What Makes Xbox live worth it?

[Ajescent]

d21lewis said:

Is Xbox Live worth it?  Is a gold nugget worth it?  If you were on an island and all you had was a gold bar, what would it be worth?  A cheeseburger?  If you had an original copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (first Appearance of Spider-Man) and it was valued at $500,000 but you could only sell it for $3,000 then what is it worth?  It's worth what people are willing to pay for it.  Millions of people (myself included) are willing to pay $40-$60 a month for Live so apparently, we think it's worth it.  I've already given more than one features list in this thread.  If those don't do it for you, then there are other, cheaper, options.

Now somebody said that charging a users for Xbox Live isn't very customer friendly.  My mind exploded.  What!?  This isn't a charity.  It's a business.  Do you think that the PSN is free because Sony loves each and every one of you?  The PSN is free because that was a feature that Sony could boast over the 360.  It does what it needs to do and people appreciate it.  So I have phone lines that run to my house.  I have to "pay to unlock phone service".  Does the phone company say "Oh, the phone lines are there.  We should let d21lewis use the phone for free!"  No.  There job is to provide a service that makes them money.  Somebody has to maintain those lines.  Somebody has to make the service work.  That costs money.  Now I definitely have other options.  Cell phones, pay phones (if I could find one), smoke signals, etc.  but I have to pay for a house phone.  That's the way it works.

Go back to the days of the Xbox.  I didn't buy an Xbox.  The games didn't appeal to me.  The controller didn't feel right in my hand.  You had to buy a remote for it to even play DVDs.  The thing looked horrible.  Microsoft sold that console at a loss (about $100 a system if memory serves).  Were they being kind to gamers then?  And in those days, Xbox Live cost about $50 a year.  Look at the transition from those days to now.  The service has grown and grown to encompass more and more and the cost (until earlier this year) stayed the same despite tons and tons of improvements.  I'm still not sure if MS is making a profit on games.  The BILLION dollars spent trying to fix the RRoD and the costs of R&D, maintaining and improving the service, and other variables must cost a ton.  Xbox Live is a service that is generally accepted as the best and the consumers apparently don't mind paying for such a service.  What makes it better?  Like I said, I've already posted two lists.  Why do some of you not want Microsoft to make money?  Because Sony tried (and regrets, I'm sure) providing it for free?  Because the infrastructure of PC gaming is different?

At the end of the day, it's business.  It's $60 a year.  It's $5 a month.  After I finish this post, I'm about to go spend that much money for dinner.  One meal that will probably last about 45 minutes.  It's not that big a deal.  Depending on what you want out of it, Xbox Live is either a little better or a LOT better than its direct competition's online.  And that's all I have.  Later, dudes.

Heh...it doesn't feel right when you are being serious, I mean sure you made some great points but where's the funny? I'm disappointed :(