$300 for 3,000 XBL gamer points?!

by Vladimir Cole { Oct 3rd 2006 at 5:45PM }

For years now, companies have offered to level your Everquest and World of Warcraft characters for a fee. By catering to the whims of players who want that level 60 mount but don't really have the time to obtain it on their own, firms that farm rake it in.

Therefore, 'twas only a matter of time before farmers that specialize in taking the grind out of virtual gruntwork made the leap over to the Xbox 360. A site called "Level My 360" has jumped in (har) and now offers 3,000 XBL gamer points for the low, low price of $300.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this: people hire help to do their dishes, mow their lawns, and perform other mundane tasks. That this service exists at all validates the whole "gamer score" concept, revealing that some players value a high gamer score enough to pay for it. Though the gamer score concept lacks depth right now, it may one day rival the importance of character level in massively multiplayer games like WoW.

Even so, we wonder whether this whole outsourcing-of-fun trend will ever end. When we begin to outsource even activities that are supposed to be pleasurable, we're taking a step towards some sort of dystopian future in which developing nations do all the fun stuff while we toil away ... for what?

[Thanks, Larry]

Tags: gamer score, microsoft, msft, wow, xbox, xbox 360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Richard @ Oct 3rd 2006 5:53PM

What is the point of even playing games now that the goals of advancing levels in games are now just another thing you can buy off the internet. I feel bad for the people who would rather spend 300 bucks to impress others and not actually sit down and enjoy the ride to achieving the goal on their own.

? X ? O @ Oct 3rd 2006 5:54PM

I'm stunned...speechless...this...this is so...I just can't believe...good God...

I hope people don't actually pay. I can't think of a more literal way to "throw your money away."

Gimbal @ Oct 3rd 2006 5:54PM

...Steroids?

? X ? O @ Oct 3rd 2006 5:56PM

One more thing (sorry for the double post):

This serves only to lessen the actual achievements of others. If I see a crazy high gamer score now, I'm going to assume it was purchased.

Shame.

razer @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:03PM

Wow! And they thought people using gamesaves was bad. One more way to cheapin the whole gamerscore system. I don't know who is more pityful, the group that thought this was a good idea or the souless loser who actually pays for this. Speaking of which I wonder if they actually "earn" them or just load up a bunch of gamesaves onto the persons profile?? Either way, thanks for spitting in the faces of people who actually earn them legit for themselves.

JR Sutich @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:09PM

Excellent image choice.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:16PM

LMAO!! So now, not only will you pay out the ass just to play games online, which Sony and Ninty will give you for FREE, but you'll also pay for your 'achievement' points? wow...

I wonder how long before you spend more on this stuff than the difference between the premium PS3 and the premium xbox? I would guess under 1 year, and after that, you are actually paying *more* for your 360 than PS3 owners are paying for superior hardware, software, and featureset. Thats some value proposition M$ has going!

Raynre @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:18PM

I should see if theyre hiring. $200~ a session in order to sit around and play games all day? Sign me up!

Steve @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:20PM

I think the funniest part is how bad of deal this is. Buying plat/gold or whatever I can sometimes see cause the conversion rate is usually such that it takes less time to work for the $ then play for the plat. But this is silly. 3k points is something you can get in an afternoon with the right game selection even if you bought the games new. I'd love to get 300 bucks for blitzing King Kong, NBA 2k6 and Fight Night. I think it'd be funny to hand them an account with all the easy achivements done already and see how long it takes to get the points

I also can't fathom why you'd pay for useless gamerpoints. At least with gold and levels in MMOs you can use them to further your character and play with your friends who have more time. Gamerpoints are totally worthless for anything but bragging.

copa @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:21PM

"That this service exists at all validates the whole "gamer score" concept, revealing that some players value a high gamer score enough to pay for it."

Vlad, you are an MBA. The fact this service exist reveals that some dudes want to be paid to do this. It does not say anything about whether anyone actually is willing to pay for it.

KineticOnline @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:21PM

Lol thats just insane, if someone wants points that badly they might as well just rent games that people have already posted game saves for. Seriously though im guessing that this is exactly how these guys are doing it too.

Actually to hell with that if someone is will to fork up the money i'll double what they will get you.

