Real life MMD: Should I pay extra for Sky?

mbetz

I saw this in the weekly MSE e-mail, and thought I should point out that you don't have to be a multi-room subscriber to get the sky player on xbox live. The reason I know this is the case is because I am not a multi-room subsciber but have no problem getting it on my xbox. When it first launched, you had to have multi-room, but this changed after a couple of months, presumably after a bit of a backlash.

To be honest, unless you subscribe to the Sports or Movie packages you're not really missing out on much. The channel choice is limited, and a lot of American imports aren't streamed live (due to rights issues).

Crazysprog

From what you say, the X-box Gold membership is for you, and payment of that is not shared between you and your housemates. But also given you would not have the option to watch Sky on your X-box if it wasn't for your housemates having the multiroom subscription. So to be fair divide the multiroom subscription between you and your house mates (£20 by 3 equals £6.67). Then everyone's happy.

killick_becki

If you would buy the £10 a month to have it on your xbox if they didn't already have multiroom then you should contribute. If you wouldn't pay the extra for it then you shouldn't need to contribute as you wouldn't use it if you had to pay for it.

DPMW1987

If you have sky Broadband the Xbox sky is also free so that would be in your orignal Sky package, If not i would just pay £10 a month like the other 2 get a free sky box and all the chanels, Xbox only has 30 channels that you can watch and a few on demand programs.

DrScotsman

If the OP honestly wouldn't have paid for Sky Multiroom if he couldn't get it for free, then I don't think he should pay.

Let's say OP happily takes the bus (with a paid-for bus pass) to work every day, and then one day the two housemates book a taxi for themselves, with the unintended effect that there's a seat spare. Let's say the OP says "I'm fine with the bus, I'm not chipping in for the taxi". You COULD make him take the bus on principle, but you wouldn't - you'd not be an !!! and let him share the taxi for free.

This is the same thing. The two housemates have paid for multiroom and an unintended result is that Sky on Xbox is available. The OP could say "I'm fine with not having Sky on my Xbox, I'm not going to chip in". The roommates could of course not give him the Sky on principle, but it'd make much more sense to just let him have it for free.

This of course assumes that the OP is in fact honest and isn't just playing the game

cwilso

Hi Just thought I would reply saying that I don't think the OP should pay.
He wasn't paying for sky multi-room before so he clearly didn't want it.
A perk of having sky and an Xbox Live Gold subscription is that you get Skyplayer on the Xbox for free. You get on demand shows from your sky package for free.
There is no mention of sky multi-room so even if his two house-mates cancelled their multi-room he would still get Sky on his Xbox for Free.
So why pay for someone else's service when yours is free anyway?

A.Jones

DrScotsman wrote: »

If the OP honestly wouldn't have paid for Sky Multiroom if he couldn't get it for free, then I don't think he should pay.

Let's say OP happily takes the bus (with a paid-for bus pass) to work every day, and then one day the two housemates book a taxi for themselves, with the unintended effect that there's a seat spare. Let's say the OP says "I'm fine with the bus, I'm not chipping in for the taxi". You COULD make him take the bus on principle, but you wouldn't - you'd not be an !!! and let him share the taxi for free.

This is the same thing. The two housemates have paid for multiroom and an unintended result is that Sky on Xbox is available. The OP could say "I'm fine with not having Sky on my Xbox, I'm not going to chip in". The roommates could of course not give him the Sky on principle, but it'd make much more sense to just let him have it for free.

This of course assumes that the OP is in fact honest and isn't just playing the game

TBH I wouldn't let the bus user get the taxi ride for free. If he wants to use the taxi, then he should pay his share. Otherwise, he can use the bus. If he gets a free ride, then he learns that he can always get the taxi for free in future.

Another analogy would be if two friends rent a holiday cottage for a week for a fixed price, and there is a spare room. Someone else asks if they could use it. Should they expect to stay in the spare room for free, because the others are already paying for the cottage, or should they pay a share towards the cost.

fluffels

The Xbox Live subscription is personal, and shouldn't be split. The Multiroom is, and should.

HOWEVER, I'd say that you should pay less than they do for said multiroom because with the Xbox you'll get far less in the way of channels. I had a 'month trial card' of Xbox/Sky Player late last year. It cost £5, and included all the Sky Sports channels.

...I still didn't think it was worth it - especially the way it sometimes alludes towards standard definition and can't even hold a candle to the quality of the iPlayer (in non-HD) on a bad iPlayer day. My flatmate, an avid sports fan, couldn't bring himself to watch it. It's dependent on your internet connection and ours is fantastic - why it was quite so bad I'll never know.

My humble opinion is Sky Player on the Xbox isn't worth the money they ask - even at £5/month (I have no other Sky subscription). Your mileage may vary but try it out first before you commit to joining in and paying. There's only so much slightly blurry NatGeo you can watch

VT82

If Sky on Xbox isn't as good as Sky multiroom, you shouldn't pay any more I don't think.

If it IS, one of your housemates should cancel their multiroom and get an Xbox with gold membership. By saving £10 per month, this will be paid for in under 2 years, and once the saving has been recouped, it will only be £40 per year instead of £120 for the Sky, and they will have a free Xbox as well.

pennypinchUK

Sometimes life isn't fair.

Likewise, enjoy the upsides when they come along. Sounds like you've benefited from one of those upsides. Enjoy it, and don't trouble yourself with your housemates niggles.

And if it's really weighing down your conscience, buy them a pint every now and again.