What do you pay for online?

[sojourner]

Just killed my WOW subscription. Just had played it to death and the next expansion is going to change the game so radically it won't be recognizable. And not in a good way.

Currently paying for SW:TOR. The mechanics are similar to WOW, but the storyline kicks major ass.

 

[tomalak301]

Right now, only two things

NHL Gamecenter Live

I'm a big Hockey fan and this allows me to follow the game. I haven't really liked the reliability of the service so I'm not sure if I'm going to resubscribe (And the blackouts are a bare) but I do love Hockey where if I go back to just watching a few games, that might suck.

Trekbbs Premium Membership

I think I did this mostly to try and donate to the board. I'm fine with Ads (Unless they become intrusive) but I've been on this board long enough and with money being tight as it is (Even though there's been no updates on that and it's almost March), I figured I can do a part, even if it's small.

I also buy stuff online but that's too few and far between.

Regarding dropping cable, I would love to know why they can't give me an option to pay a little more if I am guaranteed and no game will be blacked out, national or not. I know they want ratings on the networks, but they also want revenue and the reason I haven't dropped Cable is because then I can't watch the local teams play.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I used to have a TrekBBS premium membership before I got Modded. Now the only things I pay for are the domain name to RJDiogenes.com and my store at CafePress. I'm thinking about getting a premium membership at deviantArt, but I haven't done it yet.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Regarding dropping cable, I would love to know why they can't give me an option to pay a little more if I am guaranteed and no game will be blacked out, national or not. I know they want ratings on the networks, but they also want revenue and the reason I haven't dropped Cable is because then I can't watch the local teams play.

Unfortunately, teams are very anal-retentive about territorial rights. There's big money to be made in their deals with networks; if too many people dropped cable, that revenue would diminish or go away entirely. The revenue they'd lose would be a lot more than what they could ever get back by other means...

Me, I can live with it. It's usually not a problem for me, since I'm a Yankees and Mets fan but I live in Royals territory. But if the Yanks play the Royals, that's a problem...usually I just wait for the game to become available (about an hour and a half after the end of the game).

OTOH, I could listen to the radio feed of the game, live, even if the video coverage is blacked out. Radio feeds are never blacked out. And it's actually a lot of fun to listen to a game radio-style, just like the old days. (You can do this with an iOS app, or on the computer. You get a rendering of the ballpark, plus information on every play, who's at bat, etc.) Unfortunately, then I'd have to deal with the Yankees radio team (John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman) whom I really can't stand.

I don't know if any other sport has an equivalent of MLB.TV. I think hockey and basketball do; not sure about football, soccer, etc.

 

[tomalak301]

Hockey has their Gamecenter Live package and the NBA has their league pass package. I don't know how the blackout rules work on League Pass, but on GCL, I have to wait 48 hours to see a game if it's blacked out, either local team (in my case the Sharks), or a game on National TV (NHL Network, NBC Sports Network, or NBC). Not a real big fan of the blackout restrictions, but they tell you before you sign up so it's not really an excuse.

I have heard that with more prime time games on Saturday for Fox, (Even though for you being a Yankee fan, most fox games are probably the Yankees anyway) there will be more Blackouts on MLB.TV. That kind of sucks.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Netflix and an online subscription to The Baltimore Sun. Will probably add The New York Times one of these days.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have heard that with more prime time games on Saturday for Fox, (Even though for you being a Yankee fan, most fox games are probably the Yankees anyway) there will be more Blackouts on MLB.TV. That kind of sucks.

Yeah, it does. Fortunately, not all Yankee Saturday games are on Fox. I've actually had more Met blackouts than Yankee. (And also fortunately, the Mets have a MUCH better radio team - Howie Rose is awesome) It's pretty much a crapshoot as to which weekend games will end up on Fox or ESPN. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to it at all.

Generally, though, at times when I can't wait for the games to be available as archives, I'm satisfied with the radio angle. Listening to games on the radio is really cool. And the iPad app, or web browser version, that you use for radio listening, is an acceptable substitute - true, you don't actually get to see the players move, but it gives you detailed descriptions of all plays, up-to-the-minute stats, and an image of the ballpark (taken from MLB The Show). So it's almost like watching the game live...

