Microsoft considering making Xbox Live free?

So I was sitting in class the other day and my friend Laquan told me something possibly quite incredible. (To me at least).

The art teacher-who happens to be an avid gamer-subscribes to Game Informer Magazine. He told my friend (and I even asked the teacher directly) that Microsoft was considering making Xbox Live for free. Not free for a few days as a marketing stunt. Free as in Wii and Playstation Network free. Considering I don't even have a router yet, this makes me very excited. I hope it's true, though it probably isn't. Anyone else hear this?

Are we talking about the same Microsoft here? :lmao:

Doubt it. Xbox Live costs becuase there is a lot happening behind the scenes that make it the best online network for console gaming.

Plus, think of the advertisement failure that would ensue if it became free, the horror.

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Originally Posted by n00b1n8R

Are we talking about the same Microsoft here? :lmao:

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:agree:

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Originally Posted by Atty

Doubt it. Xbox Live costs becuase there is a lot happening behind the scenes that make it the best online network for console gaming.

Plus, think of the advertisement failure that would ensue if it became free, the horror.

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seriously this. ill be in the middle of a halo 3 game, about to make a headshot (lol as if i were actually that good:D....:() and an add for dr pepper will pop up on the screen

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Originally Posted by Donut

seriously this. ill be in the middle of a halo 3 game, about to make a headshot (lol as if i were actually that good:D....:() and an add for dr pepper will pop up on the screen

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God... it's Halo!

... It would be Mountain Dew o.o;

Xbox LIVE is free.

Access to premium features, including online multiplayer, costs.

hth~

every doctor pepper iv bought in a bottle up until last weekend had that halo 3 mlg guy who gets sponsored by dr. pepper. i cant remember his name at the moment...

I know Microsoft is a pretty wealthy company, but how would they manage that so that it makes a profit. I mean, they'd need to cut down on some of the features or something...

Unless I see a legitimate source, this is just another "so my friend said" rumour.

The only way I can see this happening, is if they really are making a good profit off of DLC. But even then, I don't see that filling the hole that the other costs would create.

So my friend's english teachers dad's cousin heard from his sister that her boyfriend, who works for microsoft, found over heard a conversation a few coworkers were having about when they overheard Bill Gates saying that he wants XBL to be free by the some arbitrary date he set in the middle of some time period they described as soon.

This is factual information, he told me himself. Primary source info gays.

Are you guys idiots?
Do you really think it's that difficult to make a successful and free online gaming network?

How many of you use steam???

Ya, that's not the same thing.

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Originally Posted by Terry

Ya, that's not the same thing.

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Considering it hosts its own servers, and routes all players through said servers in order to link the Steam community together...yeah, I'd say it's exactly the same thing.

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Originally Posted by n00b1n8R

Are you guys idiots?
Do you really think it's that difficult to make a successful and free online gaming network?

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Yes, to make it as simple and as good as Xbox Live, yes. If they aren't making it free, then that means they have enough people paying to get max profits. Somebody in marketing probably went "Oh, if we make this free we could get more users and get more ad profit."

I would believe it. We'd probably see a MA MA MA MA MASSIVE increase in players while MS would introduce more adverstisements. Perfect combo for them. I think they do realize that people won't like the ads, so they won't do as much; then people can pay to get them removed.

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Originally Posted by MetKiller Joe

Yes, to make it as simple and as good as Xbox Live, yes. If they aren't making it free, then that means they have enough people paying to get max profits. Somebody in marketing probably went "Oh, if we make this free we could get more users and get more ad profit."

I would believe it. We'd probably see a MA MA MA MA MASSIVE increase in players while MS would introduce more adverstisements. Perfect combo for them. I think they do realize that people won't like the ads, so they won't do as much; then people can pay to get them removed.

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There're already ads on XBL. I've recently seen one for Wendy's...

TBQH I would rather not pay for xbox live and get pop-up ads. I already pay for fucking internet and the ONLY reason I have a xbox is because gaylo 3 isn't on the PC yet.

My Xbox died a few months ago and I still pay for XBL...

I dunno, the console gaming market is extremely different than the PC gaming market. I wouldn't really compare it to steam because of all the things that M$ does on the XBL service. Personally I think it's well worth the $50 a year for it.

But then again, I heard on a forum that this guy's friend's teacher's dad's sister who works at microsoft overheard a convo about XBL saying that bill gates wants the service to be free.... so it must be true.

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Originally Posted by p0lar_bear

There're already ads on XBL. I've recently seen one for Wendy's...

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I realize that. In fact, I'm staring at a NetFlix ad right now. Now an add for The Spirit and Family Guy. There would just be more of these, in marginally more awkward places.

LIVE is good because it cost money. Have you ever played on the PS3 network? You always lose connection. I have never had that prolem with LIVE. As for Steam. I'm sure Steam has a lot less user on it then LIVE.
And doesn't steam charge for downloading games?

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Originally Posted by RecycleBin

LIVE is good because it cost money. What kind of mentality is this? Have you ever played on the PS3 network? You always lose connection. I have never had that prolem with LIVE. As for Steam. I'm sure Steam has a lot less user on it then LIVE. This is more due to the games available on Steam, rather than the quality of the service.
And doesn't steam charge for downloading games?No, and they always, ALWAYS have better sales than Xbox does.

