The "pay for a better service" argument for XBL

So the eternal argument between PSN and XBL fans always seems to boil down to this: is the money you pay for XBL worth the (arguably) better service? Normally, I go along with this. It makes sense that a company would put more effort into a service people pay for.

But often times I wonder, is XBL really better because we pay $5/month for it, or is it because Microsoft is, you know, a software company? They've been dealing in this stuff for 30+ years, already have a gazillion servers across the globe and are used to the model of updating UI and other user features very often in their desktop and mobile OS.

Meanwhile, Sony is historically a company known for its TVs, video players, etc.

Would the service actually go to crap if they weren't raking in money for it? I feel like whenever this argument is being made, the person is practically saying they would prefer to pay than to get it for free, just because they want it to be the best it can be. By the same logic, the service in theory would be significantly and noticeably better if we paid twice the amount, which I believe simply is not true.

If there were two Microsoft's, perhaps one being in some alternate universe or something, one with a paid model and one without, do you really think there would be a noticeable difference in the service? Would their entire approach change? After all, PSN has caught up in most aspects despite being free, and any negative comparisons could perhaps be explained due to not having the same ideals as Microsoft.

Personally, the only reason I don't mind paying is because it's really not that much to begin with. Otherwise, I'm basically just putting up with it for the sake of the games.

How do you guys see this?

the $5 or whatever it is (it's trivial) bares no burden on my life, I could really care less. In the last two years XBOX Live has been a wonderful service, never ever had a problem with it at all. Suck it Sony... lol

I mean with paying, you're also more secure in a way. Just look at the guy who hacked the PSN and everyone was scared their credit card numbers were going to be stolen. I'm not saying it can't happen to XBL, but there's less of a chance of it happening.

I've had XBL for about 5 years, I've played both PS3 and 360 online. I have to say, running on the same network, the xbox runned smoother and less laggy. Granted, The Playstation has plenty of cool features such as Playstation Home, they also have amazing exclusives as well. I was a Playstation owner from PS1 to PS2 but when PS3 came out, it was too expensive for me. I ended up getting a 360 and loved it.

All my friends had a 360, so it was more enjoyable than if I had gotten a PS3 and played by myself. It's weird because I didn't personally own the original Xbox as a child, so I thought I would go towards the PS3 route. Either way, they're both good systems in their own way. It's all a matter of personal preference.

quote Seeker X

Games lag equally on both systems, it's your connection not the Network...so no, that's not an argument...don't even know where that argument even came from.

Well when I was at my friends house and played both systems his connection to the host was much smoother and quicker on the 360. It could have been coincidence, such as the host's connection was garbage, or in another country but I'm not sure. I never said it was the network, I said the connection was smoother on the 360. Just to clarify things. Like I mentioned, I don't own a PS3 so I can't say I know this for sure, it was just an observation.

There's quite a difference between the two, at least for me and my experiences. I was a PS3 user for about 3 years, suffering from online lag in the evenings with most of my multiplayer games, not to mention the whole online experience just seemed slow and sluggish in general to me. I then bought a 360 because most of my mates have them and don't regret it for a moment. There's no lag and it all feels much snappier and smoother than PSN, not to mention there seems to be more features that I prefer. I still have my PS3 for some exclusives, but really it just sits there collecting dust now and I don't see myself going back ever. When it comes to XBL, to me, you really do get what you pay for.

I give this one to Shinobi_razor I had playstation plus for a while and I hated the fact that I lost access to the free stuff I got. I was completely disappointed and was turned off by it, which is one of the main reasons as to why I stay on XBL.

alright lets agree to disagree before this thread turns into yet another needless system war.

Well for me, it was Modern Warfare 2. It was completely unplayable in the evening for me on PS3, no matter what game I joined or if I reset my router, it was just ridiculous. But when I got a 360 and the same game, every game I joined was smooth and has been to this day. I don't really recall any other games being that bad on PS3, but everything else about it just felt slow. I went on there not long ago for some Uncharted 3 online and it seemed to take forever to get into a game, maybe it was just that, I don't know but I wasn't on there long for that reason.

I also forgot something else, the goddamn system and game updates..