Pince @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:22PM

I think it is also a testament to the fact that some games have become very laborius. Gaming, as a hobby, sometimes turns out to have ust as many aspects of work and frustration as any other hobby. Games require time and practice and, often, games have long strectched that arent even really fun, but we go through them anyways because the end result is rewarding.

Its strange how you can be playing a game, working hard at it, and think "wow, I'm not even having fun, this is like work" but you just can't stop playing, because you need to accomplish your goal. I remember killing the same enemy over and over and over hundreds of times in SOTN ust to get one rare item, or to get money for the Duplicator, and, about half of an hour into that process it really sucked, it was like tedious work, but I wanted to keep on playing. We all do this as gamers at some point.

I think that drive is one of the biggest things about gaming that non-gamers dont understand, or at least is the reason some look at video games and think "that doesnt even look fun", maybe in reference to some complex frustrating strategy game. It is harder to see that kind of fun that comes from tirelssly working at an in-game problem to solve it, or to reach a certain point (a certain score) than it is to see the quick jolts of excitement from something more fast-paced and instantly gratifying.

Richard @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:22PM

@ aZn_1080p

I guess after you have spent 600 bucks for a PS3 and 70-100 more for one game 5 bucks a month for XBLive is too much for you to spend.

reguy @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:24PM

azn, you cant be for real. you HAVE to be a sony employee that comes in here to talk shit about microsoft. you just have to be because no one can be as stupid as you are. darryl looks like a genius next to you. oh my frikin god.
where does it say microsoft wants to to pay for a higher gamerscore. i would explain what this post means but you're too stupid. oh my god..,please tell me you employed by sony because DAMN your a moron.

Richard @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:25PM

@ Pince

If people do not want to play long laborious games, then tell them to pick up a copy of a FPS or play "texas hold'em" on XBL.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:29PM

I'm sorry guys, I've just done this act for so long that sometimes I forget the big picture.

Since I'm a gamer myself, I know that I'm going to buy more than 1 or 2 games per year. This makes the cost of Live small in comparison to the amount of games I would purchase. As well, I realize that it does cost money to operate dedicated high-speed moderated servers. I just get caught up in all the fun on this site that sometimes I forget that I'm annoying people.

Also, I realize that I generalized by stating that all xbox 360 owners would pay for this leveling up service, when in reality, I realize that only a handful of hardcore players actually will.

Just one last thing. I'd like to apologize to asians as I have been a poor representative while using the acronym aZn.

Alright, now that I've got that out of my system, back to more crazy uninformed fanboy posts!

BklynKid @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:30PM

What do I care? More power to these guys if theres really people out there dumb enough to shell out 300 big ones.

Ryan @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:32PM

@azn

I've read a lot of your posts before and thought "did he even read the article" well today you proved you don't. So congratulations you are the greatest fanboy ever. Just read the title and if you can create something hostile out of it you will even if that has nothing to do with the actual articule.

Again congratulations, I don't think I have ever seen someone so dedicated to a cause.

SuicideNinja @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:34PM

So looking at this in a good light:

My over-a-year-in-the-acheiving 6000+ gamerscore is worth a Premium PS3 console? Hell, give me a PS3 and I'll totally achieve those points for you in less than a tenth of the time!

This is pretty pathetic.

Pag @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:37PM

aZn_1080p, do you get paid to pimp the PS3? The amount of time you must spend just to write (bad) ads for Sony's product amazes me. If you don't get paid, why do you (and other rabid fanboys, for any platform) do it? I can understand preferring a platform over another, but I can't understand people who jump on every available opportunity to put down the other guy's system. Are you so insecure that you must bash other people's choices to validate your own? Do you just lack a life and love spending all your time trolling message boards? I'd really like some insight into the fanboy/troll psyche...

By the way, making illogical arguments isn't going to convince many people to switch to your side. Who wants to side with the madman on his soapbox? Of course, that's assuming you're doing this for any reason other than annoying people...

AoE @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:38PM

"There's nothing inherently wrong with this: people hire help to do their dishes, mow their lawns, and perform other mundane tasks."

Right, well... there is a difference. Most people don't point to clean dishes or a mowed lawn and say "Look at what I've done!" But that's kind of the point of achievments, right? They quantify how good a gamer is at a particular game, or at least how much time they've sunk into it. I can understand, to a limited degree buying a leveled character for an MMO (if for example you want to play the end-game content and epic quests only). But achievments have no value outside of being a badge of gamer honor... which is where I think there's something inherently wrong. Really it's more like lying on your resume than paying someone to mow your lawn...

reguy @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:41PM

finally azn comes clean, now if only darryl, ME and ethan would do the same. i mean it was pretty obvious that you couldnt be for real but still. and by the way i bought my xbox live for 36 bucks so i pay roughly 3 bucks a month, your right they are charging me out the ass.

