I am not saying that there are more costs associated with Live than the other services out there. I am merely stating that it is undeniable that there is a significant amount of overhead involved with providing such an online service. Some companies decide that the benefit of a free online service outweighs the costs to maintain it. They are merely different business models. Sure, I would love for Live online play to be free, but it is not going to happen unless there is a significant decrease in membership. Yes, I know that the Silver and Gold accounts cost the same amount to provide, but M$ is merely offsetting the cost of each by charging for online play. Perhaps someone could start a worldwide boycott, that might make a difference. Until that time, I will pay to play. I am extremely happy with the service. Using the logic that is tossed around in this thread, Guild Wars is free monthly, they have the same service costs as all others, thus, all other MMOs should follow suit and be free to play. No one should play them until they are free.
Here is a sample of my bills per month:
Rent: $950(1 bed/1 bath in a suburb of Atlanta, I really need to buy a house, renting is throwing money away)
Cable/Internet: $130
Car: $250
Groceries: $500(On average, for 2 people, my wife and I)
Phone: $75
Electricity: $150
GameFly: $20
NetFlix: $15
XBoxLive: $8(yep, I even pay more by doing it monthly)
Live is the least of my concerns. If I were to b**** about something, it would be that groceries should come down in price, at least the organic stuff that my wife buys.
