Really it is only a matter of time. Maybe not spring but it will happen.

I think there is another reason like DC Universe and FF14, which are both MMOs. Sony are developing and publishing DC Universe. the problem with MMOs is that you cant pay a subscription fee and then on top of that have to pay your internet service provider and also pay subscription to PSN. so i think Sony's service facilitates those types of games that cant be done on Live.

i think Sony will be making profit from PSN soon anyway, PSN Plus is a good service, and i'm sure they make some profit from DLC and software sales on PSN. so i dont think they will charge for online.

on a side note, this guy was just a telephone person, its not like everyone who works for Microsoft will say the same thing. he was just doing it because maybe he works on commission, it dosent necessarily mean that Microsoft trains its employees to lie to customers.

Not sad, commission. Because someone called him to cancel their account, that's a black mark against him, much as signing up new customers would be a positive mark.

I've run into the same thing at GameStop before, where they shooed me away from canceling a preorder early in the day until they knew their daily numbers were going to be good, but in this case the guy felt the need to lie, or creatively interpret the presence of PSN Plus.

I remember Microsoft use to give 2 months of free xbox live with every 1st party game during the xbox days. I actually think thats not a bad startegy. If sony were to charge for PSN they should include 2 months free PSN with every game purchased. That would be a good incentive for people to buy more games throughout the year. i alreaydy buy at least 10 games a year.

I seriously doubt the MS service rep is privvy to any insider information in regards to SCE's online strategy. If he was, I don't think he'd be fielding customer support calls.

While no one can rule it out, there's a big difference between saying random things with no basis in fact that turn out to be true, and making statements based upon information that is already confirmed.

There would be a huge backlash though and at this stage, charging for basic online play would likely be more detrimental in terms of customer support relative to the additional revenue it would generate. If they want to add more features to PSN Pluse to entice more users into subscribing, more power to them, but if they choose to start charging for the basic features (the most important and basic being online play), nothing good will come of it.

I think that if you cancel XBox Live, Microsoft kills the family of their employee.  That's the only answer I can think of.  A while back, when my first 360 died for the second time, I found out that it was IMPOSSIBLE to cancel XBox Live.  My disc drive had died, I didn't have the money to replace the 360, and my warranty had expired.  I told the lady that I had to cancel until I could buy another 360.  She said:

-If I cancel/revert to silver, all of my data (friends/ achievements) would be erased.  I was persistent.

-She said that I'd lose money for any time I had already paid for.  I told her that my time was almost up and I didn't want them to accidentally automatically renew.

-Finally, she told me to send the console in and see what happens.  I told her that I already opened the system to try and fix it myself (disc drive problems--I wound up causing the RROD).  She told me to send it in anyway and they'd probaly fix the disc drive AND the RROD.  I told her I would.

I wound up buying a 60GB Jasper for the peace of mind and selling my old 360 for store credit--turns out when it comes to buying video games, I always find the money somehow.  It just seemed that there was no way she was letting me cancel XBL.  Maybe she was just trying to be helpful but it sure didn't feel like it.

And yeah; that MS service rep got you good.

But as long as your satisfied with what you paid for, it's still a foul, but one that shouldn't bother you.

Damn... you shouldn't had to gave in so fast... You missed an opportunity for phonesex.... :(

If Sony start charging for PSN they kind of killed the PS3, no way i'll pay for play online, I'll just go back to PC, if Sony are not real stupid then they won't do it. And I guess they'll never.

You know, they should just say that straight out: "Look, they're holding my family HOSTAGE. For every subscriber I lose, I LOSE A FAMILY MEMBER. JUST RENEW FOR GOD'S SAKE."

Most service reps are pretty persistent when it comes to fielding calls from those who are calling to cancel. I'm sure it's on the sheet in the binder they have on their desk on how to convince subscribers to renew.