I have been a gold subscriber since the consoles release. The $65 a year make little to no difference in my auto withdrawal. That is one less fast food value meal a month, no biggie. I don't mind the monthly fee, (imo) it is worth it. Live has a huge network and I rarely have lag or disconnects. I download a lot of demo's/arcade games/anime/tv shows, and love the abundant choices.
Mostly I enjoy playing with my friends. I am in the military so I rarely get a chance to game with my friends in person who are scattered about the states. I rely on the network that Live provides to communicate and enjoy the experience with those who I am at a geographically disadvantage with.
I have found the matchmaking for online multi-player in Halo 3, L4D, and Gears 2 is pretty balanced. Those games are the games I am currently playing the most. I cant express the hours spent coordinating attacks and defense over Live with a group of friends via voice chat. The system works well and is pretty smooth with little wait or lag. I am currently playing L4D and enjoying every freaking minute of it. Live is awesome!
