14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like Microsoft's confusing rollout of the Live service on the PC, has created quite a stir. The company's vision how gamers will gain and use achievements, keep a gamerscore record, and having a consistent friends list, while enjoying a quality multiplayer network, hasn't exactly met demand.
Joe The Dragon writes referring to the article on top of the issue at ExtremeTech: "The biggest mistake Microsoft is making with Live on the PC is the way they're treating the PC as if it's a console platform they can control. They're trying to lock out the rest of the world and to charge for features that PC gamers have had for free for ages. It's a shortsighted, greedy scheme that could only come from a product manager or VP who simply doesn't "get" PC gaming."
And now for the interesting piece of the article: what is a silver member's status with the newly rolled out Live service for the PC: "The free Silver level of Xbox Live lets you log in on the PC and earn Achievements just like you do on the 360--but only single-player Achievements. Multiplayer Achievements are only for those $50-a-year Gold members. Player matchmaking is for Gold members only. Voice in games is for Gold members only. Cross-platform play between 360 and PC is for Gold members only. In fact, the only thing silver members can really do is view a server list and hop onto a specific server."
And isn't it typical for Microsoft to only give good stuff for the high rollers? Silver won't get you anywhere, remember that! Care to take a look at Sony's PlayStation Home? Or why not even the Wii's Virtual Channel? What the heck, so you'll play Zelda and Castlevania all day, but at least it doesn't cost you a penny after you download the pair.