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I completely forgot you have to pay to play online on consoles

Podge293

Member
I've always been fascinated at the "pay for discounts" stuff.

If you wanna think about it like if you use the discounts enough then you'll have broken even

You're playing for the use of their online system, everything else is just an added incentive
 

jono51

Banned
I would be happy to give Sony $60 a year for nothing, so getting free games, discounts, online, friends, the biggest a online community, and cloud just makes this even sweeter.
 
I've always been fascinated at the "pay for discounts" stuff.
I know this is a stealth virtues of PC thread and I don't want to stop the momentum when it's just getting good but I know for a fact that as a heavy user that Plus gets more than paid off for via the discounts it supplies every year.
 

JoeM86

Member
There's also the Just Dance series, which has its own paid Premium mode. JD Premium basically adds a larger library of songs (around 200, mostly a selection from previous games in the series), but you still can play online if you're a basic player, just not the Premium songs.

I wonder how they'll handle games like these, if you'll need to pay Nintendo to unlock the Online in addition to paying Ubisoft to unlock the full library, or if paying just one of them unlocks both.

As was said, Nintendo has said that not all games will be subject to the online fee so I imagine they're including things like that.
 

bosseye

Member
I don't mind too much. I like the ps+ games and I play a lot of online games with friends so I feel like I get my money's worth.

I'll have to look around a bit more carefully when I renew in January though, turn off autorenew and see if I can find it cheaper than the currently increased price.
 
I pay it because I have to if I want to play online, which i do daily. It’s like £40 a year, it’s a negligible sum of money for me.

And yeah the discounts mean I end up spending less overall.
 

Malcolm9

Member
It's less than £5 a week if you shop around, I bet most spend more than that on alcohol/cigarettes/junk/other hobbies etc per week.

I could sit and complain why Sky charge me extra to have the sports or movies package, it's just a service these days alongside most things. If you don't play online enough then the value may not be great for you, but for others playing online, having "free games, discounts etc is more than enough.

For the money I pay, I get way more back even if I don't like every "free" game given as part of PS+.
 

Stiler

Member
This is what annoys me so much about playing on consoles.

I usually game on my pc mostly but from time to time I'll get a game for my ps4 or xbox, then when I do I end up having to either fork over extra money to play the mp portion or just skip it entirely instead to save myself the money.

It's becoming more and more of annoyance, especially when you can play games freely on pc.

It'd be one thing if you could buy it for "x" time played, or pause your sub, because I tend to only play like a few weeks/month at a time and then come back when I get a new gam eor something. Feels so wasteful getting multi-month subs when I know the majority is not going to be used for actual playing.
 
Eh. I'm subscribed to PS Plus and Gold both till 2021. I enjoy both services and the games enough that dropping 120 bucks on each service to forget about them for years was a pretty easy decision.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
I asked the same question before too, and the answers revolve around excuses like “well its cheap so its ok”, “you get ‘free’ games with it”, “free online is a privilege not an entitlement”
 

Staf

Member
I just logged onto my Xbox One to play video games alone for the first time in years. It has been a Netflix/HBO machine for the past two years after buying a decent graphics card.

I just finally agreed to play with my friend and his cousin in ranked 3v3 Rocket League and, upon getting the invite, I get redirected to an add about Xbox Live premium prices.

How the fuck do you all do it? And how the fuck do they get away with charging for one of the most basic features of the internet?

I can't believe I forgot about this.

Worried fake edit: Can Nintendo actually charge money to trade/battle pokemon in their new upcoming Switch game? Because that idea is truly horrifying

tenor.gif
 

panty

Member
I mainly play online games on the PS4 so I don't have a problem with it.

Once you've bought years worth of PS+, the whole pay2play mindset goes away.

:)
 

Arklite

Member
Its because console networks started off horribly and because of all the cohesion that paid subscription models brought that it ended up acceptable

It happened gradually after Live originally turned what was once a disparate console networks with varying quality into a consolidated service that promoted higher quality connections and implemented great match making and messaging systems. Live looked like the future of online community compared to everything else, except that you could sort of frankenstein together similar functions on PC.
Once Sony managed to duct tape PSN together it also managed to bring similar features.

Compare that to the 'all digital' future and 'always online' and you'll see that console owners also resist certain things as vehemently as PC does paid online.
 

Nightbird

Member
I love it when the "but free games" card is played.

Nobody complained about paying 50 Bucks to receive free games (also, if I pay 50 Bucks for it, isn't it more a glorified humble bundle than free stuff?).

We are complaining about having to lay down 50 Bucks in order to get multi-player with people who are not in the same room as you are. Its annoying as fuck.
 
Never bothered me personally, at all. I'd prefer free but the same can be said for anything I enjoy.

It's a minor sum per month and affords me a lot of entertainment, with the side benefit of getting a few games each month and additional discounts that help offset the cost.

The games are neat because they're often ones I wouldn't have bought myself for the price they are in the store, but have an interest in and other times smaller games I've never heard of but have enjoyed.

This topic reeks of "urgh, I just looked down upon the peasants for the first time in years, how do they live like that" with the tone it sets. Not sure why a thread was necessary unless you actually had a mental block about how people are able to pay £6/m on a form of entertainment.
 

Jacqli

Member
Imagine my face when I tried to play horde mode in Gears 4 offline and not only you are unable to do that, but also you need Gold membership, even if you do not want to play with others (I used to play a lot offline in my 360 days).

