Earning Achievements now unlocks discounts on Xbox LIVE Marketplace
Microsoft has launched a new Xbox LIVE Rewards scheme entitling players who have passed certain Gamerscore milestones to additional discounts on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
(Industry, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE)
Talk about late with the idea, we all wanted a use for them dumb achievements. But I still hate them and will not get them for discounts on Xbox live, since I never buy anything from it and never will. GAME OF THE YEAR EDITIONS I wait for and those are the ones I like and would never buy of Xbox live. I am not even connected to live what so ever and never will. I will not pay £16 or £25 or even £40 for a gold member ship since i think because its a total waste of money and it sucks as a service big time. Never will i be connected with this new scheme and I am glad I never get sucked into its lies
It's better than nothing but I would of thought Microsoft would try and compete with Playstation Plus a bit more. Competition is great for the gamers and Xbox Live users would only benefit from Microsoft rising up to Sonys challenge. Sadly this doesn't seem like the case.
I think you're confused with company profit and what really matters to us as gamers. I'm talking about what's best for the consumer. Not Microsofts billions.
chuckyj1: PSN+ doesn't make Sony money? Home transactions doesn't make Sony money? See, unlike MS, Sony do not believe you should have to pay your ISP for internet access and then Sony themselves to access the online content of a game you paid $60 for already. They make money in such a way that isn't a huge rip off to consumers.
@claud You do know you dont have to be a gold member to get achievements and make purchases on xblive...right?
Silver members may not be able to play online and access things like netflix and facebook but they can still earn achievements and buy stuff through the marketplace.
HarryMason, you should care who earns profits, for all you know Sony could end up out of business with the way they have been playing the game up until now
"I think he's referring to the fact that we're nearing the end of the 360's life cycle." This really isnt about the 360 if you think about it. While the discounts may apply to related content for 360 games, the Live service is exactly that. A service.
So just as it went from the original xbox to the 360, it will likely transcend to the next xbox as well as windows8 and WP7 & 8.
Achievements will be available in many different titles on various MS products. Marketplace content will be available for the different MS platforms as well. Not just the 360 anymore.
Before you pat yourself too much on the back with that comment, remember a similar thing could be said about Live: once your subscription runs out, you can't play the online portion of all your games anymore
@ALLWrong Stop paying for Xbox Live and see if you can still play your games online or use ANY of the services you ALREADY pay for if you use them in the first place.
It's crazy. when Live first launched with its "point system" for making payments I always was thinking "hey, they should make achievement points translate to money or discounts". Now, years later, they finally do it... kinda.
Well you are clearly completely against Microsoft no matter what they do.
Achievements arent dumb, they have added literally days more playing time to the shortest game for me and the people who love unlocking them.
Xbox live is well worth the money for one reason alone. Party chat, I dont pay a home phone bill because of it.
Instead of paying a randomly generated number to talk to sales reps i pay a fixed amount of money to talk to friends and family while fighting dragons in Skyrim or beating those same friends and family in any number of competitive multiplayer games.
Anything else that comes with a Gold membership is an added bonus for me.
I have nearly 100.000 gamescore so just for enjoying playing lots of games and earning achievements in them i get 2% knocked off of what is basically my phone bill.
(Im usually spend hours a day just in party chat. It would cost a ton to do that with a phone)
Now I agree Live is nice to have and don't mind paying but your comment has confused me. Why would you not buy a home phone just because of party chat? Sure it's a great feature but if you're serious about it I'm just a little confused.
"I am not even connected to live what so ever and never will. I will not pay £16 or £25 or even £40 for a gold member ship since i think because its a total waste of money and it sucks as a service big time."
Nice trolling, but how would you know if the service sucks when you've never been connected to it (in your own words)?
Still stupid this idea as its so easy to exploit achievements. I remember when they first started that guy who had 100k in a few months he had the EU,US and Jap version all 1000GS in several games. All it takes is a save game editor and a few other things so I read. This is not possible on ps3 as achievements are not done in the same way, so you cannot just load up a save and get achievements at least for most games. Some games its still possible.
