Confusion with Bioware Points

[DrWilhelm]

I've been playing through the Mass Effect series on my PC so I've got a save prepared to import into the third game. I finished Mass Effect 1 last night, and I'm just finishing the Mass Effect 2 setup. I've downloaded the free DLC, and that all seemes to be working, so now it's onto the paid stuff. But my brain is now at risk of melting as I try to wrap my head around the pricing of Bioware Points.

My first stop was EA's Origin store for which I have a 15% discount coupon, and sure enough Bioware Points can be found under Points and Timecards. 800 points for £6.99, and 1600 for £14.99. Well that can't be right. Unless my math is way off, what's the point of buying the bigger pack when two smaller ones would be cheaper?

Assuming that there's some error, I decide to check Biowares website and find that I can purchase the points from there instead. 1600 for £12.38, 800 for £6.18. "Well that's better," I say to myself. "I wonder whether I can use my coupon here?" And then I notice that I can also buy 1200 points for £6.18, the same price as 800.

I'm kind of baffled, so I've come here to ask if anyone else who's bought Bioware points and noticed this can shed any light. Are the prices wrong? Are they bugged? Or can I actually get 1200 points for same price as 800? Because something illogical is going on.

I would post this on the Bioware forums but that place can devolve into a demonic hell pit at the drop of a hat. I figure I'm more likely to get a useful response from here.

 

[Cronq]

If you're confused its because they designed it that way. Just wait until you find out you have residual points with nothing left to purchase.

 

[DrWilhelm]

If you're confused its because they designed it that way. Just wait until you find out you have residual points with nothing left to purchase.

Oh yeah, I guessed that would happen having previously grown used to Microsoft Points. Apparently though you can buy some of the ME3 multiplayer random item packs for around 80 points, so with any luck I can shed the leftovers that way.

 

[AD-Stu]

If you're confused its because they designed it that way. Just wait until you find out you have residual points with nothing left to purchase.

Or even better, that buying those points is charged to your credit card as a cash advance, not an ordinary purchase. On my card, and I assume a lot of others, that results in being charged interest from the date of purchase, as opposed to having 30 or 60 days interest-free.

The irritating thing: if they just let us buy the DLC outright via credit card or whatever, we wouldn't have that problem. And as members of the PC gaming master race, we have keyboards with buttons with numbers on them for entering credit card numbers and the like, so there's no technical reason for us to be buying points (as opposed to keyboardless Xbox users and Microsoft points).

 

[Fr]anc[is]

The irritating thing: if they just let us buy the DLC outright via credit card or whatever, we wouldn't have that problem. And as members of the PC gaming master race, we have keyboards with buttons with numbers on them for entering credit card numbers and the like, so there's no technical reason for us to be buying points (as opposed to keyboardless Xbox users and Microsoft points).

It's not about keyboards, its about trickery. Points don't equate evenly to real world money, so it obscures the actual value of what you're buying. Sure it's not a complicated equation but it adds one more step to the decision making process. Also as Cronq said, those leftover points are deliberate too. Until you find something tiny to spend them on its free money in their pocket. The entire concept is incredibly dishonest and unnecessary.