Microsoft Surveys On NXE Avatar Changes, Including Wearable Achievements

@Archaotic:

Simple solution.

Live & Die by the Guide.

It's not that hard.

@Greenman:

The only answer I would have changed is the changing your avatar in a more granular way. I'd probably select "strongly agree" for that one. The only idea I despise is the "purchase items for my avatar." I really hope nobody selects anything outside of "strongly disagree." If purchasing becomes a reality, forget about anything else on the list, as it will all begin costing money.

@mcwerthor: dont you mean ("success" of home.) :}

@HELLSRIDER is playing Mother 3: If you can't accept a little (valid, at that) criticism that isn't even directed toward you, perhaps the internet isn't for you.

@Archaotic:

of course. E for Excessively Violent!

PunkyChipsAhoy

@HELLSRIDER is playing Mother 3: I'd have to agree with Archaotic. They serve next to no real purpose. I mean, the option to NOT have an avatar would be great. Why must it be a requirement of the XBL to create an avatar?

emoldy

"Clearly someone's a little jealous of the runaway success of PlayStation Home . . ."

And exactly since when has Playstation Home been considered a success . . . by anyone? Surely, you are being sarcastic, Mike.

InvaderPhlegm

Aw. No "kill the Sims option by trapping them in a maze of death" option

Shin-san

@PatrickF**kingStar: Sort of, but I wouldn't say that Microsoft would be willing to put Microsoft Bob on the 360

Shin-san

So I'm looking for a link to this survey and am failing to find it on the xbox site. Is this an exclusive survey or am I really that thick?

Jesse Dubiel

@HoFoShow: This is so unrelated to the post, seriously if you are just going to bash away with fanboyism kotaku isnt for you.

@RockyRan: I hate how they charge for useless stuff!

@Archaotic: Why? I mean come on if you dont like them just make anything random for yours and forget about them, but there are people who like them.

@innuendo: Hear ye and hear him! Where can I submit my survey answers?

I'm sorry- I threw up in my mouth a bit with the "the runaway success of PlayStation Home". I think I peed a little also- laughing that hard can have ugly results.

@maniacmayhem: As I said up there, Home is a great idea, but badly used so far.

@vorpal_raddish: So? Home has always been a great idea, hasnt been working well but it is a great idea nonetheless.

@PatrickF**kingStar: Some of it.

@Billy Tisano: That already exists, its called gamerscore.

@RonCey:
I'm assuming Scene It is a special case since it was a Microsoft-published casual game. But they've said it before, you can't put them in T or above games.

I just can't stand how they all look so smug. Like you HAVE to punch them in the face. They've all got a bad case of the backpfeifengesichts.

Doomcryer

That's almost as gay as the unicorns and rainbows on ESPN.com.

@Archaotic:

Not true. Scene it? is rated T.

@Kobun:

I'm guessing the functionality of the avatars in game is entirely dependent on the game developers.

Man, you know, avatars are great and all, but is there any way I can pay money for them? I really just feel uncomfortable with not having to pay any money whatsoever.

"Clearly someone's a little jealous of the runaway success of PlayStation Home, the ideal platform on which to virtually chill."

Really? Are we now praising HOME, wasn't it not to long ago everyone was dogging HOME out?

maniacmayhem

@HA-TheJoker-HA: srsly, color is a basic necessity at this point. Seems like that would be a no brainer.

Booji-Boy

@HA-TheJoker-HA:
Ha, my brother also has a joker avatar.

GIVE US A PURPLE COAT!

I already have my Joker Avatar, All Im missing is a purple coat. Just give me a purple coat and Im good. simple solution: BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF CLOTHES THAT ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE. lol

Wow, cool! So now MS is going to rip off Home and not just Mii's!

More unnecessary gamer avatars plz!!

Umm, okay I have to ask "runaway success of PlayStation Home" really? Were you being serious? Was this tongue i cheek? I ask because I don't recall Home ever being considered a success. Perhaps in the future, but today?

Hengst2404

Perhaps MS should figure out how to get their god damn hardware to work properly before they set about enticing us with fake clothing for fake representations of ourselves. I'm actually wearing my cafepress RROD t-shirt...will MS allow my avatar to wear it too?

HoFoShow

Link?

