Microsoft raises price of everything on XBLA; "I think they've forgotten, let's give it another go."

[stefcha]

Er, these prices were in a beta. You know, betas, those unfinished versions of things that are still being tested? It's absolutely perfectly possible it was a simple error. And it's taken Microsoft a day or so to get onto it.

Yeah, whatever. It is indeed possible, yet it's also so fucking unlikely that anyone would put out a beta pricing system to the public where the prices as a whole are screwed just by accident that it barely warrants a thought. It's far, far more likely it's something that was under the "subject to change" banner that you get in a beta as you say, but it's trying to pass it off as an unintended error that stinks - if they know it's an error then it follows that they also know what it should be for one, yet that information is noticeably lacking from the response.

[stefcha]

Can the people negging me please explain why they believe its impossible that a mistake was made in a BETA of all things? Seriously? Are you actually prepared to come out and make that argument?

I didn't neg you and was actually writing such a response, but seeing as you weren't willing to wait 15 minutes or so before having yet another fucking moan about negs I've gone back and negged it anyway (because I think you were being more stupid than the people you were calling stupid), as well the moan itself as I thought it was pointless. Hope that explanation covers all bases and doesn't turn this into another tedious thread about anonymous persecution of the common man.

[Super Craig]

Surely pricing is set on Microsoft's servers and has nothing to do with the update itself?

[Gigga]

Microsoft is huge and the xbox departments are all in separate countries, the people in charge of setting the prices and the people in charge of making sure they are changed on the system and the people managing the beta will probably never even speak to each other.

For it to be a mistake is entirely plausible.

[Thread Astaire]

Fuck em

[toythatkills]

Nobody ever suggested that if Microsoft transitioned to real money then the actual prices would increase...

I did.

Post quote pls.

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/111181-xbox-live-arcade/?p=8404184

Or there's my posts on Eurogamer containing such gems as "A game that costs £7.99 will not cost £6.80 on XBLA, the only reason it does now is because the difference is invisible. As soon as it's charged in sterling, the XBLA title will cost £7.99, especially since to a lot of people, that'll look like less than 800 even though it works out as more."

I'm sure there's loads more over the years that this has been rumoured, too, but I can't be bothered to Google any more.

[carlito]

As suspect as the announcement may seem, particularly given the delay between major sources reporting the price hike scandal and MS putting it down to beta blunders, it's just too much to believe a company like Microsoft would create a fuck up of that magnitude deliberately.

We are talking about the currency of their whole Live online business. The successful transition of an Xbox 360 user to Xbox ONE user will be absolutely paramount to these guys and there is no way they would do something as noxious as this to alienate them - they are in enough trouble as it is!

Even the most staunch "Grrr Microsoft hate gamers" bod cannot believe that there wasn't a single person in one of the many, many, many meetings they had about the conversion process that said "Hold on guys - if we do this then someone who could buy two games with their MS point balance before the conversion will only be able to buy one afterwards. I'm pretty sure they won't like that."

It's not a subtle point that those responsible could possibly consider might slip under the user's radar nor is it one whose impact is hard to predict. Less games for same money = universally bad.

There also were reports of different users having different prices already weren't there?

Anyway, I'd be very surprised if the exchange isn't pretty favourable to those who already have MS points.

[Soulstar]

I've not been keeping up particularly with the Xbox blunders in depth or anything, but from what I've been seeing over the recent weeks since the whole DRM shit started and everything else that was said, and now this, XBOX One just seems to be soo fucked it's bone is well and truly burried. Maybe the ones out of the loop unaware would buy into the next one, but even the price is worse this time than Sony's PS4 by a fucking yard. I'm so glad I never owned a 360 and became some kind of 360 fanboy in shock and horror to see everyone fleeing towards Sony.

[SweatyTravolta]

Can the people negging me please explain why they believe its impossible that a mistake was made in a BETA of all things? Seriously? Are you actually prepared to come out and make that argument?

Because it's Microshaft LOL!

Nah I'm with you. Ever since E3 this forum has been the pits, even the usually lovely people in the Steam thread have started a downward path of hatred. The Xbox One thread is full of people bitching about Microsoft, the PS4 thread is full of people bitching about Microsoft. An error in a beta turns up and everyone wants to shoot the empire down again because despite the prices being cheaper in every other region it must be an intentional butt fucking.

