Sony Introducing Pay For "Exclusive Content" Gaming Program

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Since I am trying to best to be the voice of reason let me say one other thing here that has been on my mind awhile now...

Every single member needs to seriously let the fanboy comments go once and for all. Not only is it against the rules as everyone should know, it is getting really old.

Please let me explain.

I know FOR A FACT that almost every member in this thread who has commented is just like myself, and that is a PS360 owner (a good amount also have Wii's even though I personally got rid of mine). My friends list on both consoles let me know this.

Do not get me wrong, sure there are some people that see news about the PS3 and do not own one and comment on it, and the same thing can be said for the 360 as well. However this is a forum, and it is their right to do so. It is not necessary to own a console to comment on it, just as it is not necessary to have actually served in a War to have an opinion on a War (although obviously it makes your opinion more valid).

So everyone needs to realize we are all critical of Sony because most of us actually own a PS3. None of us want it to fail, because a damn good amount of us actually own it. I believe most if not all of us have MGS4 on pre-order, I mean hell, I even rented HAZE (that is a joke).

However for the most part we are GAMERS who actually own the console(s), and this is the one reason we are so damn critical.

Check my post history, I am super critical of MS. The RROD fiasco is still the biggest joke in gaming history to me, the fact they released a larger HD still drives me crazy, etc., etc., etc. (and please do not turn this into a discussion about MS, I am using these as a counter example)

So when Sony makes a stupid move or even just a questionable move, yes people are going to be negative, but most of us being negative actually do own the console. We want to to succeed more than anything... I know not only did I but everyone else did not drop $500 for the hell of it. And on the flip side of things there are going to be people that also agree with something as well. It is everyones right to do so, agreeing or disagreeing does not make anyone a fanboy.

So this is why the fanboy comments need to stop once and for all. It does nothing but put a negative label on people that is not warranted.

Plus, as stated, it is against the rules, and by my counting 5 of you could have easily been warned for using it today.

[Coldgunner]

I can see Sony sticking to payign for PSN with the profit made on paid for downloads, like maps, games and in future movies and music.

[gigapixels Veteran]

Thread Cleaned

Quit the bickering guys. Debate like adults, please.

And thanks DL, you took the words right out of my... fingers, I suppose.

[Huleboeren]

No thanks

Think Ill stick with the free content :s

[CY:G]

Bandwidth is not very expensive for large companies like this.

MS offers HUNDREDS of downloads on the Microsoft homepage and through windows update, to MILLIONS more users than PSN ever will.

As for the last remark, play devils advocate if you want, but right now that is hugely speculation and I doubt any part of PSN we have access to just now, or Home, will ever REQUIRE to be paid for. Premium content/services, yes, we knew that about Home and it seems PSN will also have premium content now.

Seeing as their biggest goal is to make money, I'd rather they do it through optional content I can avoid, than make it pretty much a requirement.

Yeah so far, so good, as far as PSN goes, power to them, but as you said they are a business trying to make profits, i like what they did with Home, its free, they have Ads, movie trailers, objects you can buy, etc, so i can see how they are giving it away for free.

All the other content i don't know, they must be taking a hit for hosting all of it, and it is expensive, maintaining servers, adding physical media to archive all files, redundancy, and thats without taking into account the bandwidth itself....

Well, as long as they don't charge to Play online im happy, for trailers i can go to Gametrailers hehe.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Since I am trying to best to be the voice of reason let me say one other thing here that has been on my mind awhile now...

Every single member needs to seriously let the fanboy comments go once and for all. Not only is it against the rules as everyone should know, it is getting really old.

Please let me explain.

I know FOR A FACT that almost every member in this thread who has commented is just like myself, and that is a PS360 owner (a good amount also have Wii's even though I personally got rid of mine). My friends list on both consoles let me know this.

Do not get me wrong, sure there are some people that see news about the PS3 and do not own one and comment on it, and the same thing can be said for the 360 as well. However this is a forum, and it is their right to do so. It is not necessary to own a console to comment on it, just as it is not necessary to have actually served in a War to have an opinion on a War (although obviously it makes your opinion more valid).

So everyone needs to realize we are all critical of Sony because most of us actually own a PS3. None of us want it to fail, because a damn good amount of us actually own it. I believe most if not all of us have MGS4 on pre-order, I mean hell, I even rented HAZE (that is a joke).

However for the most part we are GAMERS who actually own the console(s), and this is the one reason we are so damn critical.

