Companies like money. I assume they want more of it.
Here's something I'm wondering: I haven't touched Madden in, oh, about 5 years now, but: with the latest iteration, do you need a Gold account to play online? I thought I heard someone say that matchmaking and so-on is done through EA, and not Microsoft? If that's the case, aren't publishers like that the ones that ultimately suffer more than the subscribers? I mean, for the Live segment, anyhow, PSN/PC gaming crowd?
And if so, do you think this will dent CODBLOPS sales at all? Or is that too much of a juggernaut?
I will all but guarantee you that it will effect nothing in the end. Just cause some complaining.
I'm going to cancel because I never use it anymore. PC gaming has taken over my life and will do so for the foreseeable future (hello my future diablo 3).
Does anyone know the best way to cancel the auto-renew feature?
I'm in the same boat. As someone who doesn't play live too often, but vastly prefers the live experience over the PSN Network, I doubt I'll cancel or anything. More likely, I'll just take advantage of online card sales and the like.
Quick question concerning prepaid cards: Are they region/country specific? I'm wondering if US cards will work with a Canadian account.
And if so, do you think this will dent CODBLOPS sales at all? Or is that too much of a juggernaut?
While I'm sure CODBLOPS will do fine, I have a hard time believing it's going to top MW4. Between the weird news about that studio and the franchise fatigue, there's bound to be some drop-off. Plus, Reach seems like the last hurrah of Bungie, so people are going to jump on that pretty hard.
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DietarySupplementStill not approved by the FDADublin, OHRegistered Userregular
And if so, do you think this will dent CODBLOPS sales at all? Or is that too much of a juggernaut?
While I'm sure CODBLOPS will do fine, I have a hard time believing it's going to top MW4. Between the weird news about that studio and the franchise fatigue, there's bound to be some drop-off. Plus, Reach seems like the last hurrah of Bungie, so people are going to jump on that pretty hard.
Yeah, I forgot about the imminent Reach release. Man... it's simultaneously brilliant and cold-blooded of them to do it now.
ESPN tends to demand a LOT of money from cable companies--the channels are the most expensive on the dial. So I'd imagine a big chunk of Live revenue will go toward that.
Of course if you're not an ESPN fan, you're not getting much of a return on the extra $10.
Oh, and Hulu Plus sucks donkey balls by all accounts, since the selection manages to be worse than regular Hulu and you still have to watch ads.
Edit: Also, remember this doesn't kick in until Nov. 1. But Microsoft will likely remind us of this repeatedly between now and then, to encourage people to lock in their subscriptions by spending money early.
Companies like money. I assume they want more of it.
Here's something I'm wondering: I haven't touched Madden in, oh, about 5 years now, but: with the latest iteration, do you need a Gold account to play online? I thought I heard someone say that matchmaking and so-on is done through EA, and not Microsoft? If that's the case, aren't publishers like that the ones that ultimately suffer more than the subscribers? I mean, for the Live segment, anyhow, PSN/PC gaming crowd?
IIRC, Microsoft runs all of ths shit related to the core Live activities like connections and such, but publishers are the ones who run the servers where the actual games themselves happen, or at least the publishers with the AAA heavy-duty online stuff, hence why some games can have their online stuff shut down (Chromehounds and any Madden game that isn't the latest iteration, for example). MS is the Roadrunner to X's Team Fortress 2 server, except that Roadrunner in this case is the only ISP in the whole fucking world.
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HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
ESPN tends to demand a LOT of money from cable companies--the channels are the most expensive on the dial. So I'd imagine a big chunk of Live revenue will go toward that.
Of course if you're not an ESPN fan, you're not getting much of a return on the extra $10.
Oh, and Hulu Plus sucks donkey balls by all accounts, since the selection manages to be worse than regular Hulu and you still have to watch ads.
It's even worse in Canada, where we don't even have those features.
Mind you, from what I've seen, in Canada, they've only confirmed a price increase on 1 month so far. 12 months is yet to be seen.
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HardtargetThere Are Four LightsVancouverRegistered Userregular
ESPN tends to demand a LOT of money from cable companies--the channels are the most expensive on the dial. So I'd imagine a big chunk of Live revenue will go toward that.
Of course if you're not an ESPN fan, you're not getting much of a return on the extra $10.
Oh, and Hulu Plus sucks donkey balls by all accounts, since the selection manages to be worse than regular Hulu and you still have to watch ads.
It's even worse in Canada, where we don't even have those features.
Mind you, from what I've seen, in Canada, they've only confirmed a price increase on 1 month so far. 12 months is yet to be seen.
just fyi, we already have been paying 10 bucks more than americans for live since launch so now we have parity! yay!
ESPN tends to demand a LOT of money from cable companies--the channels are the most expensive on the dial. So I'd imagine a big chunk of Live revenue will go toward that.