One of the article comments had it right. If they really wanted to give us a reward without really giving us anything, they would let us pay without going through their insulting points system.
I see them not attaching a monetary value to so it tricks the brain into thinking you are getting more /spending less than you actually are. (Not trolling) Kind of like in a casino, sit down at a slot machine or anything electronic and you can go through a bunch of money looking at credits rather than actual money. It's a sub conscious thing.
You ever sit down at a quarter machine at a carnival where you push coins/prizes off a ledge. I will spend 10 dollars on those easily to knock a shot glass filled with quarters worth about 3 dollars. You start with a dollar and use the winnings then add just a little bit more over and over. You end up spending more in the long run because you are not handing over dollars you are using credits.
LOOK_AT_THIS_I is right, but the main reason was so they had a universal price for content.
They release a game or piece of content and simply have 1 price attached to it, say 400MS. Sony have to release a game and then say "ok it will be US$5, but 3.5£, 6 Deutschmark, etc". Then you get people from different regions complaining saying "it's cheaper in region x than it is here".
Microsoft have one price for all, it's just the conversion rate of $ to MS points that changes.
@wiilove That actually makes a lot of sense. Points are points regardless of where you are. Not sure the rate of exchange but I know Aussies were always bitching about how expensive a lot of content is there. You may spend more for the card but its advertised at the same rate
Wow your logic is completely broken. So this is literally your point, you would rather pay FULL PRICE than receive ANY DISCOUNT? See how stupid that sounds?
He's right though. The discount you need 25k GamerScore to get translates to almost nothing. Maths to back it up:
Avatar Prop: 80 MS Points, 78.4 with 2% discount.
Avatar costume: 320 MS Points / 313.8 after discount.
Geometry Wars Evolved: 400 MS Points / 392 points after discount.
Borderlands 2 Season Pass: 2400 MS Points / 2352 points after discount.
Assuming the lowest amount of MS Points you can buy is 400, you'd need to buy 250 props, 63 Avatar costumes, 50 copies of Geometry Wars Evolved, and 9 Borderlands 2 Season Passes to have earned enough of a discount to get 400 points for free.
Don't bash the guy for calling MS out on an empty rewards program that hardly does anything. It'd almost have been better not to have introduced this, as the rewards given back are so meager it's almost insulting.
im a huge xbox fan and i love my xbox live. im glad MS is doing this but really this is not enough. atleast give us free games for being on XBL like PSN. or a higher discount than 2% percent. seriously...
Yeah but its not free is it? PSN+ is a subscription based service. Why is that even being comparedt this anyway? Why aren't we comparing it to the rewards you get for unlocking trophies? (none).
They actually had a reward system for a short time on psn. They would give you a special avatars for reaching a certain level but was discontinued. I got several avatars and a t-shirt from Sony. I'm sure a program of this sort will come as a feature next gen seeing as how it has already implemented before.
Good deal for the Xbox users. It may not seem like much but eventually it will add up. I don't get how you so many of you guys on here can find something to bitch about at all times. It's free it is an added value and it hurts nobody in the process. I swear some of you would bitch about getting a million dollars in one dollar bills because it would be an inconvenience.
You're comparing apples to oranges. It's more like if you worked a job where you are paid monthly, and your boss told you "Hey, you've been a hard-working member of this company for 5 years, so here's an extra $1.20 on your paycheck every month."
It's not people finding something to bitch about. MS's original rewards program is excellent and I think it's a nice step forward. Adding on an extra $1.20 tops off of a $60 game purchase is just confusing. Especially if you consider they were playing with the idea of rewarding gamers based on GamerScore years ago, this almost feels like them saying "hey look, we listened, here you go!" It feels like a total cop-out.
