Marketplace Points were never meant to 'Mislead' anyone...GTFO

[CrimsonGhost56]

Who gives a shit. It's almost like people who burn a whole in their pocket offline need to do it online too. Just pretend it's a savings account and wait till you need something with those extra points lol.

your right. i should of spent those 150 points on a super cool new hat for my avatar.

 

[Maynard]

those cost way more then that

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

those cost way more then that

lol. looks like the hat on your avatar would go for at least 400

 

[Prodigal Son]

What the fuck, I need to do math? I purposely didn't do math in school, because I knew I didn't need it. Now I fucking need it? Faggots.

 

[Sven Draconian]

While I'm not saying the 80 points=1 dollar thing is hard to figure out, it's still stupid...and obviously meant to mislead people.

Firstly, why would 80 points equal a dollar? Just a strange number to use.
And then to work them in incriments of 400/800/1200/1600 ect, again, just strange.

Ok, the reason is simple. 100 points=1 dollar is too easy for people to realize what they are spending (This game costs how much?). Now it's 500-1000-1500-2000 and people realize that this game is costing them 15 bucks. Now it isn't as attractive.

Sure, anybody can figure it out. I don't really feel bad for people that are too dumb to figure it out. But, it's obvious the point was to mislead people into looking at the downloads as cheaper than they really are.

If it wasn't, they could have just used a simple 10 point incriments...or 1000 point. Why else use 80?

 

[Goober]

When the system first came out, and I was still on the PS2, just reading about the 360; I thought that the gamerpoints you earned from achievements translated into Microsoft points that you could use to buy stuff. lol

 

[Twigg4075]

Sorry for the late response but I was sleeping. I work midnights.

I'm not saying I don't get it. I do. But there are a TON of people that don't. I listen to a ton of podcasts and even those guys, "professional game journalists" and such basically have to pull out a calculator at times to figure out pricing. Most of the times it's with shit like the L4D DLC. Remember that? It was like 540 points or something. Yeah, go ahead and lie and tell me you know how many dollars that is. When I heard the price I guessed it was $7. I was right but I wasn't sure.

For instance, read this Kotaku review for Serious Sam HD...http://kotaku.com/5454525/serious-sam-hd-review-this-time-its-really-serious

Notice the last part? This game retails for 1200 Microsoft point or $19.99. Umm, no. 1200 points is $15.

And, c'mon Maynard, how is this the same as on the Wii. The Wii's points are an exact cent to point ratio.

And like others have said, one of the most annoying things is having left over points that you can't do a thing with. The pricing on some shit is just either ridiculously overpriced or just plain stupidly priced. Right now I have 500 points. What can I do with that? Nothing. Sure I could buy an old arcade game for 400 points but then what can i do with 100points? Not a damn thing. I thought maybe I could buy an indy game like I Made a Game With Zombies in It, but nope, that's 80 points. Awesome.

The whole point is to screw people like that so that they have to keep buy more points and the perpetual cycle never ends.

And again, like I said, of course people like us all know what the points equal to. But people that don't frequent boards, read magazines and listen to podcasts, but just play games, are all but clueless what the points mean. Take off your rose colored glasses for a second.

 

[Prodigal Son]

lol @ kotaku being professional game journalists.

Does that make Rush and Len professional web designers?

 

[Maynard]

lol. looks like the hat on your avatar would go for at least 400

haha, that one is a free one. I wouldnt pay for that shit

While I'm not saying the 80 points=1 dollar thing is hard to figure out, it's still stupid...and obviously meant to mislead people.

Firstly, why would 80 points equal a dollar? Just a strange number to use.
And then to work them in incriments of 400/800/1200/1600 ect, again, just strange.

see the thing is that we are thinking like Americans. Remember that XBL is worldwide so dollars dont really factor into it....leaf made a post outlining this already. MS was creating a worldwide standard. People in Japan may be saying why does 1 million yen equal 400 points.....see what im saying?

lol @ kotaku being professional game journalists.

Does that make Rush and Len professional web designers?

omg....thats fucking halarious

 

[leaffan]

I gotta double facepalm this.

 

[Twigg4075]

lol @ kotaku being professional game journalists.

Does that make Rush and Len professional web designers?

I never said Kotaku was. That was just an example I posted about people being confused that I just ran across the other day.

As for the statement about the pro journalists I was referring to Giant Bomb, Games Radar, even OXM. Those guys are the OFFICIAL Xbox Magazine and they are constantly slipping up when trying to figure out pricing.

