Will the Xbox Live Gold Paywall Be Changed?

April 6, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment

Phil Spencer has been causing some waves in the gaming community since he was appointed the head of Xbox. His determination to focus on games and gamers is a beacon of hope for fans who think the Xbox One has been caught up in too many non-gaming activities. He’s working hard to make the Xbox One a success and make Microsoft’s E3 show fantastic. Perhaps even more interestingly, however, he recently referenced “changes” he might make.

While he didn’t actually name anything specific he intends to change, it came up when a fan asked about the Xbox Live Gold paywall. His response?

@Holtdagawdess Yep, blame away. I'll get my changes to plans in place soon but in the meantime pile on.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 6, 2014

The paywall is a sore point for many gamers, as you need to be a Gold member to access Netflix, the upcoming Doom beta, and more. Now, he didn’t actually say he’s going to get rid of it, but he both acknowledged that players want someone to “blame” and suggested they could only blame him until he made his “changes.” What do you think? Is Spencer going to take down the paywall? Such a decision would go a long way toward creating goodwill with fans.

Week of Xbox Live Gold To Make Up for March 11’s Issues

April 4, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment

Remember back when the Xbox One had numerous Xbox Live sign-in issues on March 11? It was the launch day of Titanfall, and more than a few players were annoyed that they couldn’t even play their new game.

Well, if you were one of the users who had issues logging in, you should be receiving a message from Microsoft in the near future, offering you 7 free days of Xbox Live Gold to make up for it.

Thank you, Reddit user Appelgate123456, for sharing a screenshot of the message in question, and thank you, Microsoft, for being nice enough to do this.

Xbox One: Warnings to Those With Bad Reputations

March 26, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment

The new reputation system on the Xbox One gives players a reputation ranking based on their behavior in the gaming community. These rankings range from “Good” to “Avoid me,” with “Needs work” in between. This reputation is visible on your Gamercard and lets other players quickly see if you’ve been reported by others a lot. Don’t worry if you’ve been reported falsely a few times. The system is built to allow for that. What it really looks for are players who are regularly reported over long periods of time.

Now, Microsoft announced its plans to do more with the reputation system. There will be rewards for “Good” players, while players who have a “Needs work” ranking will receive warnings. Players who hit the “Avoid me” status will be penalized. For example, they “will have reduced matchmaking pairings and may be unable to use certain privileges such as Twitch broadcasting.”

If this works as planned, it could go a long way toward making Xbox Live multiplayer more enjoyable for everyone (well, except the trolls and other troublemakers). On the other hand, the system sounds like it could be abused and result in unfair consequences. Microsoft says its taken steps to ensure that won’t happen, but can anything be foolproof?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

And speaking of Xbox Live, yesterday’s difficulties should be resolved.

Xbox Live Issues for Titanfall and Forza 5

March 25, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment

If you’re having trouble with Xbox Live today, you’re not alone. Earlier today, some players encountered issues playing GTA V and Call of Duty: Ghosts during scheduled maintenance work, but even though the maintenance is over, some problems remain. Now, Forza 5 players are encountering difficulties, and the Titanfall servers are down.

The Titanfall issue seems to be coming along, as some players in the US have reported success. However, European players are still unable to play. Keep an eye on Microsoft’s official Xbox Live Status page to see the current situation.

These things happen from time to time, but it can be frustrating, especially in an online-only game like Titanfall. Let us know what you do instead when your planned gaming time is cut short by server issues.

Gamer Achieves 1,000,000 Xbox Live Gamerscore

March 15, 2014 by Samantha Lienhard - Leave a comment

Raymond Cox, the user known as Stallion83 on Xbox Live, Twitter, and Twitch, has had a certain degree of fame these past few years for his goal to be the first person ever to get an Xbox Live Gamerscore of one million. Well, he’s finally done it.

In a recent interview with GameInformer, he said he wanted to reach his goal with Titanfall, and that’s exactly what he did. At approximately 2:35 AM EST on March 13, he crossed the one million mark by getting Titanfall’s “I like a challenge” achievement, which is quite fitting.

Getting a Gamerscore that high takes some pretty intense dedication. Check out his archived Twitch broadcast of the final stretch, and let us know if there is any goal you would devote as much time to as he has.