And if you want to bring up the fact that the 2% discount is something at least, think again. See my math above to see just how much of a return that gets you. I wouldn't count on anything significant before the next console cycle.
Legend! I AM ALL THAT IS MAN! But sadly, I'm almost positive that this "birthday gift" will be an avatar item. In the fine print it says it'll only be worth .25 USD
I just enabled it for my account, unlocked the "Legend" level so 2% discount for me :). While 2% is not much at all it is better than nothing, so I'm happy.
I normally don't like to complain about someone giving me something but this is extremely cheap. I was hoping that every 1000 GS was worth 100 MP points or something like that.
They had the rewards program beta a while back. It didn't have much demand and so they cancelled it and moved onto PS+, which has been a lot more successful.
360 already has sales and discounts on a lot of their items. This is a great idea and another reason to earn those chievos BUT I still think the discount should be a little more that what they are offering.
I mean it's a nice idea to incorporate achievements into a valuable system like this, but MS can spare a little more than 1-2%, especially for someone in the 25,000+ range who spends at more than $200 most likely annually.
I know, right? The discount is so small that it wouldn't really make a difference. If they mad it 10% or something then people would be tempted to buy more games. I don't think 2% would change gamer's buying habits. It's better than nothing, I guess.
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Competition is great for the gamers and Xbox Live users would only benefit from Microsoft rising up to Sonys challenge.
Sadly this doesn't seem like the case.
Who needs to compete with who? I think you have that mixed around.
Not Microsofts billions.
It's great that they're using their system based off achievements because it rewards gamers who game the most, but come on 2% at least 5% - 10%.
If a service is not profitable for a company it will eventually be shut down.
PlayStation Network is free, unless you're living in a cave?
You do know you dont have to be a gold member to get achievements and make purchases on xblive...right?
Silver members may not be able to play online and access things like netflix and facebook but they can still earn achievements and buy stuff through the marketplace.
Then again, it seems the usual fanboys are the ones complaining.
I'll take a free discount for earning like I wouldve anyway.
One of the most persistant requests about Xbox Live achievements was that they should mean more and be put towards something financially.
Bam..it's here and there are still complaints?
LOL
Evil
complete a task in a selected game and earn discount on games.
This really isnt about the 360 if you think about it. While the discounts may apply to related content for 360 games, the Live service is exactly that. A service.
So just as it went from the original xbox to the 360, it will likely transcend to the next xbox as well as windows8 and WP7 & 8.
Achievements will be available in many different titles on various MS products. Marketplace content will be available for the different MS platforms as well. Not just the 360 anymore.
Seriously?!
meanwhile, on ps+, they are giving away games (new and old) for free for the duration of your membership.
All fixed. Punctuation and context.
Before you pat yourself too much on the back with that comment, remember a similar thing could be said about Live: once your subscription runs out, you can't play the online portion of all your games anymore
I was simply correcting a common context error many seem to make.
The punctuation part...just needed to be done.
Oh and to add to yours: "once your subscription runs out, you can't play the online portion of all your games or any other gold related features."
You know, because some people use a gold membership for more than competitive play. You get an agree from me.
And an agree from me
Stop paying for PSN+ and see if Sony lets you keep those games.
That's what I thought. NEXT!
Stop paying for Xbox Live and see if you can still play your games online or use ANY of the services you ALREADY pay for if you use them in the first place.
That's what I thought. NEXT!!!!
Better than nothing indeed.
Achievements arent dumb, they have added literally days more playing time to the shortest game for me and the people who love unlocking them.
Xbox live is well worth the money for one reason alone. Party chat, I dont pay a home phone bill because of it.
Instead of paying a randomly generated number to talk to sales reps i pay a fixed amount of money to talk to friends and family while fighting dragons in Skyrim or beating those same friends and family in any number of competitive multiplayer games.
Anything else that comes with a Gold membership is an added bonus for me.
