Well the cat's out of the bag. Microsoft announces a price rise in xbox live subscriptions and the internet does not disappoint with their whining and bitching. However, this elevation in price made me realize the little I have been playing online xbox games. I no longer wish to play online competitive shooters, and co-op is really the only online gameplay I enjoy, apart from Starcraft 2's competitive multiplayer. However, for many co-op centric titles, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Castle Crashers, and such, I find me to be the sole person in my group of friends who plays these games. I think it's time for me to move on, and finally build that gaming PC I've told myself I'm gonna build for a long time now. So long Xbox live, may you continue to appeal to prepubescent cursing preteens forever.

Well the cat's out of the bag. Microsoft announces a price rise in xbox live subscriptions and the internet does not disappoint with their whining and bitching. However, this elevation in price made me realize the little I have been playing online xbox games. I no longer wish to play online competitive shooters, and co-op is really the only online gameplay I enjoy, apart from Starcraft 2's competitive multiplayer. However, for many co-op centric titles, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Castle Crashers, and such, I find me to be the sole person in my group of friends who plays these games. I think it's time for me to move on, and finally build that gaming PC I've told myself I'm gonna build for a long time now. So long Xbox live, may you continue to appeal to prepubescent cursing preteens forever.

I don't really understand the big deal. It's 10 extra bucks for a year long service that they put on sale more often than I can count. There are far more important things in this world to get upset about.  
 
PS: This isn't really directed at you but the gaming community in general, just want to make sure that I don't come off as a guy who responds only to title threads.

Yeah, I have no problem, just ten more bucks for a whole year. When it reached $100 a year, then there's reason to panic.  

I agree with you, my point was that the price rise made me realize how little I used the service, and how I should have left the service long ago.

Bullshit! It's not OK. I have a family of 5 and we all are on Live. That $300 per year for my family to play online! I would like the genius that came up with this idea of a price increase to explain to me why I shouldn't take that money and put it on a PS3 that features free online play. And don't give me all these great features XBox Live has. ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netfilx, Last FM don't mean shit to me. I don't use 'em and don't care about 'em. For the people that do, then you pay for those features and leave me out of it.

" Bullshit! It's not OK. I have a family of 5 and we all are on Live. That $300 per year for my family to play online! I would like the genius that came up with this idea of a price increase to explain to me why I shouldn't take that money and put it on a PS3 that features free online play. And don't give me all these great features XBox Live has. ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netfilx, Last FM don't mean shit to me. I don't use 'em and don't care about 'em. For the people that do, then you pay for those features and leave me out of it. "

It's less than a dollar per month increase, yet I'm reconsidering if I really need a gold account. 

@Gormanator: Everyone likes having their own account, achievements, and avatars etc. The service isn't the problem, it's about justifying a price increase for shit I don't care about. 
 
@Louiedog: If that family plan is true then... well I guess I won't be pissed anymore! :)

I always thought it was ridiculous, dirty and wrong for them to charge a monthly fee for the service in the first place, and now that they are raising the price I could care even less about it.

  Yeah this is just M$ wanting more money, nothing else. "but the money goes to my superior service." No it doesn't it goes to the stupid shit M$ spends millions on like temporary exclusive DLC. How about open a new studio or make a new exclusive game with the money

Also their reason is BS ESPN and VideoKinect are the reasons? Bullshit, PS3 will have Crackle, 4oD, the BBCiPlayer, MLB TV and some other Euro thing and they haven't forced a penny out of my wallet.
 
I wonder how appealing PSN is to some people now. 

so it is now $60 a year? dang that sucks. i stopped paying for xbox live for a while now. i realized that i never played online for a while. i stopped buying the xbox live cards. i find it stupid to pay for online when it is just p2p networking. 
 
i use to play wow but that was a lot better online. sure, there was lag sometimes but that was server side and they would fix it. xbox live it would be two people making it worse. Blizzard would update the servers all the time.

"   I wonder how appealing PSN is to some people now.  "

Some Math:
 
You guys complain about the raise which will be +/- $60. 
Since i'm european,  converted it is: $60 to euro >  47 euros 
 
The year subscription in europe is 59.99 euros or 75 dollars. We always paid 75 dollars for a year subcription.  
 
So, to be fair, Europeans should pay less. You guys always had it a bit cheap don't you think ?

" Some Math:
 
You guys complain about the raise which will be +/- $60. 
Since i'm european,  converted it is: $60 to euro >  47 euros 
 
The year subscription in europe is 59.99 euros or 75 dollars. We always paid 75 dollars for a year subcription.   So, to be fair, Europeans should pay less. You guys always had it a bit cheap don't you think ? "

Awesome.  Looks like all the "prepubescent cursing preteens" are moving over to PS3 now.  Microsoft should have raised the price years ago.

" It's less than a dollar per month increase, yet I'm reconsidering if I really need a gold account.  "

Ehhh....when it's all said and done, people will just pay the extra $10. Why? It's because we video gamers are weak-minded. The Xbox 360 fanboys seem to revolve their entire lives around video gaming. They aren't going to give up online play. 
 
Heck, these guys probably are paid up for years and are just complaining online because they have nothing else to do since their 360 is in the shop. 
 
Remember, Microsoft saved the video game industry from oblivion in their opinion. If it weren't for their efforts regarding the Xbox 360, 12 year-old boys wouldn't have an outlet to spew their pathetic vitriol to an audience. Pay up, guys! *SARCASM* 
 
I've never understood why MS makes models of the 360 with a 4 GB hard drive, outsources their customer service or need to raise prices on their ad-laden online service. Oh, I know why...because people tolerate it in fear of being ostracized by their "e-friends" online. 
 
Honestly, I like the 360. I have one and I play it 40% of the time. However, this console is far from a "success" for MS. The revisionists, when the time comes to retire the console and they discuss its place in history, will probably write more BS about it then what I would find at the barns at the Canadian Experimental Farm. They will call it the greatest console ever made and say it has the greatest library of games, retail and arcade, ever. They will talk about how awesome XBL Gold is. They will just leave out the inconvenient truths.

" I don't really understand the big deal. It's 10 extra bucks for a year long service that they put on sale more often than I can count. There are far more important things in this world to get upset about.   PS: This isn't really directed at you but the gaming community in general, just want to make sure that I don't come off as a guy who responds only to title threads. "

Well if you don't play that much XBL, that's fine.

" Yeah, I have no problem, just ten more bucks for a whole year. When it reached $100 a year, then there's reason to panic.   "

" @TheCreamFilling said:

" Yeah, I have no problem, just ten more bucks for a whole year. When it reached $100 a year, then there's reason to panic.   "

I feel the same way. "