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Activision directly responsible for $10 XBL price hike?

D

Dunlop

Member
REMEMBER CITADEL said:
And transparency is always good. People have the right to know what they're paying for with their money. Personally, it wouldn't make a difference to me, but some people, for instance, are opposed to giving any money to Activision. Others only want to pay for things that they're actually using, even though they're probably paying for some services they're not really using even now.
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I would agree with this if it was my taxes to which I am forced to pay, or if somehow people were being hurt in relation to my purchase of LIVE.

But this is a selfish purchase that is only used for my amusement and I am never forces to subscribe, do we care and demand transperancy about the breakdown of our satellite/cable provider fees as to which channels receive what portion of the revenue?
 
MaddenNFL64

MaddenNFL64

Member
On transparency, has MS ever given details on what our $50 ($60 now) a year actually does? I'd love to see what they offer that's worth it.
 
1

1GabUp

Member
Seems possible and pretty logical.

EatChildren said:
144a161abr7.gif
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Excellent! :lol
 
D

Dan Yo

Banned
Seems pretty unlikely that MS would give up such a nice chunk of XBL earnings to Activision just for a few months head start on some maps.
 
U

unomas

Banned
Unfucking believable. Wow, what else can be said? Nice CSI style investigation, I never would have linked the two together, but it seems pretty clear Microsoft is sharing a piece of the Live pie with Activision, and the COD map packs coming early to Xbox Live makes complete sense. Wow...
 
DryvBy

DryvBy

Member
Branduil said:
We wouldn't have this problem if people weren't willing to pay for online gaming in the first place.
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Exactly.

And this is exactly why I keep telling my brother, who thinks the 360 is king of everything, that I get the same online service (not features, just online play) as PS3 and *shock* not paying anything for it.

When my 360 subscription runs out, Microsoft can kiss my money goodbye. I have used about 10 minutes of the year I bought last year. Waste of money for me.
 
D

dragonlife

Member
True or not, this makes too much sense for me to feel comfortable with it. I guess once my Gold runs out next year I'll have to think heavily on whether I want to be part of LIVE. I should have my PC by then, though, so maybe that'll make it an easier decision :D
 
S

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
hahahaha, this is too funny

True or not, I'm happy to say I'm fuckin done paying for online gaming. Never EVER again. Feel like a fool for doing it in the first place, but at least I got out. Y'all should do the same.
 
D

Dan Yo

Banned
DryvBy2 said:
Exactly.

And this is exactly why I keep telling my brother, who thinks the 360 is king of everything, that I get the same online service (not features, just online play) as PS3 and *shock* not paying anything for it.

When my 360 subscription runs out, Microsoft can kiss my money goodbye. I have used about 10 minutes of the year I bought last year. Waste of money for me.
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Live is the most popular online gaming service because it offers convenient features the others don't. Not just because it allows you to play online.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Dan Yo said:
Live is the most popular online gaming service because it offers convenient features the others don't. Not just because it allows you to play online.
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Yeah I still think it's worth it, even at $60, but I would like to know the real reason for the price increase.

Fortunately my account is paid up until 2013 I think. :lol
 
K

Kafel

Banned
I thought it was because Pachter (and others) said it makes business-sense to charge more.

Also MS knows we europeans get our Live Gold in the US since the $ is low.
 
G

ghst

thanks for the laugh
i'm not even sure where the conspiracy lies. activision have admitted that a percentage of live fees now go directly to them; whether microsoft raised their subscription to accommodate this seems academic.

i'm too detached from the mindset of someone who would willing pay for live in the first place to consider the individual ramifications of this.
 
S

seady

Member
Is this even fair to all the other publishers out there? Why doesn't EA get a cut from Battlefield? What about Capcom from their fighting games? And what about the people who don't play COD?
 
D

Dunlop

Member
Kenak said:
Well unless Microsoft turns things around, I won't ever be buying one of their consoles ever again.
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:lol just because of this unproven theory? Hopefully something a little more substancial

Is this even fair to all the other publishers out there? Why doesn't EA get a cut from Battlefield? What about Capcom from their fighting games? And what about the people who don't play COD?
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Again unproven, more importantly let the publishes worry about their piece of the pie.

On your side, just don't subscribe/resub is this is a huge issue, I cancelled LIVE for almost 2 years because I was tired of Canadians taking it up the ass to help finance the extra services given to the US and pay more on top of that. Kinect Sports brought me back because it is now worth it for me (gasp!)
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Barkley's Justice said:
everyone will be paying for online next gen. best believe it. so get your lolz in now.
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Well I certainly think Sony will. Nintendo's far enough out in left field that it's hard to predict what they're going to do.
 
A

Apath

Member
Dunlop said:
:lol just because of this unproven theory?l
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No.

I don't think I've ever paid more than $30 for a year of live. Microsoft just seems to be dead set on alienating their fan base as much as possible.
 
H

H_Prestige

Banned
Dunlop said:
:lol just because of this unproven theory? Hopefully something a little more substancial



Again unproven, more importantly let the publishes worry about their piece of the pie.

On your side, just don't subscribe/resub is this is a huge issue, I cancelled LIVE for almost 2 years because I was tired of Canadians taking it up the ass to help finance the extra services given to the US and pay more on top of that. Kinect Sports brought me back because it is now worth it for me (gasp!)
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter if Activision is involved or not. The customer is the one who has to pay extra. The point is, MS RAISED the price of a "service" without offering anything else in return. This is not theory, this is fact.
 
