Family Gold Pack Advice

[willc23]

Needing a little bit of advice from the community on whether to establish a Family Gold Pack for me and two minor children.

Facts:
1. My gold expires 9-1, daughter's gold expires 12-25ish, and son does not have a gold account (but would like one).
2. Existing gold accounts established with prepaid cards.
3. I have a 3 month card that would get me close enough to my daughter's expiration so proration would not really come into play.
4. Would probably use the 4th gamertag for nongaming wife to use on Netflix.
5. Will probably be a long term commitment to doing it this way due to the overall savings. $100 per year versus $120 (at best) for three separate accounts. I doubt the days of $30 per year specials will be back.

Questions:
1. Will I be able to roll my daughter's existing gamertag into the family pack? I think she would want to keep her gamertag and achievements.
2. Pros and cons; or experiences of those using the Family Pack.

On the surface it appears to be ideal for me and my kids. Saves me $20 right off the bat for me, and also gives me the option of adding my son and wife at no additional cost. Gravy.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Luxuria]

1) Will I be able to roll my daughter's existing gamertag into the family pack? I think she would want to keep her gamertag and achievements.

Yes, she will be able to keep her achievements, GT, and everything she unlocks or buys.

2. Pros and cons; or experiences of those using the Family Pack.

Pros: Really cheap alternative. The plan also grants an allowance which could be helpful if you have some MS points and want to give some to your daughter or your wife for example. You can also monitor their use which I guess can come in handy, but I doubt you would be using it unless your daughter is really young for example.

Cons: I signed up for it with some friends of mine and it's worked well for the most part. The only thing is that at times, even when their accounts are set as "adult", they won't be able to do some stuff such as buying an arcade game or downloading a video. Of course, it's mostly with M rated content. In cases like this though, all they need is the password of the primary account. They also won't be able to purchase Microsoft points on their own (online, although they can get them using the regular ol' cards or online codes from Amazon) as it can only be done on the primary account (or so I have been told by a friend in the plan we have). It can be kind of buggy as well with what it allows or not.

Overall, my friends and I have had a very nice experience with the plan. Once my friends had my password, most of the problems were solved honestly.

 

[Mospeada_21]

just curious, why would you let young minors play on LIVE? I'm thinking if they were between the ages of 3 - 13, they shouldn't be allowed to play online. for multiplayer, why not just stick to local system play with family members? this is free since it's offline.

I recommend that snowball fight game, it's under Indie games. And it's only $1, or 80 MS points.

 

[brewin]

Hell yeah man its a no brainer! U already have an account for yourself and ur daughter... this is like renewing those accounts and getting two more for free.

 

[advanced]

[quote name='Mospeada_21']just curious, why would you let young minors play on LIVE? I'm thinking if they were between the ages of 3 - 13, they shouldn't be allowed to play online. for multiplayer, why not just stick to local system play with family members? this is free since it's offline.[/QUOTE]

Its not cool to tell people how to rear their kids. I've got a few younger cousins on live who play with other members of the family who don't live near by. It allows the younger generation to connect to the older generation of kids so the family is always close. I don't know if this is how it is for the OP, but it still isn't cool.

 

[Ziv]

Yeah. Same as above but with my 7year old son. But no one has to worry about hearing a 7year old talking in the mic. I have his voice setting set at friends only.

 

[willc23]

Thanks for the feedback all. No offense taken on the parenting advice. Unlike the time I aired a grievance on xbox.com about one of my kids accidentally purchasing MS points on my account. The trolls came out in force on that one.

Mostly want the gold accounts so they can play with their cousin and that would be the only time I would allow a microphone for the youngest child. The older child has a few classmates online and I don't have a problem with her interacting with them, but again it is mostly with her cousin.

Back to the topic, I wonder if MS would prorate the account for the months left on my daughter's account if I were to purchase the family plan next month. I know I could probably just call MS, but waiting for comments just brightens my life. Plus it creates a record for future similar inquiries, although it doesn't appear to be a front burner issue so far.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[willc23]

Ziv,
Thanks for the pointer on the friends only setting. I'll have to use that. The daughter can be a little mischievous.