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[BasicAir]

Everyone is freaking out about this, and all because of a survey?

MS has put many other things into XBL surveys before that we've never seen. I've been a Live member since early 2003 and I've done a couple surveys. None have been recent so I don't recall too many of the things on there but I know that any elaborate ideas like this have never seen the light of day. One example I do remember is MS asking about having a keyboard/mouse option for the 360. I remember selecting the most negative option for that and I even remember reading news articles online or in magazines citing that MS has surveyed Live members about a kb/m and that most users don't want it and that's why they've never come out with one.

Now, discussing why I'm not in favor of a kb/m for the 360 is a whole nother conversation so I'll stop there. I just wanted to show that MS has these ideas in surveys all the time and if the response is negative, then the idea is scrapped nearly every single time.

I am fairly confident that the results of a VIP membership option would show that most people would be mostly negative and all you haters of the idea have nothing to worry about. That said, I love the idea.

I would gladly pay more than $100/year for a premium XBL service. I really like XBL the way it is but if I can get premium features for more money, I'm all about it. Extra storage options for game content? I could care less about that, but other premium things I'm all for. If MS had a VIP membership, it'd only be natural to assume some limited betas or demos on XBL would be restricted to VIP members. What if Infinity Ward and/or Bungie came out and said that future betas/demos of their shooters would only be available to Xbox Live VIP members?

Would you gladly pay more money each year for exclusive betas/demos like that? I sure as heck would. I've been in both the CoD4 and CoD:WaW betas and it was a pain in the butt trying to get into those.

Better connectivity for VIP members? I don't know exactly what they mean by this, but it's something I would appreciate I'd imagine.

Exclusive matchmaking options? That'd be nice, too.

[Chancer]

QUOTE(rocky5 @ Apr 18 2009, 12:44 PM)

Hosting costs its not free to keep a server running 24/7 and have millions all try to use it at once it costs alot of money that's why we get charged for live.

MS don't host the games on their own dedicated servers, which is the most used aspect.

QUOTE(rocky5 @ Apr 18 2009, 12:44 PM)

you get what you pay for as PSN is crap it doesn't even have voice chat :| you cant invite your friends into games (unless that game supports it they also have to be playing it)

Setting up a games session with friends on the PSN is very easy. What you mean is it is not identical to live so you can't be bothered.

MS would just be looking for extra revenue, with an upper tier service. As already shown it would work . people will pay and decry the cheaper or free services because it makes their extra money purchase justifiable to themselves.
I see no problem with paying for features you would want if they are not available from a lower price or free service. Personally XBL already has features I don't require or use.

[kelon]

If they're going to upgrade Live, then they should just make online play as it's presently constituted free to all users, and charge current subscription rates for access to dedicated servers, or some such. I don't care about XBL for anything beyond online play and occasional DLC, so I would be happy to continue paying for a lag-free experience - as long as it wasn't a new surcharge on top of my existing subscription fees.

No way in Hell would I pay for priority beta access, or anything like that, though.

[tbb033]

QUOTE(CollinstheClown @ Apr 17 2009, 11:25 PM)

"It's no denying that Xbox Live's gold members are reaping the awards that Microsoft has provided them"

Wait... what? Oh... the "deal a week" thing that never has any real value? Or is it Netflix thing in which only a select few movies are available?

My balls Microsoft... my balls.
-CollinstheClown

Not to mention that the line itself is horribly written. It's "there's no denying" not "it's no denying" and "reaping the rewards" not "reaping the awards". If you're going to use phrases like these just to be colorful, at least get them right.

QUOTE(eyric101 @ Apr 18 2009, 09:25 AM)

I would pay more if it gave access to the movies and or tv shows for free. Why do they make people pay for TV shows anyway?

QUOTE(rocky5 @ Apr 18 2009, 06:44 AM)

Hosting costs its not free to keep a server running 24/7 and have millions all try to use it at once it costs alot of money that's why we get charged for live.

Yet you can often watch the exact same shows for free (legally) on the network websites, sites like Hulu, or even OnDemand on certain cable systems. There's really no reason it should cost money to watch, say, Lost on my 360 when I can do it for free on my PC or cable box.

