Dear Xbox Live: I Quit

Dear Microsoft and Xbox Live,

The joy that I have been experiencing with your system playing games like Lost Odyssey and Mass Effect have been rather substantial. This does not however excuse you from providing me with an online experience (that I must pay for) which has seen its fair share of problems in the last couple of months.

I thought that the concept was pretty straightforward. I give you money, you give me uninterrupted service and speedy connections with people who are a joy to play against/with. I do enjoy the fact that you have a great file service for downloading demos and game videos, but your constant lack of being able to see upcoming service spikes has led me to think that you might not know what you are doing when it comes to online connectivity.

This leads me to my conundrum, I enjoy the 1~2 matches that I play against online opponents every month but I don't see why I must pay for a feature that is included with a game. Should not the creators of said game and online capabilities be responsible for paying for the server time that might be used by its customers? Shouldn't all games have a memorable single player experience that I won't need multiplayer like Halo: Combat Evolved? Did I not pay you $60 for a new game that in all actuality shouldn't cost that much considering that I pay $8 a month for online connectivity?

Microsoft, I have to say that after buying my PS3 and enjoying the free multiplayer for my games, not to mention the promise of Home soon, has led me to this. As of this month, you will no longer be allowed to take money from me for a service that should be provided for free. I will no longer buy multiplayer specific games for the Xbox 360, but will instead pick up said game on the PS3. This latest fiasco with the CoD4 maps has left a sour taste in my mouth. The money I save from not paying for your service will go into a savings that will pay for real social activities, not the one that you promised me with Xbox Live.

Regretfully cancelling my Live Gold membership,

Excremento