Member of Khans
Vault Dweller
Let's just imagine the following situation:
MoK wants to play Fallout 3. Since he doesn't like censorship and cut content, he orders the US version from an Austrian retailer.
Time goes by, MoK has finished Fallout 3 for the third time and wants to try the DLC, starting with Operation Anchorage. Since it's available for download on Windows Live, he creates an account and purchases an 800 Microsoft Points prepaid card for € 10 at a local game shop.
And there begins the trouble. To add the points, MS requests some billing information. What for? After all, MoK purchased a prepaid card, which is, well, PRE-paid. But gee, okay, MoK is used to leaving way to much personal data on the Internet, so he tries to type in his goddamn name and address. Which doesn't work. It doesn't work, because the system is obviously set to "en-US" and will only accept addresses within the US. The only input box which can't be altered is the one reading "country".
MoK (he's quite smart) recognizes the country settings in the upper-left corner of the window and simply sets them to "Deutschland". Now the form is entirely in German. Well, country still reads "Vereinigte Staaten" (United States), but since the former "state" box now reads "Bundesland/Kanton" it HAS to be possible to enter a German address, because a US state wouldn't be called "Bundesland" but "Bundesstaat" instead, right?
Wrong. Possible options in the "Bundesland/Kanton" box still range from Alabama to Wyoming. Shit.
Well, now MoK is pissed and enters a fake US address, just to finish the registry process. It works.
Then he tries to add the Points, using his prepaid card. It doesn't work. Obviously, 800 MS Points paid in € are inherently different from 800 MS Points paid in US$. Okay, but MoK owns a credit card. It doesn't work, since a German MasterCard is obviously inherently different from an US MasterCard.
MoK creates another account, this time it's a German one. There is no problem in adding the points at all. He celebrates his victory and wants to start downloading his Add ons. Well... you can't download US version DLC with a German account. At all. The only localization available with a German account is... well... the German one. Fuck.
MoK now gets REALLY pissed. The writes an email to the support. The support doesn't understand him. He writes another email. The support doesn't understand him. He writes another email. The support doesn't understand him. He calls the hotline. The hotline understands but can't help, since it was never intended that anybody should ever purchase another localization than the one of the country he or she is a resident of.
MoK wants his money back. The shop will, of course, not redeem the card, since it has already been cashed. MS wouldn't give any refund - after all, the points have been correctly assigned to MoK's account.
Microsoft - a truly multinational enterprise. NOT
MoK decides to start a rant on teh intarnets about his problems, even though nobody will really care and the first response will most likely read somewhat like "Gee, sucks to be you."
MoK wants to play Fallout 3. Since he doesn't like censorship and cut content, he orders the US version from an Austrian retailer.
Time goes by, MoK has finished Fallout 3 for the third time and wants to try the DLC, starting with Operation Anchorage. Since it's available for download on Windows Live, he creates an account and purchases an 800 Microsoft Points prepaid card for € 10 at a local game shop.
And there begins the trouble. To add the points, MS requests some billing information. What for? After all, MoK purchased a prepaid card, which is, well, PRE-paid. But gee, okay, MoK is used to leaving way to much personal data on the Internet, so he tries to type in his goddamn name and address. Which doesn't work. It doesn't work, because the system is obviously set to "en-US" and will only accept addresses within the US. The only input box which can't be altered is the one reading "country".
MoK (he's quite smart) recognizes the country settings in the upper-left corner of the window and simply sets them to "Deutschland". Now the form is entirely in German. Well, country still reads "Vereinigte Staaten" (United States), but since the former "state" box now reads "Bundesland/Kanton" it HAS to be possible to enter a German address, because a US state wouldn't be called "Bundesland" but "Bundesstaat" instead, right?
Wrong. Possible options in the "Bundesland/Kanton" box still range from Alabama to Wyoming. Shit.
Well, now MoK is pissed and enters a fake US address, just to finish the registry process. It works.
Then he tries to add the Points, using his prepaid card. It doesn't work. Obviously, 800 MS Points paid in € are inherently different from 800 MS Points paid in US$. Okay, but MoK owns a credit card. It doesn't work, since a German MasterCard is obviously inherently different from an US MasterCard.
MoK creates another account, this time it's a German one. There is no problem in adding the points at all. He celebrates his victory and wants to start downloading his Add ons. Well... you can't download US version DLC with a German account. At all. The only localization available with a German account is... well... the German one. Fuck.
MoK now gets REALLY pissed. The writes an email to the support. The support doesn't understand him. He writes another email. The support doesn't understand him. He writes another email. The support doesn't understand him. He calls the hotline. The hotline understands but can't help, since it was never intended that anybody should ever purchase another localization than the one of the country he or she is a resident of.
MoK wants his money back. The shop will, of course, not redeem the card, since it has already been cashed. MS wouldn't give any refund - after all, the points have been correctly assigned to MoK's account.
Microsoft - a truly multinational enterprise. NOT
MoK decides to start a rant on teh intarnets about his problems, even though nobody will really care and the first response will most likely read somewhat like "Gee, sucks to be you."
