Why the Elimination of MS Points is Bad For You

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Rumors are abound that Microsoft is set to phase out MS Points by the end of the year. Instead, the actual currency of the region will be used (meaning you will use Dollars in the US, etc). People seem to be almost universally happy about this potential change as they think back to those aggravating times where they had 40ms points left in their account that they couldn’t spend. I’m here to tell you why you’re going to regret this change in the long run.

Before we get into the real gist of why MS Points are a very good thing, let’s focus on the things that drive you nuts about them.



1) Leftover MS Points.
We all hate it when we load up our account with a fresh batch of MS Points and find that, after our purchase, we have 100ms points left over. It’s just sitting there, staring at us, and there’s nothing to buy with it. But you know what? You’re going to use it eventually, so what’s the harm in letting it sit there? If you’re concerned that you can’t make interest on that $2 you have sitting in cyber space then your financial plan should have you gaming for free by now.



2) Confusing Costs.
When something costs 2400 ms points, just how much money is that? We’ve all been left with that conundrum. Fortunately, a quick google search or 5 seconds of math in your head can fix it. 1600ms points is $20, so 2400 is $30. That wasn’t so hard.

Now that we’ve looked at the very minor gripes that people have with MS Points, let’s look at what we get in return for these minor inconveniences. We’ll start with the big one.



1) Sales Sales Sales!
What’s one thing you’ve always noticed with MS Point cards when compared to PSN point cards? The MS point cards are always on sale! Amazon constantly sells 4000 microsoft points (that’s $50 worth of points) for $40 and 1600 point cards ($20 worth of points) for $15. Target even offers crazy promotions like B1G1 on point cards occasionally. They have the freedom to do this because of the virtual MS points currency. Retailers are not going to sell $50 for $40. But they are willing to sell $50 worth of points for $40. Remember that 100ms points that was burning a hole in your virtual pocket? That $2 sitting there (that you’re going to spend eventually anyways) is small beans compared to the $50 we’ve all probably saved by buying our points cards on sale.



2) Rewards.
Remember a few years back when Microsoft ran those contests where you could earn MS Points by earning a certain amount of achievement posts in an allotted window? How about now, when you can sign up for the free XBL Rewards program and get MS Points based on your activity? There are also several other instances where retailers or Microsoft have thrown points cards into bundles or thrown them around as promotional items. This is easy to do with a virtual currency. You’re not going to see MS ever pay you $5 cash for getting 100 achievement points in a day.



3) Tax.
Get ready to pay it. Get ready to pay it hard.

This is a classic case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. Making sure we don’t have a few cents left over in our accounts is not worth missing out on 30x that amount of money being made back in savings. As it is, the simple existence of MS points is basically like getting 20% off of everything on the XBL Marketplace since it’s so easy to load up on MS Points at a discount. When was the last time you saw someone selling cash for 20% off?



Posted:

Source: http://www.gamesta.com/why-the-elimination-of-ms-points-is-bad-for-you/

Comments

"Why the Elimination of MS Points is Bad For You" :: Login/Create an Account :: 36 comments

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TreyarchedPosted:

TTGStalker And if they put real currency we have to put in our debit or credit card and if we get hacked were screwed.


id say most people that have a credit/debit card have it on their account allready so they can buy MSP off their xbox.

even if they do get rid of MSP you will be able to buy codes like PSN with cash value and add them to your account.

Zer0Posted:

i havent seen yet news of what will happen to xbox rewards and those who dont know what it s you get microsoft points for like doing monthly quizs.
back to what i was saying are they going to keep it and change it to real money or will it dissape

TTGStalkerPosted:

And if they put real currency we have to put in our debit or credit card and if we get hacked were screwed.

MagneticMonk360Posted:

If points are eradicated, then 90% of scamming will be stopped or it will go through a huge decline.

The only type then would be things like special edition codes for games and map-packs.

vorvPosted:

Part of me thinks that using real currency such as pounds or dollars is a good thing.

I'm guessing MS lose millions each year from stolen/generated MP cards/combinations.

In regard to the above statement of Tax...
Q: When was the last time you saw someone selling cash for 20% off?
A: I always wait until my gold expires and drops into silver and get 3 months worth of live for 6/$10 which normally would cost the consumer 15/$24 however i know you can buy discounted cards at 12/$19. With this in mind that is a 50% saving from MS and is theoretically a cash purchase.

HawkwardPosted:

Totally agree with this whole post.