Topic: Microsoft Rewards (Reward Points Thread)

@ralphdibny I haven’t been able to get my Bing app to work (it use to work for one of them for me). I go through the news using bing.com on edge using the desktop version on my mobile. Then I do the same thing leaving it in mobile, and that gets me my 270 points. Takes me about 5 minutes, but I get caught up on news headlines while drinking my coffee.

@Hypnotoad107 ahh interesting, I wonder if our points break down is different here in the UK. We only get 162 search points. 60 on Bing App for Mobile. 90 from PC Search and 12 from MS Edge Search - I do all the PC Searches on Edge on Xbox anyway for the full 102

@IndoorHero ahh fair enough, yeah I don't really have a computer I use regularly so I just split it between phone and Xbox as is required. Just because they are two of the things I use most!

@ralphdibny Mine keeps changing. I’m coming from 250 edge points and 20 bing points to 150 pc searches/100 mobile / 20 edge. But it has been 270 points per day since I started last year.

I went to a wedding out in the sticks this week and didn't have any reception so I lost my 120+ day daily streak 😱. I'm not too fussed about it though because it's only a 150 point bonus that you build up again fairly quickly. Still shocking to be back at day 1 on the streak though!!

I know I've been saving my points for a series X (currently at about £107.50 worth of points) but I am incredibly tempted to blow 5000 points on 150 entries in the Game Pass for Life sweepstakes. I think that sounds like an amazing prize but I've never won a sweepstakes on Xbox before (you normally get 5 free entries into one for the monthly bonus round) so I feel like it will probably be a waste. The prize is actually 40 years of game pass and is worth about 5 grand according to the Ts&Cs

@ralphdibny That's assuming game pass is going to still be a thing in 40 years! 5000 isn't much though, so maybe worth a go.

@dmcc0 haha yeah. There's actually a lot of weird trade offs in the Ts&C's so if the service is discontinued or significantly changed then you will either get the new service or get a monetary reimbursement of £132/year which I guess is the RRP of 12 months GPU

I did some of the game-related rewards quests over the weekend and there's a lack of the "Start the Game" quests this batch meaning I actually have to play them; most were swiftly uninstalled as soon as the quest popped.

Played Battlefront II on Cloud and was seriously laggy to the point it was almost unplayable, but managed the points without really having a clue as to what was going on. The multiplayer is not for me, but I might try the single player campaign (if there is one?) at some point.
Hunter: Call of the Wild was pretty frustrating as it took me ages to find anything to actually hunt. Eventually tracked and shot a deer, but somehow didn't log/save the kill, so did get the points. Re-started and turned to towards the water and there were ducks swimming around on the surface so just took out one of those for the points. Game seems pretty boring; like you could walk around for hours without actually seeing anything.
Didn't spend more than a few minutes with ClusterTruck - the controls were a bit "floaty" and just couldn't get into it.
I didn't bother with Evil Within as it doesn't look like something I'd actually want to play and effort wasn't worth it for the points on offer - seems you might have to play for a fair bit before getting the 7 kills - the first couple of levels at least.
Slay the Spire was actually the last one I played, and it was really good. I'd heard a little about it previously, so knew it was well regarded but didn't sound like something I'd enjoy it. Turns out I do like it - quite a lot actually. By the time the quest popped mid-way into my second game I didn't actually care about the points anymore as I was more interested in which path I was taking on the map and the strategy for adding cards to my deck. Kept this installed and have sunk a few hours into it already - also cloud compatible with touch controls too so might get a bit of play on my phone too. It's probably more suited to a portable than a home console anyway and lag won't be an issue on cloud due to the type of game.

Does anyone have issues remote installing from the Xbox Game Pass App? I usually install the Quest games remotely to get the monthly "Games on the Go" reward but it doesn't seem to work properly. They install on the console OK, but stay on the Active Download list in the App with "Status Unavailable" showing. Problem is, that if you uninstall from the console while they are still in the Active Download list then they download to the console again - I've downloaded Psychonauts about 3-4 times now. They do eventually come off the list, but it's frustrating if I'm actually trying to remote install something and it doesn't install because the storage is full due to all the previous games re-installing.

@dmcc0 have you seen the Rewards Hunter YouTube channel? It's video guides by a user called Chicken Possible and he usually uploads the guides within a couple of hours of the weekly quests refresh. Fairly inoffensive to listen to as well (I find the cheevoguides channel's "wasssup" greeting to be a bit grating, even if their content is very useful!). But yeah, I normally run the rewards hunter videos at the same time as doing any quests that require me to actually think about them.

I think Battlefront 2 has a campaign. I haven't played it yet but it's on the to do list! I found the hunting game super boring too. Seems quite in depth but then again, so is painting and I hate watching that dry.

I quite liked cluster truck, it was like a first person rogue lite-ish version of Mario Bros. I thought it was cool and played through the entire first world but the difficulty quickly ramped up and I don't think I'll get much farther in it. I guess it was the fault of the controls that made it difficult to look around while moving but maybe that's just how the game is intended. Not sure if I'll go back to it or not.

