Too true i've been gaming online for years i remember playing Rainbow Six: Covert ops and Rogue spear online and really getting my first taste of online gaming i haven't paid a penny since then and don't want to any time in the future or anytime soon at least i pay for my internet connection and i shouldn't have to pay on top of that to play online if Sony start to charge i will go back to PC gaming for my online fix. The mad profits Microsoft pull in a year there is no way they can justify that charge

in fact the title of the thread should be "why doesn't Microsoft offer a free online gaming plan"

i actually agree with you!
PSN has more dedicated survers and allows games like LittleBigPlanet to able to run on the platform.... which they cant on live due to microsoft wanting to keep control over... well nothing. glad i get the better online and its free..

i guess PSN isnt on par.. its far above it. not opinion though, just factual stuff :)

Haha, well that's one reason I'm sure.

The other is that they can't.  They missed the boat.  Judging by how many people said NO! on the voting... I assume Sony has already gotten a similar feedback to the idea.  Microsoft started off charging for the service and has constantly improved it and added new features.  Sony didn't, and it's so late into it's cycle, that it would crush sales and make them look terrible.  The internet would blow up at them for it, even if they had some brand new xbox Live type layout, interface, and apps waiting to come all out at once.  Many people bought a PS3 because they aren't planning on paying a monthly fee.  If you charge it, you'll simply lose them as customers.  The fallout would hurt them more in other areas than it would help them with this one area.

Why they didn't think to copy Microsoft in the beginning... well because they hate making a profit.  Didn't I just read they have lost 82% of their value in the past decade alone?

Well if that was the case, everything that you need an internet connection to use and pay for it would be "paying to use your own internet" and it's not true at all. Going by that logic all companies that offer payed services on the internet should charge your ISP so you don't have to "pay to use your own internet" which would make your monthly internet bill go up so in the end your paying for it anyways.

It's up to the company to decide whether their service is free or not because they are completely seperate from your ISP.

Oh ok so 2 big advantages from PSN I can think of. I bet there are many people like me who do not care about playing online. I just care about the constant updates so there. 

Problem is microsofts gold service has so much more content now since the update. I have and use 10 different dedicated apps. Xbla has got 8 exclusive titles this year already. An option of 5 different film services with dedicated apps by February 15. The thing is, the Xbox is not really just a games console anymore. I understand if people aren't interested in that, but clearly many are.

Its catch 20. I don't believe Sony would be able to justify charging for psn. If Microsoft keep getting xbla exclusives and supplying applications for dedicated entertainment then I would never pay for psn.

I believe pandorax was right in what he said without realising what he said.
The next gen will be the last console gen with any resemblence to consoles. Even then next gen I believe PS and Xbox will be very very different in what they offer. And how their services operate. I believe Xbox will

Lots of things are free on PC. Games, Music, Movies, Porn, TV Shows, Torrents, News, Online Gaming, lots of things. Because these things are free, they should be free in every shape and form of everything.

I wanna play Resident Evil 6 sooo bad now :(

Gaming online should be free. If it was some kind of mmo then I understand the charge but in this case its not. Even playing PS Home games is free. Oh man and Dust 514 coming out soon too!

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree some more