Where can we fill this survey out? Hmph. I like the majority of those ideas, except for paying of course. People generally like avatars a lot more than I first thought they would.

This is kinda like what Home does, isn't it?

i'm all for special items and more-lookin-like-you avatars with the cam

Jay Johnson

they should give every avatar a dick hat that gets bigger when you get more achievements

Billy Tisano

@Ted: Now, I know Sony have this idea. I'm talking on a personal level, seeing as I don't have a PS3.

WGAS WGAF

SixPounds

NO TO PURCHASING ITEMS. Please. Microtransactions were cute when this generation started, but now they're beyond annoying.

RockyRan

So is this the way you filled it out McWhertor? Why the fears of celebrity avatars, I kinda like the idea of an online army of Timothy Daltons.

@Kobun:
Nope. Avatars are only usable in E-rated games.

Is there going to be an option for "get rid of Avatars completely"? That'd be nice.

Kingdom for Keflings supports playable avatars. I do wonder how functional they are though. Could the NXE avatars be used in a beat-em up for instance?

And unless i'm mistaken, there is no link to this survey? So where can we give our two cents?

innuendo

i like the idea of earning achievements that unlock clothes and accessories

as well as the idea of pets and cars.

would love to see this stuff implemented.... i mean, as it is its a create and forget kinda thing

Galivanting

Yes! I always thought Nintendo should have done something like that, but hopefully Microsoft can make it a reality.

I hope Microsoft and Rare read Kotaku. Here is my Avatar wishlist:

"Designer" clothing - Armani Suits, Ferragamo ties, and an Oakland A's baseball cap. Like real life!

Granular clothing - I like wearing the suits but damnit I want to choose the shirt and tie. Like real life!

In-game avatars - I play a lot of the XBox Live Arcade Game 'Golf - Tee It Up' and it would be amazingly cool if I could substitute their mildly lame avatar with my own.

Context-sensitive Outfits - Setting my golf out-fit; my FPS outfit; and more.

Club houses! I'm surprised XBox Live doesn't have Clan support. That would be even more awesome if combined with a club-house. Mini-games like darts, pool, poker, etc... If you could meet up, launch games, and schedule matches against other clans or even compete and create ladders that would be awesome.

Avatar fighting game! I love the Tag fighting tech that runs the 360 Naruto games; How amazing would it be to have your avatar do the fighting?

That about fills my list. What I DON'T want is micro-transactions. I already pay for XBox Live which consistently fucks up my match-making based on "Trueskill". I would rather lose a game with a ping in the double digits then get "True-skilled" in to a lobby of people from a different continent because some computer thinks we're a good match.

KanSer

@Billy Tisano: My e-penis is bigger then yours.

Sounds to me like they're biting off the unlockable outfits for Home that you get in a lot of the new games on the PS3. This is gonna be an endless tug of war between Microsoft and Sony. Next Sony's gonna bite of something that Microsoft did first...

So... when does OnLive go to market again?

paulip01

@Archaotic: Amen!

@RyuuzakiBjorn: Zelda?

@Shin-san: Hello, you have chosen Microsoft Bob as your computer's default voice.

Avatars don't detract from the game playing experience on 360 at all. It's not like they are negatively affecting anything. If you don't like them, then fine. I know plenty of people that enjoy them. It's not really a big deal. I for one enjoy the idea of achievement related apparel.

@Sloopydrew:

I'm cynical enough to think that even if 100% of people answering put 'strongly disagree' with purchasing items it might just happen anyway. Because if the option is there, some people will use it (yes, idiots, but people all the same) and it will make MS some money. And that's the name of the game.

woons

@ithyphallus: but then you'd have every guy fighting to buy "avatar: the burning earth".

@InvaderPhlegm: You'd buy useless items for avatars? What's the point? Just like gamerpics and themes...they're totally spurious and eventually you'll tire of it and want to change.

And then that money is wasted.

the size of your gamerscore should reflect the size of the bulge in your pants or the boobs ... or both

ithyphallus

@HA-TheJoker-HA: THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS!!! *breathes* THIIIIS!

@Xenobula: If by "gay" you mean "totally freakin' awesome"

Avatars should NOT impact gameplay. I want it to be an accurate representation of me...not a fine tuned machine built to help me win games.

Because then it's not an avatar...it's just another game character.

