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Forums - Gaming - What makes it special? What makes Xbox Live worth it?

xKratosWitAGunx on 18 December 2011
yo_john117 said:
xKratosWitAGunx said:
yo_john117 said:
Persistantthug said:
thx1139 said:
It is a very well integrated community and something that Microsoft is constantly investing in. Apps are tailored to the TV experience and generally nicer to use from a family room environment. And for $99.99 per year for myself and 3 sons it is a good deal even before I get discounted cards like the 2 I picked up for $40 each at Walmart this week.


You just described a big fat rip off, my friend.

 

 

Even AOL back when they were ripping people off in the 90's...even they allowed you to have several profiles per paid account.

 

I can't believe that people get ripped like this and then grin and smile, and pretend getting ripped off is a great deal.   Unbelievable.

If you use XBL it's not a rip off. Specifically if you want to play online games with your friends who also have a 360 or want to play Halo 3/Reach/Anniversary/Wars (which you can't play anywhere else)

lol at only two exclusives. none of which even sound appealing.

Yes cause your opinion = everyone's opinoin right? RIGHT? BTW learn to count.

I should have been more specific on what I was counting Halo/Gears



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NightDragon83 on 18 December 2011
BasilZero said:
NightDragon83 said:
It's a great service, and no worries about getting hacked by the collective mom's basement community at Anonymous.


Anything can be hacked, the only reason why they didnt hack it was because they didnt have a reason unlike what happened with Sony and that one guy earlier in the year.

And what was the reason?  Because Sony had pushed back against hacking groups like Anon?  Boo-hoo!!!

But we all know the REAL reason PSN was hacked... it was an easy target.  Microsoft has been one of the top targets of hackers for the past few decades... so if they could in fact hack XBL and take it down the way they did PSN, don't you think they would have done it by now?



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

Badassbab on 18 December 2011

What I like most about XBL is the things MS got right FROM THE VERY BEGINNING and the UI improvements over the years by giving it a fresh lick of paint and keeping things fresh if nothing else. I mean how many years did it take Sony to get right simple things such as latest demo, video etc tabs. PSN used to be a nightmare to navigate just to get the latest stuff.






Scoobes on 18 December 2011
Badassbab said:
What I like most about XBL is the things MS got right FROM THE VERY BEGINNING and the UI improvements over the years by giving it a fresh lick of paint and keeping things fresh if nothing else. I mean how many years did it take Sony to get right simple things such as latest demo, video etc tabs. PSN used to be a nightmare to navigate just to get the latest stuff.

You don't have to pay for any of that though. Silver members get the nice UI too.




Get your Portable ID!

scat398 on 18 December 2011

stability, security, and content. Remember for every one employee working on PSN, microsoft has two more qualified people working on live.



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Badassbab on 18 December 2011
Scoobes said:
Badassbab said:
What I like most about XBL is the things MS got right FROM THE VERY BEGINNING and the UI improvements over the years by giving it a fresh lick of paint and keeping things fresh if nothing else. I mean how many years did it take Sony to get right simple things such as latest demo, video etc tabs. PSN used to be a nightmare to navigate just to get the latest stuff.

You don't have to pay for any of that though. Silver members get the nice UI too.


Yes true, I guess this is about Gold? Well I suppose the Gold is just extra revenue for MS by making you to pay if you want to play online but as an added bonus you get a lot of sweeteners thrown in such as early demo access , discounts, lots of apps.






sales2099 on 18 December 2011

2 broad terms that have a lot of little reasons each.

- Its seamless to get where you want

- Talking and playing with friends is very easy.

- More entertainment access (especially with dashboard update)

And overall: You pay money for the best. Its called being a console elitist. You can say that money doesn't get in the way when trying to enjoy the best form of online gaming, something PSN users can never say since they sacrifice quality for being free.



Xbox: Best hardware, Game Pass best value, best BC, more 1st party genres and multiplayer titles. 

 

dahuman on 18 December 2011
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
Seece said:
Not like you have a choice if you have a 360 is it ... (in what OS you use I mean)

I think people here like to exaggerate, $60/£30 a year is nothing, especially when you can get it cheaper than that.


Money is still money man, it's always better to save if you have other cheaper alternative options unless you are a sports star or something.

Or unless you don't really care that your spending $5 a month (or in my case $2 and 8 cents a month) on a service that you use many hours a week.

Unless you don't have any sort of income coming in or you don't have any excess money whatsoever than paying for XBL is a non-issue.


I'm an individual driven by principles, and having money is exactly the reason why I'm driven by principles, because I have the power to make the choice on where my money should goto, look at the amount of money I tossed into my PC in my sig, and this was awhile ago too, money is not an issue, it's paying for anything I find lackluster or not worthwhile being the problem, XBL being one of those lackluster service I'd have to pay for, IMO of course.

