If it's crap... We'll tell you
Point System
I frequently get into talks about this with my friends, and it came up recently in a discussion here on spill. The person I had been chatting with seemed to think I wanted only to complain, so I decided to make my position clear.
I have never been comfortable with internal currency. You go to a fair and have to buy tickets to go on the rides and whatnot but the numbers don't quite add up, and you're usually left with some extra that you can use for literally nothing else. This is what Microsoft has done with Xbox Live. I use the service, and have games I enjoy I've downloaded form the arcade. But when all is said and done there's some points left over, and I don't have enough for anything else I want, nor do I care to invest in more points. So I've got, let's say, about 200 points left. There's nothing I want to spend it in the Xbox shop, and no where else I can spend it. This seems fishy to me.
"But Undeed," you might ask, "Why not just buy more points, till you come out even?" Because coming out even will probably mean buying some piddling useless picture pack or theme I'm never going to use, especially when most of the arcade games and whatnot I've got come with something like that and I can get many more for free. I got a free TDK theme by looking hard enough.
"But," you might inquire, "Why not save the points from purchases until you have enough for something worth while?" It's going to take a long time, unless you are an avid mathematician or keep close track of what you spend on points. I usually just buy the biggest pack so I can get what I want.
"Still," you might say, "None of these are really convincing reasons." Then I posit to you this: Microsoft can take our money through Live. They do it every time we pay for points. As far as I'm aware, PlayStation takes 'real' currency in exchange for all of their online products. Why institute an internal form of currency? I'm positive it's completely internal, few developers or employees would work for points, and those that would are likely mad or somesuch. What's the ultimate purpose?
It's like going to a Chuckie Cheese when you were little: Quarters turn into tokens, tokens turn into tickets. If you want more tickets, you have to spend money on tokens. And you will never have the right amount, it'll always be just over or just under, encouraging you to buy more tokens. It's the same concept, leaving you with leftovers and stuff you still want. You're just thirty tickets away from the B.B. Gun...
I have never been comfortable with internal currency. You go to a fair and have to buy tickets to go on the rides and whatnot but the numbers don't quite add up, and you're usually left with some extra that you can use for literally nothing else. This is what Microsoft has done with Xbox Live. I use the service, and have games I enjoy I've downloaded form the arcade. But when all is said and done there's some points left over, and I don't have enough for anything else I want, nor do I care to invest in more points. So I've got, let's say, about 200 points left. There's nothing I want to spend it in the Xbox shop, and no where else I can spend it. This seems fishy to me.
"But Undeed," you might ask, "Why not just buy more points, till you come out even?" Because coming out even will probably mean buying some piddling useless picture pack or theme I'm never going to use, especially when most of the arcade games and whatnot I've got come with something like that and I can get many more for free. I got a free TDK theme by looking hard enough.
"But," you might inquire, "Why not save the points from purchases until you have enough for something worth while?" It's going to take a long time, unless you are an avid mathematician or keep close track of what you spend on points. I usually just buy the biggest pack so I can get what I want.
"Still," you might say, "None of these are really convincing reasons." Then I posit to you this: Microsoft can take our money through Live. They do it every time we pay for points. As far as I'm aware, PlayStation takes 'real' currency in exchange for all of their online products. Why institute an internal form of currency? I'm positive it's completely internal, few developers or employees would work for points, and those that would are likely mad or somesuch. What's the ultimate purpose?
It's like going to a Chuckie Cheese when you were little: Quarters turn into tokens, tokens turn into tickets. If you want more tickets, you have to spend money on tokens. And you will never have the right amount, it'll always be just over or just under, encouraging you to buy more tokens. It's the same concept, leaving you with leftovers and stuff you still want. You're just thirty tickets away from the B.B. Gun...
Tags: xbox_live
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