And I can agree about Live being worldwide and thus that is why MS made their own pricing system. So then why are Games on Demand in normal US dollars? Hmm, that's strange. And why does the Wii store use their US cent to point ratio when Nintendo is Japanese? And why does Sony, a Japanese company, use US dollar prices on the US PSN? That argument is lame.

 

[Maynard]

And I can agree about Live being worldwide and thus that is why MS made their own pricing system. So then why are Games on Demand in normal US dollars? Hmm, that's strange. And why does the Wii store use their US cent to point ratio when Nintendo is Japanese? And why does Sony, a Japanese company, use US dollar prices on the US PSN? That argument is lame.

wait, did you agree or disagree? Do you honestly think MS charges people in Europe, Asia and anywhere else by the dollar?

there is a reason that the dashboard can be setup in a multitude of languages and its the same reason they use different platforms for other countries....you even refereed to the "US dollar prices on the US PSN"....key phrase there being US PSN meaning they have a Euro network as well.......and to that point what currency would you have them use on the US PSN? peso?

 

[SethMode]

Here's the stupid part of the "ZOMG leftover points!!1" argument, and MVPete sort of already alluded to it:

You aren't wasting money by having leftover points. This isn't like one of those giftcards that run out if you don't use them in a year. Those points STAY THERE. So you can add to them and use them for something else. I have 100 points left in my account that I KNOW will get used at some point. They aren't being wasted, they're just waiting to be used. You don't need to buy an avatar or some shit, it will all balance out.

If MS just decides to cancel Live and you lose your points without restitution I could understand the vitriol, but under these circumstances I don't understand why you would be mad. It makes absolutely ZERO sense.

 

[stevsta]

leftover points you cant do anything with is lame. happens on 360 and ps3 but ive had it happen to me more on 360.

if you look around mainly the indie games you could find a nice game that zombie game i got is pretty awesome especially with 2 people +

 

[red33]

i think this was done on purpose.

do you guys remember why the xbox was the 360 and not xbox 2? It was cuz MS didnt want the public to think the xbox was a inferior system tot he PS3 by haing a 2 next to the name instead of a 3.

Also if what Leaffan is saying is true then what about PS? Dont they use dollar amounts? You guys always say how great Xbox live is but then say tis to hard to give a price seprately for each country while the inferior PS does with the different countries.

The whole points thing was done on purpose, you guys also say tis to standardize it, but then why not go higher? 100 is much easier to do math with then 80.

MS knows whats up with people in general, this whole points thing was to make people think things are cheaper then waht it really is. Just like saying something is under 50 bucks when its 49.99 as a selling point.

 

[SethMode]

i think this was done on purpose.

do you guys remember why the xbox was the 360 and not xbox 2? It was cuz MS didnt want the public to think the xbox was a inferior system tot he PS3 by haing a 2 next to the name instead of a 3.

Also if what Leaffan is saying is true then what about PS? Dont they use dollar amounts? You guys always say how great Xbox live is but then say tis to hard to give a price seprately for each country while the inferior PS does with the different countries.

The whole points thing was done on purpose, you guys also say tis to standardize it, but then why not go higher? 100 is much easier to do math with then 80.

MS knows whats up with people in general, this whole points thing was to make people think things are cheaper then waht it really is. Just like saying something is under 50 bucks when its 49.99 as a selling point.

If you're too dumb to know that 80 = 1$ you shouldn't be playing a 360, you should be playing a Wii, after you get home from school.

I sort of see what you're saying, but a) the fact that PS does things one way is irrelevant; and b) how are they fooling anyone again? You have to spend the money on the points and then the points on the product. If you care at all about what you're buying, you'll know how much they're charging and how much your paying.

You're making it sound like they're cleverly tricking us, which is just stupid. The only thing MS is doing with this is they're hoping to guarantee that you keep coming back. If most everything is 400 or 800 points, and you can only buy bundles of 500 or 1000, then they know you'll save that remaining amount and hopefully use it on something else, which will inspire you to buy more points.

At the end of the day, if you don't like that, don't buy from them. I think the thing that bugs me the most about anybody bitching about these game providers/systems/whatever is that they act like they don't have a choice. Don't want the Dragon Age DLC that you thought should have been with the released game? Don't buy it. Problem solved.