Exactly. It's just fine that you don't want to pay for XBL and think it's not worth it but don't go telling other people they are wrong because they think it's worth it and pay for it because doing that just makes you come off as a bigot.

 

Just to let you know, this wasn't totally directed just at you it's for everyone in this thread that laughs or says people are getting ripped off by paying for XBL.

That's why in every post when I do mention XBL being a lackluster service I'd have to pay for, I say IMO lol. What it also is though, is a good way for parents to have easier lives once the kids get hooked, I know people that just buy 1 year for their kid as a christmas gift and be done with it, easy and brainless.

Then again, I don't ever understand why somebody would start a thread with shit like "What makes it special? What makes Xbox Live worth it?" when they already have it, there is no reason to try to justify or wonder about it, if you need a reason to back it up or feel good about it, chances are that you don't think it's worth it to start with. That's the type of question I'd ask if I didn't have XBL, the thread itself is trollish as hell.

Saving money is always good btw, there is no IMO about that part at all, if people are paying for shit they don't need, they are either too rich or too retarded. People who are the defenders and followers of XBL obviously need it, and they sure as hell don't need to justify it right?

I agree saving money is always a good thing but if you say paying for stuff you don't need = they are either too rich or retarded means everyone here bar none are "too rich" or "retarded" because we don't need to play videogames or watch TV or have overly powerful computers and the list goes on and on.

Also this thread is no different than any other thread like it on here. What's your favorite console, is PSN + worth it, the plentiful "look at my exclusives" thread.

You are completely missing the point, if I have a gaming PC(which I also use for work, I'm an IT person who can work many fields,) a PS3, and a Wii, then XBL doesn't justify as something I need to be able to play online with(which is why I sold it back in 08' btw,) use netflix, and have crossgame chat etcetc. For the people who are unfortunate to only have a 360 or only have friends that 100% play on the 360, or stand 100% behind it because it's the console of their choice and they must be the defense force behind it, the need for using XBL is obviously there. With so many multiplatform games on both the 360, PS3, and even the PC, it came down to only a few game series for me in the end on the 360, Alan Wake(now coming to Steam, so I don't feel so bad anymore) and Gears2 MP(Which fucked me over because it was broken as shit on release, I enjoyed 3 at friends' though,) like hell if I'm going to buy a 360 again and pay Gold just to play Gears 3 MP. The really sad shit is I haven't touched my consoles much since BF3, Skyrim, and Batman: AC came out on PC, last time I booted my PS3 up was Uncharted 3 and I haven't even touched Skyward Sword(I know, blasphemy) lol.

BTW, I don't have a favorite console(bar the SNES maybe, MAYBE,) but I have voiced many times before that I don't like the XBL business model. PSN+ is totally not worth it in my book, most DD games can be found cheaper on Steam or through Steam sale vs their monthly fee, and once you opt out, a lot of them stop working, cloud storage doesn't mean shit since you get so little of it, and background update is not something I'd pay for either, but at least I don't have to pay to play online with it, and it comes with Netflix and Hulu Plus by default, not to mention it's a 3D video and 3D bluray player(yar, I have a 3DTV) and works better with the media server running off my server vs the 360, not that it matter to people who are not into it though...... anyways, off topic, let me rephrase, for people with options, XBL is most likely not worth it, IMO lol.



dahuman on 18 December 2011
Reasonable said:
dahuman said:
Reasonable said:
I wouldn't say it's special as such but what makes it good is the tight level of integration between community/games/content it offers. In truth cross game chat is the only real USP it has functionally vs PSN so far as I can tell - but the OS for the console and how it integrates is a bit better and slicker. Online play itself is identical. Downloads and patching is neater with Live though.

It's also not really that expensive - although I think Silver should get access to more than they do in terms of non-gaming non MS centric stuff.


I tempered with the Metro UI on my friend's 360, I really really don't like it, but some of you already know that I'm a hater of the Metro UI since it's super ugly, a fair comparison is the PS3 and XMB is much faster to get to things with and you don't have a box dedicated to ads, I just want something that's clean and fast. You can do background downloads on PS3 as well, and background patching with cloud storage with PSN+, not that I'd pay for that either since it's hardly worth it IMO as well, I generally just backup my saves elsewhere.


TBH I was speaking "pre Metro" as I've been so busy I've barely used my 360 much since the upgrade.  I have Gold/PSN Plus so I know the comparison pretty well I think - that's why I said the only really unique thing for Live is Cross-Game chat - everything else PSN does too really.  Like most 360 users (I think) I tend to use the simple pop-up main menu rather than the main menu.

I really must use the new UI I bit more to see how it really holds together.

