Have to give Kudos to Microsoft...

[BirdOPrey5]

So as they announced last month Microsoft took away the "pay-wall" that was requiring Xbox owners to pay $50+ a year to access Xbox Live Gold to be able to use Netflix, Hulu, and other video services that have charges of their own.

Why should someone who just wants to access netflix have to pay for Xbox Live Gold? Sony Playstation and a bunch of other electronics already give Netflix access for free.

Well it took many years but Microsoft saw the light and today the paywall is gone.

But... they are actually willing to refund anyone who purchased Xbox Live gold for any unused time if they don't need it anymore.

I purchased a 2 year subscription back in January on Amazon for $99. I was wondering if they would deny me because I didn't even but the subscription directly from them.

However I simply used their "Contact Us" form - http://support.xbox.com/contact-us - for Billing Questions, chose "Other" and had a "Live chat" with a support rep that verified a little info and processed the refund quickly and happily.

I received an email the Gold subscription was cancelled I can be expecting about a 75% refund in several weeks.

Glad to see Microsoft doing the right thing AND making it painless as well.

 

[Slavik]

I read the title as Kudos to Minecraft the first time, and was highly confused to read the thread...

 

[OSS 117]

Same and then wondered what Minecraft was. Then googled it out. Then wondered why anyone would play it.

 

[EQnoble]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/tl5xzc/learning-minecraft

 

[Slavik]

Same and then wondered what Minecraft was. Then googled it out. Then wondered why anyone would play it.

Indeed, I find the whole game concept.... confusing... it seems pointless to me... but hey lots of people enjoy it...

 

[drastic]

I still am pissed that they didn't take care of the people who bought the system on the launch date. I got my system like 3 days before the price cuts and free game downloads were added, so I contacted them saying - hey, I paid like $100 more, can I at least get the Titanfall download.

Then they sent me the grumpy cat and said NO.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Same and then wondered what Minecraft was. Then googled it out. Then wondered why anyone would play it.

You thought it said "Minecraft" AND also never heard of "Minecraft" before?

Minecraft is like digital Legos... I like it... not as much a Lego though.

 

[Russ]

This is really cool actually. I haven't had xbox live in so long and it always baffled me why they wouldn't let you use netflix without purchasing gold.

 

[OSS 117]

You thought it said "Minecraft" AND also never heard of "Minecraft" before?

Minecraft is like digital Legos... I like it... not as much a Lego though.

I didn't know you were required to know what something is prior to misreading it.

 

[DRE]

Your kudos is wasted. The paywall is still up. I have grand theft auto five on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Guess which one I need a paid subscription for to play games with my friends? Xbox. That has not changed.

 

[Daniel Hood]

Your kudos is wasted. The paywall is still up. I have grand theft auto five on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Guess which one I need a paid subscription for to play games with my friends? Xbox. That has not changed.

That's almost what he's referring to. Xbox live will always be paid. The idea though is that to stream Netflix (and other apps) Xbox live isn't actually needed. And now they recognize that and removed the wall. The parts where Xbox live is needed (playing online and using their servers) still require payment.

 

[EQnoble]

That's almost what he's referring to. Xbox live will always be paid. The idea though is that to stream Netflix (and other apps) Xbox live isn't actually needed. And now they recognize that and removed the wall. The parts where Xbox live is needed (playing online and using their servers) still require payment.

I don't hate on Microsoft (I have great ideas for them from a user perspective but I have given up on trying to talk to a real person from their organization)...but...

If you are going to market your new generation console as a complete home media system, you can't charge a network fee to watch movies on a service you don't own...that is like me selling someone a dvd player that they have to deposit a quarter into a slot to push play and telling them it is everything they need for home entertainment.

That said...at least they made the legit move here and corrected the error in their logic.

 

[JABRONI]

Your kudos is wasted. The paywall is still up. I have grand theft auto five on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Guess which one I need a paid subscription for to play games with my friends? Xbox. That has not changed.

The Playstation 4 has a paywall too. The only reason I can think of why the PS3 didn't put up a paywall for online play is b/c Xbox was beating the bricks off of Playstation last gen concerning online-play.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

I didn't know you were required to know what something is prior to misreading it.

It's not required but Minecraft seems like an extremely random "word" (it isn't even a real word) to misread when you have never even heard the term before. Do you get what I'm saying? I've been in the position to misread something but that is because my brain (and in general everyone's brain) tries to make sense of what it sees and it only looks as closely as it thinks it needs to. So someone familiar with the term "minecraft" is more likely to see it because it is a word their brain expects to see. Especially on this forum where I have seen past threads about Minecraft servers. But for someone who never heard of "Minecraft" to see "Microsoft" as "Minecraft" is... an incredible coincidence.

I didn't mean to make a big deal but I find these kinds of things fascinating. TV shows make these tricks more common but if you've never seen this before- what does this say?

More than
meets the
the eye.​

What do you think that says? (For the people who know what it says, good job, but lets see who doesn't?)

Your kudos is wasted. The paywall is still up. I have grand theft auto five on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Guess which one I need a paid subscription for to play games with my friends? Xbox. That has not changed.

I meant the paywall for video streaming sites that had no logic to require a paid xbox live subscription. If they want to charge for multi-player gaming I understand that.

Many years ago when Call of Duty 2 came out I bought it on Playstation 3 first, it was the first game I loves playing online. The problem was Playstation's free network couldn't keep up with the game/demand. It would take 20 minutes sometimes to get in a game, if you could get in at all.

I actually ended up buying the game a second time for Xbox 360 and Microsoft's network handled the game demands without issue. I figured that was the difference between a gaming network that people pay into vs the free one playstation setup. I'm sure the PS one got better over time but that incident is what made my Xbox 360 the preferred system and I didn't mind the $50 to $60 a year- when I was actually using it.

But for 4 or 5 years now I have only maintained the subscription for watch Netflix, Amazon, and other online streaming.

And it is most certainly down, I am watching Netflix right now.

 

[Russ]

I wonder if they'll refund me for my little video box I bought as a substitution

 

[OSS 117]

That's a very in-depth and well written post, BOP. I'm not sure what to make of it, that is certain. The brain can replace only so many letters to allow the brain to register something perceived to be normal.

 

[Liam W]

I read the title as Kudos to Minecraft the first time, and was highly confused to read the thread...

Same and then wondered what Minecraft was. Then googled it out. Then wondered why anyone would play it.

Indeed, I find the whole game concept.... confusing... it seems pointless to me... but hey lots of people enjoy it...

I did that as well...

I also don't see the point in Minecraft.

 

[RickM]

Try minecraft, it's a great game I too never had a clue about it but after you've had a poke around it's awesome. I wont try explaining it as it's physically impossible to put into words or even a video. I could say it's a building game...but that'd be wrong. Or that it's a game where you avoid blocky zombies, but that too would be wrong.

Dont bash it till you've tried it

 

[Liam W]

Try minecraft, it's a great game I too never had a clue about it but after you've had a poke around it's awesome. I wont try explaining it as it's physically impossible to put into words or even a video. I could say it's a building game...but that'd be wrong. Or that it's a game where you avoid blocky zombies, but that too would be wrong.

Dont bash it till you've tried it

I have tried it My little sisters play it, and I used to have it installed...

But no.

 

[OSS 117]

The only building game I've ever enjoyed was the Rollercoaster Tycoon series.