Microsoft has issued some new guidelines that are sure to impact us soon. The good news is that we can earn more Gamescore points per game. The bad news is that the game developers can control WHEN they make all the Gamerscore points available and 1000-1250 total points might not be available on the retail disc. From Microsoft:

1. All regular disc-based games MUST have 1,000 Gamerscore in the base game. This means that any consumer who buys a retail game will have the opportunity to unlock the full 1,000 Gamerscore without having to pay for any add-on content. Note that a publisher may decide to deliver a portion of this Gamerscore via add-on content, but the add-on content will always be free to the consumer.

2. Game publishers will have the option to deliver another 250 incremental Gamerscore on top of the 1,000 via add-on content from Marketplace. This add-on content could be either free or paid. So if you complete a game and earn the full 1,000 GS, you could by getting new add-on content earn up to a total of 1,250 points from a game.

3. Xbox Live Arcade games will operate in similar fashion, but given the size of these titles they will allow you to earn up to 200 Gamerscore from every game and up to another 50 points from add-on content.

“A perfect example of this is the recent release of Crackdown, which has delivered 900 Gamerscore today on the retail game disc. The remaining Gamerscore in Crackdown will be made available, for free, via a future content update. A number of the title's future Achievements will likely be based on some of the amazing feats executed through the streets of Pacific City, as well as the exciting additional content that Realtime Worlds currently has up its sleeve.” – MS’s Gamerscore blog

That sounded weird at first. So, I reverted back to guideline #1 and TFA. It looks like you are guaranteed the opportunity to unlock 1000 Gamerscore points on all retail games without having to pay extra. But, the 1000 Gamerscore points don’t have to be available on the disc. They just have to be offered for free at a later time via downloaded add-ons from the Marketplace. So, Crackdown will have 100 Gamerscore points hanging out there as a free add-on made available after the release.

When I play through a $60 disc game, I want to be able to unlock the 1000 points without having to download more content at a future date. Else, I’ll feel like the game developer owns a little bit of me. Maybe I should feel that the game developer OWES a little be TO me. Some games I get enough of, not because I’ve gotten all (or most) of the Gamerscore points, but because I’ve really had enough of the game. Some games aren’t fun over time – especially when the friends on my buddylist aren’t playing it anymore – especially when there are new hit games out there – especially when I’m playing on several different controller scheme (going between Gears of War and Shadowrun is a trip!).

Cabela’s African Safari got old with a couple of missions left to go. Same animals -s lightly different terrain. But, I kept trucking on through the game because I knew there was an endpoint. I knew that if I worked through to the end of the game, I would feel a sense of accomplishment and rack up a decent amount of Gamerscore points. (Why did gamers play through games and beat the final boss before achievement points?)

What if some games only ship with, say, 700 Gamerscore points available on the disc WITHOUT free add-on content? That leaves 300 points hanging out there. When will those points be made available? How many add-ons will I have to download to get the extra content? How much space on my already-full hard drive will I need to account for these add-ons? Will there only be one add-on or will game developers stretch this out over several downloads?

Worse yet, what if a game only shipped with, say, 500 Gamerscore points available on a disc. What if you had to download 5 different add-ons to that each had 100 Gamerscore points in them? What a mess this could be. First, I’ve got to be educated on the game, it’s add-ons, and bonus content. I’ve got to keep track of how many Gamerscore points are available and where I’ve got to get those points. Then, I’ve got to savvy enough to find out when the add-ons are going to be released. Just how long do I have to own this game to unlock the 1000 points? Half a year? Longer? I’ve also got to start managing my hard drive storage better with the extra add-ons. Sure. That's probably an extreme case, but aren't guidelines FOR extreme cases?

It looks like I’m going to have to play the game longer to earn all the achievements. How long, Microsoft?

What if older games go back and release NEW content to take advantage of the 250 Gamerscore points? What if CoD2, PGR3, Kameo, and the other games from 2005/2006 released updates for the extra 250. There's no question that I’d be interested in going back to earn those 250 points on certain games. An extra GoW mission would be great. I'd pay a few bucks for it. But, I think I will have felt gypped if I could have only unlocked less than 1000 Gamerscore points to begin with and it was a few months before I could unlock the whole 1000. I would be less inclined to go hunt down the full 1000 points if they aren’t made available out of the box on the disc. I want to control my own Gamerscore destiny. I don't want it to be controlled by a calendar.

By limiting WHEN a person can unlock all the Gamerscore points, the game developers can have the hard-core Gamerscore conscious players coming back for more at a future time. They will actually have a small piece of my essence during that time. I’m going to feel like I’m not buying a full game when I am not allowed to get 1000/1000 Gamerscore points until a later date. And, I will not rent a game just to unlock the final X-hundred points of the original 1000 points. I’ll just move on to another game.

Overall, it seems that gamers are going to start earning fewer Gamerscore points per purchase since fewer points are going to ship with the game. The early adopters will be hurt most.

Give me 1000/1000 Gamerscore points on the disc. You want to give out 100 Gamerscore points at a later date? Then make the bonus points free. Or charge me for them and I'll decide if I want them. But don't eat into MY 1000 Gamerscore points.

What do you think? Am I overreacting? Am I jaded?