P.S was it my post that finally made you come clean?

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:44PM

post # 16 is NOT ME, I repeat NOT THE REAL aZn_1080p... I don't know how identity theft like this is even possible on this site, I am outraged!

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:49PM

In fact, I'm so outraged, I'm going to buy a Wii and a 360 just to prove you guys how wrong you are about me!

Ahms @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:51PM

"There's nothing inherently wrong with this: people hire help to do their dishes, mow their lawns, and perform other mundane tasks."

Terrible comparisons

MMORPG's etc. are games, not household chores. It's more like asking someone to jog in your place and win the race for you by paying them

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 6:59PM

Yes, you're right. I'm an idiot who sucks Kutaragi's cock.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:00PM

OK, whoever keeps imping me and posting stupid comments, give it a rest. I can't believe you nerds would resort to this kind of childish tactic... I promise you, you would *NEVER* dream of showing me this kind of disrespect to my face. Where I came up, that kind of thing gets you dealt with real quick.

reguy @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:05PM

hahahahaha

i love this stuff

Wulkar @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:07PM

so you pay 300% to have them beat 3-4 games. at the risk of losing you GT and all the points to begin with.

mandarin @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:20PM

Im curious how did the pricing for PS3 got here considering the article is about some outsourcing system for the xbox

beatrat @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:42PM

what's ridiculous is that for $180 you could buy 3 games that you could earn 3000 pts from.

Thirty6libras @ Oct 3rd 2006 7:42PM

If somebody wants to get 5000 points without wasting anytime they just need to rent King Kong, Madden 06, and any of the 06 basketball titles. Sim a few seasons and kill stuff with a gorilla. Right now I'm up to 20,000+ in achievements, it's become one of the reasons I really appreciate the 360. Check the leaderboards on 360achievements.org, there's a guy with 70,000+. I'm not expecting to get a PS3, but I kinda worry about those guys. If they don't have achievements or a decent arcade type program to download games from the get-go, Im not sure if they will make it very far. There's a lot of PS fans going to the 360 for the price tag alone, and I wonder if the achievements are gonna get them addicted too.
Gamertag: Thirty6libras. Check out my list and send me a friend request.

taliesin-nine @ Oct 3rd 2006 8:14PM

If you go to the site, it gets even more ridiculous. They have a few plans, the smallest being 500 points for $40. Anyone out of the third grade should realize you can buy 6 of these plans to get 3000 points at a cost of $240... So what kind of idiot would buy 3000 points for $300?

Probably the kind that goes to use sites like that in the first place...

At least they know thier customers are stupid :-)

Walter Johnson @ Oct 3rd 2006 8:22PM

From their site:

"3000 points, it takes most people 6-12 months to achieve this!"

Noobs!! =D

I would say it takes people with NBA 2K6, College Hoops 2K6, and Madden 2006 about 3 hours to get 3,000 points.

Judd @ Oct 3rd 2006 8:43PM

Did you mean a gamerscore? I'm not saying this to be a smartass, it's just that XBL gamer points A. implies that all the points you get is on Xbox Live B. Gamer Points made me think you were talking about Microsoft Points.

At first I thought the article was about an offer to spend $300 for 3,000 Microsoft Points. This would mean that arcade games would cost $40 and $80. Not exactly a good deal, but still better than the actual deal!

1080i ok with me @ Oct 3rd 2006 10:08PM

#28. You sir are childish. Posting on a webblog from morning to night and threatening others because they disagree with you is more childish than everything. And please, just because you got a laptop and can post while you are delivering your chinese take out you think you are hot shit. Step up to any one of us in real life and you would get your 2 inches slapped back to whereever you come from. Please stop posting your fame-inducing crap and let us enjoy intelligent discussion

Padma @ Oct 3rd 2006 10:20PM

If you'd actually ever read The Handmaid's Tale, you'd know that it is a horrible illustration of your example. The main difference being that people who want to drop $300 for supposed video game prowess are exhibiting a level of choice not afforded any characters in that book (or movie).

epobirs @ Oct 3rd 2006 11:44PM

As a matter of fact, I have read 'The Handmaid's Tale' and Margaret Atwood is a mild lunatic. I say mild because she comes off as fairly rational compared to others she is frequently lumped in with. No, it's not a perfectly accurate analogy to the article but it is an effective visual gag to those who get the reference.