Of course if you're not an ESPN fan, you're not getting much of a return on the extra $10.
Oh, and Hulu Plus sucks donkey balls by all accounts, since the selection manages to be worse than regular Hulu and you still have to watch ads.
It's even worse in Canada, where we don't even have those features.
Mind you, from what I've seen, in Canada, they've only confirmed a price increase on 1 month so far. 12 months is yet to be seen.
just fyi, we already have been paying 10 bucks more than americans for live since launch so now we have parity! yay!
I know we were paying $10 more, and that if they leave our 12 month price alone, it will be equal (but still without certain features). If they keep it where it is, I'll be fine with it.
MS is America, and we won't stand for that bullshit
Expect a $20 rate hike, you filthy Canadians
On that note, I wonder how badly Europe is going to get reamed. Does MS use the stupid dollar=euro train of thought or do they actually calculate for values and shit?
Microsoft is greedy because they made a big profit with their profit-oriented product? I know this sounds remarkable, but Microsoft isn't a charity. In fact, you could say they're almost like a business in how the organization is focused on making money.
Yeah, but how much of that actually goes into MS' coffers instead of those of the devs and publishers and server people and the people who work for MS and all that other shit?
We all know that Microsoft makes a lot of money from Xbox Live. Today Bloomberg reports that the revenue may have surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
Zoom
Sony just recently introduced a paid tier for the PlayStation Network, but when the company sees just how much money Microsoft has made from Xbox Live in the last fiscal year, it's likely that it will wish it introduced PSN Plus sooner.
Taking into account Microsoft's claims that half of XBL's 25 million users are yearly subscribers, Bloomberg reports that this equates to about $600 million from subscriptions alone. Bloomberg cites Dennis Durkin, Xbox COO, who said in an email that sales of movie and TV show downloads have topped subscription revenue for the first time. So, if everything besides subscription revenues amounted more than $600 million, that means Microsoft would have made at least $1.2 billion from XBL in the year just ended.
Durkin refused to elaborate or provide more details, but it's obvious Microsoft's XBL revenue for the last FY has taken a huge jump from the $800 million it was the year previously.
Yeah, but how much of that actually goes into MS' coffers instead of those of the devs and publishers and server people and the people who work for MS and all that other shit?
We all know that Microsoft makes a lot of money from Xbox Live. Today Bloomberg reports that the revenue may have surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
Zoom
Sony just recently introduced a paid tier for the PlayStation Network, but when the company sees just how much money Microsoft has made from Xbox Live in the last fiscal year, it's likely that it will wish it introduced PSN Plus sooner.
Taking into account Microsoft's claims that half of XBL's 25 million users are yearly subscribers, Bloomberg reports that this equates to about $600 million from subscriptions alone. Bloomberg cites Dennis Durkin, Xbox COO, who said in an email that sales of movie and TV show downloads have topped subscription revenue for the first time. So, if everything besides subscription revenues amounted more than $600 million, that means Microsoft would have made at least $1.2 billion from XBL in the year just ended.
Durkin refused to elaborate or provide more details, but it's obvious Microsoft's XBL revenue for the last FY has taken a huge jump from the $800 million it was the year previously.
While I hate to see prices rise, just look how much cable prices and internet prices have rocketed up lately. Microsoft is still charging a vaguely sensible price. $60 a year is ok, I pay more than that for about 17 days of cable and internet...
Freaking ridiculous. Guess I gotta grab a $40 card off Amazon (unless CAG has something cheaper) before the hike..
I only use my gold account for Netflix, and multiplayer maybe once a month. Why should I pay MORE for Live? PS3 and Wii owners don't have to pay extra to use Netflix and other services online... I know Live provides a lot of "value", but they keeping locking "value" behind gold access when they are free in so many other places and eventually it's going to backfire. I'll probably buy this next year at $40, but unless my multiplayer activity jumps significantly, I'll get a Netflix Wii disc and go to silver. I'm not paying $60 for Live, especially when I thought $50 was already overpriced.
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Yeah, but how much of that actually goes into MS' coffers instead of those of the devs and publishers and server people and the people who work for MS and all that other shit?
Publishers get paid whatever they get paid under their agreements with Microsoft regarding selling anything on Live. So out of all that profit, publishers are already taking out a big chunk for themselves.
As for all the other people, well, those are Microsoft employees. They get paid their salaries. Again, just like a damn profit-oriented business is usually run. Are bag-boys entitled to piece of the the year-end profits if a grocery store makes triple their usual profit? No, they get paid their wages.
Seriously, I was not at all aware that a company making a large profit off of their product was somehow this unforgiveable sin. Do we all hate Nintendo now because they make a fortune off of selling Wiis?
