Slashdot Mirror
Raising Your Gamerscore By PowerLeveling
Joystiq is reporting on a new outfit claiming they'll powerlevel your gamerscore for cash. For $300, they say, they'll raise your Xbox Live gamerscore by 3000 points. Ozymandias, a member of the 360 Launch Team, has commentary on the situation. From his post: "The thing that struck me as most interesting about this is that Achievements (and the Gamerscore associated with them) have become a currency... one just as valuable as virtual currency in MMOs, and one some people might be willing to pay real dollars for. I certainly don't condone it, but it does support my belief that competitors will need to have their own Achievements/Gamerscore system in the future as it's definitely a tipping aspect for some folks. (For the record, I now believe the rumor of PS3 'Entitlements' to be false; however, I fully expect a similar solution within the next year or so once the online service has launched.)"
You buy a $400 system and games, then pay someone else $300 to play it for you?
WTF is wrong with people these days, seriously?
It's this attitude that totally wrecked MMORPG games. there is fuck all role playing, there is fuck all exploring, fuck all entertainment, fuck all GAME. All we have are endless parades of people doing *whatever it takes* to score the points to get to the next level, and then the next level, and so on. Every MMO i've played has been like this. Its weird. Its even polluted FPS games with high scores like BF2. Ever played a BF2 game where everyone is a medic?
"I need to get my next medic badge dude".
"yeah fine, how about we play in a way that we all have fun, and play as a team huh"?
"shut up n00b"
I hope one day someone will make an online game that doesn't rack scores, or give a fuck about them. they can count me in.
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Am I the only one who doesn't care about my gamerscore? A lot of the achievements don't really measure skill, but just time spent playing the game. Oh man, that guy beat 30 Xbox 360 games? He's totally better than me who spreads my gaming time among other platforms as well.
On second thought, that was probably the whole point of the gamerscore in the first place. Hey kids, buy more xbox 360 games and you'll get more easy 'achievements' that'll give you a higher number and thus make you better than your friends!
I can not believe that people would pay $300 for a meaningless number. I'm sure that "my number is higher than you" will work amazingly well when they're being pounded in multiplayer.
If you're paying somebody to play the games for you, perhaps the games in question aren't actually fun and you should buy some different ones? Or, is there a market for games where you start off with all powers and infinite ammo, then just go around destroying stuff with absolutely no challenge? Should developers release a £200 ultimate box set winners edition of the game that consists of one DVD that plays the end credits?
I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
Gold farmer: Okay!!! We powerlevel your character to level 60! Buku gold & epix! Only $100 American dorra!
(Powerleveling ensues)
Gold farmer: Okay joe! Powerlevel done! Enjoy gold and ninja'd epix!
(3 months later...)
Joe Schmoe: What the fuck? Someone logged on my account and stole EVERYTHING in my bank, including my 10,000 gold pieces and epic blow up doll collection!
Typical scenario, and no, I don't make this shit up. Although, the stolen items & currency are usually refunded, it's just asking for trouble if you sign up for something like this. Don't give your password(s) out to complete strangers, and you'll be better off for it.
Each 360 game has achievements which you complete by doing things in a game, (beating the game, kill a boss, doing this side quest, etc). Some of them are hard, some are easy. By completing an achievement you get points added to your gamer score which show are l33t you are. The achievement system is a good way to get people to keep playing games and unlocking things they normally won't bother with a 2nd or 3rd play through. But the whole gamer score thing is really just an e-penis.
what in the world can you do with gamerscore points?
Buy things?
I thought that was what the for-pay Gold membership was for... which is why I never got onto Xbox Live AT ALL. (I'll get my updates via download&burn, thank you.)
Anyways, this gamer score crap is why things like Game Shark hasn't come out (and why 360 games are so brutally hard to play); alas, the ban on cheat code generators has been rendered moot by this run-around with the gamer score. So now we have neither cheat codes for single player games nor any integrity for the gamerscore system. Joy.
Tell me why again I bought a console??
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
... those "enlarge your penis" scams I get in my spambox all the time.
" claims they'll enlarge your penis for cash. For $, they say, they'll raise your libido by 3000 percent."
Back on topic, this is on par with people who would pay to have their character powerleveled in an MMORPG. You will be the max level when you get to play again, but you're still going to suck at it.
ENLARGE YOUR E-PENIS BY 2 DIGITS IN JUST 2 DAYS FOR ONLY $59.99 NO ANNOYING GAMEPLAY OR MESSEY STRATEGEY GUIDES! WE DO ALL THE ENLARGING FOR YOU! oh god... im gonna be sick.
You mad
Maybe I should hire Tiger to play a few rounds of golf for me while I get a massage... that'll help the ol' scorecard.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
The question I have is... WHY?
Gamerscore doesn't mean crap. Seriously. It's just an arbitrary number that some game developer uses. That's why there was an article a while back about how to get an easy 3000 points by renting a few games in a few hours (basically just going for the easiest achievements). Earning an achievement has absolutely no relation to how hard you worked to get that achievement. Some games require you to do many things to get 10 measly points after 30 hours of work, while others, you get achievements just by sitting on your ass and loading the game.
It's not a real currency that can be spent, like Microsoft Points, it doesn't unlock anything in Xbox Live, it's just an arbitrary number.
And there are various save game hacks you can do to load up someone else's save game and get those achievements credited to your account. $300 for 3000 points? Honestly, that number is just for bragging. There are no prizes, no awards, nothing.
Microsoft Points are currency. Gamerscore is a lousy number that means zilch to Microsoft, and only gives you the ability to brag. But hey, if someone's willing to pay $300 for this, more power to them (it's how the market's supposed to work).