tell everyone else what the owners of the console they don't own should be doing. They can't.

"no matter how much they jack up they price you guys continue to bite, when will you guys say enough is enough?"

Interesting...as of now they have not increased the price of XBL once.

"Any kind of so called app you have psn will always have thanks to its ....browser. "
Let me know if the PSN browser can support cross-game chat, voice messaging, and a non-jacked up invite system.

[8-bit]

"You act like MS jacks the price up all the time, this is the first time in what, 7 years?"

Just the though of paying for XBL for 7 years twists my stomach. At $50 a year that's $350 for an online service that is FREE every where else. You don't get dedicated servers, you get gimped twitter and facebook apps when even the wii can access the sites in their entirety through the browser that the 360 lacks. Just doesn't add up in my book. Not sure why some one would pay for it.

[acky1]

"Let me know if the PSN browser can support cross-game chat, voice messaging, and a non-jacked up invite system."

Is cross-game chat, voice messaging and a good invite system the only reasons that everyone says that xbl is far superior to psn? I don't think those extra features are worth paying for if that is the only differences.

[mrcash]

The only advantage that live has imo, is the way you communicate with friedns invites/chat all that stuff. Everything feels more well put together. I think the main reason they are going to charge the extra money is because of the espn service they are bringing. I think they people that are really going to be screwed are the folks that usually buy the 3 months instead of yearly, which there is quite a bit of those. they cranked those up to 25$

[gamingdroid]

I think people pay because they think it is worth it. A $10 increase on an annual subscription is relatively small, when your city, state and federal taxes gets hiked beyond belief every year. How much do you pay for cable service? Internet service? Cell phone service?

That is why people don't care! To them, it is minor fee for something they enjoy a lot.

But yeah, I would rather get Xbox Live free, but it isn't!

[Deafman420]

you haven't "seen" enough. 5 year xbox live gamer here and I've *backlashed*

[divideby0]

MS is just greeedy, more so than other companies and they take advantage of gamers..
If you disagree you are a fool... RROD and lying about it, totally rip off accessory prices and raising the cost of Live by adding free features..

all true cant make this stuff up..AND go look up the $$ MS is making off of Live and think what we are getting new.. FREE APPS

gold charter member of live...beeen paying for Live since day one..what is that like 5 yrs.....or so..

I bought 3 games for my 360 this year (ME2, Reach and Fable)...not enough games to play to justify paying for live anymo

[OSU_Gamer]

"gold charter member of live...beeen paying for Live since day one..what is that like 5 yrs.....or so.. "

You have been paying for live for 5 years now. I have been paying since it first came about 7+ years ago. I payed the same amount then as I do now.
Don't you think its odd that MS basically had a monopoly on online console gaming services but didn't raise the price once? Can you please explain that. How does that show you that they are anything but greedy. They haven't raised the price in 7 years.

Call MS greedy for any other bad reason, but I don't think this is one of them.

[divideby0]

wow, I didnt realize I have been paying for Live for 7 yrs as you say..

from a GAMERS view point, what have they done to improve what we gamers really want to do.. PLAY GAMES...
as I said, they keep adding useless free crap apps.

PC and PSN remain free to play online games... what has MS done to compete with them from a GAMMING viewpoint... nothing have they embraced dedi servers, allowing file sharing akin to PC and PS3

please look up the amount of $$ MS makes on Live subs... and what do they do.... nothing relating to online gameplay...
oh boy new dashboard avatars,

[OSU_Gamer]

I would hope you aren't a PSN + member.

Those xbox live arcade GAMES that aren't released on PSN? PSN has good downloadable titles, but so does XBL. You can argue that XBL titles are better.

Not to mention I can download those GAMES and other updates that make those GAMES 10 times faster on XBL.

The invite system for PSN to connect to those GAMES is broke. IT takes 2 button pushes to accept an XBL....try that with PSN.

"have they embraced dedi servers" BFBC2?

IF you want to talk about what they have for
GAMERS, then why can't I Ask why PSN doesn't have X-Game chat? Its an embarrassingly easy function to have.

Not to mention I have to type out messages to everyone instead of using voice.
I am a gamer, and that is part of gaming. So why don't you tell me how PSN is so much better but they can't do those SIMPLE things.

You guys claim that the extra features that XBL has are not enough to pay for XBL, but I just don't see how it is that hard for Sony to add them to PSN.

"file sharing" not sure what you are talking about

[niceguyWii3]

you are in denial, If you can play on pc and psn for free you should be able to play on xbox for free as well that is just a fact. No one gives a crap about lives so called features stuff that you can get from any web browser. If microsoft charged 100 bucks would you still pay? I bet you would, cant you see it's not worth it?

[OSU_Gamer]

how is that a fact?

That is an opinion, and probably one of a fanboy.