TetraNitroCubaneThe DjinneratorAt the bottom of a bottleRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
Is it still a fantastically odd pain in the ass to get your CC information removed from an XBLA account? It used to be difficult to avoid the recurring charges, because they always wanted you to have a current card on file. It worried me enough to do all my point/subscription purchases through in-store cards instead of directly on the 360.
I wonder if, even if some people actively cancel their subscription, there will be enough folks who get auto-charged to make up the difference.
Yeah, but how much of that actually goes into MS' coffers instead of those of the devs and publishers and server people and the people who work for MS and all that other shit?
Publishers get paid whatever they get paid under their agreements with Microsoft regarding selling anything on Live. So out of all that profit, publishers are already taking out a big chunk for themselves.
As for all the other people, well, those are Microsoft employees. They get paid their salaries. Again, just like a damn profit-oriented business is usually run. Are bag-boys entitled to piece of the the year-end profits if a grocery store makes triple their usual profit? No, they get paid their wages.
Seriously, I was not at all aware that a company making a large profit off of their product was somehow this unforgiveable sin. Do we all hate Nintendo now because they make a fortune off of selling Wiis?
I didn't mean to come off as snarky or anything if that's the vibe you're gettin', like I said I'm more annoyed that they're not even trying to explain this shit than at the price hike itself. For all we know it might just be that Live is getting too big for the current prices to handle.
Is it still a fantastically odd pain in the ass to get your CC information removed from an XBLA account?
It is. They even tried to put some way to remove it on the website but it has never worked and the Haji's who answer the phone at customer service can never do a damn thing about it either. I've had an expired debit card attached to my account for the last 3 years that I can never remove.
Is it still a fantastically odd pain in the ass to get your CC information removed from an XBLA account?
It is. They even tried to put some way to remove it on the website but it has never worked and the Haji's who answer the phone at customer service can never do a damn thing about it either. I've had an expired debit card attached to my account for the last 3 years that I can never remove.
This is why I'm asking the easiest way to do it. My old card expired one year and the system kept harassing me to update my credit card. I was wondering why they don't just ... stop auto charging me maybe?
Really low down marketing/sales tactics like this irritate me.
Some of you sound like the comments on Major Nelson's blog.
Seconded. A thread of little whining girls. If you guys really can't afford another $10 a year, the sensible thing to do is just stop paying for it. Surely there are other services like cable and movie theaters that won't rip you off this way that you could pay for instead.
I successfully took off one of my cards from the service a while back but it was a huge hassle. I still have one other card attached to my account that I apparently cannot take out, or at least it seems that way. Nowadays I just buy MS points/XBL subs online. It's considerably cheaper that way.
Anyway, the price increase sucks I suppose but people are still going to buy it. I'm guessing online prices will be 50 rather than 40 starting in November.
Some of you sound like the comments on Major Nelson's blog.
Seconded. A thread of little whining girls. If you guys really can't afford another $10 a year, the sensible thing to do is just stop paying for it. Surely there are other services like cable and movie theaters that won't rip you off this way that you could pay for instead.
Oh wait.
You say that as if people don't bitch about cable and movie prices.
I'll say one thing: I'd more than willingly pay this if it meant I could get rid of all the ads on my 360 dashboard. As it stands now I feel fully justified in bitching.
You say that as if people don't bitch about cable and movie prices.
In MS' defense, at least with live you're getting the express and core service you're paying for. How many people are bitching about cable and film prices because they think the prices are high versus people bitching about cable and film prices because 90% of what they're paying for is absolute shit?
I'm officially done with Xbox Live as a Gold member. This isn't the catalyst, a mere $10 more per year. But rather the straw that broke the camel's back. There aren't any new or exciting features for Gold members (that i use). I don't have the time for multiplayer games, so really I'm just going to benefit myself with this.
The only thing that bothers me about it is that the email makes it sound like the $10 allows me to enjoy Hulu Plus next year, but realistically it just gives me the option to subscribe to Hulu Plus. I rarely play online, but I do like having the option so I'm sure I'll continue to pay - but the email is worded very poorly.
Heck - while I'm on the subject how about some kind of "all you can eat" membership with Gold, Hulu Plus and Zune Pass for like $150ish per year?
Is it still a fantastically odd pain in the ass to get your CC information removed from an XBLA account?
It is. They even tried to put some way to remove it on the website but it has never worked and the Haji's who answer the phone at customer service can never do a damn thing about it either. I've had an expired debit card attached to my account for the last 3 years that I can never remove.
This is why I'm asking the easiest way to do it. My old card expired one year and the system kept harassing me to update my credit card. I was wondering why they don't just ... stop auto charging me maybe?
Really low down marketing/sales tactics like this irritate me.
