Comments on: Xbox Live Update Brings Avatar Marketplace Pricing Debate to Twitter

By: PAX Day Two Truthcast - Major Nelson & AMPSucks! | GAMINGtruth

PAX Day Two Truthcast - Major Nelson & AMPSucks! | GAMINGtruth — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:00:32 +0000

[...] immediately came up and was ready to discuss #AMPSucks, and you can’t get any better than that! I never would’ve guessed that he’d be [...]

By: GAMINGtruth’s Truthcast - Episode #11 | GAMINGtruth

GAMINGtruth’s Truthcast - Episode #11 | GAMINGtruth — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:55:03 +0000

[...] #AMPSucks is not over. I’ll be representing #AMPSucks for as long as the prices are too high. If you want to support it, read the introductory #AMPSucks article. [...]

By: treschonde

treschonde — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:57:50 +0000

If Microsoft was truly truly intelligent, this would all be part of a clever plan. You announce low prices.. hike the release prices so that people rightly complain about the overpricing (and some people will buy regardless).. then, and this is the clever scheme part.. you lower prices to accommodate your gamers “request”.. and sales rocket.

By: treschonde

treschonde — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:57:50 +0000

By: Somethingninja

Somethingninja — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:50:45 +0000

i must say that i am a XBL member and the pricing in the market place are rediculus and i only bought about 3 things and it coasted about 1500 points thats a little much so i think microsoft should really think about changing pricing.

By: DeejayKnight

DeejayKnight — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:05:37 +0000

That's just the thing, mrpauljames, I'm *not* buying it! I'm just giving others who don't agree with the concept to make our choices known to MS.

My wallet is voting no, yours is voting yes. Can't we agree to disagree on the subject without getting up in arms?

Also, at the end of the day, more less expensive options to upgrade your Avatar's appearance make it a lot easier to be different. The chances of having the *exact* same clothing as others decreases with the more options there are. Not to mention that all the *cool* stuff that people have been waiting for seems to magically have dropped when the prices are higher!

I'm merely giving food for thought. You don't agree, and that's fine.

Thanks for posting your opinion!

By: mrpauljames

mrpauljames — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:33:26 +0000

Dude at the end of the day if you think it's too expensive don't buy it. They're not forcing you to buy it. Microsoft aren't saying "Buy our avatar stuff or you can't play on xbox live anymore".

Point is, you don't need it, much like you don't NEED an XBOX, or a computer, people buy what they can afford.

Besides, if they lowered the price of the lightsaber to say, 80 points, then everyone would buy one and it wouldn't be special. I like the fact that not many people have the lightsaber and I do.

Yes that's right I paid 400 points for something that isn't real, and you know what, I don't regret it. I bought it because I wanted it and I have the spare cash to buy it.

Simplez!

By: TheMacJedi

TheMacJedi — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:11:06 +0000

I hadn't even considered this part of the problem.

http://forums.xbox.com/28547890/ShowPost.aspx

By: Cat

Cat — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:05:48 +0000

I know what you're saying but it's just like anything else — there will always be dummies who don't care about how much something costs, they just want to have it for the sake having it.

Why else would the skateboard or guitar or remote controlled car all be one price — and the lightsaber significantly more? It's exploitative.

By: Tymme

Tymme — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:52:54 +0000

The problem is not that some content costs $5 while other stuff costs $1. The problem is people are paying for this at all. Because of micropurchases, you no longer get patches; you pay for updates that add content. You pay for bonus content you used to unlock, or would download as a mod (either by developers or others) on the PC.

At least the games are complete, and the prices are relatively low (vs. the expansion packs for Sims 2 or 3, Spore, et al.)… but someone must be buying these to have MS investing that much time and money into its' development. That's where the problem starts.

By: Cat

Cat — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:06:53 +0000

You linked to this site through a response to Major Nelson — and that is how I came here. Thanks for this — I agree with you in many ways. The Star Wars outfit is a particular gripe — even though I don't consider myself a Star Wars fan. The pricing for that particular costume is utterly unfair; the lightsaber should be the same price as any other accessory — like the guitar or skateboard. Instead it's been singles out for “emotional” pricing — they know people will want it so they charge more. If that's not typical MS I don't know what is.

And not that I care about this, either — but $5 gets you a whole apartment in Home. “Yeah but's Home” most gamers will say. True, but it's a much better application for these avatars anyway. XBOX avatars have reduced all to playing with paper dolls.

But anyway, I wouldn't dressing up my dolly — except the clothes for female avatars suck royally. I'm glad they added a t-shirt with optional colors. And I'm happy to see Sam Fisher's outfit available. That's cause for hope — prior to this update my main complaint was that clothes for women were gender specific. Why can I have two pairs of hot pants but no lounge pants? Even the jeans suck. How many pairs of jeans do guys have? Women have two, and they're both lame. Worst of all is that women can't have converse-style gym shoes. They use a bloody buggery picture of that very shoe as their icon in the clothes marketplace!!! and yet it's only available to one side of the gaming community.

By: rich_reed

rich_reed — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:11:14 +0000

I agree the pricing is too high and needs adjusted. I also think it's a good idea to let MS know how you feel for those that agree. The only thing is that I have seen a few tweets that could be taken the wrong way. With anything like this you want to get your point across and try at the same time to be careful that you are not coming across the wrong way. It's the horse Armor pack all over again and as long as people are buying the items it makes it harder to get MS or anyone to listen. I think the editorial was truthful and brings out some very good points. I also disagree with the games on demand pricing and I am hoping MS changes that as well but I guess time will tell.

By: LaWiiG

LaWiiG — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:25:12 +0000

Its true. I can say that I enjoy the hassle free time i have to just use my xbox for netflix. Or leaving my windows media center music on during a little get together for some adult sodas. Even so, the netflix cost money and yeah it was great coming from the orginal dashboard to this, but again, whats the cost? The average gamer, I would say like myself, takes what money they can and picks and chooses when they can buy other items. Now throw some more downloadable content in the mix and the budget gets thinner.

By: DeejayKnight

DeejayKnight — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:14:59 +0000

Touche, carocat. The RT request has been updated. Thanks for the suggestion!

By: carocat

carocat — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:05:13 +0000

Retweeted, albeit slightly different.

You might wanna include a link back to this post in your suggested tweet in the post. Just sayin'.