I'd be amazed if anyone actually paid for this dubious service. If I were inclined to gather those points I'd be annoyed if somebody else raised the number using my account. I'd want the score to reflect my actions and mine alone. What is the point otherwise? It doesn't matter if nobody else knows. I'd know.

schwal @ Oct 4th 2006 2:04AM

i've spent way less than $300 on games, have a gamerscore of 3649, and got the enjoyment of actualy playing the games.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 2:56AM

i like to do da cha cha.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 3:00AM

i like to taste fanboy pre-juice.....

JUICE ON ME!

Thomas Crymes @ Oct 4th 2006 8:47AM

It isn't the hardcore that will use this service. If it is used at all it will be by gamers who don't play a lot some false bragging rights. I'm guessing the age will skew younger for this service.

Buying a game you really don't want to play just for the gamer points is *ALMOST* as bad. Have the points representative of the games you want to play

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 8:50AM

1080i ok with me:

First off I never threatened anyone, only pointed out that in real life, people would never dare impresonate or disrespect me to my face like they do here. The reality is, in real life such actions have consequences, at least in my neck of the woods. I've had 2 friends get shanked for mouthing off to the wrong dudes, and one of them did not live to tell the story. I make no threats, because I will probably never meet my haters here in real life. I'm just pointing out the truth. Furthermore, I don't care if someone disagrees with me, but start throwing personal insults, racism, and identity theft my way, and its a different story.

You may think I'm a troll or a fanboy or a plant or whatever, but you WILL NOT see me resorting to personal insults or identity theft. Sure I may call people nerds or fanboys, not exactly fighting words, I think you'll agree, in fact many here self identify as one or both. On the other hand, I've been insulted, told to die, told all asians should be killed, and had various racist slurs hurled at me on here... so tell me, who is the troll? By the tone of your comment "Chinese Takeout? My '2 inches'??" I assume you are another racist.

Get one thing straight son, you have no fucking clue who I am, and believe me, if you stepped to my face in real life with that shit, you would end up in the hospital courtesty of me and my crew. I came up in a rough as hell area, and my boyz and me had to deal with more than our fair share of racist assholes like yourself, of all colours and, who didn't like the new crew in town, and laughed at Viet-Pride. Well when the dust settled they were'nt laughing no more. You know Chuckie Akenz? Thats my boy. Thats the crew I roll with. Hell, you can see me in this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaciX5hDTvI

Here's a hint, I have a sleeveless black shirt on. Like I say, IRL you would be crossing the street if you saw us rolling up. Now run along little doggy, run home and cry to momma cuz things got too real for you.

Pixelantes Anonymous @ Oct 4th 2006 9:19AM

Is this yet another way to tax the stupid?

MarioLuvsU.......also.......Jesus @ Oct 4th 2006 9:37AM

If you are from the mean streets of Toronto, Canada as you claim, thanks for causing all the violence there by bringing your Viet-problems over.

smalldicks @ Oct 4th 2006 10:22AM

[racist comment removed.]

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 10:22AM

MarioLuvsU.......also.......Jesus;

The violence in T-dot has nothing to do with Viet-Pride, and everything to do with jamaican gang bangers and little wannabe suburban thugs. The only violence Viets have caused is in self defense because people think we are weak and easy to pick on. Did you miss the point of the Chuckie Akenz video?

KilgoreTrout XL @ Oct 4th 2006 10:27AM

Wow. $300? Just to play King Kong and simulate a season in Madden and NBA Live? Tell you what, send me your 360, I'll do it for $200. In one day.

P.S. In before lock?

aZn_1080p @ Oct 4th 2006 11:36AM

hahaha aZn_1080p i thaught u where just a anoying little fanboy.... but it turnesout ur much worse then that...

get a life man geez...

and i wouldent cross the street if u n ur 'crew', 'rollin' up, i have that thing i call self respect and crossing the road would not even cross my mind....

what would u do if i didnt? beat me up? just cos i didnt cross the road cos u see fit that i do?

get fucked, u dont own the streets.