I had to call to get my card removed, and it took about 20-30 minutes on the phone and then 3-4 days to get my account back active. I still had 18 months left on my live subscription that they had to do some workarounds to deal with, which involved locking my account for 3-4 days while they did some administrative stuff to get that all reset.
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
LIVE is necessary for all my games. Smart move MS.
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The last time I played online was January.
I will all but guarantee you that it will effect nothing in the end. Just cause some complaining.
Does anyone know the best way to cancel the auto-renew feature?
Quick question concerning prepaid cards: Are they region/country specific? I'm wondering if US cards will work with a Canadian account.
While I'm sure CODBLOPS will do fine, I have a hard time believing it's going to top MW4. Between the weird news about that studio and the franchise fatigue, there's bound to be some drop-off. Plus, Reach seems like the last hurrah of Bungie, so people are going to jump on that pretty hard.
Yeah, I forgot about the imminent Reach release. Man... it's simultaneously brilliant and cold-blooded of them to do it now.
Of course if you're not an ESPN fan, you're not getting much of a return on the extra $10.
Oh, and Hulu Plus sucks donkey balls by all accounts, since the selection manages to be worse than regular Hulu and you still have to watch ads.
Edit: Also, remember this doesn't kick in until Nov. 1. But Microsoft will likely remind us of this repeatedly between now and then, to encourage people to lock in their subscriptions by spending money early.
you're awful
It's even worse in Canada, where we don't even have those features.
Mind you, from what I've seen, in Canada, they've only confirmed a price increase on 1 month so far. 12 months is yet to be seen.
Expect a $20 rate hike, you filthy Canadians
I know we were paying $10 more, and that if they leave our 12 month price alone, it will be equal (but still without certain features). If they keep it where it is, I'll be fine with it.
Microsoft is greedy because they made a big profit with their profit-oriented product? I know this sounds remarkable, but Microsoft isn't a charity. In fact, you could say they're almost like a business in how the organization is focused on making money.
While I hate to see prices rise, just look how much cable prices and internet prices have rocketed up lately. Microsoft is still charging a vaguely sensible price. $60 a year is ok, I pay more than that for about 17 days of cable and internet...
I only use my gold account for Netflix, and multiplayer maybe once a month. Why should I pay MORE for Live? PS3 and Wii owners don't have to pay extra to use Netflix and other services online... I know Live provides a lot of "value", but they keeping locking "value" behind gold access when they are free in so many other places and eventually it's going to backfire. I'll probably buy this next year at $40, but unless my multiplayer activity jumps significantly, I'll get a Netflix Wii disc and go to silver. I'm not paying $60 for Live, especially when I thought $50 was already overpriced.
Publishers get paid whatever they get paid under their agreements with Microsoft regarding selling anything on Live. So out of all that profit, publishers are already taking out a big chunk for themselves.
As for all the other people, well, those are Microsoft employees. They get paid their salaries. Again, just like a damn profit-oriented business is usually run. Are bag-boys entitled to piece of the the year-end profits if a grocery store makes triple their usual profit? No, they get paid their wages.
Seriously, I was not at all aware that a company making a large profit off of their product was somehow this unforgiveable sin. Do we all hate Nintendo now because they make a fortune off of selling Wiis?
I wonder if, even if some people actively cancel their subscription, there will be enough folks who get auto-charged to make up the difference.
It is. They even tried to put some way to remove it on the website but it has never worked and the Haji's who answer the phone at customer service can never do a damn thing about it either. I've had an expired debit card attached to my account for the last 3 years that I can never remove.
Stop being geese.
Some of you sound like the comments on Major Nelson's blog.
This is why I'm asking the easiest way to do it. My old card expired one year and the system kept harassing me to update my credit card. I was wondering why they don't just ... stop auto charging me maybe?
Really low down marketing/sales tactics like this irritate me.
Seconded. A thread of little whining girls. If you guys really can't afford another $10 a year, the sensible thing to do is just stop paying for it. Surely there are other services like cable and movie theaters that won't rip you off this way that you could pay for instead.
Oh wait.
Anyway, the price increase sucks I suppose but people are still going to buy it. I'm guessing online prices will be 50 rather than 40 starting in November.
You say that as if people don't bitch about cable and movie prices.
Heck - while I'm on the subject how about some kind of "all you can eat" membership with Gold, Hulu Plus and Zune Pass for like $150ish per year?
I had to call to get my card removed, and it took about 20-30 minutes on the phone and then 3-4 days to get my account back active. I still had 18 months left on my live subscription that they had to do some workarounds to deal with, which involved locking my account for 3-4 days while they did some administrative stuff to get that all reset.
Mine too
But Gold isn't :P
So..
1) Cancel the one thing I use on Gold.
2) Raise the price $10
3) Profit???
Cute