Check my post history, I am super critical of MS. The RROD fiasco is still the biggest joke in gaming history to me, the fact they released a larger HD still drives me crazy, etc., etc., etc. (and please do not turn this into a discussion about MS, I am using these as a counter example)

So when Sony makes a stupid move or even just a questionable move, yes people are going to be negative, but most of us being negative actually do own the console. We want to to succeed more than anything... I know not only did I but everyone else did not drop $500 for the hell of it.

So this is why the fanboy comments need to stop once and for all. It does nothing but put a negative label on people that is not warranted.

Plus, as stated, it is against the rules, and by my counting 5 of you could have easily been warned for using it today.

Nicely said, I agree.

But I do ask the question, where do you draw the line between having some criticisms, and outright trolling a company/product at any given chance? That is something I would say some people around here verge on, but that's solely what I think. Not necessarily right or wrong, it's just how I feel at times...

I ask that as Frogboy, the owner of Stardock, and the guy with a % owning of Neowin, had some comments on those who post negatively on Stardock products. He seemed to think there was a line between criticism and trolling, and most people, even admins/mods on here agreed....

Just asking as you have a larger say in what can and can't stay around here in the GH, and I want to know if you share any opinion on the subject Frogboy dabbled into.

[Coldgunner]

Nicely said, I agree.

But I do ask the question, where do you draw the line between having some criticisms, and outright trolling a company/product at any given chance?

I ask that as Frogboy, the owner of Stardock, and the guy with a % owning of Neowin, had some comments on those who post negatively on stardock products. He seemed to think there was a line between criticism and trolling, and most people, even admins/mods on here agreed....

Just asking as you have a larger say in what can and can't stay around here in the GH, and I want to know if you share any opinion on the subject Frogboy dabbled into.

I think the difference between criticism and trolling is that criticism should be constructive, i.e. "company x should try x". whereas trolling is someone posting "product x is crap, product y is better".

thats how I see it anyway, sorry for the offtopic.

[CY:G]

I think the difference between criticism and trolling is that criticism should be constructive, i.e. "company x should try x". whereas trolling is someone posting "product x is crap, product y is better".

thats how I see it anyway, sorry for the offtopic.

Even if you have valid opinions on why product x is better than y, like actual facts???

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I think the difference between criticism and trolling is that criticism should be constructive, i.e. "company x should try x". whereas trolling is someone posting "product x is crap, product y is better".

thats how I see it anyway, sorry for the offtopic.

Yeah I agree there, I think the "one line comments" people try to run away with in here at times should be moderated on pretty hard - Especially if the person is guilty of it repeated times.

But I also feel, even with what you've said, some people will post like that, but they do it obsessively - In nearly every topic they can relate to the thing they dislike in some way, they'll do it.

Would obsessively being critical not verge on trolling at some point? I don't know, which is why I asked Larry.

That's why you end up seeing nearly EVERY topic that is about PSN or Live, turn into a mammoth debate on what is better. This topic is about a premium paid for service on top of PSN, but you knew Live would enter the topic on the first page, and paying to play would be brought up quickly as well.

Something which the initial article had no say on at all.

I'm not saying bringing up those comparisons was wrong, they were inevitably going to enter at some point.... But it's when you see the same people going off on one at any chance possible I'm really questioning.

[Coldgunner]

Even if you have valid opinions on why product x is better than y, like actual facts???

kinda, just to elaborate as I didn't explain myself well, trolling is criticism without reason. geniune criticism should be a well constructed statement with truth, not rumour, opinion or facts that have no substance.

trolls just post to add 1 to their post count and not contribute to the discussion favourably.

[spenser.d]

I guess the question here between XBL and PSN is a thing of priorities. Would people be more interested in getting more free exclusive content than they could ever possibly imagine (XBL), or would more people be interested in being able to log more hours online than they could think possible for no price (PSN)?

It goes either way for me. If I got to play online for free, I probably wouldn't pay for Qore because I'm not that fussed about videos and such (although I do really like to be able to play betas and demos of games, which are apparently now going to be alienated into this Qore thing), but for the many people out there who don't care to play online, I'm sure they wouldn't want to pay for this extra content.

So, pay to play online, which is free on PC and PS3, or pay for some extra content in the form of videos/betas/demos/etc, a lot of which could probably be found for free online or is comparatively free on the 360 under a silver account - who's to say which form is better? All I've got to say is that I don't see Qore attracting people to PSN over XBL, so if Sony wants to overtake XBL at some point, they will need other things - hopefully they won't charge for those.