There was an Evil within quest a lil while back that would have left you on chapter 2. If you still have the save from that then you can continue from that save. Kill the two enemies in front of you, load from check point, rinse and repeat.

I sort of thought that card game was alright. I think there's definitely an appeal there but it's probably too involved for me to get into. I'm assuming it's a full roguelite which doesn't really appeal to me as I never feel like I can "complete" them due to the random element of what I am playing. Like they are designed for replayability but I don't have a huge amount of time for it. I don't mind the random element in something like Cluster truck though because it's not too random, the levels will end up being largely similar just with the trucks crashing into eachother at different points.

I can't say I've faced that remote install issue (un) fortunately. I think the only one I had a year or so ago was where the games just wouldn't install at all.

Battlefront 2 has a campaign and it's pretty good. They even used some of the story from the game in a episode of Mando season 2.

@ralphdibny I normally just use the Pure Xbox guide for the points. My threshold for skipping the rewards is pretty low to be honest; if it's going to make me play for more than about 15-30 mins then I usually don't bother unless it's something I was going to play anyway. I haven't played Evil Within before so it was either before my time on Xbox or was one I didn't bother with, but it's not a genre I particularly like either so I don't really want to play through a couple of levels for the sake of 150pts.

I think Slay the Spire is good as a sort of "filler" game for me; it's not something I'll play for hours on end, but something I'll drop in for a game if I have a spare half hour or if I'm just want to play something that I don't have to concentrate too hard on.

A bit of further reading online suggests the remote install issue I'm having is common on Series consoles so that might be why you haven't seen it - I'm assuming you're on XBox One if you're saving your points for a Series X

@Krzzystuff oh really? I loved Mandolorian so much, definitely one of the best star Wars things to come out in a long time! But I do love the Clint Eastwood style of western in general so maybe that's why it clicked with me!

@dmcc0 ah fair enough, I don't blame you. If I find myself half hour into a quest, I do wonder if it's worth it myself too. I'll sort of leave myself up to an hour for the initial monthlys/weeklys. Then up to half hour for each set of weeklys after that and then obviously less than 5 mins for the dailies which I can normally just do on the mobile app if I'm away from the Xbox itself.

Yeah that's right, I'm on the One X. I feel like the Series is going to end up being a bit more expensive than I thought once I eventually get around to it. Mainly because I'll probably have to buy a better TV to actually get the full benefit from it!

I think the only filler game I play is Forza Horizon now. I haven't played filler games in like 15-20 years to be honest but Horizon just knocked my socks off and is good if you've only got like half hour to play something. That and Picross games actually, I just love Picross. I'll mostly only every buy themed Picross though so I need to pick up that Sega one on Switch. And finish my playthrough of Murder By Numbers actually as I left that half way through

@ralphdibny The lack of a modern TV is one of the reasons I opted for the Series S, but hoping to upgrade at some point. My old 38" Panasonic LCD wasn't exactly top of the range when I got it - it was an insurance replacement for the previous model that was already pretty old by the time it got damaged. I can't really justify replacing it while it still works though, it refuses to die!

I do remember from another thread that you were partial to a bit of Picross - I'm still grinding my way through Pokemon Picross on 3DS doing the daily training and occasionally unlocking a new area - slow progress though as I don't want to spend any actual cash. The Sega one is already on the Switch wish list.

@dmcc0 I was thinking we'd discussed it just as I was typing that actually. About the myNintendo Zelda Picross as well. I think I gave up on Pokémon almost immediately, the grind was too much for me! Its funny though, because if they just released the game for £8 and lost all the f2p mechanics then I would buy it. I do struggle to think paying for any Picross is worth it though when there are so many free apps on Android (normally just free or ad supported rather than f2p) so I normally reserve my money only for the themed ones, of which there aren't many. I don't mind paying for a Hanjie book from WhSmiths either because it's a physical book you can complete the picross puzzles in. Even if it ends up in the recycling when it's finished.

I mainly game on a 32 inch 4K monitor at home that I was lucky enough to receive for next to no money at all. When I'm at my partner's, I play on her old 42inch HD TV (which was a hand me down from me anyway) but the games look noticeably trash on it in comparison. I don't think my monitor is big enough to be a living room TV though so when we move in together properly, a new one will have to be bought. I guess it'd be nice to experience other bells and whistles too like HDR etc as my monitor doesn't support all that. At least the resolution is crisp!

The only thing I'm gutted about is that none of the new TVs support 3D. PS3 and 360 both supported 3D gaming and I've got a ton of 3D blu rays which are basically useless unless I watch them in low res on the PSVR. My parents do have a 3D TV that I'm sure will get handed down to me but it's been scarred by burn in from years of sports/news channels so it's not exactly in tip top shape unfortunately.

@ralphdibny I don't mind paying for Picross be honest as the amount of time I spend on them makes it pretty good value. I haven't really dabbled on any of the android apps; I find that having games on my phone can be a bit too distracting sometimes - especially if its Picross - so tend not play on my phone. I also like the D-Pad/Button controls on Switch or 3DS - not sure I'd like the touchscreen controls on a phone given I don't even like the stylus controls on 3DS.

