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

Stevey

Member
I haven't let my Xbox Live Gold lapse since 2007 but I haven't played online since like 2012.
It's really cheap so I don't even think about it.
 
PS+ used to be worth it, but, since they switched it to being required for online play, it's been pretty bad. Before we were getting awesome games for free every month, now I'm getting a game I own, every time, or some obscure Indy game I've never heard of. Every once in awhile, something cool pops up, but it's just not worth the price. The deals suck, too. It's basically, "Save an extra dollar or two on deals EVERY week!" I would have canceled my subscription last August, but I got super into Overwatch, and decided to keep it. This year, while I wanted to keep it for Overwatch again, I decided to let it go. I was going to resubscribe if I felt the need, but so far haven't, at all. I've had PS+ since, basically, it first came out. I've been disappointed with the service though, and Sony increasing it by 10 dollars felt like a slap in the face.

That's okay, I have Splatoon now. At least until Nintendo charges for that LOL.
 

Okada

Member
I've recently let both my Xbox Live And PS+ lapse for the first time in years.

I'll probably resub the PS+ soon as I want to play Rigs and it's currently "free" with PS+. I also miss the cloud saves.

My lad also uses the Xbox to play Roblox and Minecraft so that'll probably need resubbing too.

Its one of those things that I don't particularly like doing, especially as I mainly game on PC these days but what you gonna do? *shrug*
 

mikelarry

Member
Its one of the reasons i moved over to PC, I just couldn't justify paying for online when i hardly used the system to play online multiplayer and then the price increase was the final nail for me. Also don't even get me started on the * free games* feature
 

danmaku

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

Want to see an even better one?

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.

Paying for free games. It's like fucking for virginity.

It just shows how powerful the word "free" is. Damn marketing.
 
Want to see an even better one?



Paying for free games. It's like fucking for virginity.

It just shows how powerful the word "free" is. Damn marketing.

It's £30-50 a year (depending on how good a shopper you are) for like £1000 worth of games. So £970 free.
 

alexbull_uk

Member
£30 a year for a decent collection of games and cloud backup for saves doesn’t seem that bad to me. Free would be better, but that applies to literally everything that isn’t free.
 

autoduelist

Member
I easily save more a year than I pay for ps+ with ps+ discounts during sales.

I also easily get what I pay for across all PS+ games from a year [it happens quick, actually, $5 game here, $10 game there that I would have bought]. I don't care that I don't 'own' them in the traditional sense at all.

So... basically, I just don't care. I paid for PS+ before it included online and liked it then.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
l9Z5brE.jpg
 

Raitaro

Member
Yeah, it kinda sucks OP. I agree. I only pay for PS+ and I mostly try not to think about it too much and keep myself distracted with the free games Sony hands out. I'd hate having to pay for both PS+ and Xbox Live at the same time though - in fact, this might be why I never bothered to buy both systems even though there are sometimes game I feel I'm missing out on, especially during the PS3/360 days.

This is why i'm not a Giant Bomb premium member anymore, i have to pay PSN PLUS every year, sorry GB.

Hey, me too! Being unemployed, I could only justify one subscription and PS+ won out in the end even though I mostly have it for the cloud saving, discounts and free games. Oh, and SFV once in a while if FM can be earned. I do feel bummed out that I can't watch GB's let's play material, live shows and PUBG matches though...makes me feel like a second rate GB fan or something...

(Slightly off-topic but have the GB crew ever explained why they still need the subscription money now that they are part of CBS? I could accept their justification when they were independent and needed to earn their keep but don't fully understand why they simply stuck with it after the CBS buy out which, I assume, has led to them being paid by CBS etc.)
 

Egida

Neo Member
Never payed Gold, I did pay PS+ at the beginning on PS3 when it was optional and the "free" games were worth it.

Then with the PS4 arrival I realized I hardly ever played some of the monthly offerings and so stopped paying. That was years ago.

Online shouldn't be behind the paywall, they should earn that money with services like gamepass or the EA thing.
 