Thank fuck for Animal Crossing is all I can say. That game is a delight and everyone in that thread is too.

And unlike Smitty, I know why you'll be hitting that neg button.

A. Because it makes you feel good.

2. Because Microsoft are evil, so anyone even thinking of defending them wrong.

B. Because I keep starting sentences with because

D. Because the tone of this post is extremely antagonistic.

and you know what? Just push it if it makes you feel better. We've only got one ride through this hell hole known as life so if I can make you feel better by enabling a little endorphin hit from disagreeing with someone in the most meaningless manner, then that makes me happy.

Love you all loads. Big kisses.

[nfx]

It's entirely plausible that this was a mistake, after all pissing off UK gamers when they are your second largest market would not be a good idea, but you would think that someone at MS would check their work before hitting send.

[SteveH]

+1'd, especially for the comments on the Xbox One/PS4 thread. It's like the dregs of Gamefaqs and NeoGaf have taken up residency there.

edit: @sweatytravolta

[Smitty]

+1'd, especially for the comments on the Xbox One/PS4 thread. It's like the dregs of Gamefaqs and NeoGaf have taken up residency there.

Yeah, it's awful. It's weird too because I'm super pumped about the PS4, totally on board with the whole thing - i'd have a preorder down if i had the money - but some of the stuff over in the PS4 thread is becoming hysterical to the point of resembling a cult.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Sony pointed out that the PS4 has a power button and people started writing florid paeans to Mark Cerny's eternal genius.

[SteveH]

Yeah, it's awful. It's weird too because I'm super pumped about the PS4 - i'd have a preorder down if i had the money - but some of the stuff over in the PS4 thread is becoming hysterical to the point of resembling a cult.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Sony pointed out that PS4 has a power button and people started writing florid peons to Mark Cerny's eternal genius.

I don't doubt it. Someone has made a thread on Neogaf discussing how you can play any digital game you own on PS4, on any PS4 as long as you are signed into your own account. In other words like you can right now on the 360 and PS3.

The only difference is you can do the whole, play before it has finished downloading,. But the first part has them creaming themselves....and its nothing fucking new!

Going a bit off topic here though.

[Unofficial Who]

Yes, because companies never make pricing errors. It must be a conspiracy by Microsoft.

Stefcha and Smitty have it. We've all jumped on Microsoft again for planning to bone us when it's down to error.

Microsoft really needs to sort it's shit out. If I was them I'd be making customer service a top priority.

For instance, they had a great sale recently. But you had to dig through the dash to find it when it should have been front and centre. And I bet a lot of people like me would would have bought a few titles baulked thinking "I wonder how long before MS shut the 360 servers down?" Which is nuts because MS is still supporting XP. They should really be making a song and dance about it and telling 360 owners that the servers will be around for the next five plus years. (And seriously, they'd get some extra sales for at least the first three years because a lot of 360's are going to end up being gifted to younger siblings when people upgrade.)

[Sane]

Microsoft responds on Eurogamer:

UPDATE: Microsoft is claiming this price increase is an "unintended error" in the Xbox Live beta, and it will issue refunds to those affected.

A final conversion amount has not yet been announced, but it should more accurately reflect the current prices.

Microsoft's full statement is as follows:

“We are aware that select regions experienced some incorrect game title pricing in the Xbox Live beta. This was an unintended error that we are in the process of fixing. We'll be reimbursing impacted beta participants for the difference in what was paid and what the price will be after the update is available to all members."

"More information about the Microsoft Account transition to local currency can be foundhere."

"Of note, beta programs give us a chance to test, fix and correct issues like this. As with all betas, we take the learnings from our program and make corrections and adjustments prior to the update being available to all members. As always, we appreciate the participation of our beta customers in helping us launch and build great products.”

[Super Craig]

I don't doubt it. Someone has made a thread on Neogaf discussing how you can play any digital game you own on PS4, on any PS4 as long as you are signed into your own account. In other words like you can right now on the 360 and PS3.

The only difference is you can do the whole, play before it has finished downloading,. But the first part has them creaming themselves....and its nothing fucking new!

Going a bit off topic here though.

If it's like you've described then it's actually an improvement over the PS3. You can only have two PS3s activated at once. So if you wanted to use your an account on a third PS3 then you'd need to deactivate one of the others. And the remote deactivation isn't reliable in my experience.