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:cool:

Look at these consolefags, paying to play online :smug:

if im not mistaken, steam is like an all in one game market / player thing that lets you play your games on your account from any computer. seems like a pretty cool thing, but i couldnt figure out how to uninstall it on my old computer. i dont have much of a use for it so i dont have it anymore
E: directed at recycle bin
also totally unrelated, that Dr pepper MLG guy i was talking about was just on g4. hes called TSquared

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Originally Posted by RecycleBin

LIVE is good because it cost money. Have you ever played on the PS3 network? You always lose connection. I have never had that prolem with LIVE. As for Steam. I'm sure Steam has a lot less user on it then LIVE.
And doesn't steam charge for downloading games?

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Steam and XBL are two different things. Steam and Live both charge for downloading games, just FYI. It's just an alternative to buying a real disc from a retail store.

I have played on the PSN many times and yes I have encountered technical issues but they're not frequent enough to make me so frustrated that I curse and swear at Sony. It lets me play online for free and that's all that matters - I don't need the Live camera or the Achivements or Optimatch or any of that.

Besides, there's Xbox Connect which I have tried and it works well enough.

If this is true (free xbl), then I'm one happy man.

Xbox live has always been free on the xbox 360, thats what silver accounts are for.:eng101:

Well the implication of this article was Xbox Live Gold was going to be free.
I would like to see gold for free, the ads wouldn't bother me that much, I don't think. What I do wonder is how Microsoft's servers would handle the inundation of new members going online if this happened.

Steam is a DRM service. You purchase games via Steam and the games use the service to make sure that you're allowed to play the game.

LIVE is a subscription service. You pay, and you get access to stuff, like downloadable content and online multiplayer with cheat detection and stuff.

Though now they offer similar things, this is how it started off.

I don't see live becoming free unless Microsoft planes on sacrificing server maintenance among other things. The only way it would become free is if it sacrificed a few things. I don't want that.

Besides it only 50$ a year...

I can sort of see them making it free, like the PSN. However, they would still have a pay service. They'd have to revamp the gold accounts to be more beneficial to paying subscribers. They'd also probably have to start tying all Gamertag bans to consoles instead of just banning accounts for small offenses. Then you can keep down the number of cheaters and duplicate accounts.

I really do think XBL will go free multiplayer someday, but it will be limited. For instance, you might not have ranked matchmaking in Halo 3, but you will have custom and social games. Pretty much everything ranked I would make pay because of the hardasses that would pay to play that. It would create more of an "elite VIP membership" status for people. They should also have "free" benefits for those paying such as free themes, free rentals, and free gamerpics/avatar accessories.

At least that's how I would do it.

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Originally Posted by jcap

I really do think XBL will go free multiplayer someday, but it will be limited. For instance, you might not have ranked matchmaking in Halo 3, but you will have custom and social games. Pretty much everything ranked I would make pay because of the hardasses that would pay to play that. It would create more of an "elite VIP membership" status for people. They should also have "free" benefits for those paying such as free themes, free rentals, and free gamerpics/avatar accessories.

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Kinda like that 48-hour XBL trial you'd get with Halo 3. Social playlists only.

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Originally Posted by jcap

I can sort of see them making it free, like the PSN. However, they would still have a pay service. They'd have to revamp the gold accounts to be more beneficial to paying subscribers. They'd also probably have to start tying all Gamertag bans to consoles instead of just banning accounts for small offenses. Then you can keep down the number of cheaters and duplicate accounts.

I really do think XBL will go free multiplayer someday, but it will be limited. For instance, you might not have ranked matchmaking in Halo 3, but you will have custom and social games. Pretty much everything ranked I would make pay because of the hardasses that would pay to play that. It would create more of an "elite VIP membership" status for people. They should also have "free" benefits for those paying such as free themes, free rentals, and free gamerpics/avatar accessories.

At least that's how I would do it.

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This. They would have to rebalance it. BTW, I dont have Gold right now, but I get by. I just traded all my MP games for Fallout and Elder Scrolls so I would have plenty of game time.

They made Games for Windows LIVE free...

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Originally Posted by supersniper

They made Games for Windows LIVE free...

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Because they couldn't profit off it, it was just that shitty.

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Originally Posted by =sw=warlord

Xbox live has always been free on the xbox 360, thats what silver accounts are for.:eng101:

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silver accounts are pretty much useless except for downloading patches and maybe demos and that one time when MS gave everyone a free Arcade game.

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Originally Posted by n00b1n8R

Look at these consolefags, paying to play online :smug:

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best post in thread

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Originally Posted by n00b1n8R

Look at these consolefags, paying to play online :smug:

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I can afford the £40 quid out of my pay to pay for an awesome service, my experience on CoD 4 has been almost as good as my old CE days.

Blind don't mention the fact I may be loaded :haw:

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Originally Posted by Rosco

I can afford the £40 quid out of my pay to pay for an awesome service, my experience on CoD 4 has been almost as good as my old CE days.

Blind don't mention the fact I may be loaded :haw:

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Loaded, theres a recession man!

I dont have Gold live at the moment, because my xbox cant get internet (bloody ICS not working) part from that I'd buy it in an instant, yes I dont like the fact I have to pay to play online, however the service they offer is quality.

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Originally Posted by Mr Buckshot

silver accounts are pretty much useless except for downloading patches and maybe demos and that one time when MS gave everyone a free Arcade game.

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Afaik you have to have a gold account to download demo's. Or maybe its just certain ones, but I remember needing a gold account last time I went to download one.

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Originally Posted by Corndogman

Afaik you have to have a gold account to download demo's. Or maybe its just certain ones, but I remember needing a gold account last time I went to download one.

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The demos come out first for gold members, silver members have to wait a week to download it.

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Originally Posted by Limited

The demos come out first for gold members, silver members have to wait a week to download it.

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This. I love the demos on Silver btw. I dont check it too often anyways.