signed up for Microsoft's new Xbox Live Rewards program shortly before shipping off to my Live-less dorm room, and promptly forgot about it; that is, of course, until I received a follow-up email a few days ago informing me that taking a quick survey would net me 20 Microsoft Points.
Not gamerscore. Microsoft Points.
Granted, in the convoluted mathematics that is a typical MP/USD conversion, 20 points comes out to 25 cents — so it's not even enough to get you a continue at the arcade — but it is money; money which can rack up quickly if you play your cards correctly. Trouble is, you'll need a really loaded deck to take the house.
In addition to these micro-surveys (which you can take each month), Microsoft has provided quite the array of moneymaking options, most of which involve membership purchases and renewals. For example, renting two movies this month on the marketplace will snag you 160 points (that's two dollars). The real boon is in trying new things and bringing in new members, however. Microsoft is trying to ease hesitant gamers into the marketplace by offering small, but tangible bonuses for things like making your first purchase (100 MP) or using Netflix for the first time (100 MP). Renew a yearlong contract with Live and you'll net 200 points. For current free members of Live, upgrading to a Gold account is worth another 100 points; bring the family up to Gold, and you'll get an instant, five-dollar rebate (400 MP).
For most gamers, the Xbox Live Rewards program isn't going to be too big of a deal. Which leads me to ask: why did Microsoft bother?Special promotions on certain items in the marketplace will, ostensibly, incentivize more time spent scouring the marketplace, and buying into certain deals one might otherwise not have considered. For most gamers, though, the rewards program isn't going to be too big of a deal; it may reap enough points for an avatar outfit at the annual renewal time, but other than that the program's probably not worth a second glance.
Which leads me to ask: why did Microsoft bother? Initially, reports about the Rewards program conflated it with a new referral program, whereby far more substantial earnings could (and still can) be made for recruiting new Gold members. But since you don't need to be enrolled in the Rewards program — or, in fact, know it exists — to reap the benefits of the referral program, it is in and of itself fairly trivial.
The mystery for me is intended audience. The announcement and implementation of the program must have gone over most people's heads; unless you habitually read the automatic updates that come in from Microsoft each month, or watch Inside Xbox videos in your dashboard, you probably didn't hear about it at all. If you did, chances are you're already a gold member, and are already fairly invested in your 360.
Which means, of course, that you are already ineligible to receive more than half the points in the program, for first-time only gold subscriptions, renewals, Netflix usage, marketplace purchases, etc. For a program that claims to "reward you for things you're already doing," it's stunningly ironic how many rewards you can't claim if you're already doing . . . just about anything.
Admittedly, the Rewards program is definitely a great economic buffer for new members, but here's the rub: if you haven't joined Live yet, you probably don't even know about the program. If you join Live, and then discover the program, you're already ineligible for new gold member rewards. Which makes me wonder not just who these rewards are designed for, but if anyone can feasibly acquire them.
That said, I don't have Microsoft's statistics. Perhaps they see massive potential in their current silver membership pool, and think the rewards program will incentivize the now-$60 annual fee for upgrading to Gold. I still find it hard to believe that anyone would would consider a mere three-and-a-half dollars off a good deal, but so it goes. Of course, the jury's still out as to what sort of "sweet prizes" and "VIP offers" will manifest themselves in the coming year and a half over which the program seems poised to run (that handful of points, by the way, expires June 30, 2012), but as of now Microsoft merely has me scratching my head in confusion and frustration.
I'm dually amazed: first, that it took Microsoft so long to even consider reciprocity in its microtransaction system; and second, that this limp effort is all that came of the realization.