@Ted: Looking at the entire list on the survey, the only bad ideas are: (S)to purchase items for my Avatar and (J) to be able to interact with others via Avatars in a "virtual" social setting.

All of the other ideas are pretty spot on, and exactly what I wanted from Miis, but Nintendo never delivered - no surprise there.

But those other two, (J) and (S), are two of the biggest reasons why Playstation Home is so boring.

I would especially like the ability to create my own clothing designs for my Avatar, or have multiple Avatars, and especially link my Avatar to MySpace and FaceBook. Getting Avatar Achievements would also be very cool, not to mention a way for developers to give out more when you get an Achievement than just points - that one is going to make Achievements that much more potency. And the idea about giving in-game Avatars special abilities/attributes based on the cloths they are wearing, is completely brilliant. I like using my Avatar in A Kingdom For Keflings, but other than act as a skin, it does nothing to improve the game. But allowing your Avatar's in-game attributes to change, thus enhancing the game they are in, that is really thinking outside of the box and maximizing the use of the Avatars.

As I said, there are a lot of really good ideas in that survey, almost any of which could make Avatars phenomenally better. So long as they avoid trying to copy the boring as hell, Playstation Home with it's "virtual social settings", and avoid trying to charge gamers for Avatar related content, this whole list has win written all over it. I'd like to see 17 of these 19 ideas become reality by the end of the year.

InvaderPhlegm

Looking at the entire list on the survey, the only bad ideas are: (S)to purchase items for my Avatar and (J) to be able to interact with others via Avatars in a "virtual" social setting.

All of the other ideas are pretty spot on, and exactly what I wanted from Miis, but Nintendo never delivered - no surprise there.

But those other two, (J) and (S), are two of the biggest reasons why Playstation Home is so boring.

I would especially like the ability to create my own clothing designs for my Avatar, or have multiple Avatars, and especially link my Avatar to MySpace and FaceBook. Getting Avatar Achievements would also be very cool, not to mention a way for developers to give out more when you get an Achievement than just points - that one is going to make Achievements that much more potency. And the idea about giving in-game Avatars special abilities/attributes based on the cloths they are wearing, is completely brilliant. I like using my Avatar in A Kingdom For Keflings, but other than act as a skin, it does nothing to improve the game. But allowing your Avatar's in-game attributes to change, thus enhancing the game they are in, that is really thinking outside of the box and maximizing the use of the Avatars.

As I said, there are a lot of really good ideas in that survey, almost any of which could make Avatars phenomenally better. So long as they avoid trying to copy the boring as hell, Playstation Home with it's "virtual social settings", and avoid trying to charge gamers for Avatar related content, this whole list has win written all over it. I'd like to see 17 of these 19 ideas become reality by the end of the year.

InvaderPhlegm

@Galivanting: Im ashamed that someone who seemd to have filled out this exmaple seems to want an xbox "home". oh god what a waste of time. DO NOT WANT.

pmur

I think avatars should be Microsoft's solution to console MMO's

Ability to unlock clothing by playing games? Sounds like what playstation home does.

@emoldy: Well its clear somebody just likes to bitch, I mean seriously you haft to make an avatar one time and you can have Microsoft randomly do it. OMFG how terrible.

@HELLSRIDER is playing Mother 3:
Exactly why there should be an option to disable them. Avatars slow my friends list down massively when I try to access it.

Of course, I'd also like them to let me disable all the fucking ADS on the NXE, but that's clearly too much to ask for.

(t) to have my avatar learn to stand up straight, instead of always using his sassy little hip-out pose: STRONGLY AGREE

Clothing that unlocks like or with achievements is a good idea. ... As long as its retroactive, I don't want to trudge through some games earning the same achievements again.

does that mean we can strap on our e-penises once wearing achievements become avaliable?

@innuendo:

Here them both! Where can I voice my opinion on that girly stance that I want GONE??

Christian Hernandez

I want game specific costumes.

Like maybe Cog armor from GoW. Or an assassins robe like Assassin's Creed. Or a deep sea diving suit like Big Daddies. Stuff like that.

@Xenobula:
Homosapien.

@Comatose Turtle:
I know I mean all of my money is going into buying games, I want to spend it on something worth buying.

@ZeroJutsu has a PS3, loves it.:
Tingle?

