Apparently Microsoft is dropping the fees associated with Games for Windows LIVE, making it free the way PC online gaming should be. Not only that, but they're refunding those poor saps that paid for gold memberships.

I have to say I have gained respect for Microsoft as a company, as well as the GFWL system. It's too bad I sold my copy of Gears (because the online play sucked at the time).

yeah, I read about that. it's funny. Maybe XBL will be next.

Wow... Microsoft might actually gain some respect from me too. If they actually stop doing stupid shit then that would be pretty cool.

if they took off the fee for playing online for xbox, i would buy one. Thats the only thing holding me back is the fact that, I want to play online.. but paying for it is just stupid.

Considering the cash that make off Live, I seriously doubt that will happen.

I did say "maybe". I highly doubt it, but maybe.

that's where the cash is. a certain, upfront payment...pay-for DLC and ETC they have to split with the producers and developers. XBL service fee is all theirs...

so it's highly unlikely, yes. but you damn well that if no-one paid for it, they'd drop the shit, and happily settle with the measly change made off DLC. people are only paying for it because they have to; and because the console considerably isn't worth a damn without it.

It is actually more possible than you think, they admited that there is a LOT more things on marketplace, and a lot more money going through there then they originally planned for. Since they are making money there, they could afford to drop the 4.17 a month for XBL.

But this is Microsoft we're talking about. They're probably gonna try and squeeze the community of every last cent. They have the mindset of: "As long as it's profitable, why change it?"

I wish silver would include at least some basic multiplayer functionality. It's kind of lame to buy a game, not pirate it, and still ahve to pay more to get the multiplayer content that the developers, not necessarily MS, worked on for me, the consumer.

If they would make the marketplace a really good catalogue of old/cheap/indie games/ports/emulation, I'd be happy to plunk down 50/yr. But if they can't offer me at the very least a great catalogue of games at cheap prices, I don't really see it as worth even such a small fee.

As I've said before, what's even worse is how you're expected to buy a $60 game, then pay $50 a year to enjoy it, then on top of that you're expected to dish out for $10 to $20 map packs or not get to play with all of your friends who bought the pack.

The worst part is you're subjected to a bunch of listen servers and idiocy for your money. They don't even use it to fund dedicated servers. I remember hearing all this shit about how in Gears of War the host's shotgun was "superpowered", and I thought to myself "Why the fuck would they do something like that?". I found thread after thread talking about how the host's shotgun is more accurate or how it does more damage. Turns out these fucking morons didn't realize the reason why the host was better with the shotgun was because he didn't have any lag since he was hosting the server. Talk about retarded.

I wonder how many of them realize they're paying $50 a year for the privilege of hosting games on a machine they own. That every time they connect to a game it will only be as good as the connection of the person hosting it. And here I sit playing on dedicated servers with a ping below 50 and all I can do is laugh.