We’ve seen and experienced tremendous improvements to Xbox Live since the launch of the 360 and overall I’ve been very pleased.  It’s a great thing, but there are still some improvements that could be made.  From my own encounters, I’ve come across trouble with the size of my friends list.  It is in my nature to be friendly and considerate to others; this combined with my femininininity and skill in shooter games has resulted in a constant trickle of friend requests.  I can’t help but think of my behavioral pattern while playing Oblivion where I found myself dropping useful things from my inventory to pick up less-than-useful-but-new-to-me things.  In the same way, I have been removing well-seasoned friends from my friends list to make room for new friends whom I have never played with or have only just met.  I feel bad denying a gamer their request to be my friend.  This results in a high turnover rate as friends are constantly added and removed.

Not only that but there are small instances of drama threatening to erupt over add-ons and take-offs from my list.  The other day a gamer, whom I had removed, messaged me on myspace saying, “Awwww You took me of your friends list and I only got to play with you once.” Then in a completely separate instance another gamer messaged me on Xbox Live saying, “I feel so awful. The person you deleted to make room for me posted on your myspace… I feel so guilty and bad.” While the two occurrences were completely unrelated, it was funny to think for a minute that Xbox Live had become so Seinfeld-esque.  The friend’s list blues are giving me a headache, and therefore I bring you to Calyber’s AMAZE-TACULAR Suggestion of the Week, in bold type for added effect:

I suggest Microsoft setup a way for me (and other gamers like me) to purchase larger friend’s list. This way, I would be able to spend a few bucks and have as many friends as my new larger list could handle, thereby creating WORLD PEACE (in my own little world).

And while I am making suggestions (read: demands), I got to thinking about my gamerscore; I work so hard for these points and achievements, yet, what is the point?  Yes, it looks nice on my gamer card, but I think there should be a more practical purpose for achieving points.  Behold—Calyber’s AMAZE-TACULAR Suggestion of the Week #2, this time in RED for added danger and intrigue:

I recommend Microsoft create a way for us to trade in our gamerscore points for Microsoft points to purchase things from the Marketplace.  Now, the currency exchange rate could not be straight across the board, point for point.  If that were the case, each game, containing 1000 possible points, would (at the current exchange rate of 80 Microsoft points per USD) have a turn-around of $12.50 = not worth it for developers to make great arcade games.  So, while taking that into consideration, we can look at the world’s exchange rates and see that the one U.S dollar is equal to 3.64 Riyals in Qatar.  I think Qatar is an appropriate comparison for gamerscore points versus Microsoft points (solely based on the cool spelling and sound of both “Qatar” and “Riyals").  At the Qatar exchange rate, I could trade in 1000 of my gamerscore points and in return get about 167 Microsoft points, if I ignore all math, reasoning and logic.  That’s just my humble suggestion (again, read: demand) for an exchange rate and a way to give achievements higher esteem.

I was also thinking that it would be great to incorporate gamerpoints into a sort of contest.  This might be something that would have to occur on a smaller scale with the game developer’s planning and organization.  Calyber’s AMAZE-TACULAR Suggestion of the Week the Third, accented with l33t 5p3ak f0r 3xtr4 fl4v4: wh0ev3r getzorz a11 teh ach1ev3mentzorz 1st 4 a p4rt1cul4r ga|\/|e getzorz a pr1ze (man, that’s friggin’ TIRING!  How do those Haxorz do it?!), or their name and picture published in Xbox Magazine.  How cool would that be?!

Anyway, I have my suggestions and a nice place to let them be known.  Maybe they make sense to you, maybe not; maybe you agree, maybe you could care less.  The point I’m trying to make is, aren’t Starburst Fruit Chews delicious!  Except for the yellow ones.

The End