XBox live... is it worth it?

[psisar]

I've been considering getting XBox Live, but I can't really afford it... I've been considering swapping my cable (55$ month) to get it, but if I do disconnect and then am disappointed with Live, I don't want to have to pay all the reconnection fees. Can someone tell me if Live would be worth it? I'd only be using it for DDR and Project Gotham Racing, but I really think it would be fun to play with other people. Just some questions; are there usually always people online? Do you have to have an invite to play, or can you just wander around for another player? How much use do you guys get out of your XBox live? Thanks

[xstatic]

a - keep your cable internet. you need it to go online via xbox live.

b - xbox live is amazingly cheep. $5 a month. come on. that's 1 hr of a minimum paying job for hours upon hours of entertainment.

c - HUGE online community. You can never NOT find someone on the big name games. lesser popular titles may take a few tries, maybe some patients... or just to know peak hrs. ultramix 2 has peek hours 4 example.

d - I use xbox live every single day.

[psisar]

Thanks for the info I was under the impression that it cost way more a month than that, I read my little pamhplet wrong. I have a DSL connection, and analogue cable TV. I got a 2 month free subscription with U2, which is what made me consider the idea.

So I have to go out and buy the package... and I need a credit card or are there ways around that?

[xstatic]

yeah they require a credit card (or check card which is what I used)

[urbanjunglekitten]

I think most cable companies (at least in the US) are offering cable tv/internet packages these days . . . we pay $45 (US) for cable internet by itself. So, you may be in for a little more than just $5/month. However, if you don't watch much TV, just getting the cable internet would be worth it . . . it's so much faster than DSL. You might wanna call your cable company and see what their tv/internet packages are like, as some can be kind of expensive. That way, if it's not too expensive, you can ditch the DSL and get cable internet *and* XboxLive.

If you have a check card w/ the Visa or Mastercard logo, that works the same as a credit card . . . it's just directly linked to you checking account instead of to a line of credit. You can use those for mostly everything you need a credit card for.

I've been thinking about gettin Live too but I'm really not good enough yet. I get enough abuse from UM2 . . . I don't need comments from other gamers too.

UJKitten

[psisar]

urbanjunglekitten said:

If you have a check card w/ the Visa or Mastercard logo, that works the same as a credit card . . . it's just directly linked to you checking account instead of to a line of credit. You can use those for mostly everything you need a credit card for.

Hmm, I'll have to look into that. I have my DSL bundled with my phone service so it's cheaper that way... I've had an atrocious experience with our local cable internet company. (I'll post later, I have to get ready for work) Thanks for the suggestion

[Pyrochaos]

Didnt you get a 2 month free xbox live card with Ultramix 2? If you need one i got like 3 and could PM you the number off one of them.

[psisar]

Pyrochaos said:

Didnt you get a 2 month free xbox live card with Ultramix 2? If you need one i got like 3 and could PM you the number off one of them.

Yea I did get one... I still need a credit card though do I not? Hmm, Ill give it a shot...

[tedlick]

The free trial is a good way to see if you like XBox live-- however, I found that I enjoyed it much more when I got a headset so I could participate in voice chat while playing games.

The best way to get started with XBox live (aside from the free trial) is the starter kit that comes with a headset, 12 months of service, and a free game. I purchased the edition with Crimson Skies last year, and I think that's the way to go-- for $70 you get a game, a headset, and 12 months of service pre-paid.

I think getting charged $5/month gets old quick-- I'm a casual gamer, so I wasn't getting online all that often, and thought I was wasting my money. However, a starter kit once a year (or if you don't need the equipment, a pre-paid card for $50 once a year) is easier to take-- especially if you buy it with birthday or xmas money (that way, you can renew on your NEXT birthday / holiday season as a gift).

What really helped me enjoy Live was making friends on Live. That's very easy to do-- whatever game you're playing, pay attention to who you're playing with. If you enjoyed the experience, invite them as a friend-- you'll quickly get 10+ friends that way, and someone is bound to be online more often than not!

[wombatattack]

XBL is awesome. I use it nearly daily for games like Halo2 and occasionally I'll try my skills up against someone on Tetris. I haven't jumped into DDR online yet. I'm not that good yet!! Anyway, it's totally worth the one-time fee of $50 or whatever it is now. Plus, think about this...

Cell Phone $35
Cable Internet $45
XBL $5

that's about $85/mo. What are you paying now for your Phone, and DSL together?

Might be something to think about. Forget cable-tv... TV is the devil!! haha..

[urbanjunglekitten]

So, from those of you who have Xbox Live . . . you definitely need a cable internet connection to get on? I just want to clarify. I could probably go get my UM2 box and read the card that came with it to find out, but I'm too lazy and it's all the way up a flight of stairs.

Also, for those of you who are compute- saavy, is it possible to connect to Xbox Live via a wireless router? My bf just bought one for his new toy . . . erm, I mean laptop . . . and it's upstairs right next to the Xbox (and UM2). It would be neat if I could talk him into installing a wireless card into the Xbox (I'm computer illiterate, so I'm not even sure if that's possible. Don't crucify me if that's a stupid question. I majored in psych, not computer engineering.)

UJKitten <-- both computer illiterate *and* lazy . . . what a winner!

[SSC]

DSL, Cable, and anything above will suffice for XBox Live. Being a user of cable, and having friends who use DSL, it's my personal experience that Cable seems to fare better. (No, that's not bias.)