-Spenser

[Coldgunner]

snipped

too true, different strokes..., swings and roundabouts, horses for courses etc etc.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Thread Cleaned

Quit the bickering guys. Debate like adults, please.

And thanks DL, you took the words right out of my... fingers, I suppose.

Thank you for cleaning the thread while I was off on my tangent.

To answer you the best I can Audioboxer.

It is incredibly difficult on when to draw the line here in this forum. Incredibly. My personal approach, and it does vary from Mod to Mod as we are all just volunteers and humans afterall although we absolutely do our best to maintain a set of standards (hence why we have rules), but my personal approach has and always will be to do my best not to stifle free speech.

So if someone truly wants to just come in and say "product x is crap" as your example, in all reality why should they not be able to say that? Reason being is although I know what many of you own, how do I truly know if that person does or does not own said console or game or whatever they may be saying is crap? And one could even make the argument perhaps people are not as eloquent as others, and just say things as simple as possible, such as it is crap.

I also approach things from this perspective...

If one member is clearly out of control, it is cut and dry, they deserve a warning. However more often than not, actually like 98% of the time, things spiral out of control here thanks to various members adding fuel to the fire so to speak. So I can either warn everyone involved and very quickly not have any members in this forum, or hope things do not get out of control, and when they do, state that they have, and try and get it through to everyone why they did, and as a result not warn anyone since several people can and do deserve a warning. This thread is a perfect example. Literally 5 members could have been warned for using the term fanboy. Instead, I try and take the time to explain why it should not be used. Is that the right approach? Who knows, but sometimes you guys make me think it is not as the same things happen over and over again.

Finally, trolling is all a very subjective term, it truly is. What one person considers a comment that is trolling another might consider to be the most profound statement ever made. So I have to approach things as absolutely neutral as possible, and again that is not always easy and it really is not cut and dry. Again, I do my best to let people speak their mind, even if others will not agree with it, I feel it is there right. Obviously there are incredibly clear examples and they are dealt with accordingly, but quite frankly that is only the case maybe %5 of the time, if that.

I will end with this... I think the biggest thing I can say is words do not have any meaning if someone does not give them meaning.

What I mean is people get all worked up over some comments that if those comments were just left to die on their own, they would literally have no meaning. This does not apply to just these forums, it applies to anything.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Thank you for cleaning the thread while I was off on my tangent.

To answer you the best I can Audioboxer.

It is incredibly difficult on when to draw the line here in this forum. Incredibly. My personal approach, and it does vary from Mod to Mod as we are all just volunteers and humans afterall although we absolutely do our best to maintain a set of standards (hence why we have rules), but my personal approach has and always will be to do my best not to stifle free speech.

So if someone truly wants to just come in and say "product x is crap" as your example, in all reality why should they not be able to say that? Reason being is although I know what many of you own, how do I truly know if that person does or does not own said console or game or whatever they may be saying is crap? And one could even make the argument perhaps people are not as eloquent as others, and just say things as simple as possible, such as it is crap.

I also approach things from this perspective...

If one member is clearly out of control, it is cut and dry, they deserve a warning. However more often than not, actually like 98% of the time, things spiral out of control here thanks to various members adding fuel to the fire so to speak. So I can either warn everyone involved and very quickly not have any members in this forum, or hope things do not get out of control, and when they do, state that they have, and try and get it through to everyone why they did, and as a result not warn anyone since several people can and do deserve a warning. This thread is a perfect example. Literally 5 members could have been warned for using the term fanboy. Instead, I try and take the time to explain why it should not be used. Is that the right approach? Who knows, but sometimes you guys make me think it is not as the same things happen over and over again.

Finally, trolling is all a very subjective term, it truly is. What one person considers a comment that is trolling another might consider to be the most profound statement ever made. So I have to approach things as absolutely neutral as possible, and again that is not always easy and it really is not cut and dry. Again, I do my best to let people speak their mind, even if others will not agree with it, I feel it is there right.

I will end with this... I think the biggest thing I can say is words do not have any meaning if someone does not give them meaning.

What I mean is people get all worked up over some comments that if those comments were just left to die on their own, they would literally have no meaning. This does not apply to just these forums, it applies to anything.

