Sorry but your exemple is just stupid and is just a PROOF of how consumers shape up the market.
Best exemple on that matter ? France.
We used to pay 60 euros during the ADSL 512K era per month with data cap. Today ? We're rocking 1Gbs no data cap internet, with TV and phone included for 30 and down to 15 euros during sales per month.
We used to pay 30 euros for 1 hour of phone and unlimited texts but limited internet data. We used to think 100 euros each months for everything unlimited was a crazy deal.
Today we pay like 15 euros for unlimited call/text/internet data up to 20GB with limited bandwith after cap is reached.
We have shiton better services with far lower prices, because consumers and competition shaped the market this way.
Your thinking is a gullible and submissive consumer behaviour.
"Sony and Microsoft charges up for a service THEY DONT PROVIDE ? Who cares, lives with your times, it's only 60 bucks a year". Thank god corporations have apologists to allow these scammy practices to keep going on.
Wow.
This whole issue is highly subjective so I don't know why you are getting so angry. You are calling consumers like myself who pay for PS+ "gullible and submissive".
In a capitalist market place where sellers can set their price and buyers can decide to purchase the product or not, you are saying we are "gullible and submissive" by purchasing a product that we feel we derive some value.
Am I "gullible and submissive" when I paid $20 to see a movie when I could've waited until it was free to watch on TV?
Am I "gullible and submissive" when I paid $10 for lunch when I could've cooked the lunch at home for half the price?
Am I "gullible and submissive" when I paid more to play Battlefront on the PS4 than on the PC?
Even if it costs Sony 1 cent to provide me with their PS+ service, it's their right to charge me what they want. They can charge $100 a month but I will tell them to fuck off. They charge $5 and in my fiscal capacity, I say fair enough. That's my choice as a consumer. That's the world we live in. These companies like Sony and Valve are providing an entertainment service, not life or death like medicine.
Comparing free multiplayer on the PC and the consoles is not the same thing. If it was the same then the consoles wouldn't exist. They exist because they offer something different, and that's what we pay for.
If you feel strongly about the issue, then vote with your wallet and don't pay. However don't call people who do pay "gullible and submissive" because that makes you look like an entitled child who is angry he can't play with his friends.