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Xbox 360 Microsoft points

Started by HappyTree, January 16, 2011, 04:23:45 PM

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HappyTree

I've avoided using MS points up until now, but I'm playing Mass Effect 2 again after a long hiatus and, wow, it's a bit good isn't it? I got the free Cerbeus download, have done the Zaeed mission and now I'm hungry for more DLC. So I thought it was about time I got me some MS points.

What I'd like to know is if I can buy points more cheaply off Amazon.co.uk and use them in Estonia. On looking at a few Googled sites it seems that MS points are region-specific. So that would suggest that I can't just buy points anywhere and use them here. Bugger.

My "locale" option in the Xbox settings is still set to France. I would have changed it to Estonia but this country doesn't exist according to the Xbox menu. I thought it wouldn't really matter, but if I'm planning to buy UK points, have my console set to France and have an Estonian IP address this might get confusing. I could always set the locale to Finland if need be, being the closest country that appears on the menu.

Is there any problem with this or can I just steam ahead and get the cheaper points from the UK Amazon site?

Cheers!

Consignia

You can only use region specific points against accounts registered in that region. So if you have a French account, you need French points. Your actual physical location doesn't matter unless you are buying videos or games on demand. But be aware, you have to buy DLC according to version of the game, so a French game would need French DLC, a British game would would need DLC from the British store, etc..

HappyTree

Ok ta. I'm not sure what you mean by"account registered" What account?

I bought the Xbox in France and only have silver live status. Is this what you mean? I bought the game off Amazon from the UK, so it's a UK game being played on a French Xbox. So I would buy the UK DLC? With points bought in France?

I suppose it would just be easier, if more expensive, to buy the points on the Xbox itself.

Consignia

The account you log in to the system with, the Gamer Tag I think, has a region associated with it, and that's which version of the marketplace you get. You can put any region account on any system. You can have British, American, Japanese, whatever accounts you want on any system, as they are free to open.

If you have the UK game, you will need to buy the UK DLC with UK points from the UK marketplace, therefore you will need a UK account.

chocky909

It sounds like your account is French and your game is UK so they're compatible I think as points are locked to EU, US and Asia I think. So make sure you buy EU MS points. You'd be best off getting them from instant code sites like http://cheapxboxlivecodes.com/cheap-microsoft-points/cheap-microsoft-2100-points/

Best to google these sites before you buy though, just to make sure they're not scam sites. I've ordered off a few and they've been fine but I'm not going to recommend any in particular in case something goes wrong.

The lowest the price goes is about £14 for 2100 points but this is usually through Zavvi or HMV with a voucher and you have to wait for delivery. So £16-£17 is about average for instant and is still a saving on buying direct through MS. Plus you don't need to give them your credit card details, just use Paypal.

Consignia

Quote from: chocky909 on January 16, 2011, 05:50:51 PM
It sounds like your account is French and your game is UK so they're compatible I think as points are locked to EU, US and Asia I think.

I think they are locked on a country by country basis, I certainly can't buy Hong Kong points for my Japanese account. Apparently Canadian points don't work on US accounts either.

HappyTree

Well see that's the thing. I would like to change my locale settings to Estonia but it doesn't exist in the menu. So if my locale is still set to France, does that mean the console thinks I'm still in France? I have the language set to English QWERTY.

I think I'll wait until tomorrow, phone the UK Xbox Live helpline and just ask them to sort it out. I got the console in France but I would never in a million years phone any French helpline as French customer service is the worst I've ever encountered.

As for payment, I'd prefer to use my credit card as I refuse to use Paypal ever again. My cards have expired in Paypal and since their Wikileaks shenanigans they're out!

Consignia

Locale doesn't do anything, apart from the language of the system. It all depends on the region of your account[nb]which if you set up in France, you probably selected France[/nb], and there might not even be an Xbox Live Marketplace in Estonia anyway, I know Microsoft service East Europe quite weakly. The easiest thing to do is set a new account with a UK region, buy UK points, and download the DLC with that account.

HappyTree

The problem is basically that I have no idea what I have :-D I looked at the help page online and it talked of a Windows Live account. That's basically MSN, isn't it?

I registered with them in 2003! In the UK. It uses an old email address as a username and a password that I haven't used in about 5 years. Luckily I remembered what it was! I used that login to create my gamertag and ID on the Xbox when I got it. So I think my account is British, and this irrelevant locale thing is just set to France because I was physically in France at the time. It is separate from the language setting.

Anyway thanks for your ideas and help. It's a veritable minefield out there!

HappyTree

Well that was an enjoyable experience. I phoned Xbox Live helpline in the UK and it left me waiting for so long that by the time I actually spoke to someone I had used up almost all my phone credit. I only had enough time for the Norn Irn gentleman to tell me that I have to remember what locale setting I used when setting up the gamertag, that he couldn't tell me what that was and that there was no way of finding out bar me just remembering. Then the phone cut off. Super!

Anyone know how I can find out what locale I set my gamertag to be? I can change language and locale settings on the console but the guy said that doesn't change the tag's locale setting.

MojoJojo

You could try logging into www.xbox.com with your gamer tag, then going to MyXbox->Redeem code.
When I did this, it switched from the US site to the UK site. Unfortunately I have no way of testing whether this was because of my IP or from my account setting.
But if it changes you to a country you are not in, I think that's a pretty good  indication that is what region your gamer tag is registered to.
If it changes it to the country you are in, who knows?

HappyTree

Aha, now I'm getting somewhere, thanks!

I logged in and looked at my account settings...

...and I've just phoned the helpline again. 10 bloody euros it cost me, oh well. The guy checked out my account and, basically, doesn't know if I can download content or not. I seem to have a UK locale on the gamertag as I get quoted prices in pounds when I try to buy points from the console itself.

He said that in theory I shouldn't be able to dl anything from Estonia, but in practice some people can. I can get demos easily enough so it may work. The best way to find out is apparently to buy my MS points on the Xbox and get the cheapest amount just to see if it lets me do it. If so, the DLC will probably work.

Globalisation my arse!

HappyTree

Bought 500 points and it worked fine. It's a bit more expensive buying them straight from the Xbox than getting a card from Amazon, but I suppose I should be grateful it works at all up here. Now to see if any DLC will work.

Still Not George

I was extremely amused a few months back when I found a huge pile of Microsoft Points cards, specifically GAME-branded ones, strewn all over the pavement near the binstore of the block me and Ces live in. They were generally quite high-value ones. It took me a few moments to realise that these had obviously been nicked from GAME, before the thief had had the presence of mind to realise that the cards have to be activated at the till before they would work, and that they had therefore nicked a huge heap of completely worthless pieces of silvered card.

Which would explain why the would-be criminal mastermind had not even made it to the binstore before flinging them away in disgust.

Even funnier, they'd all disappeared an hour or so later. Which means either the culprit had realised he'd left the evidence of his attempted criminal masterwork on the pavement on a major road, or someone else had come along, seen a heap of "5000 MS Points" cards and gone "OOOH! FREE MICROSOFT POINTS!" and grabbed the lot, thus continuing the great Circle Of Fail.