[xstatic]

one xbox of mine runs through a router and the other through a wireless hub and I've never had anyproblems so I shouldn't see how a wireless router would....

[abrannan]

SheScreamedClaudio said:

DSL, Cable, and anything above will suffice for XBox Live. Being a user of cable, and having friends who use DSL, it's my personal experience that Cable seems to fare better. (No, that's not bias.)

That will vary widely depending on the cable provider, the DSL provider, the upload/download speed of each, the level of oversubscription of your local area Cable link, how many people are running bittorrent/p2p on your link, etc. It's not something you can just say "X is always better" with.

[tedlick]

That what I love about living in the sticks-- our cable modem is blazing fast, I think we're one of the only ones regularly using the service on our line.

As for wireless-- that's how my XBox is hooked up, using the official Microsoft XBox wireless thingmabob. It cost about $80 or so if I recall, but it's not that much more expensive than a third party solution, and the install is a breeze (the XBox knows it has a wireless adapter hooked up to it once you load the drivers, so there's very little futzing with network settings to make it work).

I HIGHLY recommend the xbox wireless adapter. Work good, last long time.

PS-- there are instructions on DDRFreak on how to hook up an xbox to a dial-up internet service for XBox Live, but that's ONLY useful for getting content downloads. Every xbox live-enabled game requires high speed internet to work. But, if all you want is the content downloads, there IS a way to get connected via dialup. It just requires some networking know-how.

[wombatattack]

I've had both DSL and (currently) Cable services.

I had DSL first. I had nothing but problems from the start. Phone support was useless. They even sent techs out to inspect the signal, several times. They couldn't give me a good reason for the poor signal strength.

I eventually cancelled after my free month trial, because it was just not worth the hassle. They tempted me to stay with the service for a few more months by waiving my fees for 2 additional months. I didn't pay a cent for crappy internet service for 3 months. I even timed the disconnection of my DSL with the installation of my Cable service!

My Cable service has been solid since day 1. I get awesome download/upload speeds and have never had problems on Live with someone on my computer, surfing the net, at the same time.

I used to work for a major online service provider that offered DSL and Cable Internet service. Through my technical support experience, I would have to recommend that Cable is the way to go.

DSL has so many problems. Long phone cords will degrade the signal strength. Everything electronic emits signals producing line noise which degrades the signal strength. A phone ringing sometimes is enough to send the signal for a bit of a loop. If the residence with DSL is distanced from the Central Office or DSLAM of the provider, there's a large chance of DSL service not working at all.

With Cable, I haven't seen ANY of these problems.

It is my experienced opinion that DSL is crap, while Cable is pretty much the way to go.

Don't even get me started on Sattellite Internet service. Oh god no!!

[psisar]

I have beef with both the local cable and DSL providers.

Our local cable company, Cogeco, are morons. First, the advertised my phone number all over these flyers they sent all over the city... the last two digits were reversed, so it came out as my phone number. We (I was living with my mom at the time) called and complained dozens of times about all the calls we had received about pissed off customers, and they finally pinpointed the problem. To compensate, they offered us 9 months free cable TV. We milked them for a year of cable, plus a year of cable internet. (They also paid for us to have our phone number changed) The whole time we had it it would crap out about twice a month, and there was nothing they could ever do to fix it. Quite annoying.

My DSL provider, Sympatico, are also morons. When I first subscribed to the DSL bundle they sent me the modem, networking cables and installiation CD. Well, first off they sent me the wrong adapter for the modem. I called tech support and they talked down to me like I was some sort of idiot, as if it were my problem the adapter didn't work. They finally sent me a new adapter, and the modem itself wouldn't work. Again, I called, and they treated me like an idiot thinking the problem lied entirely on me being computer illiterate (which I'm not, at all). They finally sent me a new DSL started package, but now the installation CD wouldn't work. By now it had been a month and a half since I received the first bundle, and had spent over 5 hours to customer support trying to get them to fix their mistake(s). They sent me a new CD, and finally I got everything set up. The compensation for the hassle? A month's free service. Needless to say I'm not overly impressed with the customer support that Bell has to offer.

Beef aside, I've had less problems with the DSL connection than I had with cable. I think it's cheaper, too. Either way I'm done with the hassle, and have settled for the lesser of two evils

[psisar]

Well, I'm SOL anyways until I get a credit/check card.

I connected everything, got to the point where I entered my subscription code then I got to the screen where I had to enter my credit card info... blast! (BTW, I got a 2 month free subscription with U2) Stupid Micsosoft. They use the term 'Free' way too loosley. In my opnion, it's not free if you need a credit card

[urbanjunglekitten]

That sucks. You'd think they'd waive the credit card stage for the free trial, so they can suck you in. Then again, they might ask for your credit card number so they can start charging you right away once your two-month free trial is over . . . sucking you in regardless of whether or not you want the service.

We had big problems with DSL too . . . it would just stop working for days at a time. My bf was taking an online class at the time, too, and he would have to submit assignments by email . . . the DSL always seemed to crap out right when he needed to send something in.

Our cable service isn't perfect. It will occasionally crap out, but usually only for a few hours at the most. Also, you can usually fix the problem by unplugging the router for a minute, and then plugging it back in. These problems are much preferred to having no service for days at a time.

UJKitten

[havix]

Ok quick question, what type of connection do you need? At home I have Comcast Digital Cable (broadband), so does that work? I am seriously considering getting an Xbox for just that, and DoA of course.