Ok, thanks (Y)

Initially I think it's the right approach to warn verbally (not warn as in increase their %), but if people continually do it, I really think you have to adhere to the rules set out for the GH...

The use of "fanboy" (or any similar derogatory term) when used against a specific member or group of members will be considered flame-bait and/or a personal attack.

Or else I think people just think they can run wild in every topic, or new members signup and instead of reading the rules, just go by what they see other old timers/established members doing.

And as we know, it's much more likely for a new unknown member to see a quick ban, that it would be an established member who losing would cause loss to the forum in some ways.

I think it's good in a way we have a mod like you in an environment like the GH, I know almost for a fact if other mods were in charge here, many many people would have said bye to NW.

Many of these people do offer a lot of good things along with their baggage, which is what makes it a hard call to warn/ban them - But IMO some of them need to start offering more of the good, rather than the baggage.

But again on the flip side there needs to be some balance between letting it go, and finally pulling someone up.

So if someone truly wants to just come in and say "product x is crap" as your example, in all reality why should they not be able to say that?

Only thing I'd question in your post Larry.

That way of commenting doesn't lead to good forum etiquette, and it frustrates a lot of members.

Really, comments like that are 98% of the time unhelpful, and don't contribute anything other than a potential flaming session - Something which we have to do our best to prevent in the GH, a section with a bad/sketchy history as of late. We want to make this section appealing to people who are fed up with other sites in the gaming community, where flaming and hate is seen as a reason to signup to the forum, rather than a negative/warnable/bannable offence.

Seeing as on a forum it's hard to express emotion like you can face to face, we don't know if the person is having a joke like you would with your buddy who owns console x ("oh hey mike, console x is crap *laughing follows*), or if they're saying it just to cause controversy/an argument.

Which is why I think one liners like that, if repeatedly done, should be pulled up as a warnable offence.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Audioboxer

[bangbang023 Veteran]

I don't see much of a big deal here. It could be Sony's way of testing the waters for paid access in the same vain as Live, but it's way too early to tell. The only concern I have for PS3 owners is whether or not those exclusive demos will be available to everyone else eventually. Demos have helped me save a bit of money by letting me see past the marketing and just giving the gameplay a whirl.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Some comments from Sony,

Qore is a monthly program, it ranges from 1-2 hours total length, but you control what you watch and when.

So it seems more like a video podcast (spanning "x" amount of games) with occasional extras like ways to get into a beta?

There will be multiple points of entry into the SOCOM beta. SOCOM.com will have more details later today.

Good to know Qore is only one way into the beta. If they done a LBP beta with Qore though, I'd have to go for it :pinch:

If you purchase Qore, you will have access to exclusive content that would not be available otherwise - it does not impact the availability of the great content found on PSN, nor does it change our free play model.

Good news (Y)

[Lauguu]

yes... very good news :D

[Hupp]

I dont like this idea and it seems like a money grab.

[Lauguu]

I dont like this idea and it seems like a money grab.

Then don't pay!! it's optional, right?

[Havok69]

Then don't pay!! it's optional, right?

For now - time will tell...

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

For now - time will tell...

This service, Qore, will always be optional :blink:

You either pay for it, or you don't.

Sony said it won't affect any of the core features of PSN/PS3, so if you don't like the content it's offering, there is no need to subscribe.

[Hupp]

Then don't pay!! it's optional, right?

OMG you are genius!?! its a message board and i expressed an opinion

[Havok69]

This service, Qore, will always be optional :blink:

As will be playing online, but the real question is, is this Sony's way of fattening up the cow, getting it used to paying, and then slowly transitioning you over to paying to play online? You know they are salivating over the revenue earned by Xbox Live, and since they were slow to the party, had to offer something over the top (free) to compete. Now, they've got an established player base and have you "hooked" so to speak. It will be interesting what happens in the next year or so.

[Lauguu]

OMG you are genius!?! its a message board and i expressed an opinion

Yeah, I know right, I was always told so anyway :p... and yes you have a right to express your opinion.

[Richard Hammond]

As will be playing online, but the real question is, is this Sony's way of fattening up the cow, getting it used to paying, and then slowly transitioning you over to paying to play online? You know they are salivating over the revenue earned by Xbox Live, and since they were slow to the party, had to offer something over the top (free) to compete. Now, they've got an established player base and have you "hooked" so to speak. It will be interesting what happens in the next year or so.

There is always that worry but they never charged you to be able to play the PS2 online, with the exception of FF11 of course.