(People will attack me for this perhaps but it also never sat 100% right with me that GB justified a subscription model when they were independent but then simply stuck with it when they got bought out by CBS without ever explaining to my knowledge why they still needed the subscription money. I don't remember anybody ever asking them about this in an email in the podcast either, so either I missed an explanation somewhere, people have been blindly going along with it or Brad and co. are simply not picking these emails for reading.)
It's likely one of the things that made them attractive for acquisition was that they had users who were paying monthly for that content. It wouldn't make business sense to end that.
 

danmaku

Member
It's £30-50 a year (depending on how good a shopper you are) for like £1000 worth of games. So £970 free.

This means it's a discount. And you get such a big discount because you don't get to choose what you're buying. Still, not free at all.

I mean, I get what he meant. It's just worded in a hilarious way because marketing drilled into our brains that these games are "free", even if it's a blatant lie.
 

Raitaro

Member
It's likely one of the things that made them attractive for acquisition was that they had users who were paying monthly for that content. It wouldn't make business sense to end that.

Cheers for answering. You were quick enough to do it before my edit even. I guess that makes sense indeed.
 

Tapejara

Member
Since people have brought it up, I'm not a fan of Sony gating cloud saves behind the yearly sub. It's free on Steam (some games don't support it, but the vast majority of releases after 2010 do), Origin and Uplay. There's like zero reason for Sony to gate it besides the fact that they can.

Oh yeah, I get that completely. And I thought it was a stupid decision even back then. It's pretty much the same story for me except I'm still somewhat happy to subscribe. I rarely play online so to me the allure is mostly in the "free" titles, I've got to play quite a few games that I would never had played otherwise. The recent price upping ground some of my gears though, especially since to my knowledge there's no additional boon coming with it.

That price increase was one of my breaking points, actually. It went up $20 here in Canada (combination of the global Plus increase + our currency value dropping), and that's when I began to reevaluate whether or not I wanted to continue paying. No judgment from me whether you or anyone else still considers it worth paying for, of course! I am going to miss having access to a few delisted PS3 titles that were given away years ago though.

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.

Speaking of Humble, I've found their Humble Monthly to be a great alternative to PS+/Gold on PC. A year's sub is like double the price of PS+/XBL, but you get like 8-10 Steam games each month plus they're your's forever. I find there's a nice mix of AAA and indies in their line up.
 

Stygr

Banned
That's why i play multiplayer games on PC.
I have a PS4 and ONE and i only play the few exclusives or some offline co-op/pvp with my brother like fighters or racing games.

Paying to play online is BS, i already pay a lot of € to my interner provider.
 

Durante

Member
I know this is a stealth virtues of PC thread
And why not? It's a fact that you don't pay a monthly fee for all those online features on any of the popular PC platforms.
And actually, sometimes the free version is better (e.g. on Steam you have an almost infinite space allotment for cloud saves).
 

RK9039

Member
The ๖ۜBronx;249405858 said:
You came into the thread to mock an argument that no-one is making, to support the view that paying for PSN/XBL is bad.

What else is that other than a circlejerk?

Posts and arguments exist outside this thread, I don't see what the problem is.
 

Nightbird

Member
The ๖ۜBronx;249405858 said:
You came into the thread to mock an argument that no-one is making, to support the view that paying for PSN/XBL is bad.

What else is that other than a circlejerk?

Then why aren't you also complaining about the people bringing up "free games" when the thing OP is clearly complaining about is that he has to pay for multiplayer?
 

TheKeyPit

Banned
I just paid 45€ for 15 months of Xbox Live Gold. I'll get some free games during that period. I'm happy with that.

