I've been on the fence over Xbox Live for some time. On the PC side of gaming I've always had the lower end machine so I was always at a disadvantage. As I'm more a console gamer I figured I'd get the best of both worlds-online but with an even hardware playing field.
OXM had their free 2 month subscription so I jumped at it. I put together a 35+ foot network cable to run from my cable modem in the computer room to the living room, popped in the demo disc and let 'er rip. After an hour of playing the Crimson Skies and the Return to Castle Wolfenstein demos I knew I was missing something: the head set. So I purchase a Version 1 kit but I don't use the year subscription, just in case I may not like the experience I can at least sell the kit on E-bay to recoup the money I spent. Now I was ready to truely experience Live.
Overall it's a fun experience but towards the end of the week of my testing the games started to get tedious. Yeah the human element mixes stuff up but overall the objectives get a bit tiring. I'm not a sports guy and when I do play a sports game it's not in a competitive setting. So that puts me into the FPS/action side of things and there is only so much one can take even IF you play different games. Voice does add a lot but only when used properly. Usually those who have headsets talk to issue directions (which is fine and great-adds to the experience), talk to make conversation (cool too), stay quiet to not lose concentration (understandable but kinda boring) or make asses of themselves either with noises or constant stupid babble. Another downer is that the games I actually enjoy doesn't allow me to communicate with my opponents. RtCW is a perfect example as is Counterstrike. Rainbow Six does it right but it's a bit on the slow side for me and Crimson Skies has it but only in a non team game.
I'm not here to say Live teh sux or anything. If you are into online but the PC side of gaming left a sour taste, give XBL a try. It may take a bit to find a good group to play with but when you do it can be a lot of fun. For me I just confirmed that my desire for online gaming isn't that big and the subscription doesn't seem to be worth it to me and I just wanted to share my experience.