If we are really comparing a permanent subcription in between the 2 consoles, I'd rather get PSN+ over XBL tbh based on value if I can only pick one, but as a gamer I'd have to get XBL so I can do MP on both consoles since that'd make the most sense, though I wouldn't get either in reality....... yep..... I hate Metro UI..... hoping for revamp before Windows 8 comes out to make it pretty, I say that because I'd be looking at the theme all day, I want it to be nice looking..... come on MS!



sales2099 on 18 December 2011
dahuman said:
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
yo_john117 said:
dahuman said:
Seece said:
Not like you have a choice if you have a 360 is it ... (in what OS you use I mean)

I think people here like to exaggerate, $60/£30 a year is nothing, especially when you can get it cheaper than that.


Money is still money man, it's always better to save if you have other cheaper alternative options unless you are a sports star or something.

Or unless you don't really care that your spending $5 a month (or in my case $2 and 8 cents a month) on a service that you use many hours a week.

Unless you don't have any sort of income coming in or you don't have any excess money whatsoever than paying for XBL is a non-issue.


I'm an individual driven by principles, and having money is exactly the reason why I'm driven by principles, because I have the power to make the choice on where my money should goto, look at the amount of money I tossed into my PC in my sig, and this was awhile ago too, money is not an issue, it's paying for anything I find lackluster or not worthwhile being the problem, XBL being one of those lackluster service I'd have to pay for, IMO of course.

Exactly. It's just fine that you don't want to pay for XBL and think it's not worth it but don't go telling other people they are wrong because they think it's worth it and pay for it because doing that just makes you come off as a bigot.

 

Just to let you know, this wasn't totally directed just at you it's for everyone in this thread that laughs or says people are getting ripped off by paying for XBL.

That's why in every post when I do mention XBL being a lackluster service I'd have to pay for, I say IMO lol. What it also is though, is a good way for parents to have easier lives once the kids get hooked, I know people that just buy 1 year for their kid as a christmas gift and be done with it, easy and brainless.

Then again, I don't ever understand why somebody would start a thread with shit like "What makes it special? What makes Xbox Live worth it?" when they already have it, there is no reason to try to justify or wonder about it, if you need a reason to back it up or feel good about it, chances are that you don't think it's worth it to start with. That's the type of question I'd ask if I didn't have XBL, the thread itself is trollish as hell.

Saving money is always good btw, there is no IMO about that part at all, if people are paying for shit they don't need, they are either too rich or too retarded. People who are the defenders and followers of XBL obviously need it, and they sure as hell don't need to justify it right?

I agree saving money is always a good thing but if you say paying for stuff you don't need = they are either too rich or retarded means everyone here bar none are "too rich" or "retarded" because we don't need to play videogames or watch TV or have overly powerful computers and the list goes on and on.

Also this thread is no different than any other thread like it on here. What's your favorite console, is PSN + worth it, the plentiful "look at my exclusives" thread.

You are completely missing the point, if I have a gaming PC(which I also use for work, I'm an IT person who can work many fields,) a PS3, and a Wii, then XBL doesn't justify as something I need to be able to play online with(which is why I sold it back in 08' btw,) use netflix, and have crossgame chat etcetc. For the people who are unfortunate to only have a 360 or only have friends that 100% play on the 360, or stand 100% behind it because it's the console of their choice and they must be the defense force behind it, the need for using XBL is obviously there. With so many multiplatform games on both the 360, PS3, and even the PC, it came down to only a few game series for me in the end on the 360, Alan Wake(now coming to Steam, so I don't feel so bad anymore) and Gears2 MP(Which fucked me over because it was broken as shit on release, I enjoyed 3 at friends' though,) like hell if I'm going to buy a 360 again and pay Gold just to play Gears 3 MP. The really sad shit is I haven't touched my consoles much since BF3, Skyrim, and Batman: AC came out on PC, last time I booted my PS3 up was Uncharted 3 and I haven't even touched Skyward Sword(I know, blasphemy) lol.

BTW, I don't have a favorite console(bar the SNES maybe, MAYBE,) but I have voiced many times before that I don't like the XBL business model. PSN+ is totally not worth it in my book, most DD games can be found cheaper on Steam or through Steam sale vs their monthly fee, and once you opt out, a lot of them stop working, cloud storage doesn't mean shit since you get so little of it, and background update is not something I'd pay for either, but at least I don't have to pay to play online with it, and it comes with Netflix and Hulu Plus by default, not to mention it's a 3D video and 3D bluray player(yar, I have a 3DTV) and works better with the media server running off my server vs the 360, not that it matter to people who are not into it though...... anyways, off topic, let me rephrase, for people with options, XBL is most likely not worth it, IMO lol.

True argument, but I hope you realize that PC gamers are purely an elitist minority. 

Most gamers, and I truly mean most gamers, solely play video games on video game consoles. When it comes down to Wii, PS3, or 360 online, Live is hands down the best of the 3.

Play games on your PC? Cool, Live isn't for you. But dont tell me that your state is something thats actually widespread, if the numbers on this site are anything to go by....its not. 



Xbox: Best hardware, Game Pass best value, best BC, more 1st party genres and multiplayer titles.