how do you xbox users feel about the points system for purchases?

I'm a ps3 owner but alot of my friends have 360's and one thing they constantly complain about is microsofts point system. Why dick around with a useless point system when it comes to purchases just tell me the dollar amount so I can decide if its worth it or not. Naming the currency, "points", doesn't make any sense either "points" are traditionally something you earn(think any other context where points are used like sports they are awards for effort or acheivement) these are essentially credits or "MS money" you pay for. thats one thing psn has over live even if its a minor issue its annoying at least on psn you know what you are paying for each piece of content whereas with the point system you have to calculate and convert how much or little its going to cost you in actual money. On top of that the points are in set bundled amounts you can't just purchase the points you want for one item you have to buy a minimum number of points often time more than the point amount needed for a piece of software.

Calling it "points" is highly inaccurate you don't earn them you buy them. If gold members could earn small amounts of extra points(25-50 point increments) for certain milestones in gamer points(like when you hit certain numbers 1000, 5000, 10,000 etc) or certain hard to get achievements thereby rewarding subscribers and hard core gamers, would certainly increase the logic for a points system.

Yes this is nitpicking but its one thing about live that has always had me scratching my head, especially when everything else is so well done.

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

lolfaqs

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

lolfaqs

It's funny money and it's lame...but you get used to it.

I still run into friends that say "Yeah, I Bought that game for $8" and I say, "Don't you mean $10? 800 points is $10." lol.

I do find almost every 360 owner that I personally know had the "Extra points left over so I bought a Theme/Pics" thing happen too. I am very, very careful to buy only items in $5-$10 denominations to avoid such scandal.

So far this gen, I haven't gotten the "Oooh, I have some extra points left over I think I will buy some Pics/Themes" happen to me yet.

In fact, Rockband Music is 1 penny more expensive with every purchase on 360, which since I bought almost every song, it adds up. I do like the Nintendo/Sony system much better.

How does the amazon system work? Do they shoot you a dl code vis email after purchase or something like that?

As for the system I don't use xb360 point chart, I buy mine from zune.net. But if anybody has tried the amazon one, let me know how that goes.

[QUOTE="lolfaqs"]

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

moose_knuckler

point system is lame, but i noticed stuff on xblm is slightly cheaper then psn store e.g. i think cod waw maps are 8 quids on psn store while they are 800 points on xbox, you get 1000 points for £8.50

point system is lame, but i noticed stuff on xblm is slightly cheaper then psn store e.g. i think cod waw maps are 8 quids on psn store while they are 800 points on xbox, you get 1000 points for £8.50

sikanderahmed

well slightly cheaper prices probably has to do with the subscriber issue, recently it was announced that sony charges publisers bandwidth fees so the slightly higher prices are a result of no subscription charge for online. Live fees pay for the servers so there are no bandwidth fees for the publisher so the subscribers are subsidizing the costs of DLC in a small way maybe.

I say again MS should let gold members earn extra points for gamerscore and certain acheievments you can only earn so much from each game so to keep earning your "bonus" points you would still have to spend money on games so MS would benefit with higher game sales and hardcore gamers who spend money on gaming would be essentially earning discounts for gaming alot. Silver accounts would not get the bonus points as they can still DL content from the servers that the gold members are paying for.

I dont like the point system at all...I just wanna buy w/e it is at the cost and not have extra points left over.

I don't have a problem, if i want i go onto zune get my point increments and im able to get them better on the zune software.

it doesnt matter its just money

I'm indifferent to it. Points systems are common practice in many more places outside of Xbox Live. You people make it seem like this is something new. At most, it's an annoyance, but even that's a stretch.

[QUOTE="IronBass"]I would prefer it were direct converted, of course. But considering that most things cost a 400 (5 Euros), 800 (10 Euros) or 1200 (15 Euros) is not an issue at all.Salt_The_Fries

It's ok

It's really simple to convert most purchases to your real money value

The only thing that sucks is that you have to buy the points to buy what you want and they changed the wuantities on XBL a while ago so you have to buy more points than you need usually.

your friends should spend more time on school if they cant do simple math and convert points to money currency Dante2710

It has nothing to do with the converting which is simple enough I was making the argument that the point system is the one segment of live that everyone pretty much agrees is inefficient and annoying and like one poster said is a MS scam to slowly but surely make you spend more money than you intend. Left over points leave you with a few options.

1)buy more points to actually get more content you want

2)leave your leftover points essentially overpaying for content you wanted

3)spend the points on themes, etc.. that you don't really want but get just to not "waste you points"(don't get me wrong people will obviously find content they want to spend the points on but would have not felt inclined to get unless they had already purchased points for something else.

Also I find it annoying you took the time to insult my friends' intelligence indirectly insulting my own intelliegence(I never said they complained about the conversion but the system itself the converting was one issue with the system I brought up). Stop being childish I know its sw but insinuating about people you don't know to prop up your own ego or for brand loyalty is sad.