@Quicksilver4648: Maybe it's just cold where he is.

@Archaotic: Like someone else already said, you could just use the guide button, especially for the friends list. However I suggest that you don't ignore the avatar and that you make your avatar look as ridiculous as possible. I went for a silent movie villain look and my friend's is decent likeness of Mr. Peanut, or at least an avatar as Mr. Peanut for Halloween.

@Archaotic:
Listen, are you REALLY that fucking lazy, that you can't just press "A" once on some random avatar, and end it at that? And avatars don't slow down the friends list, what the hell are you on?

HueyFreeman

@PatrickF**kingStar:
Pretty much. Capcom did it with a free Street Fighter t-shirt for Home users. I can't remember how it was unlocked, but it wasn't too hard...

Still, I like the idea. Gamer points, achievements, and also Sony's trophies really aren't useful in any way. It would be cool to get virtual swag for accomplishments.

Looks like I'm going to have to get the Brass Balls achievement from Bioshock now :P

spartansCreed

@HELLSRIDER is playing Mother 3: Dipic is absolutely right. A 66% failure rate between the RROD and E74 errors and MS is worried about the NXE, which has thus far been rather useless.

More to the point, I think that MS should be focusing their efforts on improving the overall quality of Live content... as opposed to improving upon the rather retarded WiiMee like avatars.

illiniphase4

Hmm.. double the XBL party size and take away the lag/drop outs, make it so you can press a button on my Xbox to go to a virtual area where you can get everyone together and launch into a game and it's multiplayer party system from there and it will be great, since whilst waiting for people you could play some little mini games and maybe look up news storys or something to talk about?

Random idea but I like having more things to do other than arcade games whilst waiting for friends to be finished with something/come online and play when they said they would.

Drop the E restriction on the avatars. When MadWorld is eventually ported to the 360, I wanna be able to shove a signpost in my friends' avatar's face.

RawSteelUT

@maniacmayhem: I believe this is called sarcasm. Interesting concept, I think.

RawSteelUT

@RonC
if i made an FPS, id have an easteregg / cheat where you can unlock and play as your avatar shooting other avatars. how fun?

AudreyMerope

@InvaderPhlegm: I think I share your hate for a big open setting as a virtual space that anyone can visit but I think if there was somewhere to hang out with the people on your friends list then this could be a very cool idea.

KanSer

what? no choice to strongly agree to have the option to not use the new avatar at all? its just so useless, i still want to just turn it off!

@InvaderPhlegm: while i agree with you, the virtual setting would be very cool if it was more like a game (kingdom of keflings) rather than walking around (home).

Actually having achievements get you avatar gear? Awesome idea (though it's not like they thought of it.. this was being mentioned as soon as people knew the 360 was going to have avatars.

I certainly hope they don't start charging for avatar gear though, unless it's something like using your gamerscore as $. We certainly don't get a lot of new stuff right now, but I'd rather that than have to pay for things.

StriderShinryu

@Đipic: umm there hardware does work properly.

@illiniphase4: what the hell are u talking about. a free 3 year warranty on those items is not enough for you. why do you go and buy a fucking car, have a cable be chewed at by some fucking animal twice, that supports your power steering, and all of you dashboard appliances, and have it replaced at $300 a pop. sorry for cusing, but these types of people need to stfu.

ohh and by the way, this survey was probably created by a couple of interns.

You know what would be kickass? If a game read the avatar data of one of the people on your friend's list and fashioned an ingame character based on that, so when the big reveal comes it turns out the main villain is your cousin Ted or your little sister.

Burguois, Teabagger of Olde

lol pirate game.

ok microsoft, i will pirate your games since you asked so politely for it.

@innuendo: if im not mistaken, microsoft sends out these surveys at random to live users

@Hengst2404: I was wondering that too? Is this sarcasm or what?

I just want crazier crap for avatars. If MS is going to force us all to make one, I want to be able to make one that's actually fun and weird and interesting....not just some Urban Apparel or Gap model reject. Where are the zombies, pirates, monkeys, circus bears, spacemen, robots, ninjas, leprechans, goblins, and what-have-you?

jcb231

@Archaotic: If someone made/have an idea of a T or above game that will make the avatars a big hit, I bet you MS will change their stance. They did it with the achievement limit and XBLA limit.

