MS Points. The fleecing of xbox gamers?

441 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by VulcanDragon, Mar 18, 2009

MAXAMOUS

Discussion Starter · Mar 18, 2009

This is intended to be a discussion not a flame war here.

That said, I think it's a fair statement to say MS points = $.

From a companies aspect they probably see this as profitable. Which it is, but in the larger competitive sense they are offering less to the consumer then say their major competitors: the PC and PS3.

'Pay to multi-play' has been tried in the past. It could even be compared to the VoIP lawsuit Verizon has(had? unsure if it came to a verdict) with vonage and the slew of comapanies offering similar services.

The facts are: Consoles in one sense or another are computers. They use processors to execute those game's data which can be sent through whatever ISP you as an individual decide to use to play with others.

Where LIVE angles itself is a 'community' of gamers approach. This in turn paints the picture of a service being rendered. Which there is and isn't. What kind of services DO you get with LIVE?? Lets see and analyze.

Spotlight: Advertisements and promotions.
Game Marketplace: LIVE's inventory of stuff for MS points/$.
Video Marketplace: Netflix on here was good idea. Streaming is good. Lots of people have 360s and this is win-win for MS and netflix. People pay their Live subscriptions and Netflix gets advertisement, exposure, and profits. Also saves a ton on postage stamps. TV shows are widely available for free online including numerous popular cable network shows.
Inside xbox: Poor schmucks who got broadcasting degrees under MS payroll. Shining the spotlight on whatever MS sees privy to focus on.
I could give a f**k less what Mark McGrath has to say about RE5.
Events: This may hold the only unique thing I can think of and that's the 'game with fame' events. While you may still have a long-shot at actually getting to get in game with someone famous it's a neat and exciting idea to bridge the digital gap with the celebrities you may never get to meet in real life.

In conclusion, I feel gamers need the ability to turn Gamerscore into MS Points. Mainly because if you're going to charge for a service. Charge a developer for a license. Charge the consumer for the game. Then also charge for nearly everything on marketplace no matter how trivial. (Pictures and themes? Really?? I mean I understand some people wear t-shirts that just say NIKE across them but at least they physically have a t-shirt!) Then that's too far and you're really knickel and dimeing your consumers. Let their gamerscore be seen as a consumerscore. If I keep buying games and getting 'cool-aid points' let me turn then in for downloadable stuff at least. That is mutually beneficial to both parties.

Or maybe give gamers some points with their subscription so they can buy some stuff on the marketplace without having to whip out their credit card again?

Perhaps MS is still reeling after the HD-DVD fiasco financially?

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waylo88

· #2 · Mar 18, 2009

I too find it kind of annoying the way you get nickeled and dimed for every single thing. I'm sorry, but I don't want to pay $2 to have a picture of my favorite football team as my avatar. I also feel bad for people who bought themes prior to the NXE launch since those are now utterly useless.

However, what I find most irritating is that for a lot of demos, you need to have a Gold membership in order to play them, or you have to wait until the game has practically hit retail shelves if you want to try the demo with a silver account. Like, I have to pay to try out a demo...really? I find this to be incredibly ridiculous and actually pretty dumb.

We all know there are a ton of Gold members out there, but there are also a bunch of Silver members. These people are also customers too (despite M$ pretty much treating them like leechers), so its dumb to deny them a chance to try a game out that they might possibly buy. It seems M$ is just losing money out of their pockets on that one.

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VulcanDragon

· #3 · Mar 18, 2009

You're not complaining about MS points, you're complaining about Live being a paid service. Points have nothing to do with pay-to-multiplay.

As for whether a Gold membership is fleecing the customer or not...that's debatable. The only reason this is even a question is because PC gaming over the net was free first, and that has come to be seen as some sort of self-evident entitlement to a lot of gamers. I disagree with that notion; if Microsoft can find a substantial subscriber base willing to pay for online gaming, then they have every reason to try and sell their online gaming service.

Now that said, one of two things are going to happen eventually: either Gold will become free due to pressure from its free competitors; or the competitors will realize that they are leaving money on the table and begin to charge (although they might have to beef up their service to match Live's high quaity before anyone would pay for it).

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MAXAMOUS

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 18, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by VulcanDragon

LIVE as a paid service is not the main complaint.
I don't mind paying for their use of hosting and bandwidth for DLC and game matchmaking. The problem is IMHO they are putting developers on the track of selling games at retail with stuff missing that costs extra.

I'll refer to Capcom and the recent RE5 'Versus' only being available via DLC and costing an extra $5 ontop of the retail price.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/ca...-5-versus-dlc/

Whats next? Charging for patches? Might not be so far off.

As far as "self-evident entitlement" that's a little over the top.

Some people like buying bottled water even though water falls from the sky. You can't blame the rain clouds or the idiot who likes their Fiji water.

My analogy here is: it's silly to charge for a drop of water here and there when were paying for a water line already.

Anyhow, my issue is not with LIVE subscriptions. My issue is with MS points. Let's keep it on topic.

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VulcanDragon

· #5 · Mar 18, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAXAMOUS

I don't mind paying for their use of hosting and bandwidth for DLC and game matchmaking. The problem is IMHO they are putting developers on the track of selling games at retail with stuff missing that costs extra.

Quote:

Anyhow, my issue is not with LIVE subscriptions. My issue is with MS points. Let's keep it on topic.

Okay, I didn't get this from your OP...but I still don't see how this is about "points", it sounds like now you're arguing against paid downloadable content. In which case I can agree up to a point. From the very first X360 DLC, horse armor for Oblivion that cost something like $3, people were up in arms about it.

The conversation then would seem to be where is the line where DLC is worth an upcharge vs. when it should have been part of the base product. Surely you would not argue that some DLC is worth charging for? Expansion packs for one, e.g. the recent GTA4 add-on missions, seem like fair game to charge for. Downloadable tracks for Rock Band and Guitar Hero also seem quite fair to expect some payment for, as long as the original title has a healthy starting collection to begin with. But the example you gave does seem to look like they intentionally split out something from the regular code base as an upgrade option...I can see that being over the line in some cases, especially if it's a feature that is present for free in previous games in a series, in other games in the same genre, or in the same game on other platforms. (I don't know if any of these apply to RE5.)

Just for the record, from the title's name about "points", the immediate inference I got was that you don't like them using a point system in lieu of just listing how much something costs in regular currency. Thus my confusion, hopefully I'm getting the point now.

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