 

[leaffan]

i think this was done on purpose.

do you guys remember why the xbox was the 360 and not xbox 2? It was cuz MS didnt want the public to think the xbox was a inferior system tot he PS3 by haing a 2 next to the name instead of a 3.

Also if what Leaffan is saying is true then what about PS? Dont they use dollar amounts? You guys always say how great Xbox live is but then say tis to hard to give a price seprately for each country while the inferior PS does with the different countries.

The whole points thing was done on purpose, you guys also say tis to standardize it, but then why not go higher? 100 is much easier to do math with then 80.

MS knows whats up with people in general, this whole points thing was to make people think things are cheaper then waht it really is. Just like saying something is under 50 bucks when its 49.99 as a selling point.

I didn't say anything about it being harder I said it standardizes prices. While american prices will stay the same (since microsoft is located in the US) the rest of us in the world have enjoyed an up and down last couple years in terms of prices.

Quick Example again: You guys will always pay $25 for a 2000 point card. Us Canadians are currently paying $29. Singapore is paying $44 and so on. So what does this mean? Well when Rock Band DLC is 160 points its 160 points. It may cost different everywhere in the world but its standard 160 points. On the PS3 though that shit goes up and down all the time for us since Harmonix is a US based company its all based off the american dollar. Some $4.99 packs were actually $6.something for us. Retarded.

The PS3 and the 360 both do their conversions correctly its just the 360s is standardized whereas the PS3 prices go up and down for the rest of the world.

Also the whole arguement about how they sell them in certain rates and having points left over just makes me shake my head.

Seriously did any of you take a basic marketing or math class in high school. It explains this shit pretty easily.

 

[red33]

U guys act like little things like this doesnt matter.

People see a lower number they figure its cheaper with there first impression.

Why isnt the 360 named xbox 2? Why 360? Again this was because they didnt want to seem inferior to the PS3. Now any smart intelligient person could understand why but what about the first initial impression, what controls our impulses to buy something. Wouldnt something that says 3 on it seem more advanced compared to a 2?

Again this is marketing, just like the points. Why not make the points standardized to 100? I understand 80 points=1 dollar is easy, but isnt 100 points=1 dollar easier? Also isnt the US xbox biggest market? The other countries have to deal with screwy coversiosn regardless where MS puts the points at, but for the US it would be easiest to make it 100.

This a multi billion dollar system, do you guys really think this wasnt done on purpose?

Now tell me 80 was chosen? Why choose 80 and not 50 or 100 or 150? Why 80? Was it some random number they drew up?

I dont have an issue with MS with their points system. i get it, i see why they have certain value cards and more flexible ones, I understand the business of it. Im just saying i think its naive to think MS wouldnt research something like this where there is so much money to made off the market place, in the middle of a system war where they lost with last gen, on something they have been promoting as a selling point for their system.

 

[riley420]

I dont have an issue with MS with their points system. i get it, i see why they have certain value cards and more flexible ones, I understand the business of it. Im just saying i think its naive to think MS wouldnt research something like this where there is so much money to made off the market place, in the middle of a system war where they lost with last gen, on something they have been promoting as a selling point for their system.

The entire purpose of the Live points system is to get you to buy more points than you need, and have leftover points to use at a future time. That's why you have to buy 1200 points to get an 800 point game.

Then they nickel and dime you with the rest of the 400 points so you buy themes, avatar clothes, gamer pics, etc.

It really is simple marketing, and if you think about it...it's pretty much genius. How much money has Microsoft made on this system? Tons.

BTW, the grammar in this thread is fucking horrible. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[Twigg4075]

lol @ kotaku being professional game journalists.

Does that make Rush and Len professional web designers?

The entire purpose of the Live points system is to get you to buy more points than you need, and have leftover points to use at a future time. That's why you have to buy 1200 points to get an 800 point game.

Then they nickel and dime you with the rest of the 400 points so you buy themes, avatar clothes, gamer pics, etc.

It really is simple marketing, and if you think about it...it's pretty much genius. How much money has Microsoft made on this system? Tons.

BTW, the grammar in this thread is fucking horrible. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Nooooooooooooooo, according to most people in this thread that is not the case at all!

But yeah, that's exactly what it is. I'm not saying it's not great for M$, because it is. I was pointing out that it sucks for us. And the whole point of this thread was pointing out an article where M$ was trying to deny this whole marketing strategy which is complete bullshit.

And by the way, that pic in your sig is hilarious.