"If you pay for the service because you want those features or are constrained to seek an alternative, then fine by me"

You're twisting my words. I'm not complaining about PS+. I'm stating why it has no value for me. I said I would pay if I got to pick the games I get for "free". I also said that if Sony charged for online gaming I'd pay and not complain. Those are two different things. But I will explain. I don't want to pay for an optional service that doesn't have value to me. I also would prefer to not pay for online gaming. But as with XBL I would pay for PSN if I had to. I wouldn't complain because I'd be paying for something that I want. It would be nice if XBL was free like PSN, but it's not so I pay. However I have the option of not paying for PS+ and instead buying used games on the cheap that I get to keep forever and maintain full ownership rights for.

I don't get it.  The only reason PS+ even exists is because they already have given you everything (almost) that xbox has for FREE.  They can't have premium service do the same thing as the free one!  The whole point of PS+ is if you like the games they offer you get it.  It's not about whether you're paying for something you want.  It's about not having to pay for something because it's not essential to your overall enjoyment of the console.  If you like the games then it helps, if not then its not a detriment to the console's reputation (at least it shouldn't be) because you get all the essential stuff for free.

Ok, I'll concede that you didn't 'complain' as such but citing the reason for you not subscribing as 'not being allowed to play every game in the library' does sound just a tad like complaint to me. I will also concede that it could be misinterpretation on my part so sorry about that. I used to be the sort of person that wanted to 'own' the game outright, but after many years of hoarding and never actually going back to the games I kept for that very reason, I concluded that playing the game was enough.

I have gotten into the habit of selling my games as soon as I've squeezed every bit of joy from them, so PS+ offers me a much cheaper alternative. I would buy a game for £35 - £40 and then sell it for around £20 (if I didn't wait too long). That means I effectively rented the game for £15 to £20! That's the realisation that swung it for me. Even if I only like 10 of the 44 games a year, it's still a hell of a lot cheaper (for me) to go with plus, and trust me it's more than 10.

I do see it as a rental system but an extremely cheap one that offers me the games for less than £1 for a year. My local Blockbusters charges £4 for 3 days (well it used to anyway). With many discounted games, exclusive betas, cloud saving and overnight updating, I just can't ignore it any longer. I DID for quite some time.

That's why it works for you. For me it makes no sense. I have a large home library of games, movies, books, music etc. All with full ownership rights. I maintain it all so I can still play an Atari VCS game three decades later, and believe me I do. I only rarely buy brand new games. The big releases that I'm really looking forward to are not what PS+ is offering. Most of the time I buy used games like you traded in for $40, but I wait until they're dirt cheap and snag them for $10. I don't like digital distribution because it's like paying for access to something you don't own. I never buy a digital release if it has a retail alternative. I do reluctantly buy the occasional digital distro title from time to time, either because it's on a crazy sale or because there is no way to buy it on a disc. If I buy something and enjoy it, it means more to me than trade in value.

I do not look forward to a future without physical media. Digital distribution may be very convenient, but entertainment as a service appeals to me like a forced commercial on Hulu. Take away retail and we will end up with episodic, nickel and diming, ad-supported, gamings that will make us all wish we could pay $100 a game just to go back to simpler times. PS+ is the type media service I fear the future will give no alternative for. and I don't understand why so many people are willing to trade ownership for convenience.

Maybe you're just talking Live in general like the store and interface. I don't know of a single person who uses those points as justification in paying for Live Gold, especially considering you can still buy all the stuff and browse the store and use the interface without paying a cent for Gold. We can just agree to disagree. You can argue the superior aspects of Live are make believe illusions experienced by gamers while hopped up on exciting colors and crisp design, I will continue to claim that years of owning both consoles and buying virtually every multiplatform title I own on both consoles and playing them online has taught me that the superior aspects are very much real.

It is 50$, If you get a single game out of 40+ that you like I would say it is worth 50$. Sony fans like Sony games and Sony gave a lot of their 1st party offerings for free. It would be like MS giving Gears 2 forza 3 fable 2 and 40+ 3rd party and XBLA games for 50$. Not only that 1gb online storage, auto updates, discounts, etc.

Yeah, fine by you... so long as they understand that you personally have talked to "most of those who believe XBL is better than PSN" and those "features" are actually incorrect because you say so and damnit you're sick of seeing it. Yeah sounds like it's hunky dory by you.

And what if you already own the games or plan to buy them used for a few bucks each and have no use for online storage. Auto updates is nice I guess, but I've never felt like the standard update process was that bad. Discounts are great, but you're paying for them. I've already explained in detail why I prefer physicle media to digital distros so if you want to know more about my disinterest in PS+ please read my posts in reply to others.

If you own a lot of games, then it is more likely that you do own them. Buying 10 games of your choice for 50$ or getting to play 44 or w/e games for 50$. I have owned 45 physical games total for this generation from all my consoles. So really it is up to preference, my main problem was with your first post. How can Sony fans not like PS plus? When Sony fans obviously love Sony 1st party, the others would just be a bonus. But if you do own like 300+ physical games I can see how everything added to Plus would be lackluster.