I really didn't expect subscriptions to go down. And seeing them go up doesn't really surprise me. Entering contracts cost money, and these contracts are to improve the service itself. A tiered service really would be nice though, with the current Gold sitting at the top. Live could do with a barebones Multiplayer/Friends List Features Only plan. A lot of the flak isn't from the $10 price increase because of more features. It's because of a $10 price increase from features people may not use.
I never suspected them to go down either. It's such a popular service it would be stupid for MS to lower the price, except during a special sale time, when people are foaming at the mouth for the service. As for contracts, that much is obvious otherwise what's the point? The problem with that in their current schema is I end up paying for shit I don't even use. It's like goin' to the store and instead of buyin' the amount of bananas I need, having to be the whole cluster of them. I wouldn't want that because past a certain amount I'm paying to waste food which is not in my self-interest to spend on. So a tier schema is definitely necessary, but you know they wont create one below Gold, stripped of everything but MP and friend functions (Again, I could pass on this even), so I'm still paying for stuff unnecessary to me. I've always been vocal about paying for Live sucking and this is the exact reason why, they do not have a standard, basic of the basic tier. Why not? Hell, why would they, to many people have already said it's acceptable as is.
But seriously, go back and respond to that whole post. I didn't say all of those aren't comparable to Live as a multiplayer backbone. I said service, for a reason. Hell, if you want to be a baby about it, why even list all of that in the first place, since ultimately there is a fee in your internet subscription. Offline Multiplayer is the only free-beyond-purchase option.
Happy now? That was pretty much a review of feelings already expressed (though not near as thorough) and nods, which is why I didn't bother at first.
Anyway, with the rest of that; I made it very clear I did not care about the service as a whole, but only pieces, or rather a piece of the service. So why even bother arguing outside of my scope of things? You can argue it is a better service until your blue in the face, but it doesn't matter when I'm only considering the usefulness of the service to start and stop at multiplayer. There really is no sense in arguing over opinion. If the service is acceptable to you then by all means, I respect that opinion so I'd appreciate the same for mine. Though I do have my reserves about considering it "the best service" when it's pretty much a collage of services you can find elsewhere without a Live Gold fee. But if it works for you, then it works, simple as that.
The whole internet fee bit is a stretch. I do not have an internet connection just to play Xbox or any other games. Hell, I had internet well before I ever imagined of gaming online. I would be paying for the internet with or without gaming as a whole, it's just a welcome addition that I can game online and mind you an addition that comes at no extra cost to the base service provided. Xbox Live is a cost on top of the base cost of buying an item or an internet service. A cost exclusive to gaming on the Xbox. I would mention something about MMORPG fees, but that's a bit different, and even then the Xbox Live service has created an exception that keeps it singled out. That being in order to play PSU not only do you need a Hunters license, but you have to pay for Live Gold in addition to that. Simply put, if I wanted to play MW2 on the PC or PS3 I just need to buy the game to have access to everything it offers for the $60 tag, not so with the Xbox version because it requires additional services on top of the ones I would already have.
I'd say friends lists are completely ingrained in to the multiplayer experience now a days to the point that it's really considered part of the main purpose, regardless of matchmaking or dedicated servers. Literally everything has them this generation, except the Wii. I'd honestly say, aside from regularly visited dedicated servers I know theres a chance my friends would be playing on, I'd probably give up multiplayer without it.
This is another thing goin' to, again, be something that will differ between each and every person. Anyone that I would truly want to play with I could call them or catch them on an internet messaging service. If neither gets their attention then they simply aren't available to me. That being said, I feel it is a welcome addition. Is it one I would pay for? It's hard to say yes when there are other businesses doing it for free.
