Xbox Live worth it still?

[ShadowSoldier]

This is a subject that has been brought up in a bunch of threads, but never really had it's own thread/discussion purely about it.

Who thinks Xbox Live, to this day, is still worth the price?

People say "you get awesome deals on games, you get cross game chat, servers are more secure, better community" to which I say "Bullshit"


Here's the thing. I'm just going to compare this against PlayStation Plus, but you can compare it to the likes of Steam or something if you wish.


You get awesome deals on games? Rarely are they even awesome deals. When you compare it to PS+ You get like 50%-60% and more off of games. And you also get free games every single month, to which Xbox Live.... gives you what for free? Points on your birthday? I'll take the free games every month.

Cross Game Chat is nice, but I've started to get back into chatting in the game (depending on the game). It's nicer because if I want to play a game and nobody's going to talk, I'll be honest, I might as well just play against bots. Saying the servers are more secure is also a bullshit statement. Xbox Live is hacked to shit. I'm not saying PS+ isn't, but Xbox Live isn't as grand as people make it out to be. With people able to hack accounts, steal credit card information, lag switchers, and others, Xbox Live is no more secure than PS or Nintendo's online. You also can't really say you get a better community, when everybody is basically in party chat or something. You can put Black Ops 1 in the PS3, and still get 100k people playing. Same goes for any game, like Uncharted 3 even.


So I ask you, is Xbox Live still worth it? I don't think it is. I get all the functions (aside from Cross Game Chat) on my PS3 (again you can use Steam or whatever you like) as you would on the Xbox Live for free. Functions like being able to play online for free, which should be a standard. Even Nintendo's WiiU does it and the online in that is great. Access apps that you already pay for (Hulu, Netflix, etc).

 

[nukeboy95]

its a wast of money from the start

 

[Gahars]

I think it's worth pointing out that Xbox Live was the vastly superior service until about a year or so ago. As someone who got PSN at launch, let me tell you, the damn thing was a mess. Sure, you had to pay with Live, but you were paying for a well made, secure, unified service, and that was a deal well worth taking in my book.

Now I'd say the pendulum has swung in Sony's favor pretty much for PS+ alone. A continual stream of free games for the same price - What's not to love?

(Also, bringing a PC service into a discussion about console online is like bringing a harrier jet to a knife fight. It's inherently unfair.)

 

[DinohScene]

Meh, I don't care much for online gameplay but XBL is superior to PSN.
Friend system is better, cross game voicechat.
XBL Marketplace is better then the PSN store (in terms of design and ease of use)

Only advantage PSN is is that it's free.
However you need a credit card to get PSN+ iirc..
You don't need that with XBL.

But yeh, if all comes down to yourself.
Do you want to play with friends on XBLive or not?
Do you use Youtube/netflix/Internet Explorer/whatever?
Can you spare 60 quid a year?

 

[ShadowSoldier]

I think it's worth pointing out that Xbox Live was the vastly superior service until about a year or so ago. As someone who got PSN at launch, let me tell you, the damn thing was a mess. Sure, you had to pay with Live, but you were paying for a well made, secure, unified service, and that was a deal well worth taking in my book.

Now I'd say the pendulum has swung in Sony's favor pretty much for PS+ alone. A continual stream of free games for the same price. What's not to love?

(Also, bringing a PC service into a discussion about console online is like bringing a harrier jet to a knife fight. It's inherently unfair.)

Well people can use whatever they want, I just pointed out Steam, mainly for the Sales aspect, and that you don't have to pay to play online with it. I mean to be honest, I'd say the WiiU eShop is doing pretty good with giving sales as well. The games that do go on sale go on sale for a while and also have a huge chunk taken off. I think they're starting to do it right.

But yes I agree, I should have clarified that Xbox Live to this day, and not years ago.

 

[Carnivean]

Cross game chat is still the most important thing for me on XBL and I pirate all my games anyway so I completely feel I get my money's worth. XBL is also just a better implemented system overall with complete standardisation across all games.

 

[Sicklyboy]

You know, this argument DOES come up a lot. I always reply "well, I think Live is the better choice, because you're paying for a service to be properly maintained, and it is maintained quite well; cross game voice chat; good friend system; etc"

How many times has that been said, exactly?

Yes, at first Live WAS better than PSN. PSN had a very rocky start. The playing field is a bit more level now, sure.

That brings me to the following conclusion. What service is more "worth it", or "better"? The one that is supported by your game console of choice.

Aside from my PC (duh), my 360 is my favorite game console. I RARELY game online with it, but I'm always connected to Live. However, when I can afford it, I'll go and pick up a one year membership and be done with it for a year, just so I have that option. I also have a PS3, but in the year that I've had it (bought it broken from a friend, fixed it), I've used it maybe twice. The PS3 just doesn't entice me nearly as much as the Xbox does. Maybe I don't like the controllers? Maybe I just haven't opened up to it and given it enough time? Whatever the reason, I would never, at this present moment, imagine paying for PSN+, regardless of how many free games they give me. It's just not enticing when I don't play it.