To Raymond Cox, we only have one thing to say: Congratulations!

Xbox Live Issues Should be Resolved

March 12, 2014 by Cheats.co Staff - Leave a comment

Microsoft has resolved the issues with Xbox Live, so players should be good to go. If you’re still experiencing difficulties Microsoft’s support page provides some solutions. You can try to power cycle your Xbox One by holding down the power button for five seconds to power it down, and then turning it back on after 30 seconds. If that doesn’t work, you might also unplug it after you power it down.

Hopefully this incident won’t damage Titanfall’s reception too much. As we mentioned yesterday, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Numerous players sent out angry Tweets about how they couldn’t play, and the whole thing cast a shadow over Titanfall’s launch.

Let us (but especially Microsoft) know if you continue to experience difficulties.

Xbox Live’s Issues Aren’t Due to Titanfall

March 11, 2014 by Cheats.co Staff - Leave a comment

If you’ve been trying to play online Xbox One games today, such as the newly-released Titanfall, you might be having a little trouble. Xbox Live is experiencing widespread difficulties on the Xbox One, and Microsoft issued a service alert saying that it is in a “limited” state.

In this limited state, many users are unable to log in. All other features are listed as “up and running,” but really, if you can’t log in, that doesn’t do you much good.

An obvious culprit would be the sheer number of people who flooded the servers to play Titanfall, but Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb posted a Tweet denying that Titanfall is to blame.

If you are having issues signing into Xbox Live, we are aware of it and actively working on the issue. This is not a #Titanfall issue

— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) March 11, 2014

He may be right, but this still puts a damper on Titanfall’s launch day. It’s hard to imagine a worse time for Xbox Live to break. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. We can only hope they fix the problem soon.

Xbox Live Could Come to iOS and Android Devices

March 5, 2014 by Cheats.co Staff - Leave a comment

If you enjoy using Xbox Live on your Xbox and Windows products, stay tuned—in the future, you could be able to access it on other devices, as well.

Verge received word from anonymous sources that Microsoft has plans to extend Xbox Live to devices that run the iOS and Android operating systems. This would make the service more versatile and far-reaching.

While we can’t confirm the truth of this rumor, it is supported by an old Microsoft job listing. This listing, which has since been deleted, referenced “a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android.”

Microsoft has declined to comment on the matter.

As with all rumors, take it with a pinch of salt. We’ll keep you update if further details emerge.

Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Cards: $20 Off

February 21, 2014 by Cheats.co Staff - Leave a comment

If you’re interested in Xbox Live Gold, you’re in luck. Amazon and Best Buy both currently have 12-month subscription cards on sale for only $40, which is $20 off the usual price.

This is great for both players who don’t have an Xbox Live Gold subscription and those who do, as you can stack subscriptions on top of one another. Xbox Live Gold gives you access to online features, online multiplayer, and two free games each month, among other benefits.

Deals like this are always nice, especially if you plan to purchase or renew a subscription anyway—why wait, when you can get it at a reduced price? Check it out at either one of the retailers to take advantage of the sale.

Elder Scrolls Online: PS Plus Isn’t Required, Xbox Live Gold Is

January 28, 2014 by Cheats.co Staff - Leave a comment

With the advent of the PlayStation 4 Sony announced that players would need a PS Plus membership in order to play online multiplayer games. Xbox 360 players had always needed an Xbox Live Gold subscription for online multiplayer, but the PS3’s multiplayer had previously been free. In the new generation of console gaming, both companies have placed online multiplayer behind their paid membership service.

However despite this, PS4 players will still be able to play The Elder Scrolls Online without paying for PS Plus. The Elder Scrolls Online is an upcoming MMO addition to the popular Elder Scrolls franchise, and it will require its own monthly subscription of $15. The PlayStation Blog confirmed that PS4 players will not need to have Plus for this game.

Xbox One players, on the other hand, will need to be members of Xbox Live Gold in addition to paying for the Elder Scrolls Online subscription.

Many PS4 players already have PS Plus memberships, but for those who don’t, this is welcome news. While this news has reinvigorated some arguments between Xbox and PlayStation fans, a great number of Elder Scrolls fans are more concerned about the subscription for the game itself.