Since people have brought it up, I'm not a fan of Sony and Microsoft gating cloud saves behind the yearly sub. It's free on Steam (some games don't support it, but the vast majority of releases after 2010 do), Origin and Uplay. There's like zero reason for Sony/Microsoft to gate it besides the fact that they can.
You don't need Xbox Live Gold for cloud saves on Xbox One...
 

rikucrafter

Neo Member
I'm firmly in the stance of their service, their rules. They don't owe people anything, the companies get to decide how their service runs. If you don't want to use it, then not paying for it is the best way to send that message. It's not a high cost in my opinion, and if you use the service (eg. 5 hours a week) then its a lot cheaper than many things.
 
Its completely absurd and I've had the exact same experience as OP. Been playing on PC since 1999 and only used consoles for single player stuff. My previous console was a PS3 and that one had free online. I recently bought a PS4 being aware that was no longer the case and planning to only do single player stuff on it. Then some interesting game pops up and I go "oh I should play that online!" until I click that button and go "oh... right...". Just such a weird feeling to have basic gameplay features locked behind a subscription.

I'm firmly in the stance of their service, their rules. They don't owe people anything, the companies get to decide how their service runs. If you don't want to use it, then not paying for it is the best way to send that message. It's not a high cost in my opinion, and if you use the service (eg. 5 hours a week) then its a lot cheaper than many things.

I spend maybe three hours a week on my PS4... It's insanely expensive for me and makes my PS4 a lot less interesting in the long run. Their loss.
 
Letting my PS+ sub expire was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made in gaming. It's been a trash fire for the entire 8th generation. The price increase was the final insult for me.
 

MoogleMan

Member
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 switched to PC as my primary gaming platform back in march of 2015. It is truly liberating to be able to play online with others for free, and have free cloud saves. Another often overlooked advantage of PC gaming is hosting your own servers from your own PC. Even a junky old PC can be a decent server box.

Console manufacturers continue to force pay to play because people keep buying it. It's a bullshit practice that really needs to die. I've been a gamer for over 30 years now and still love my consoles (ps3, ps4, wii u, switch) for exclusives, but I'll never again pay to play online.

Nintendo is the only one being reasonable with their cost; $20 a year isn't bad (but not even close to good), but it'll take a well-made Mario Party game for me to consider it. Sony and Microsoft at $60/year each can get fucked. If an avid console-only gamer has all 3 systems that's $140 a year just to play online, and for a few features that may or may not be useful to some.
 

jelly

Member
I blame Microsoft for showing others that you can get away with charging for online MP. It was even worse during Xbox 360 time when you didn't even get free games and just had to pay for online.

Remember when you had to pay to watch YouTube and other streaming apps. Microsoft even had defenders for that!
 

MilkyJoe

Member
Want to see an even better one?



Paying for free games. It's like fucking for virginity.

It just shows how powerful the word "free" is. Damn marketing.

Only if you're stupid enough to fall for marketing. I see it as 25 quid for 48 games. Bargain. I don't even play multiplayer games.
 

Kassovitz28

Neo Member
Honestly it's worth it imo (ps plus here).

I know these aren't "free" games but I've discovered true gems thanks to PS plus, lately I'm thinking of games like Life is Strange, Until Dawn or Child of light which were completely out of my radar and I would never have bought (and played) them otherwise.

I'd rather have online play free and paying for an even better "free" bundle of games each month, but the way it is right now I'm plenty happy with it.

Also I subscribed a full year for 30eur which helps.
 

Tapejara

Member
I just paid 45€ for 15 months of Xbox Live Gold. I'll get some free games during that period. I'm happy with that.


You don't need Xbox Live Gold for cloud saves on Xbox One...

I was under the impression 360 cloud saves were free to access on XB1, didn't realize it applied to native titles as well.
 
And why not? It's a fact that you don't pay a monthly fee for all those online features on any of the popular PC platforms.
And actually, sometimes the free version is better (e.g. on Steam you have an almost infinite space allotment for cloud saves).
Is anyone arguing that PC, as an open platform, isn't better in this regard? Of course not.
 
I blame Microsoft for showing others that you can get away with charging for online MP. It was even worse during Xbox 360 time when you didn't even get free games and just had to pay for online.

