Pay to play online Xbox

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Jaxson

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#207505 29-Dec-2016 19:11

Rightyho, yes I'll go an search this, but I've just arrived back in Xbox land after living in Playstation World for many many years.

Go to setup some games with the hope of gaming with my brother (lives in another city) and it's looking like we have to pay for this?

Is this normal?!

Coming from PS3 you just install the game, setup a multiplayer game type and connect away.

Can this be done on Xbox or are we seriously having to pay $80 or so a year to achieve this on the Xbox One S?

Sorry, totally new to this Xbox stuff. Thanks.

scuwp

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#1696296 29-Dec-2016 19:50

Yes, you need a Live Gold subscription. You can get them a bit cheaper such as from nzgameshop.com. Live Gold also gives you a couple of free games per month, multiplayer etc.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

tchart

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#1696367 29-Dec-2016 22:19

scuwp: Yes, you need a Live Gold subscription. You can get them a bit cheaper such as from nzgameshop.com. Live Gold also gives you a couple of free games per month, multiplayer etc.

Yup you need Live Gold. The free games are well worth it too (actually 4 games; 2 xbox 360 and 2 xbox one).

PS its the same on PS4 now - you need PSN Plus to play online.

PPS And unlike PS, even if you stop Live Gold, you still own the free games (I believe PSN ones require an active subscription)

Jaxson

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#1696369 29-Dec-2016 22:29

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated.

nzkiwiman

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#1696429 30-Dec-2016 09:32

tchart:

PPS And unlike PS, even if you stop Live Gold, you still own the free games (I believe PSN ones require an active subscription)

Not quite, the free 360 games are yours to keep even if your Live subscription ends.
However XB1 games still need a valid Live subscription to run

l43a2

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#1696433 30-Dec-2016 09:57

you can obtain Xbox live subscriptions pretty cheaply if you shop around on international sites dont pay the local rate its insane.

Jaxson

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#1696465 30-Dec-2016 11:44

So it's a global thing then for Xbox live?

I.e. Not tied to having to buy from NZ?

Is there still a good and silver option, or did that go? Looked like gold was required most of the time for gaming anyway?

Where would I head to get a cheaper annual sub? Any trusted sites in particular? Thanks.

scuwp

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#1696470 30-Dec-2016 11:56

Jaxson: So it's a global thing then for Xbox live?

I.e. Not tied to having to buy from NZ?

Is there still a good and silver option, or did that go? Looked like gold was required most of the time for gaming anyway?

Where would I head to get a cheaper annual sub? Any trusted sites in particular? Thanks.

I have used http://www.nzgameshop.com/search/xbox+live/sort-relevance in the past but doesn't look to be any great deals right now. A quick Google and I note that MS have a 1 month free option https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msnz/en_NZ/pdp/Xbox-LIVE-12-+-1-Month-Gold-Membership-Card/productID.296446800

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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travlockhart

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#1696480 30-Dec-2016 12:42

Or just do Home Console, that way one person just needs to purchase a subscription and set their account to the other console as home console. The other person can then just pay the person with subscription half the amount so it's even.

More info: http://support.xbox.com/en-NZ/games/game-setup/my-home-xbox

Jaxson

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#1696490 30-Dec-2016 14:01

Doing the home thing, does that mean the other console gets access to your account details/Microsoft account, notifications or email info etc?

And can you still game against the linked console?

keepitwarm

265 posts

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#1696495 30-Dec-2016 14:23

Jaxson: Doing the home thing, does that mean the other console gets access to your account details/Microsoft account, notifications or email info etc?

And can you still game against the linked console?

No, they dont see any of that, you can leave yourself signed out of the home console, and put a passcode lock on your account (passcode with controller or your main password, so they cant acess your account), Other user can just login, or auto login as themselves. Yes you can play against the other person as well etc its like you both get the benefits and share the cost, i do this with my brother, however at my own cost.

.............................................................

simple logic.

billgates

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#1696514 30-Dec-2016 16:00

keepitwarm:

No, they dont see any of that, you can leave yourself signed out of the home console, and put a passcode lock on your account (passcode with controller or your main password, so they cant acess your account), Other user can just login, or auto login as themselves. Yes you can play against the other person as well etc its like you both get the benefits and share the cost, i do this with my brother, however at my own cost.

+1 to this advice. I do this with my brother's Xbox One. He gets to play all my game library at no extra cost on his Xbox One. He cannot access my profile at all as it's protected by a passcode.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Jaxson

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#1696546 30-Dec-2016 17:59

I'll dig more into this myself. Game between my brother and myself only, usually on co-op games.

Prices are looking like $80 a year and anyway we can half that each would be ideal.

Don't necessarily want to handicap a second device by locking it to a particular account, but it's sounding like this setup works well for others in a similar situation.

Official $79.95 with 1 month free

CD Keys $64.29