XBL offers more than PSN. FACT

PS3 fanboys care more about the pricing of XBL than anyone else. FACT

I don't really care what you think. The majority of online console gaming is done on XBL. You can bitch about how you think online gaming service should always be free because the only console you have has free online, but do me a favor and deal with the fact that you are the minority. And then get a job.

edit:

"If you can play on pc and psn for free you should be able to play on xbox for free as well"

That is a dumb statement and you know it. PC online gaming should be free, but since Sony was late to the party they couldn't charge for online. You say I am in denial, but its funny to see people like you who think that Sony wouldn't charge if they could. And now because they were late to the party (and therefore cannot charge), all you PS3 fanboy hold everything else to those standards.

MS made online console gaming....who are you to tell them tat they shouldn't charge.

I would rather pay $0 dollars for online internet. I don't know who wouldn't...but that doesn't mean a cup of Grande Starbucks coffee a
MONTH is too much to pay for something that people use constantly.

I use XBL constantly. Stop telling me that I am paying too much.Again...get a job.

[xTruthx]

Osu so you pay 50 bucks a year to have cross-game chat, voice messaging, and a non-jacked up invite system <---(according to you)? MS doesn't even give its own IP's dedicated servers while sony does and they don't charge for it.

I got a gaming console to play and have a lag free online experience. I didn't buy a console to chat, I have a phone for that, and even if i didnt have a phone now, most(if not all) of the games are coming with voice chat . So I rlly don't see ur point ?

You use xbl alot ? so you talk alot and cross game chat a lot with ur friends only ? Because if you say netflix or twitter i would just "lol" because you can watch free movies,anime, mangas, comics, music, tv and etc on your ps3 for free and some sites let you download their movies direct to your ps3.Twitter, facebooks, myspace, myyearbook etc can all be used on your ps3 browser and do a lot more than what the 360 offers.

So what is it exactly that you use 24/7 on your 360 ? I'm really intrigued

[jaytv-pyro]

LEAVE GAMING FOREVER

[JoySticksFTW]

lol, I wouldn't go that far... :)

MS is responsible for some great additions to gaming

Whether you love or hate it, Halo proved that FPS can be done well on consoles, at a time when gamers needed PC's for their FPS fix. There were others, like say GoldenEye but no one can deny Halo's contribution

I also think it's because of Xbox that PS3 owners get to enjoy PSN and a hard drive in every console

[niceguyWii3]

Hardrives were coming anyway with or without them. Imo Goldeneye was always what made fps relevant on consoles then came halo.

[pippoppow]

They may have made online gaming popular this gen on consoles but it was coming regardless. They were just the first.

As for Halo, they were smart enough to buy the IP from Bungie. That's it. Now that Bungie has left the fold another new studio takes the reins. Most likely will not be as good.

Everything else has been a farce and travesty. They hardly have any top exclusives, charging more soon for the privilege to play online when it's free everywhere else, and continue to sell over priced hardware with poor workmanship.

MS has caused a rift in the gaming community. The best they can do is what they did this gen. Heights they most likely will never reach again. Gamers are on to their money hoarding, cutting corner schemes. Most PC and PS3 gamers will never touch an MS console along with some upset and dissatisfied 360 owners.

I would love for some new company to enter the gaming market. MS is the weakest link and would have to leave for it to happen. Wouldn't it be nice to have another console that would at least attempt to match Nintendo and Sony when it comes to quality exclusive content?

I'd love to see a Nintendo vs Sega fight again. Nintendo is in a good position to come out with a console that could rival spec wise other consoles next gen. If they did this and pushed for more original content they could rival Sony's efforts next gen. Unlikely Nintendo would go that rout but possible. So it would be left to another company to rival Sony if Nintendo continue down the same path they have this gen. It will take anothe company, definitely not MS, especially since they lost Devs instead of gaining this gen.

If another competitor came out with a console and strives to compete with Sony game for game, I'd support that company as well. Just like I supported Sega and Nintendo back in the 16bit era.

[kasasensei]

-Free online for silver
-Less ads for silver & none for gold
-free games or dlc for gold
-dedicated servers for the biggest titles
-beta access for gold
-internet explorer for 360
-switch to real currency for everything
-more offers and price cuts for gold

Do that and the ps3 will never outsell the 360. :p

[awesomeperson]

I see what you did there (your aim was to turn the XBL Gold/Silver system into the PSN's Standard PSN/PSN+ right?)

[kasasensei]

Not really, because that is a list of the features i always wanted for the 360. I had it in mind since fall 2007.
But of course, now, it looks like a lot like the ps+, but that was not my attention.
Microsoft must do better than they do actually. Or the 360 will be their last console. And i do not want that.

[badkolo]

its not that we have to pay that pisses people off , its hwat they hold over your head if you dont pay for live.

without paying for live you lose the thing everyone cares for the most and thats multiplayer.

What ticks me off is the millions of things that can be purchased on live form games to movies to add-ons and avatar stuff etc.. but once you pay for live to access multiplayer then your essentially paying for access to pay again for any thing you purchase, even if you can buy them with silver or not.

In the end we are paying for early demo access and multiplayer and they are raising the cost on that first becuase the other stuff they are adding loses value when ps3 does it for free.

[BabyTownFrolics]

i know its a small feature but that is something

not even on the free psn does every game have a free trial version

[omi25p]

1, alot more core exlcusives games
2, silver members can play online games, just without all the other perks that comes with gold membership.

