This past Saturday, my one month trial for my Xbox Live Gold Membership came to a close, and I'm now back to a basic Silver Membership.
As everyone knows, having a Gold Membership via Xbox Live costs a fee, and when it's all said and done, the only major difference between a Gold and Silver Membership is that you need a Gold Membership to play Multiplayer games. On occasion Gold Members will be able to download certain content about a week before Silver Members, and Gold Members can also send messages to those on their Friends list via the Xbox web site, but these are really moot points.
While I had my Gold Membership I made a few more friends (and never got a single bad Review to my Rep), played lots of Doom and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and really tried hard at Gears of War, but sadly I suck nuts at it (not much of a team player). I got to try out giving Player Reviews, voice chat, and evening lodging a formal complaint against a jerk who violated the Xbox Live Terms of Use, however if anything happened to him/her I couldn't tell as he/she is still on Xbox Live and their Gamer Card is intact.
When all is said and done, it comes down to this simple question: Is it worth paying a maximum of $8.99 a month to play Multiplayer games? Since I'm mainly a Single Player gamer, the answer is no, it is not. I still have access to all the great content on the Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as patches, Friends, and Windows Live Messenger as a Silver Member, and since I'm not a huge Multiplayer guy, I do not see the point at all.
I'm expecting Halo 3 will come with another free trial card, so should I fire that up, love it, and want to keep playing it, well that will change things. In the interim though, with such great Single Player games on the way (BioShock and Mass Effect), I'd rather save my money for them instead.
8 comments:
Hello,
Thanks for asking about my Xbox status, so far I received a email saying that they have received my dead unit, today I checked on the Xbox website, there is a utility where you can check the status of your repair,
# Repair Status: Device Received at Service Center
That is all it says, you would think that once they got my unit they could just send out a refurbished one, but oh well..
I will be getting one month free, xboxlive, if you want it let me know,
Strange, as I was never able to get the Console Repair Status Utility to work, which is why I always had to call 1-800-4MY-Xbox to find out the status. An Xbox rep. even confirmed that it was a US only thing. I suppose that's changed now.
Have you tried using the tracking number from Purolator at Purolator.ca? If I remember right, they use the same tracking number when they send your refurbished unit out.
Also, if you have not received your console from 10 business days after you _gave_ the return box to Purolator, call 1-800-4MY-Xbox and inquire.
Thanks for the Xbox Live Gold Membership card offer, but I'll be too busy with BioShock in just over 2 short weeks! I say give it a try yourself, as it should work just fine on your connection.
If you can log on with your Silver Membership, there's no reason you can't log on with a Gold Membership, and as I mentioned a while ago, you do _not_ need a static IP.
I got my email from Xbox support today, a fixed unit is on it's way back to me,
also I hate to argue, but I have redeemed 2, of the 48 hour free trials for Gold membership from different games, R-6 Vegas, and another one I can't recall and both times I had no luck getting into the multiplayer games.
My buddy from work uses the same provider, and he also had no luck until he called and inquired, and for a ten dollar a month fee they hooked him up with a static IP, and now he plays online just fine,
the provider is Xplornet Wireless
www.xplornet.com
anyways I will be posting pics of the big day when the Xbox arrives, I am taking the kids to see "Walking with Dinosaurs" at the Air Canada Centre tomorrow, so of course it will probably show up when I am gone,
Again, I just find it weird as I don't know anyone who needs a static IP to play, and I've never seen it specified as a requirement.
Have you ever called Xbox Support to simply inquire with them?
My Xbox has returned, I can't tell if it is mine, or a refurbished unit, it is in fact a "pro" system, I am going to give the gift card to a guy I work with,
The new price cut is great I suppose, for new people,,, ha ha,,,
I emailed my provider, and asked about the xbox live, here is the answer I got..
Hi Gary,
I apologize for our delay in responding.
In order to be able to play Xbox live on our wireless service, you would need a static ip. Our networks are dynamic, meaning that the IP address changes over time and because of this it makes it very difficult to connect to something that needs to have a constant IP as well as be able to see what that IP is. Static IP’s are an additional $9.99/month.
If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us via email or our toll free number.
Regards,
Xplornet Support
www.xplornet.com
support@xplornet.com
Toll Free: 866-841-6001
Fax: 866-485-4156
It would be a refurbished unit. An Xbox Support Rep told me that in Canada, they don't repair your console, they only give refurbished units.
As for your ISP, I still find that really, really weird, as my IP address changes all the time to, and I still have no problems.
I mean, simply put, you can connect to Xbox Live or you can't, and since you can connect to the service, I see no reason why you can't play online with a Gold Membership.
Weird.
Maybe it is something to do with being wireless as opposed to DSL, or cable,
all I know is I have wasted two free trials already,,
Yes it is refurbished as you say, I checked the serial number and it is indeed different,,
anyways, 7 months from purchase to failure, hopefully I get another good 7 months out of it,
Hopefully we both get a lot longer than 7 months out of our refurbished Xbox 360's.
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