By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Online subscription. Fair or not fair?

 

Is paying to play online fair?

No. 37 58.73%
 
Yes. 21 33.33%
 
Don't know. 5 7.94%
 
Total:63
PSintend0 said:
Online should be free as it was, but it cannot be free anymore as gamers were more than happy to pay for online. Switch owners have been lucky to have free online, but soon it will end. Was it september?
They will try to make money and paying for online is an easy way to make some. Selling cardboard might also prove to be profitable. I don´t know what will be the next thing. Paying to get extra saves...

They already do that with Pokemon. Two save slots = Two games.



God bless You.

My Total Sales prediction for PS4 by the end of 2021: 110m+

When PS4 will hit 100m consoles sold: Before Christmas 2019

There were three ravens sat on a tree / They were as blacke as they might be / The one of them said to his mate, Where shall we our breakfast take?


Around the Network
outlawauron said:
AngryLittleAlchemist said:

So then, why is it the platform holders and not individual developers who are charging for the servers?

Good thing you already pay money for the ability to access the game's content before you pay for an online subscription. 

If this service was a requirement, than Steam and Origin would cost money to use, too ...

Because the architecture behind a network is far more intensive than setting up P2P servers. When you play a game online on PS4, you're playing it on PSN, not the server list that varies wildly from dev to dev. While netcode isn't created equal, you know the product will work.

To summarize all the work that has gone into it as the same thing as digital storefronts or to deny the leaps and bounds in product quality.... Man, I don't even know what to call that. Blissful ignorance? It's like how people falsely say that PSN/XBL are doing the same thing as Steam when Steam hosts absolutely nothing off store. They don't offer the same product at all.

If you don't think the value is worth the cost, then don't buy it. I will pay for it because I place very high value on cloud saves, PSN discounts, and free games.

You mean that, for instance, when COD is played on PS4, there are extra costs associated that wouldn't be on PC? "Network" costs?

So, there are no "network" costs to play COD on PC, but to play on PS4/XB1, the "network" is different and has costs?

Did they change the way the "network" was running on PS3 days?



God bless You.

My Total Sales prediction for PS4 by the end of 2021: 110m+

When PS4 will hit 100m consoles sold: Before Christmas 2019

There were three ravens sat on a tree / They were as blacke as they might be / The one of them said to his mate, Where shall we our breakfast take?


pokoko said:
Of course it's fair. This isn't a game of cards, this is capitalism.

It's fair for them to charge $200 if they wanted. It's their product, they have that right. No one is entitled to "free online" or any other feature.

At the same time, of course, consumers have the right to not buy that product.

Thinking that way, there's no point to discuss anything. There's no point to even have a forum.



God bless You.

My Total Sales prediction for PS4 by the end of 2021: 110m+

When PS4 will hit 100m consoles sold: Before Christmas 2019

There were three ravens sat on a tree / They were as blacke as they might be / The one of them said to his mate, Where shall we our breakfast take?


0D0 said:
outlawauron said:

Because the architecture behind a network is far more intensive than setting up P2P servers. When you play a game online on PS4, you're playing it on PSN, not the server list that varies wildly from dev to dev. While netcode isn't created equal, you know the product will work.

To summarize all the work that has gone into it as the same thing as digital storefronts or to deny the leaps and bounds in product quality.... Man, I don't even know what to call that. Blissful ignorance? It's like how people falsely say that PSN/XBL are doing the same thing as Steam when Steam hosts absolutely nothing off store. They don't offer the same product at all.

If you don't think the value is worth the cost, then don't buy it. I will pay for it because I place very high value on cloud saves, PSN discounts, and free games.

You mean that, for instance, when COD is played on PS4, there are extra costs associated that wouldn't be on PC? "Network" costs?

So, there are no "network" costs to play COD on PC, but to play on PS4/XB1, the "network" is different and has costs?

Did they change the way the "network" was running on PS3 days?

The server for COD on PC is hosted by Activision. The cost for running those games is set by them. They also get to choose how people connect to those servers (using Steam, Activision's own account, whatever). 

For PSN, all of that work runs through Sony. As far as who hosts the servers, that changes depending on the game. Some of them are hosted by Sony, others paid for by the publishers themselves. Regardless of that, everything is still run through one central place.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

In the case of anything gaming-related that's paid, I'd say it is completely fair, insofar as you're not forced to pay for it. You can opt to play offline, play on PC, or not play at all.

