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Thread: Microsoft Finally Getting Rid of Microsoft Points

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    Default Microsoft Finally Getting Rid of Microsoft Points

    It's about damn time. Of course, this hasn't been made official yet but it's an announcement thats long overdue.
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    I've spent my share on them over the past few years but...who the fuck came up with this idea?

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    First off why are they supposedly getting rid of them

    and second off why would this be a good idea to get rid of them?

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    How is it not a good idea to get rid of them?
    Forcing consumers to exchange regular money for a completely redundant intermediary form of currency never did anyone any good.

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    I'll be pissed if this means the end of in-store cards to buy, though. I prefer to buy them with cash and put a code in instead of giving my consoles credit card details.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kedawa View Post
    Forcing consumers to exchange regular money for a completely redundant intermediary form of currency never did anyone any good.
    Yet gift cards still remain a popular type of gift. I guess it works better if the redundancy is voluntary.

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    Quote Originally Posted by misfits859 View Post
    I've spent my share on them over the past few years but...who the fuck came up with this idea?
    Brain research.

    It's all a farce based on the human brain's need to see similarities in like things. A scam based around tricking your brain into thinking things were cheaper than they actually were. 800 points registers in the brain as "$8.00", 400 points registers as $4.00 and so on. Not to mention the whole 8 hot dogs, 12 buns thing they had going on with MS point cards. You always ended up with 200 points. So clever.

    I'm glad the whole idiotic thing is finally going away. It's borderline insulting. Much easier to be upfront with pricing and show the actual cost. It feels less scummy.
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    To be fair, I think that part of the whole reason that Microsoft converted cash into "not-really-cash" was to avoid some particular rules that the government imposes on cash transactions. I forget offhand exactly what they were, and obviously Sony cracked that nut a few years ago, but I believe there was some sort of issue figuring out tax and a bunch of other stuff when people used cash. So, they decided to transfer them to points that weren't exactly cash to work around that.

    Since Sony cracked it, they have no real reason to keep it the exact same. As for the brain research, I wonder if they would sell more as 800 points or $7.99. To me, $7.99 seems cheaper than 800 points. My brain does the opposite when I do those cards, and I always assume I'm paying MORE for things than I am.
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    Quote Originally Posted by kedawa View Post
    How is it not a good idea to get rid of them?
    Forcing consumers to exchange regular money for a completely redundant intermediary form of currency never did anyone any good.
    oh....
    you mean like oh i don't know........ a arcade where you exchange a quarter for a token to use the game machines... which is what the xbox service is named after?


    yes of course that sounds completely redundant and absurd... who would ever do such a thing?



    or the newer setup arcades which use a card service that you purchase a card that will contain points that you use to play games with. You can also load more credits onto the same card thus eliminating the need to carry 10 pounds of tokens around the arcade!
    Last edited by Collector_Gaming; 01-24-2012 at 09:48 PM.

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    And arcades are flourishing!
    Seriously, though, quarters work just fine.

    This doesn't mean the end of prepaid cards, it just means they'll say $20 instead of 1400 space bucks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kedawa View Post
    And arcades are flourishing!
    Seriously, though, quarters work just fine.

    This doesn't mean the end of prepaid cards, it just means they'll say $20 instead of 1400 space bucks.
    That'd be 1600 space bucks. See how confusing that whole mess was?

    Changing over to real dollars, if that happens, can only be good.

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    The point system would make much more sense to me if there was value in buying in bulk. If the cost per point varied based on how many points you bought at one time then I would be all for the console specific currency, awkward denominations be damned. But as it is, where no matter what you're always paying the same amount, it's pointless and annoying.

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    So forget buying 2000 points cards for half the price! Those days are over.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper View Post
    So forget buying 2000 points cards for half the price! Those days are over.
    Yup, that's what I think this ultimately means. I'm guessing it means less of a margin on the cards for retailers and very little chance of them ever going on sale now.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper View Post
    So forget buying 2000 points cards for half the price! Those days are over.
    Oh? I wouldn't be so sure if others are an example. Wal*Mart was selling $50 iTunes gift cards for $40 recently.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper View Post
    So forget buying 2000 points cards for half the price! Those days are over.
    What makes you say that? Whether you're buying a virtual 1600 points to use on Live or a virtual $20 of credits to use on Live, I'm sure it works out the same for retailers. Either way, you're buying a specific amount of credit that you can only use on that service. It's not like you're exchanging cash for cash.

    I like the idea of matching the credits to real US dollars, but I don't see why that would change anything else.

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    I think it's a great idea, finally converting back to actual money.

    No more of this bullshit of buying points in "packs". If I want a 1200 point game, I don't want to have to go and buy a 1600 point card. I'm sure I can find something I want for those extra points, but the fact of the matter is that I didn't want to spend that extra $5 to begin with. I know this can be done online with smaller packs, but I'd rather not put my CC on the Xbox.

    ...and we'll still see sales on the cards. Maybe not quite as often, but they'll still happen. The retailers aren't likely going to start paying a different amount for them. The denomination on the card could be in points or dollars, it's all the same to them when they take your money.

    If you have the means to, buy cards when if/they go on sale before the change, and you'll be getting free money when they convert them over.
    Last edited by Oobgarm; 01-25-2012 at 08:36 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Collector_Gaming View Post
    oh....
    you mean like oh i don't know........ a arcade where you exchange a quarter for a token to use the game machines... which is what the xbox service is named after?


    yes of course that sounds completely redundant and absurd... who would ever do such a thing?

    or the newer setup arcades which use a card service that you purchase a card that will contain points that you use to play games with. You can also load more credits onto the same card thus eliminating the need to carry 10 pounds of tokens around the arcade!
    But the thing here is, they're not saying "to get a 25¢ token, you have to give us $1 and we'll give you 4 of them". Never mind the fact that you only wanted to play one game. Then you're stuck with 3 more tokens you HAVE to use there at some point. It's basically forcing you to come back for more or essentially throw your money away.

    The credits/points thing on cards at places like D&B's is similar to MS Points, and sucks almost as much. Though, when you go there, you kinda decide how much you're going to play and just put that amount on the card.

    It's not like a retail environment where you have a set item in mind that costs $X dollars...then have to give them $X+Y dollars to buy it and have Y leftover in an unusable-outside-this-establishment currency.
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    What exactly makes anyone think that switching over to dollar amount is going to make that particular gripe about having a left over amount that you can't do anything with in your account balance? I've had a perinnial leftover balance in my iTunes account since the first time I bought a card, same thing with my 3DS shop accoun and they BOTH use a dollar amount on ther pricing structures. If using points instead of dollars on a card makes you feel offended you really need a thicker hide. I doubt that they will give you back that .86 cents you have leftover in your account after you spend your 20.00 or whatever amount of money you sent them.
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    Exactly.. I have leftover balance in my Nintendo Shop. It's all the same.

    MS Points were pretty much was ALREADY straight money anyway.

    i.e. Everyone knew .0125 cents a point. So, 400 = $5, 800 = $10

    Only way you could get around it was if you found a points card on sale, but those were few and far between.

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