[johnnyrico]

how about they give European gold members some proper service.
this VIP idea is BS, we're already paying more than an American for an inferior service.
for a start, they could start firing the current XBL Europe crews and hire actually motivated people who truly want to provide a good user experience.
get some people who can organise proper contests for the Europeans.

[spinr34]

i don't believe they will do something like this. there is no point to a higher tier than gold with these extra 'options', if you can even call them that. i see no incentives. also, the article misspelled "to".

also, dedicated servers aren't the answer to all problems. you have to remember, the internet will always, yes, ALWAYS, have lag. if i have a bad route to a dedicated server then my gaming experience is no better than it would be if i had a bad route to a user. remember, online gaming is based on pings, not raw speed. you can have a 100mbps dedicated server but, if it takes 300ms for a packet to get from you to that 100mbps dedicated server, then it's pointless.

[moja]

X-S.. please don't post any more crap submitted from this turd.  It's all bathroom speculation.  Besides, personally I can't justify renewing my Gold membership as I haven't played online in months.  Eh.

[ruley]

I hope that they bring out a better service.

[Two Halfs]

We're assuming that this rumor and it's details are translated properly, from it's original French. It wouldn't be the first time we've had mistranslations, not that I'm saying this is mistranslated.

Do you think MS would really add another more expensive LIVE tier, considering they constantly get asked "when will it be free" or "why pay for xbox online play when PC and PSN are free", etc (don't answer this question). Even they must see they'll get heaps of flack from this, if it's a higher cost then GOLD.

The article mentioned nothing about it costing extra, but one can argue that's it implied. I'd like to hope that  this IS for GOLD members at no extra cost, and that the VIP moniker is just a marketing thing.

Also, does "better connectivity for online gaming" make any sense? wouldn't that mean splitting up the GOLD and VIP communities?

[elitegamer360]

I have not read every ones comments but I think MS should scrap Silver shit and make Gold Free and get people to pay for VIP.

Having to pay for Gold and get another level of VIP shit it aint fair as I thought that I'm on the best level ever...

I'm not prepared to pay extra for simple stuff that gold people should already have.

After that they will come up with Platinum or white Gold, Damn MS!!

We should have only one type of free membership and one type of Paid membership, for gods sake do not make it too confusing for new and existing memebers!!!

[HotKnife420]

QUOTE(BasicAir @ Apr 18 2009, 04:17 PM)

One example I do remember is MS asking about having a keyboard/mouse option for the 360. I remember selecting the most negative option for that and I even remember reading news articles online or in magazines citing that MS has surveyed Live members about a kb/m and that most users don't want it and that's why they've never come out with one.

 I've never gotten any of these surveys (if I had, I definitely would've voted FOR the kb/mouse), and I've been a gold member since early 2006. Given that in over 3 years of gold membership I've never been given one of these surveys, I move that they are an inaccurate representation of the XBL populace.

QUOTE(BasicAir @ Apr 18 2009, 04:17 PM)

Would you gladly pay more money each year for exclusive betas/demos like that? I sure as heck would. I've been in both the CoD4 and CoD:WaW betas and it was a pain in the butt trying to get into those.

 No, because bugtesters get paid to test for bugs; playing a beta just gets members of the general public involved in bugtesting, so they don't have to pay them, and it doubles as advertising for the game. I'll be damned if I PAY to bugtest and/or advertise for someone else.

[rocky5]

QUOTE(Chancer @ Apr 18 2009, 06:11 PM)

MS don't host the games on their own dedicated servers, which is the most used aspect.

i meant thats why they charge for movies and tv show hosting costs or the cost of a dedicated server + the writes charges.

QUOTE(Chancer @ Apr 18 2009, 06:11 PM)

Setting up a games session with friends on the PSN is very easy. What you mean is it is not identical to live so you can't be bothered.

Could you elaborate please as i am unable to invite my friends into a game of MGS 4 unless i create a clan.

[spinkick]

I would gladly pay more money to have an over 18 only membership and servers.

[johnnyrico]

QUOTE(spinkick @ Apr 19 2009, 11:47 PM)

I would gladly pay more money to have an over 18 only membership and servers.

people can just mess with the over 18 stuff, why do you think there are 13 year olds screaming and breathing in the mic on halo 3?
same happened with Halo 2, and that was Xbox1, Creditcard required. parents just allowed kids to use their credit card.