I blame gamers for saying to themselves this is the way to go way back when we had a choice, we could have stopped this before it laid eggs
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
I blame gamers for saying to themselves this is the way to go way back when we had a choice, we could have stopped this before it laid eggs

Sometimes I feel like console gamers will even choose to pay them for online gaming, even if they have a choice of free online gaming
 
I payed a year gold during 2008 but never since that time

It is a big deal breaker for me, currently I dont own any consoles and this is one of the biggest issues. How I value what I buy below....

Paying 500 $ for a console - good price value
Paying 60 $ for a game - terrible value
Paying 20 $ for a game - Good value
Paying 60 $ for online acess - horrible value
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
but guys you get FREE games! discount on games! cloud saves! shareplay! automatic downloads/installation!

i think it's ridiculous especially with the price hike. i wouldn't have bought PS+ if they didn't force you to if you want to play online. my PS+ expires in October 2018 and right now the only game I play online is Destiny 2 but I'll be moving to PC next month.

when my subscription expires next year i'll only be buying it if and when i need it. i'm not prepared to ditch PS4 completely as there are too many good games.
 
Would be nice if Sony offered mostly good games like they did with PS3, but since PS4 most of the games are 1$ games that were featured in Humble Bundles first tier before and occasionally you have stuff like LiS or Until Dawn and then for the next 5 months cheap Indie stuff again.

Look at one month PS3 PS+:

Wipehout HD
Little Big Planet

Dead or Alive 5
Mass Effect 3

Batman Arkham City
Limbo
Vanquish

Okami HD
Lord of the Rings: War of the North

Ratched and Clank All 4 One
Crysis 2
Cubixx HD

Read Dead Redemption
Scott Pillgrim

To be fair the last 3 months on PS4 were good, but mostly it seems you get some cheap Indiegames that were featured in some HB before.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Now lets say I only want to play some Onlinegame with a friend. Just play SP games then. For Destiny 2 I would need to buy the game + 60€ for 1 year PS+. If I dont check ebay and cheap websites and buy for retail price thats 120€.

but guys you get FREE games! discount on games! cloud saves! shareplay! automatic downloads/installation!

And the funny thing is that you get the same things for free on PC. Steam usually has a lot of "install now, keep forever".
Discount on games are a lot and I can buy games from other websites without paying for some service.
Cloud Saves are free and you have unlimited data for that.
Shareplay is free on Steam and Twitch and wherever.
Automatic downloads/Installation too.
 

m00h

Banned
I couldn't. I grew up with PC gaming and online multiplayer for free, and then I got an Xbox 360. I overcame myself to pay to Microsoft for the whole 2 months, because I enjoyed to play some Street Fighter with my mate. But I just couldn't do it, knowing that all I got here for money, is abolutely free on another plattform, and that people actually enjoy that stuff without paying a single cent. I felt treated unfairly and never paid again for online multiplayer. Sold my 360 two months later and won't ever touch a console again to play something online.
It is NOT OK to pay for online multiplayer. I don't need any servers hosted by someone else, I want to host my own, dedicated servers like I used to do on the PC for decades. Paying for online multiplayer is a scam and supporting this kind of practise is a crime.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
yeah if the "free" games actually interested me or i hadn't already played them then i wouldn't mind so much about paying for it but as far as i'm concerned 99% of the games are junk. rocket league, infamous first light, child of light, until dawn, life is strange are the exceptions.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
It's always really funny when console people pop up in Steam threads to complain about whatever the fuck, not enough curation, Valve taking their 30%, blah blah blah, whatever.
 
NeoGAF users in paid online threads: "Wow guys, you get so much value from free games!"
NeoGAF users in PS+ threads: ""Jesus Christ, PS+ only gives away shit games, not worth it."

You would think people would be upset that the retail value of their "free" Plus games has dropped considerably since Sony put multiplayer behind it, especially since the price of the paywall itself has gone up. Plus games no longer come anywhere close to being worth the subscription, they're just there to soften the blow of essentially doubling the price of the console.
 
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