Just imagine a Battlefield: Avatar game, MMO/RPG or Left4Dead type game, using avatars. Heck, they could even make a sports games using them and if done right, it could be popular.

This is good news, there are loads of things they could be doing to make the avatars a little more interesting.

...however...

Howsabout they fix the Marketplace issues first. Namely the insane lag that gets worse the more you buy...Me, 2 minutes before I can view anything new.

(and no it's not connection based, I'm on 20Mb and my "spare" accounts can browse instantly)

Xebu

@TeaBean: Make that 3 of us.

@HoFoShow: And maybe Sony should figure out how to sell systems instead of working on that "Home" thing.

Oh and so no one gets left out maybe Nintendo should find a reason for me to turn the Wii on more then twice a year.

@illiniphase4: Where do people pull these numbers from? Their asses?

So youre telling me its gone from 30% (which was always a fairly fucking high guess from some random on a blog), to 66%?!?

If thats the case then I say you have a failure rate of 100%. Ill phone MS to send them out a box to stick you in, so the MS engineers can poke and prod at you.

Look what you did....

Shod

@Đipic:

Very poor...very poor indeed....

B0MBJ4CK

@Hengst2404: Yep, any sarcasm hasn't come across as well in text there.

perros

The Home as a runaway success comment was a joke, right?... right?

The avatars look generic, the westerns can't even draw nice looking avatars, look at the way they are standing and at their faces, yuck.

AnthonM2

ACHIVMENTS UNLOCKING GEAR FOR THE AVATARS... please.

lolomfgisuck

They can improve the avatars all they like... just don't try to emulate Home, which in my book, is an absolute waist of time. I visited it twice, and both times gave up on doing much after waiting and waiting and waiting on each room I wanted to visit to load.

As for Avatars, some people dig them some don't. While I think the easiest solution is probably to make them optional, I think it is silly to cry for them to be done away with. That is only fair to those who hate them. I agree, some stuff needs to be fixed. My biggest gripe is how the NXE slowed down everything from your friends list loading to the speed of marketplace shopping. They need to fix that. But I kind of like the Avatars. They need some improvement (I'd love to see you be able to wear achievements or gamerpics on shirts), but they are still fun in my book.

@illiniphase4: wow.

The failure rate is 30% <-- FACT

The failure rate is 66% <-- BULLSHIT

I own an Xbox 360 and know maybe 30 people in addition to me that own one, and the only person to have theirs fail is my friend that owns around 6.

More useless shit for 360. Hooray.

VicViper

How about get a few men working on the avatar team? Then we wouldn't be embarrassed to use them.

greatslack

Achievements should give you unique items for your avatar to use - i.e. a guitar if you earn some big achievement in Guitar Hero, or a Lost and Damned jacket if you beat it.

Instantly shows people you have something cooler than they do in your virtual wardrobe and you can show it off!

noelix

@whytookay - Guiseppe is such a happy monkey!: A year or two ago I thought the failure rate was probably around 20%. I know 11 people who have had systems. As of a year ago 4 of us had had systems die(I just assumed we were an unlucky sample). As of today I have had 3 systems die the same count applies for my brother and a friend. Another one of my friends is up to 4, another friend at 2. Three friends have had 1 die. One of my friends sold his, found out a week later it died on the guy he sold it to. I currently have 2 friends who have not had their systems die. As of today my friends and I are a major statistical anomaly or MS numbers are bullshit.

And for all those assholes who will say "you just don't take good care of your system." like I used to. After the first system which was by itself in a large entertainment center with ample airflow died, I took to placing my consoles elevated in the middle of the room on their repair boxes. Have had 2 die regardless.

@Greenman: Weird, maybe it's the environment they're in(humid vs. whatever)? Or you and your friends could just be really unlucky, OR maybe the consoles MS sends as replacements are crap. I honestly have no idea, but the failure rate is most definitally 30%. It doesn't excuse illniphase from making up random crap. 90% of people make up statistics. Don't be one of them.

"To be able to interact with others via avatars in a virtual social setting"

I don't think we need another Home.

99-Luft-Balloons

I would of really liked to participate in this survey...

--Core--

I'd love some gaming related clothing in the avatars.

@RawSteelUT:
Aaah, damn you sarcasm you fool me everytime.

maniacmayhem