Nice try though.

[Alex W.]

It's a hell of a mistake to misprice every single thing on the XBL store, by varying amounts. Sounds plausible for MS.

[simms]

Has everyone gone mental. It's only effected people on the new dashboard beta which a small group of users who will be getting refunds. Aren't betas supposed to pick up on things like this?

[SaintM]

It's real money though. I would expect, beta or not, if you are charging customers then those numbers are subject to a lot of checking.

Totally inept or attempting to fleece customers. Either one is plausible.

[Unofficial Who]

It's real money though. I would expect, beta or not, if you are charging customers then those numbers are subject to a lot of checking.

Totally inept or attempting to fleece customers. Either one is plausible.

Never blame on malice what can be explained by stupidity.

[Padlocked]

Thank God the error put every price at a standard retail price of a penny beneath the pound, rather than a random percentage increase that saw them coming in it £x.56 and such like. I mean, it's almost as if they had a whole meeting on pricing structure and set these prices exactly but it would be terrible of us to assume it's anything other than a total error.

[K]

It's difficult to say either way, but I can believe that it was just a mistake. It seems a bit haphazard even for Microsoft to try and raise the prices and then suddenly recant when people complain, because a big company like MS is going to have much less public ways of testing out people's reactions to things like price increases (i.e. focus groups, customer surveys etc).

[carlito]

There are some proper fundamentalists in this thread aren't there?

[cavalcade]

If the sort of response you're seeing here to Microsoft's pricing and Xbox One shennanigans is something you find irritating, then perhaps it's time to move on from posting on a videogame forum. In the wider scheme of things videogames don't matter. Even within the sphere of videogames does the Microsoft clusterfuck at E3 or their intentional/accidental pricing blunders matter? No, of course not. But I don't come here to have a group of people shrugging their shoulders and saying all this is trivial and we should all get a sense of perspective.

My partner or friends would probably glaze over if I started complaining about the lack of an adjustable FOV in a PC conversion or the visible screendooring effect on a Kickstarted VR dev kit but this is a refuge from that. This is place where people get passionate, aggressive, over-the-top, combative and mouthy about things so trivial they would barely register on a scale of world importance. But that's why I come. Not for a dinner party atmosphere where everyone raises a point and the table nod appreciatively before someone raises another point that agrees with the first.

So for those of you who are stinking up the One , PS4 and this thread as part of our journey along a "downward path of hatred". I salute you. Keep it up. Long may we travel the path.

[RubberJohnny]

Nah, those threads are as bad as sweetdaddyg's posting and incredibly detached from reality whenever they spill out into the wider forum. It's awful circlejerking.

Multiple people claimed dedicated servers were shit, or impossible in that other thread, just because the wrong console had them and when called out on it everyone just awkwardly looked down at their shoes. It's proper cringeworthy.

[David Kenny]

Microsoft responds on Eurogamer:

"As with all betas, we take the learnings from our program "

What the deuce?! Tell me this is another mistake, and that business speak hasn't gone so far as to replace the perfectly apt term "lessons" ,with the clumsy and grammatically awkward "learnings". If this becomes another "leverage" I'm going to punch the next business analyst I meet in the mouth.

[carlito]

I don't find passion irritating, I just find the lack of reasoning surprising.

If there was a man standing in the street shouting "EGGS IS CHEESE, EGGS IS CHEESE, EGGS IS CHEESE" I would, like you, salute his passion for broadcasting what he believed in, yet that respect would probably be tempered by my surprise that he would stick to what, to me, appeared so obviously flawed a mission statement.

Anyway Smitty can say what he likes about eggs and anyone can say what they like about games but I cannot promise that arguments on either topic won't surprise me if they are nosebleed dumb.

[Camel]

Less Lust, By Less Protein: Meat Fish Bird; Egg Cheese; Peas Beans; Nuts. And Sitting.

[Cthulhu Steev]

What a load of shit, I thought this was the cheese thread.

[SozzlyJoe]

"As with all betas, we take the learnings from our program "

What the deuce?! Tell me this is another mistake, and that business speak hasn't gone so far as to replace the perfectly apt term "lessons" ,with the clumsy and grammatically awkward "learnings". If this becomes another "leverage" I'm going to punch the next business analyst I meet in the mouth.

It was a typo, they meant to say "earnings"