Another added bonus - even though the MLB.TV subscription went up slightly in price this year, they now offer the iOS apps for free if you are a subscriber.

Side note: In the playoffs, it actually works better if you don't watch games on Fox. Because if you do, you have to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

 

[tomalak301]

^I still think Baseball is the best sport to listen to on the radio. It's a beautiful day, you're probably out in the yard, and you have a game on. There were times when I was younger I couldn't wait to work in the backyard because it meant I can turn on the radio and hear Jon Miller, Duene Kuiper and Mike Krukow just not only bring a Spring Training game, but tell some of the funniest stories you'd ever hear. You can't get that with any other sport.

 

[Amaris]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention Netflix! I guess I'm so used to seeing it on my TV I forgot it's an internet based subscription.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I have the same reaction to MLB.TV. The AppleTV device lets me watch all MLB.TV games on my actual TV so I don't have to look at them on the computer anymore. This was actually the deal-breaker that convinced me to drop cable.

 

[Holdfast]

Currently paying for SW:TOR. The mechanics are similar to WOW, but the storyline kicks major ass.

I've never played WOW as the universe doesn't interest me, but I do like Star Wars, so was briefly thinking of picking up SWTOR. But I can't bring myself to pay the monthly fee. So I'm getting my SW fix by watching various uploads of gameplay/story on youtube instead.

As might be garnered from the above, I'm remarkably cheap when it comes to subscription-based content, and don't pay for anything like that online (nor offline, apart from the obvious & unavoidable recurring stuff like mortgages, utility bills, etc).

I may break the habit if and when I hit my imgur limit as their interface is so slick, and one or two sites I use block imageshack. But I've been doing pretty well so far just deleting old images to stay under the cap, so may well avoid the need to pay indefinitely.

 

[-Brett-]

A month of Xbox Live gold every now and then. Even more occasionally, a month of Warcraft. More or less replaced by The Old Republic now.

 

[Finn]

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The ads on the TrekBBS hasn't been annoying in a long while, especially since the latest move. I barely notice them these days.

 

[Daneel]

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Same here. A few years ago, I had a paid membership on an online dating site, but that proved to be mostly a bust. I sometimes think about trying it out again, but I'll probably stick to the free sites next time.

I've also considered getting a subscription to Netflix, although the selection on the Canadian site pales in comparison to what's offered in the U.S. Still, $8.00 a month is rather tempting...

 

[sojourner]

Currently paying for SW:TOR. The mechanics are similar to WOW, but the storyline kicks major ass.

I've never played WOW as the universe doesn't interest me, but I do like Star Wars, so was briefly thinking of picking up SWTOR. But I can't bring myself to pay the monthly fee. So I'm getting my SW fix by watching various uploads of gameplay/story on youtube instead.

When you average out the cost by the number of hours of play it's actually some of the cheapest entertainment you can get. Especially compared to movies/cable tv.

 

[StolenThunder]

Not much. I think the only service I currently pay for is a Spotify membership - at £5/month for unlimited streaming music, no adverts, it's well worth it.

 

[Holdfast]

Currently paying for SW:TOR. The mechanics are similar to WOW, but the storyline kicks major ass.

I've never played WOW as the universe doesn't interest me, but I do like Star Wars, so was briefly thinking of picking up SWTOR. But I can't bring myself to pay the monthly fee. So I'm getting my SW fix by watching various uploads of gameplay/story on youtube instead.

When you average out the cost by the number of hours of play it's actually some of the cheapest entertainment you can get. Especially compared to movies/cable tv.

Yeah, but I don't have cable TV or any sort of movie subscription service either, and have bought maybe 2-3 DVDs over the past year or so. As I said, I'm cheap.

But I do accept your basic point about the potential value in terms of hours vs. cost. So far I'm satisfied just following the gameplay/story for free, but I might cave at some point. It looks to be a genuinely good game.

 

[Lumi]

Really thinking on subscribing to SW:TOR. I played the beta and loved it... and I miss it. How much is it per month?

 

[JB2005]

Kindle subscription to the Times (which I got when I realised I was being taken for a ride buying a paper copy every day!) that's it though!

 

[sojourner]

Really thinking on subscribing to SW:TOR. I played the beta and loved it... and I miss it. How much is it per month?

Same as WoW, $14 per month depending on subscription plan.