Then they will be like "why is our game not selling that well?" So I refuse to even "accept" that free gold month. Fuck it, if this mode requires internet, at least let me play alone without your shitty subscription.

And I am even more surprised this topic does not get more attention. It is probably one of the worst decisions ever made for this franchise.
 

Oresama

Member
I'm moving to PC soon due to this.

My PS+ membership elapsed and I did not miss it one bit with the exception of the ability to play online.

Then I realized most of those games are on PC and chose to make the leap this year.

Basically for me to play Destiny 2 on my PS4, I would need to fork over $120 total for the game & PS+ subscription just to play the gimped version at 30fps. No thanks.
 

Hesh

Member
I pretty much just pay $30-$40 a year for the free games now. I never buy PS+ or XBL at full retail because with Google and CheapAssGamer handy I can find year subscriptions for 35-50% off whenever I resubscribe.
 

SoraNoKuni

Member
It occured to me just yesterday, I've converted to PC gaming the last 4 years and when a friend of mine told me he got psn plus instead of persona 5 because of online I had a jawdrop moment.
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
On PSN you could at least try the trail instaid of subscribing for 1 month to play for 2 or 3 days.

Bad? Yes but people voted with their wallets and even Nintendo with how bad they handle everything online is also doing it.
 

RK9039

Member
Main reason I stopped playing on consoles. I was playing the PC version of Tekken 7 all night yesterday with my friend online for FREE.
 

ramparter

Banned
Firstly "forgot", did you bollocks. What's that all about?

Secondly I pay it for the 48 free games a year. I've never paid more than 25 quid for a 12 month subscription and I don't even play online games. "but they're not free, you lose them after your subscription ends.. Blah blah.." that's fine I'll just renew it again, for the 48 games, it's only 25 quid a year.
25 quids for Live or Plus and if live where? I'm renewing my gold soon.
 

jrcbandit

Member
I think my PS+ expires again at the end of this month, good riddance. I only resubscribed because I got that cheap Canadian deal for $35 or whatever it was, ridiculous that they want $60 a year for their shitty service. Download speeds off PSN are insanely slow compared to Steam (0.5-1.5 MB/s vs 28 MB/s for Steam) and the vast majority of free games are Indie games I already have on PC, I wont be missing it.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Yeah, it's why I don't play games online on consoles when the feature is locked behind a paywall. Been PS+ sub free for years now, and never got a Live Gold sub either. Will probably not get the Nintendo one either.

That is of course, unless someone gives me a holiday present or something with a code on it. Free is free after all. But i'll never pay for them with my own money. (This business model is also why i'm greatly disappointed in the platform choices for MH World in addition to the split playerbases, where said playerbase is going to be concentrated, and delayed PC version).

Also the same reason i'm waiting for the PC version of Destiny 2.
 

Södy

Member
Definetly not going to renew my PSN subscription. I only play FIFA and NHL on console anymore and 99% of the time, I play franchise or career mode. Having switched back to PC for primary gaming a few months ago, I can't believe paying for online play got through.
 

SoulUnison

Banned
You know what the worst part is? When you don't play that much online and you feel the money wasting away.

I never forget I pay for this shitty service and I am constantly disappointed by it.

This is why I no longer multiplayer game on consoles.

I get the urge for maybe a handful of hours every couple of months, but I have to pay for a full month for the privilege of basically using my own internet connection for one day on one weekend.

I only buy multiplayer heavy games on PC, now.

Consoles are for single player exclusives.
 

Gren

Member
Yeah, doesn't matter if it comes out to mere dollars a month, always thought it was pretty stupid. And AFAIK it only flies in the gaming industry.

For most software on Windows, if I buy a license outright I don't have to pay again to utilize any sort of basic online functionality. The vendor assumes the costs of maintaining all of that (servers, security, etc), as is expected.
 
Unfortunately, last gen one of the consoles had paid online gaming, and one had free online gaming. Everyone with the paid online service said how great it was, and how they were happy to pay for it. They did pay for it.

And here we are.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Yeah, I was considering to get Destiny 2 but then remembered that most features on the game require PS+, so I basically need to pay 120 EUR to play the game. Nah...
 

forrest

formerly nacire
Haven't paid for Xbox Live since Halo 4 and stopped paying for PSN after Destiny: House of Wolves expansion. As much as I've enjoyed Splatoon 2 on my Switch, I doubt I'll be paying Nintendo for their service either.

I have a capable pc and can get most of the online multiplayer offerings there and just don't feel it's worth it for me personally.
 
Would like PSPlus to be cheaper. I do like the discounts and "free" games though.

My PC broke. Constant BSOD, would disconnect from the internet now and then, only boots up in safe mode now. Love consoles for the fact that they're mostly bullshit free. Will go back to PC gaming if I have the money to drop €1000 on a PC, which won't be soon. Really tired of PC's atm.
 

RK9039

Member
The ๖ۜBronx;249405666 said:
Oh, so it was just a smug circlejerk post.

Call it what you want to make yourself feel better, it's argument I've seen posted in the past.
 
It is one of the reasons I don't want to buy all consoles. I have an X1, but getting a PS4 would mean needing to pay PS Plus when I'd rarely use it considering I'd mostly play third parties on X1 anyway. I can live with a cheapish Nintendo subscription when it arrives but Xbox Live Gold + PS Plus is a no-no.
 
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