I tend to be pretty lucky when it comes to tech in that it seems to last forever but also means that it can get pretty dated. I remember being quite excited when my wife broke the old TV (she knocked over the vacuum cleaner and cracked the screen!) as having like-for-like insurance meant they'd replace it with the same model or equivalent if not available. Being a relatively old model by that point I checked out the Panasonic website and even the lowest spec models were better than what we had so assumed I'd get a modest upgrade at least...nope. Somehow they managed to find an equivalent - possibly the previous years lowest spec model or something so pretty much got the same TV - I was gutted! The replacement must be getting close to 10 years old now I think. Only just replaced my surround sound receiver a year or so ago when it died - it was around 20 years old and didn't even have HDMI, although I think I'd probably would've had to replace that anyway given everything uses HDMI for surround now - not much (if any) modern tech still using Toslink or digital coax as far as I can tell. Not sure if last gen consoles had it, but I think PS3 is the only thing I still use regularly that has it, and that's not exactly recent tech!

@dmcc0 yeah that's fair enough. I think I got introduced to Picross by my partner via the phone apps/Hanjie magazines so touch screen/real pencil was how I learned it. I then later found the Nintendo ones with button control and I'd say I am good with either input method. I will say that some touchscreen Picross games have some shockingly unintuitive controls though lol. There's so many good examples of how to do it right that it beggars belief that there are also so many examples of how to do it poorly (including one that's frequently discounted on Switch called Nonograms Prophecy which is just total ass).

I feel like I would have said this in our previous conversation but the two mobile apps I can whole heartedly recommend are PixelPuzzle by Konami which is a Konami themed one that has absolutely amazing music in it (no metal gear puzzles unfortunately though!) and also Nonograms Katana which has an astonishing amount of puzzles in it of various sizes. I will say that anything bigger than 20x20 is a bit hard to do on a small phone screen though.

I can only imagine the series of emotions of the broken telly shock>anger>relief>excitement>disappointment 😂. I don't think I've had anything like that happen to me, just the usual dimmed backlight or burst power capicators. Ends up in the repair shop or the bin after that!

I'd be looking at a surround system at some point too. I wish modern devices supported optical out as it seems like the cleanest way to get sound out without having to run your Hdmi through another device that could degrade picture quality. I think the One X has optical out, not sure as I plug everything in blind (the back of it is pretty scratched up 😂) because of how its positioned and how I've done the cable management.

Edit: oh yeah, the weekly quests are decent xCloud ones this week. One is start the game and one is just pressing jump ten times after a quick-ish intro. Pretty easy to do even with a lag.

@ralphdibny I'll check out that Konami one for sure. Maybe one for the tablet rather than the phone though so that I'm not tempted to sit and play all day at work Bigger screen should be better for those larger puzzles too.

Adding an optical out to all my devices would totally mess up my cable management - with all the speaker cables, HDMI, TV/SAT and Ethernet cables (don't use wireless where possible) I'm definitely not up for adding more if I can help it The ARC HDMI on the TV almost does away with the need for optical TBH - as long as there are enough HDMI ports on you TV of course.

Those are the types of quests I like! I couldn't decide what to play next after finishing A Plague Tale so decided to pick something at random and came up with Maneater. Night in the Woods is actually one I was looking to play at some point anyway, so might do it now instead as I haven't actually started Maneater yet.

@dmcc0 yeah might be a good idea 😅. I never found the Konami one too large for my phone though, I can't remember what the largest puzzle on it was but I don't remember ever doing a clumsy finger mistake.

I picked up the Sega one last night. Done a few puzzles which were decent. I can't say I'm too enthused with the soundtrack though. They must have hundreds of amazing songs to choose from, even the sonic series alone would produce dozens of bangers. But this game only has like 5 tracks that I don't even recognise and you have to manually change them in the settings before doing a puzzle. Lame, lol

I'll have to look into whatever the most recent technology is when I actually get around to sorting out a system lol. I have so many workarounds to get my old tech working currently, some are elegant and some are well, less so. 😅

Man-eater looks like it could be fun. Though just typing it gets that Nelly Furtado song stuck in my head haha. Night in the woods could be a good shout. I think it joined game pass between September and November last year so it's time may be up on the service soon!

Anyone else having problems with the daily play any game pass game today? I've loaded up 5 different GP games and got nothing, also they haven't been added to the monthly play x amount of GP games. Logging into the app quest popped fine but nothing else has. Weird.

@Shigurui can't say I'm having that same issue. I normally wait for the game pass logo to appear in the bottom right of the screen which is about the time it pops if it's the play a single game quest. Playing xCloud normally pops the quest before the games even loaded.

UK here though, could be different in another region...checks your profile.... Do you actually live in the Vatican?! That's amazing if true 😅

@ralphdibny Yeah I've waited for the logo, tried loading a cloud game but nothing. Nah I don't live there I was born in Rome just outside of Vatican City, I live in the UK now.