You can't be serious.

I said xbox live started after seganet went offline which was somewhere in 2002, xbox live started in november the same year

Internet was a whole lot more expensive back in the days. Flatrates weren't even the norm. Most of the time you paid by minute or based on traffic.

bottom line: Don't compare anything from the past with today's standards.

Like the user above said, they changed the formular at some point and charged people 10$ extra on top of their ISP

http://www.consolecity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35528

Some old forum threads aprove

When the Dreamcast came out it was really the best Console ever IMO great times I had with this console and it's games! Too bad the mass had not chosen for this and chose for the PS2  And for the cost as already mentioned it was Sega.net as a provider. So for that time the deal wasn't really bad. I can remember that in my country you also couldn't have Dream Arena (as internet provider) and next to that in that time I only played online on PC. But still if we could get that internet package here end of the 90's and beginning '00 it would be a good deal, as the normal rate here was around EUR. 35,- per month with a limit. Nowdays there are hardly any internet only providers here, it's mostly all-in-one packages.

1) Sega had online play? I never actually checked my Dreamcast for that feature.
2) I didnt even have internet around that time so I couldn't complain.

but then again in the forum they mentioned the free ISP's worked again when you had to pay the $ 10,- (which is not possible in these days) So overall it was a very good deal for that time!! I remember that when Xbox Live was introduced it was clear that MSFT would lose money on this monthly, but because of Bill Gates wanted to have the biggest market share in the console business they invested additionally $ 2b in Xbox division to try and be the biggest in 5 years!!

I dont think the dreamcast was such a good console. It had no dvd player, no backwarts competability, your old video cables and controllers didnt work.

The PS2 offered it all, it was a better value for your money not mention it was stronger anyways. 

Dreamcast wasn't pay to play online, that's not what seganet was.

Even if it was tohugh you don't say "Why didn't people complain they had to pay a fortune for crappy dial-up."

Technology improves and becomes cheaper overtime.

I had a dreamcast and play phntasy star online with my two other cousins none of us payed for online. I know for a fact cause i paid for my dreamcast myself and that was it I spent all my money had nothing left.