[QUOTE="lolfaqs"]

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

moose_knuckler

Perhaps, but those cables are a mere $5 from monoprice. And given everything the PS3 does come with, you really don't need to buy anything else except a second controller and a headset (which comes free with Warhawk and Socom).

Some of the logic in this thread is overly dramtic. Sometime you may end up buying a few more points than you need (less than 200 usually) They still get spent, it's not like EVERY time you buy something you're always paying more . If you added up all your contents worth and how much you've paid in points for all of it, how much more do you think it's going to be over at any point, not alot.

[QUOTE="lolfaqs"]

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

Salt_The_Fries

I really don't care at all. Just like I have 30 extra dollars on my PSN account at any given time, I usually keep 1200 points in my XBL account. It's my gaming bank. Whenever something comes out, I have cash ready to buy it independent of my normal spending. I did the same thing when I owned a Wii, I kept 1000 points in my account. It's a non issue to me.

they did that toincrease revenue.....

I'm a ps3 owner but alot of my friends have 360's and one thing they constantly complain about is microsofts point system. Why dick around with a useless point system when it comes to purchases just tell me the dollar amount so I can decide if its worth it or not. Naming the currency, "points", doesn't make any sense either "points" are traditionally something you earn(think any other context where points are used like sports they are awards for effort or acheivement) these are essentially credits or "MS money" you pay for. thats one thing psn has over live even if its a minor issue its annoying at least on psn you know what you are paying for each piece of content whereas with the point system you have to calculate and convert how much or little its going to cost you in actual money. On top of that the points are in set bundled amounts you can't just purchase the points you want for one item you have to buy a minimum number of points often time more than the point amount needed for a piece of software.

Calling it "points" is highly inaccurate you don't earn them you buy them. If gold members could earn small amounts of extra points(25-50 point increments) for certain milestones in gamer points(like when you hit certain numbers 1000, 5000, 10,000 etc) or certain hard to get achievements thereby rewarding subscribers and hard core gamers, would certainly increase the logic for a points system.

Yes this is nitpicking but its one thing about live that has always had me scratching my head, especially when everything else is so well done.

Citan_Uzuki

how about you mind your business! :P

[QUOTE="Dante2710"]your friends should spend more time on school if they cant do simple math and convert points to money currency Citan_Uzuki

It has nothing to do with the converting which is simple enough I was making the argument that the point system is the one segment of live that everyone pretty much agrees is inefficient and annoying and like one poster said is a MS scam to slowly but surely make you spend more money than you intend. Left over points leave you with a few options.

1)buy more points to actually get more content you want

2)leave your leftover points essentially overpaying for content you wanted

3)spend the points on themes, etc.. that you don't really want but get just to not "waste you points"(don't get me wrong people will obviously find content they want to spend the points on but would have not felt inclined to get unless they had already purchased points for something else.

Also I find it annoying you took the time to insult my friends' intelligence indirectly insulting my own intelliegence(I never said they complained about the conversion but the system itself the converting was one issue with the system I brought up). Stop being childish I know its sw but insinuating about people you don't know to prop up your own ego or for brand loyalty is sad.

your friends should spend more time on school if they cant do simple math and convert points to money currency Dante2710

It's crap. While XBLA has a much better selection than PSN, I prefer PSN for using cash instead of dumb points.

I really don't care at all. Just like I have 30 extra dollars on my PSN account at any given time, I usually keep 1200 points in my XBL account. It's my gaming bank. Whenever something comes out, I have cash ready to buy it independent of my normal spending. I did the same thing when I owned a Wii, I kept 1000 points in my account. It's a non issue to me.

heretrix

The answer is obvious. It's the same scam where hotdogs and buns are sold in packages with quantities that don't match. It lets M$ make a product seem cheaper until you go to purchase it, and you realize you have to buy more than you need to get what you want.

lolfaqs

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Live/b/ref=vg_nav_hp_xbl?ie=UTF8&node=979417011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r=1CT5D4NMRBYFM3CZY42N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=473444411&pf_rd_i=468642

You can just buy the games at amazon if you dont like the points system...

I don't get why people complain about leftover points seriously. Say you have 300-400 points leftover and you can't buy anything with it, ok noticed. So you get a new 1600pt card, now you have 2000 and can buy more new releases or whatever ..the points never expire so what's the problem of having leftovers? SwampKitten

Simple math conversions make it easy, you'd have to be a fool to be ripped off by the points

It is stupid I'll agree, but to be honest I don't lose any sleep over it. I pretty much figure out what I want to buy and then figure out how many points I need to buy. Buy said item and usually let the few remaining points sit and rot until my next purchase. Again, stupid but whatever...

Simple math conversions make it easy, you'd have to be a fool to be ripped off by the points

Toriko42