In the case of subscription based games like MMO's, I'd add that paid subscriptions are the revenue model. So, again, fair. They give you content, you give them money.

In the case of XBL and PS+, I'd say that I personally don't like the "free" games side of it. I think in the last decade of XBL I've seem maybe 2-3 games that I actually wanted to play, and maybe 2-3 more that I was happy to get. That leaves hundreds that are of basically no value to me. I haven't been on PS+ as long, but I've received exactly zero games from that service that I care about. Then, of course, there's the obvious misuse of the word "free". You literally have to pay for the service, which advertises those monthly games as a big part of what you're paying for. So, they're not free in any realistic sense of that word. With all of that said, the services are still fair. You don't have to pay for them if you don't want to. So, basically, they could jack the price up to $1000 per month and it would still be fair, so long as they don't force me to buy it.



Around the Network
VAMatt said:
In the case of anything gaming-related that's paid, I'd say it is completely fair, insofar as you're not forced to pay for it. You can opt to play offline, play on PC, or not play at all.

In the case of subscription based games like MMO's, I'd add that paid subscriptions are the revenue model. So, again, fair. They give you content, you give them money.

In the case of XBL and PS+, I'd say that I personally don't like the "free" games side of it. I think in the last decade of XBL I've seem maybe 2-3 games that I actually wanted to play, and maybe 2-3 more that I was happy to get. That leaves hundreds that are of basically no value to me. I haven't been on PS+ as long, but I've received exactly zero games from that service that I care about. Then, of course, there's the obvious misuse of the word "free". You literally have to pay for the service, which advertises those monthly games as a big part of what you're paying for. So, they're not free in any realistic sense of that word. With all of that said, the services are still fair. You don't have to pay for them if you don't want to. So, basically, they could jack the price up to $1000 per month and it would still be fair, so long as they don't force me to buy it.

I think the point of the thread is clear. Please, try to get the meaning of "fair" figuratively.

Of course any vendor in a capitalist/trading system can charge whatever price they want while on the other hand buyers aren't forced to buy.

Still, like some pointed out: multiplayer games like COD are advertised for PC and consoles and on PC you just need to pay the game price tag and play it, however on consoles, a multiplayer game doesn't work unless you pay the subscription to have access to online resources.

About the "free" subscription games, I agree, they're not free at all.



God bless You.

My Total Sales prediction for PS4 by the end of 2021: 110m+

When PS4 will hit 100m consoles sold: Before Christmas 2019

There were three ravens sat on a tree / They were as blacke as they might be / The one of them said to his mate, Where shall we our breakfast take?


I don't use my PS+ subscription for online gaming at all. I just use it for the monthly games. I pay anywhere from $40-$45 per year, rather than $60. It's worth the price, imo, just for the games.



Sixteenvolt420 said:
I don't use my PS+ subscription for online gaming at all. I just use it for the monthly games. I pay anywhere from $40-$45 per year, rather than $60. It's worth the price, imo, just for the games.

I try to catch sales, or otherwise save some money on XBL and PS+ as well.  I don't agree that they're worth the money for the games though.  The games are almost all either several years old (I've usually already played them if I wanted to) or cheapies that I never even bother to try.  

If it was just about the games, I might be willing to pay $20 per year.  But, now that I do the math, its probably not even worth that to me.  In probably a decade of paying for XBL, I recall only one game that I played a lot - Forza Horizon.  I think I have one other Forza game that came from XBL as well, but I haven't played it yet.  That's several hundred dollars spent, for a couple of games worth $20 or so each.  Maybe there have been a few others that I got $5 of value from.  

I'm considering dropping PS+ after my current subscription ends.  The only games I really play online are shooters, and I prefer to play those on XBone.  I'll just limit myself to single player games on PS.  Just typing out the comment has reminded me realize that its foolish for me to pay for two of these subscriptions.



Definitely not. Its total fucking robbery.



I agree. Play online is one service they provide to you. They spend millions of dollars make a game that you pay for it, but to play online in good quality you need good servers that need maintaince in periods of time. In favor of good quality servers with many others features, i understand pay online.