[BabyTownFrolics]

pissing off n4g regulars counts as pissing everyone off

n4g and folks who read gaming blogs in general make up a tiny fraction of the gaming community

we should not over inflate our importance

[RedSky]

I'm still amazed people are okay with paying for online play at all.

If it means that all FPSs came with dedicated servers rather than P2P matchmaking, maybe it would be justifiable, but not where all you're really paying for is the interface and the overlay networking.

It'd be like if on PC you were charged a monthly fee to maintain a Steam account.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

If you don't like something, get rid of it. If you don't like the fact that MS up the price, get rid of your 360. Simple and plain as that. What is the use of you bitching about MS, EA, Activision or anything?!! Damn, everyday someone is trolling, crying & complaining about something. Get rid of the shit and be done with it!!

Let's just see what XBL subscription numbers will be in the next few months. If they stay the same, that means people are happy of the service the pay for. I can say I get more use out of XBL over PSN. The extra $10 won't hurt my pockets none. Don't be mad at me because I can afford it.

[niceguyWii3]

It has nothing to do with you can or cant afford it. It's the fact its a ripoff only a fool would not see that.

[mrcash]

the thing is that people think its worth thats the point. Its a rippoff to you which is fine but not everyone feels the same as you. 5 dollars a month is not a lot of money to pay it really isnt, the fact remains that you have to pay this money to play online thats what you're getting with the service plus the additional comm stuff and apps, yes the ps3 has online gaming for free but the services are still very different, well enough for people who use the live features to not be satisfied with what psn offers.

Everyone talks about dedicated servers in Sonys games, the main reason for that, is because of the amount of players on their games most of their games are 32 plus and they knowthat p2p cant handle that many players. But lets take a look at uncharted2 10 players and what did they do p2p why? because our bandwiths can handle it any games with a small amount of players will usually use p2p.

[IneedWeed]

LOL ok... Congrats that you can afford it, as people are not as fortunate as you are to be able to blow money on anything. I can say I get way more use on my PSN/PS3 cuhz I do like going on the Web browser watching shows/movies/youtube(Don't even need PSN account to use Web Browser). For Xbox live there is not one feature worthy for me to pay for that service. They don't even give you free games like how PSN Plus does it. I like how you try to justify a total rip-off service. With me not paying for XBL I can afford one extra game a year. Think I'll take the extra game rather than a service I don't really need.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

Don't you realize that everyone is not like you?! That's good you're happy with PSN. But who the hell are you to try to judge me for what I do with my money?!
I don't need to keep hearing people what they don't spend their money on. I don't need to knock down the next man of what his preference is.

If you spend money on XBL while smoking crack & rent p*ssy from hookers on the street, that's your businees. Who are you to judge?!

[IneedWeed]

I haven't payed for Xbox Live since I used to play Halo 3 and Cod 4 MW. Wish they just made Silver be able to play online(Sh*t even allowing Silver to play for a limited time per month/week would be good). But that would make Xbox Live members drop significantly maybe. I might get live for Halo Reach if it really is much better than Halo 3, but still pissed that M$ forces us to use XBL. They might as well charge us to use internet for PCs. I can see it in the future Windows Live $60 a year, with everything the same and they even put advertisements on your desktop lol.

[RedSky]

They already tried this on PC with Games for Windows Live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

The idea floated like a lead balloon.

If only all the 360 users had boycotted this nonsense when it began, perhaps the idea of charging for online play may never have taken off. Now you're stuck with it and whatever price rises they decide on.

[kasasensei]

It began with the first xbox, not the 360.

[IneedWeed]

It was hard for me to boycott XBL when Halo 3 came out, then COD 4 MW came out and I just got that for my PS3 as well as my PC, and I just started to drift away from Halo 3. If 360 had more AAA exclusives with good MP, then I would definately pay for XBL, but as of now I might get it for Halo Reach, but don't think I'll get the whole year, since I do like KZ3, Rage, and Crysis 2.

[BabyTownFrolics]

are bored of this topic, at this point it just gives people an excuse to vent their impotent rage, and that gets boring quick.

those who will pay will pay and those who wont wont

for a variety of reasons

xbox live costs 10 dollars more, can we move on now?

[EliteAssassin81]

Its funny, most of the people who are venting their rage are people who don't even play on the 360. I'm also getting real tired of people claiming that they won't renew their gold account. Like their sending some kind of a threat to Microsoft. Just like people claiming they won't spend $15 on Modern Warfare 2 maps, then as soon as they are released, they start selling faster than any other add on.

[throw_this_away]

I think EA needs to start charging a specific fee for MW2 (and soon black ops) so that the rest of us 360 players are not forced to pick up the financial slack. That game is a huge financial burden on XBL.

Right now people like me (who use multiplayer occasionally) are paying more so that pimple faced teens can play online for endless hours screaming "boom headshot" in Modern warfare.

I have a years subscription to XBL, but as things stand right now... I will not renew.

[kasasensei]

"100% of the blame must be placed on MW2 gamers."
No.

[spektical]

agreed, while gamers do have hold some fault, ultimately its IW's fault for laying down an incredibly unbalanced game.