Xbox Live! (A rant)

  • Thread starter Tom M
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Tom M

Tom M

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(Despite the length, at the very least, read the red sentence.) Well, I really have no idea what possessed me, but I went out to EBworld the other day and picked myself up a copy of the Xbox Live! Starter kit. I was pretty Stoked to be laying down some smacketh online, and figured the best way to do it was through Unreal Championship(I'll rant on this in another thread). 😈
It began when I saw that when you bought the starter pack, you got the first year free ($50 dollar value) and a neat-o set of headphones with a mic. :)
So I brought everything home, and plugged it all into my Xbox and let Live! go through it's installation process (which by the way changes the Xbox menu's for the better in every way.) :)
So then I began the Xbox Live! Signup process. First you have to take a leap and realize that the serial number is hidden under a hologram which needs to be scratched off (should have looked like a lotto ticket IMO) Then you go through the process of choosing a screen name and entering your Birthdate. Then it asks for you name, address, telephone number, email and Credit card number, claiming that you are on a secure line.
In all honesty, the least secure device in my house is probably my Xbox, I just can't bring myself to trust this little black box in any way shape or form because it is such an untested medium (and MS has a long history of leaving giant loopholes in their security.)
I would have much rather wanted to buy credits online, or over the phone in this manner. (of course having the Xbox option for the lazy.) And another thought went through my mind as I wondered why they needed it at all at this point because I was supposed to get a free year from it's initial purchase. :odd:
Well, whatever, I went this far and figured what the heck. So there I was signed up and playing Unreal Championship online getting my rear handed to me. (more on that in my Unreal Championship rant.) :bawling:
So I decided to go online (PC online) and look around for a little advice, and stumbled across a very interesting piece of info that will forever change my view of MS, the Xbox, online gaming and life in general. :grumpy:
Downloadable content in Xbox Live! games is not free, it costs additional money for each download unless the game specifies that it will be free. :mad:
Son of a 🤬
 
Yeah Tom, I plan on getting an Xbox for christmas but I don't think I will ever go Live! with it. The fees are outrageous. There is always something that you don't expect. I also don't get the whole deal about needing your address and telephone and your credit card number. Screw them. :mad:
 
Originally posted by rjensen11
Sony isn't doing this, they can't be... What about Nintendo? Or is this only for XBox?
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Sony's plan is great, it's just like playing a PC game like Quake. You buy it and connect (provided you have a USB ethernet adapter or the broadband adapter) I'm sure MMORPG like FFXI cost extra (I know FFXI does) because they maintain the servers and offer patches, but normal games are free.
Nintendo will probably do the same thing as well.
It just drives me crazy to know that my Xbox has my credit card number stored on the HD somewhere (that's how it automatically downloads premium content.)
 
Tom - I'm right there with you buddy. The online gaming is pretty good, but I was not thrilled with all the personal info required. What if I don't have a credit card? Can I not play XBox Live? What a crock ... I'll post in your other rants here in a min (:
 
XBox Live is cool, but expect to pay more than you expect to pay ... or something. And don't count its performance on "XBox Live", you have to remember it's just using your internet connection. It can only be that good.
 
Yes, but servers for PS2 games will only stay up as long as they think they can sell more games with it.

An Xbox game will be supported as long as people play it.
 
Originally posted by Tom M
It just drives me crazy to know that my Xbox has my credit card number stored on the HD somewhere (that's how it automatically downloads premium content.)
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Did I just read that right?!? It automatically downloads premium content using your credit card number?!? Do you have to consent to that?
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Did I just read that right?!? It automatically downloads premium content using your credit card number?!? Do you have to consent to that?
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Nope, it automatically charges you. You can go into your Xbox Live! user profile and turn it off though. But in all honesty, I really don't feel as though I trust the security of a console. It might be secure now, but it's only a matter of time before someone cracks it.

Oh and to Dudley, you really aren't playing on servers, it's all peer to peer. The only thing the companies do is provide the link for players to connect to one another. (Actually, all my Xbox games are Peer to peer as well, only Sony isn't charging for it.)
 
Originally posted by Tom M
Nope, it automatically charges you. You can go into your Xbox Live! user profile and turn it off though. But in all honesty, I really don't feel as though I trust the security of a console. It might be secure now, but it's only a matter of time before someone cracks it.
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Console security issues aside (and they are VERY valid concerns), does it default to 'off' for that option? I'm just astonished.
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Console security issues aside (and they are VERY valid concerns), does it default to 'off' for that option? I'm just astonished.
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Oddly enough, no it isn't. I too was surprised by that. It does offer a password protection for parents that have kids with no self control though.
 
Thats why you should do online gaming on a PC. Screw playing console games online...its like telling somebody at HSN your social security number while it flashes at the bottom the screen.

So screw hax0rs too.
 
Originally posted by Tom M
Oddly enough, no it isn't. I too was surprised by that. It does offer a password protection for parents that have kids with no self control though.
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Wow! There's no way that would stand up under Consumer Credit Laws in Australia - Microsoft would have a class action on its hands before you could say 'unsigned transaction record'.
 
I could be wrong, but I think vat_man is seeing this as an automatic download... so that the second you go into a game on XBox Live, your credit card gets charged and you are forced to take the premium download.

If that's the case, then no, the XBox (and, by default, Microsoft) does not force downloads on users. You can choose which you want and pay for them as you want them.

The person whose credit card number is attached to the XBox Live account is the person ultimately responsible for any purchases, so it would be intelligent of them to password protect them. Still, any such purchase made by someone under 18 must be done with the consent of an adult by law in the US (and, I'm assuming, Australia) and, without that consent, the purchase is not legally binding.

That said, there may be a portion in the XBox Live contract (that you must agree to before using it) that states that all purchases and downloads made are done with the consent of the account holder. A lot of people skip over reading licensing agreements, but if you accept it, you accept ALL of it, whether you read it or not.

So if you're worried about your kid downloading thousands of dollars in premium upgrades on your credit card, you should 1) password protect it and 2) read licensing agreements before you sign them.
 
Oh, okay - so you're prompted each time for a download, right? The way I read it was that you entered your card details onto the console, and then it would automatically download content unless you specified otherwise.
 
In a few days both Unreal Championship (pay for content) and Mechassault (Free content) are going to be offering some extras on Xbox Live!
I'm going to download for both games, and I'll return and tell everyone exactly how it works. (What you have to input, if anything.)

On the cool end of the spectrum, Mechassault is a great game, and on Live! it's completely entertaining. Nothing beats hearing other players on the opposing team complaining about my romping all over them. (Especially now that Christmas is past, and there are tons of New players that have yet to unlock the Ragnarok and Ymir. :D)
Another cool thing is that you can hear when the other team is planning to gang up on you ("Everyone, go after that Atlas!" is a phrase I hear all the time.) It would have been nice to have chat functions where you could only talk to teammates though.
 

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