Talk:Microsoft Points
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Are there any public sources that have reported how many Microsoft Points have been sold? It would be an interesting addition to the article. 75.7.33.199 10:03, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
- It would be very interesting, but I don't think Microsoft gives a lot of specifics regarding the Marketplace or Points. Tophtucker 03:45, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Prepaid cards
I notice that the only stores that are said to sell Prepaid cards are all in the US. I would of thought that naming the stores here could be seen as advertising. Also it fails to say anything about online stores.Inputdata (talk) 17:48, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] "Properties" (...?)
"The customer does not earn interest on unspent Points, and cannot convert these Points to another currency."
This line caught my eye. Why would the customer earn interest? It seems like a kind of random addition. I mean, the points don't change colors or sing and dance either, but no one bothers to mention it because it's just kind of assumed that they don't.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and rename this section "Controversy" because "Properties" is kind of vague and doesn't give a good indication of what the section is about. Tophtucker 03:44, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
The money that customers spend on surplus unwanted points otherwise would be earning interest for them. And presumably Microsoft does earn interest on this money. So I thought it was worth a mention.
Anyway, the whole section was deleted by someone whose user-page says they're a sockpuppet, so I'm putting it back. But yeah, "Properties" was a crap heading for the section. Klassobanieras 21:44, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Original Live
Should mention that the original Xbox Live Arcade used money rather than points. Also, Nintendo has adopted the Points system for the Wii as well.
true but that's a different system of points 71.188.44.87 15:33, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Vegas Chips...
Under Controversies, it might be worth comparing the points to the chips in Vegas. Casinos prefer you to have the brightly colored chips in your hand to remove (or at least reduce) your association of playing the games with money. Having amounts with the Microsoft's points symbol instead of regional currency symbols can have the same effect. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.26.237.194 (talk) 17:54, 18 December 2006 (UTC).
- Money is usually brightly coloured though, at least outside the US Nil Einne (talk) 10:37, 11 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Faulty Cards
I frequently use the points cards and found they are extremely robust. Source this claim or remove.
[edit] Interest-Free Loan
This seems to have some bias attached to it. The same could be said about the purchase of gift cards. This statement could lead one to believe that this is unique to Microsoft when in reality, almost all major retail outlets do this same kind of thing. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.55.149.108 (talk) 20:52, 16 February 2007 (UTC).
Bookshops do not require you to buy a $10 book token in order to buy a $7 book. Klassobanieras 12:26, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Currency symbol
I've reverted some changes of the word "Points" to the image Image:Microsoftpoint.gif for accessibility reasons. Anyone who uses different text sizes, text-only browsers, screen readers, etc. would be significantly hampered. I haven't reverted similar changes to other articles, but would like some discussion on the matter so that some consensus can be established either way. Dancter 17:34, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
- It's cleaner and more accurate. It also saves valuable space in almost all the articles. It's only used for actual currency usage. I denoted some usage rules in the Talk section of Image:Microsoftpoint.gif. However, for this particular page, I can understand reverting. The Xbox Live Arcade page, though, desperately needed it for space concerns. Also, all references have a real-life monetary amount following it, so the confusion is not really there. JAF1970 17:57, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not sure how extreme the situation was with Xbox Live Arcade, so I can't currently comment on that. But in general, I don't feel that using an image for text is warranted, as it is in Prince (musician). I'm concerned that your usage guideline conflicts with pre-existing style guidelines, such as those for currency and trademarks. Dancter 18:13, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
- The legality is safe. JAF1970 18:14, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not sure what you mean by that, but the "($10 USD)" formatting suggestion does conflict with the currency guideline I linked to, which recommends something more along the lines of "(approx. US$10, c.2007"). The trademarks guideline states that special characters that simply substitute for English words or are used for purely decorative reasons should be avoided. (There's more detail in the guideline, but that's the gist.) Going into actual legal concerns, as a trademark, the Microsoft Points symbol is subject to the non-free content criteria, which advocates minimal use, and a specific, detailed rationale for each use of the image. Considering how many articles the image is being used in, that last part would be very difficult. Dancter 14:44, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
- The legality is safe. JAF1970 18:14, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not sure how extreme the situation was with Xbox Live Arcade, so I can't currently comment on that. But in general, I don't feel that using an image for text is warranted, as it is in Prince (musician). I'm concerned that your usage guideline conflicts with pre-existing style guidelines, such as those for currency and trademarks. Dancter 18:13, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
This is nonsense. Images should not be used for inline text like this. Accessibility, understandability, and blatant violation of WP:NONFREE. Saving space isn't a great reason to use this. --- RockMFR 20:08, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
- It's not a violation.
is used in the same way. JAF1970 20:17, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
- The design for Image:Gamerscore.gif is simple and basic enough that Microsoft couldn't enforce any prohibition on the image except where Microsoft is being willfully misrepresented, hence the {{PD-ineligible}} tagging, and the presumed immunity from non-free content restrictions. The design of Image:Microsoftpoint.gif is somewhat more distinctive than that. In addition, the use Image:Gamerscore.gif also suffers from many of the same problems, anyway. It shouldn't be assumed that there is a strong consensus for that image and its current usage, either.
- That the image is "permitted […] by Microsoft for the express purpose of using in relation to Xbox Live Marketplace items" does not establish a liberal-enough licensing for the image to be compliant with Wikipedia's GFDL, and therefore does not free the image from Wikipedia's non-free content restrictions. With that in mind, even with the allowances provided under the policy for non-free content, the image is non-compliant. The fair use rationale is inadequate, as the guideline clearly emphasizes that "A separate rationale must be provided for each use of the image," and that the rationales need to be "as specific as possible, i.e. why you need to use the image as part of the article[s]." Even without those policy issues, the accessibility issues remain. Hahnchen, Ned Scott, and now RockMFR have all been unconvinced, as I have, by the reasons given. Barring any new developments, I will probably be opening a discussion at Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. Dancter 22:43, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Merge With XBL Marketplace?
This should be merged with Xbox Live Marketplace imo. AP Shinobi (talk) 14:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
- I would tend to disagree. There seems to be plenty of content for a separate page, i.e., this page has a substantial amount of information specifically about Microsoft Points. If this page was folded into the Xbox Live Marketplace page, it would tend to dominate the other information there. --Slordak (talk) 14:33, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Updated prices
The prices are vastly out of date and should be edited to represent current exchange rates. 203.122.105.24 (talk) 16:04, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