So, I'll say it again. The better service is the one that runs on your game console of choice. If you don't have either current-gen console, then you need to do your research into which one you want to buy, and whether you want to pay for the respective online service or not. Don't go to a store and ask the guy which one is better, either, because speaking from personal experience, I don't give a damn about it really, I'll tell you one is free and the other is not, but I like the paid one better, because of reasons.

That's my opinion, at least.

 

[ars25]

Meh, I don't care much for online gameplay but XBL is superior to PSN.
Friend system is better, cross game voicechat.
XBL Marketplace is better then the PSN store (in terms of design and ease of use)

Only advantage PSN is is that it's free.
However you need a credit card to get PSN+ iirc..
You don't need that with XBL.

But yeh, if all comes down to yourself.
Do you want to play with friends on XBLive or not?
Do you use Youtube/netflix/Internet Explorer/whatever?
Can you spare 60 quid a year?

nope you can get it in the stores too dino

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Never much cared for Xbox live gold myself seemed a bit annoying you. Buy the game then have to pay again just to play it online some may say wow is the same but at least the game or expansion is much cheaper.

That said... PC Master Race, don't think I need say more than that

 

[BORTZ]

I use it out of because that's what all of my friends have, which is a terrible reason to have something really. Microsoft seems to really be letting things slip in live lately.

 

[kristianity77]

Ive answered no. Ive paid for Xbox live since i got my 360 6 years ago. And i believe it was worth it in the beginning purely because there wasnt really any competition and at the start, the online infrastructure surrounding PS3 was dodgy at best. Ive never owned a PS3, but its plain to see that PS Plus especially with the instant game collection simply blows it out of the water for much the same price point.

Granted, Microsoft does have a plethora of apps available to use for various music, video streaming etc but guess what, it all costs money on top of the XBL subscription.
When the new consoles come, microsoft has to offer more for me, or I will shift over to Sony, purely because if they keep the same kind of business model which they have adopted recently, it offers way more value for money.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

Sorry for going off topic, but I think it is the time for who never ever seen a un-haked (aka clean) 360 like me understand some things. Xbox Live is a paid store where you can pay again to buy games?
For example, I want to play castle crashers, so I have to be subscribler AND pay for the game? Or it is more like PSN, where the store is a "free" feature, and PS+ is like a paid add-on?

IF you have to pay to use the store and THEN you have to pay to buy the games, I think it not woth it at all.

 

[Gahars]

Sorry for going off topic, but I think it is the time for who never ever seen a un-haked (aka clean) 360 like me understand some things. Xbox Live is a paid store where you can pay again to buy games?
For example, I want to play castle crashers, so I have to be subscribler AND pay for the game? Or it is more like PSN, where the store is a "free" feature, and PS+ is like a paid add-on?

IF you have to pay to use the store and THEN you have to pay to buy the games, I think it not woth it at all.

No, you can buy and play games without Xbox Live. You'd just need Xbox Live if you want to play it online, however.

 

[Hells Malice]

Xbox live gold offers a vastly superior service and a much crisper experience. It also costs a meager $60~ for 13 months. That's a pretty tiny pittance.

PS+ is definitely awesome, but it's not like it makes your online experience any better. It just showers you in free stuff, which hey, is awesome. But if we're going to judge these based on if XBL Gold is still worth it, then yeah, it doesn't offer anything to compare to XBL gold directly. You still have the same half-baked PSN experience where no one has a mic and the online communities are much smaller. Along with plenty of other things. Using both services it's always morbidly obvious that XBL stomps PSN.

But heck they're both so damn cheap I just buy yearly subs for both...why the hell not.

TL;DR PC Master race ftw.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Xbox live gold offers a vastly superior service and a much crisper experience. It also costs a meager $60~ for 13 months. That's a pretty tiny pittance.

PS+ is definitely awesome, but it's not like it makes your online experience any better. It just showers you in free stuff, which hey, is awesome. But if we're going to judge these based on if XBL Gold is still worth it, then yeah, it doesn't offer anything to compare to XBL gold directly. You still have the same half-baked PSN experience where no one has a mic and the online communities are much smaller. Along with plenty of other things. Using both services it's always morbidly obvious that XBL stomps PSN.

But heck they're both so damn cheap I just buy yearly subs for both...why the hell not.

TL;DR PC Master race ftw.

I don't know what games you play on the PS3, but every game I've gone online with, everybody has a mic. Also the online communities being smaller is dependent on the game, not the service itself.

 

[AaronZ]

Not for me, all I want to do is play online and have a friends list and the PSN covers that for free, XBL is superior but I don't care for the bells and whistles, I hate the new store design though, the other one was so much faster and easier to use.

 

[Haloman800]

No, it's a complete rip off. You have to pay to play online multiplayer on the games you already dropped $60+ on? Sony doesn't do this, Nintendo doesn't do this. I hate Microsoft.

 

[chavosaur]

No, it's a complete rip off. You have to pay to play online multiplayer on the games you already dropped $60+ on? Sony doesn't do this, Nintendo doesn't do this. I hate Microsoft.

There's just so much irony when there's Halo in your name...

 

[emigre]

I just want to say PS+ is a fucking magnificent service.

 

[Depravo]

I just want to say PS+ is a fucking magnificent service.

Presumably you've seen todays news -
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2013/05/15/playstation-plus-your-june-update/