S

superbank

The definition of front-butt.
This is hilarious. If Activision charged a subscription fee for the game there would at least be the possibility of getting something in return. Maybe dedicated servers or something but instead the players get nothing in return and even people who don't own the game are paying a fee. :lol

Paying for online. :lol
 
C

Codeblue

Member
Branduil said:
It will be a cold day in hell when PC gamers pay for online.
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Isn't the PC game method paying for online on a per game basis? Aren't you paying to play WoW online? Or is the difference there that Blizzard is always adding to the game and making it better?

I'm not trying to antagonize you. I'm genuinely curious because I'm pretty ignorant to how subscription based PC games work.

Edit: Looks like someone beat me to it.
 
A

Apath

Member
Codeblue said:
Isn't the PC game method paying for online on a per game basis? Aren't you paying to play WoW online? Or is the difference there that Blizzard is always adding to the game and making it better?

I'm not trying to antagonize you. I'm genuinely curious because I'm pretty ignorant to how subscription based PC games work.
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PC gamers do pay for online, just not every PC gamer pays for online. The argument that MMOs are always adding content and such is pretty moot considering Microsoft is always adding to their Live service.

It comes down to "Is this worth it?" For some people, playing XBOX exclusives online is worth even $100 a year. To others, it isn't. And for some reason this excuses them to mock everyone who does.
 
D

Dunlop

Member
H_Prestige said:
It doesn't matter if Activision is involved or not. The customer is the one who has to pay extra. The point is, MS RAISED the price of a "service" without offering anything else in return. This is not theory, this is fact.
Click to expand...

It has been posted that it has been many years since they raised the price and in those years they have added a lot of content (mostly to US subs). My phone/Satellite bills have easily increased 15 % in that time

I'm not here to promote live and as I mentioned until last week I had been off of the service for about 2 years because instead of moaning about some false sense of entitlement that I think a mega corporation owes me, I actually did something about it.
 
K

Kade

Member
Codeblue said:
Isn't the PC game method paying for online on a per game basis? Aren't you paying to play WoW online? Or is the difference there that Blizzard is always adding to the game and making it better?

I'm not trying to antagonize you. I'm genuinely curious because I'm pretty ignorant to how subscription based PC games work.

Edit: Looks like someone beat me to it.
Click to expand...

The subscription fees cover server costs, maintenance, etc.

For WoW though, they're probably making pure profit at this point.
 
Nizz

Nizz

Member
Nice work there, OP. :)

Nirolak said:
It'd also help explain why Activision would be willing to put out such a horrid PS3 port of Black Ops, if they get money every time a new person signs up for Xbox Live.
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I can see that. :(
 
K

Krauser Kat

Member
dygiT said:
The subscription fees cover server costs, maintenance, etc.

For WoW though, they're probably making pure profit at this point.
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Im sure everyone on blizzards wow team works on the same game for 6 years straight with no pay.
 
K

Kade

Member
Krauser Kat said:
Im sure everyone on blizzards wow team works on the same game for 6 years straight with no pay.
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They had enough money to pay their employees for the next 25 years ages ago.
 
A

Apath

Member
Branduil said:
I was talking about p2p. A game like WoW would still require an additional monthly fee even if it was on the 360.

Steam would die if they charged $5 a month for it.
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Yeah with the clarification my image makes no sense, but without it, "It will be a cold day in hell when PC gamers pay for online" is wrong. Hence the ';)'
 
N

NullPointer

Member
Dan Yo said:
Live is the most popular online gaming service because it offers convenient features the others don't. Not just because it allows you to play online.
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Not true.

Move online play to silver and just watch those subscriptions plummet. I canceled my gold membership as soon as I heard about the price hike, and nothing since has made me regret that decision.
 
B

Barkley's Justice

Member
Neuromancer said:
Well I certainly think Sony will. Nintendo's far enough out in left field that it's hard to predict what they're going to do.
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right, sorry. i should have clarified. when i say "everybody" i mean MS and sony. and you can take that as a diss to nintendo, but i just innocently never consider them when we're talking about online gameplay.
 
Philthy

Philthy

Member
Snuggler said:
hahahaha, this is too funny

True or not, I'm happy to say I'm fuckin done paying for online gaming. Never EVER again. Feel like a fool for doing it in the first place, but at least I got out. Y'all should do the same.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. Biggest rip off of the gaming industry right now. Refuse to pay for something that is free on every single competitor.
 
J

jedimike

Member
What a bunch of drama queens...

If MS was paying portions of the yearly fee to publishers, it would be to all publishers based on the percentage of XBL use. Meaning, that of the $10 increase, Activation would get $5 per person per year if Activation games accounted for 50% of all traffic.

Your $10 would be allocated according to your online use. Spend 80% of your time watching ESPN, then ESPN gets 8 of your $10.

Of course, assuming this is all true. Honestly, if I was MS I would have never cut a deal like this. Activation gets its money because of the 360's existence. Without xbox, they sell millions less product.
 
O

OldJadedGamer

Banned
TacticalFox88 said:
And yet some people on this board refuse to jump to Sony. :lol
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That's because some people on this board have lots of friends in real life that don't play online with Sony systems. Not everyone is a lone gamer.
 
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