[quote name='lordopus99']
Your experience is far from mine... maybe it is because I don't play competitive Call of Duty or Halo online. Every other game I have played (check my gamer tag) I have never had an issue with what you describe. For example: In Battlefield, the unit with mics always clean up on units without mics due to being able to call out targets.[/QUOTE]
Well I didn't even search for this, I saw it on N4g.com today.
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/31235
[quote name='lordopus99']CAG has an app for that (sorry about being cheezy) called "Official Microsoft Point Cards & Xbox Live Subscription Sales Thread".
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248984
Again, still don't understand why the discussion was moved into the deals forum..[/QUOTE]
Like Thrinn said, getting more discussion in this thread gets more people to notice it and makes CAG more money. Cheapy ain't dumb.
[quote name='Salmonday']Has anyone at M$ given an "official" explanation for the price hike? Without one, we're left to fall back on the general group consensus that this is to offset the costs of adding Netflix, Twitter, Last.FM, ESPN, and Kinect. I was discussing Monday's kerfuffle with my wife and she said,
"So they're making you shell out a 20% rate hike annually to pay for extended services for everyone that you and lots of others don't want, need, use, or maybe even have access to? You know if the government did the same sort of thing like by tacking on another ten cents per gallon of gas tax to build a Vikings stadium or even fix some

ing bridges before another one falls down and attributed it to inflation, you'd have Glenn Beck type people at their chalkboards whipping the tea party into a frothing frenzy and chanting SOCIALISM. But since it's a megacorporation, the reaction is probably 'that's capitalism -- yeeha! God bless America!'"
Maybe not 100% analogous, but I thought it was funny and worth sharing.[/QUOTE]
Stay married, you got a keeper. Smart lady.
[quote name='Retom7']You can take it as justifying every increase in fees out there if you want, but I don't know if that's exactly what I was saying. There are certainly price gougers out there that take advantage of times, markets, and individuals, and I don't think it's right. However, I suppose it's justified in that it's a service you are not required to use. The justification isn't required on their part. They don't have to provide you with any additional features or explain in detail WHY they are doing it. They are charging what they feel is the appropriate price for using their services. The US functions in such a way that businesses can set their own prices for goods and services. Competition works in such a way that they generally keep others in check on their prices or product offerings. M$ either feels that the price is necessary, their services are of higher value than the competition, or the desire for their product is higher than the competitions.
I take every product and service I use case by case. I was a smoker. Prices went up to $10 a pack. I am not a smoker now. Cable was 99.99 for the first year I had it. It went to $140 after that. I cancelled all additional services I didn't use or feel I used enough and now the bill is $120. Some increases are justified to me and others are not. I am not under this assumption that every increase has to come with more perks or better service. If you don't like the price, don't pay it. Justification not required.[/QUOTE]
Don't ever complain when another company does it to you then for any service or product in your lifetime. Also, say you bought a 360 and a bunch of games instead of investing in another system and you like to play online... it's very similar to a requirement in that situation.
You are right MS doesn't have to, but that doesn't make it right and they should be more transparent about it. I bet you were mad when the prices went up on those and expressed some frustration. Cigarettes increased in price due to the higher taxes. You knew the cable price would be going up when you first signed up.
Do you defend the cable company for charging you more for the stations you never use? Signs point towards tv becoming an on-demand type marketplace in the future, while the networks will fight to prevent that as much as they can.
I don't think we have to get things when the price increases, but I do think that price increase on something that already had a 65% profit margin with no reason given, while they tout the additional features of Hulu and ESPN (that you can get free elsewhere) in the email announcement is wrong.
Given that the success of such a model will lead to competitors eventually adopting it is the worst thing here. I'm not going to pay for Live anymore and because people let MS take advantage of them I will likely have to pay in the future on other consoles.