I have nearly 100.000 gamescore so just for enjoying playing lots of games and earning achievements in them i get 2% knocked off of what is basically my phone bill.
(Im usually spend hours a day just in party chat. It would cost a ton to do that with a phone)
"I am not even connected to live what so ever and never will. I will not pay £16 or £25 or even £40 for a gold member ship since i think because its a total waste of money and it sucks as a service big time."
Nice trolling, but how would you know if the service sucks when you've never been connected to it (in your own words)?
U make me laugh. Bubbles for you :)
I am not so knowledgable about the live gamer score thing but how hard is it to get to this level
So about 25 games maxed out.
Arcade games are like 200, but I think they raised it.
-___-
Can't be arsed with that...
now it's confirmed
seriously 2%..... really?
whoop dee doo..... -__-
/s
Just thinking so to not being so disappointed
brilliant :D
You ever sit down at a quarter machine at a carnival where you push coins/prizes off a ledge. I will spend 10 dollars on those easily to knock a shot glass filled with quarters worth about 3 dollars. You start with a dollar and use the winnings then add just a little bit more over and over. You end up spending more in the long run because you are not handing over dollars you are using credits.
They release a game or piece of content and simply have 1 price attached to it, say 400MS. Sony have to release a game and then say "ok it will be US$5, but 3.5£, 6 Deutschmark, etc". Then you get people from different regions complaining saying "it's cheaper in region x than it is here".
Microsoft have one price for all, it's just the conversion rate of $ to MS points that changes.
That actually makes a lot of sense. Points are points regardless of where you are. Not sure the rate of exchange but I know Aussies were always bitching about how expensive a lot of content is there. You may spend more for the card but its advertised at the same rate
Earning achievements actually has meaning now (no matter how miniscule it may be).
:P
http://www.xbox360achieveme...
Apparently takes less than 5 mins to get them all...
Related image(s)
All this demonstrates is that MS are a tight bunch of ......and they don't really give a rats ass about their users.
See how stupid that sounds?
Avatar Prop: 80 MS Points, 78.4 with 2% discount.
Avatar costume: 320 MS Points / 313.8 after discount.
Geometry Wars Evolved: 400 MS Points / 392 points after discount.
Borderlands 2 Season Pass: 2400 MS Points / 2352 points after discount.
Assuming the lowest amount of MS Points you can buy is 400, you'd need to buy 250 props, 63 Avatar costumes, 50 copies of Geometry Wars Evolved, and 9 Borderlands 2 Season Passes to have earned enough of a discount to get 400 points for free.
Don't bash the guy for calling MS out on an empty rewards program that hardly does anything. It'd almost have been better not to have introduced this, as the rewards given back are so meager it's almost insulting.
B) 100%(free) and you don't have to earn it. + discounts.
.
Which one is better?
Good deal for the Xbox users. It may not seem like much but eventually it will add up. I don't get how you so many of you guys on here can find something to bitch about at all times. It's free it is an added value and it hurts nobody in the process. I swear some of you would bitch about getting a million dollars in one dollar bills because it would be an inconvenience.
It's not people finding something to bitch about. MS's original rewards program is excellent and I think it's a nice step forward. Adding on an extra $1.20 tops off of a $60 game purchase is just confusing. Especially if you consider they were playing with the idea of rewarding gamers based on GamerScore years ago, this almost feels like them saying "hey look, we listened, here you go!" It feels like a total cop-out.
And if you want to bring up the fact that the 2% discount is something at least, think again. See my math above to see just how much of a return that gets you. I wouldn't count on anything significant before the next console cycle.
4,000x .02 = 80...
So I spend 4000 pts. I get about 80 MS points back? MS great program, but horribly executed.
Maybe this is just the start of things to come. Hopefully they will sweeten the deal over time.
I mean it's a nice idea to incorporate achievements into a valuable system like this, but MS can spare a little more than 1-2%, especially for someone in the 25,000+ range who spends at more than $200 most likely annually.