What is the purpose of Origin Points?

What is the purpose of Origin Points?

As of May 28, 2013, Origin has introduced “Origin Points,” which purportedly helps track your achievements in some of EA’s games on PC.

Definition of point of Origin:

The place where something comes from: the place where something originates. The package’s point of Origin was somewhere in the U.S., the point of Origin of the fire that burned the building down.

From EA’s help center:

Origin Points help you track your achievements and measure your progress while playing some of our games.

You get these points naturally while playing your game and getting achievements, but is there any point in these points? Can you spend them on things, or are they just for pride and banter?

Here are the current facts relating to Origin Points:

Origin Points are a visual representation of your gaming prowess on Origin.
Similar to achievements, Origin Points can’t be used as a currency.
Origin Points are not the same as Bioware Points; Bioware Points are used to purchase DLC for older Bioware titles.

The products and services available through My Origins Rewards and any samples, rewards, or gifts that we may provide to you are for personal use only. This means that you may not sell or resell any of the products, services, or samples you purchase or otherwise receive from us.

We reserve the right, without notice, to cancel or reduce the quantity of any order to be filled and any products or services to be provided to you that we believe, in our sole discretion, may result in the violation of the Program Terms & Conditions.

Origin Points are just for stats. They can also be viewed as a feel-good factor. It’s a known fact that gamification methods (such as these points) make users spend more time on the platform.

These points are also a psychological method of behavioral conditioning. Achievement-driven users will obviously spend more time playing Origin games if one of their goals is to get more Origin Points. Being active on the platform as often as possible increases the chances of users spending more money on new Origin games — which is one of the ways you can get more points.

Origin fans also like to boast about their Origin Points to show their dedication and loyalty to the platform.

How do I subscribe to Origin? Signing up

Click the Origin Access tab at origin.com.
On the Origin Access page, choose whether you want to sign up for Premier or Basic.
Select a monthly or annual plan, whichever is right for you, then click Next.
Select or enter your payment method information.
Click Proceed to Review Order.
Click Start Membership.

Are origin points worth anything?

Similar to achievements, Origin Points can’t be used as a currency. Origin Points are not the same as Bioware Points; Bioware Points are used to purchase DLC for older Bioware titles.

The My Origins Rewards loyalty program is a points-based program through which our customers (like you!) earn points in company-owned Origins Retail Stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) and on Origins.com.

Your points unlock tier benefits and can be redeemed for rewards. This is another way for us to say thank you to our customers and show how much we appreciate your loyalty.

You can’t actually redeem your Origin Points because they’re only a visual representation of your game achievements and time spent on the platform.

You can’t exchange Origin Points for free in-game content, discounts, and other such items. Practically speaking, you can’t do anything with Origin Points.

How to activate a game key on Origin

My Origins Rewards is available to individuals who are legal residents of the United States (including its territories and possessions) and at least 18 years of age or older and who provide and maintain a valid email address.

Employees of Origins are eligible to participate in the program. Individuals employed by our business partners or vendors are eligible for membership for personal use only but may be excluded from certain benefits.

Log in to Origin with the EA account you would like your game added to.
Click on the Origin menu on the top left.
Select “Redeem Product Code.”
Enter the serial key from the back of your game manual.
The game will be added to your “My Games” section of Origin.

You may join the program by signing up in-store at an Origins Retail Store in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) or by visiting Origins.com and clicking on the My Origins account page. Here, you will follow the prompts to register for My Origins Rewards.

In order to sign up, you must provide your full name and email address. If you sign up online, you will need to create a password. There is no cost to join the My Origins Rewards loyalty program.

What can I do with the origin points?

What is the purpose of Origin Points? As of May 28, 2013, Origin has introduced “Origin Points,” which purportedly helps track your achievements in some of EA’s games on PC.

From EA’s help center: Origin Points help you track your achievements and measure your progress while playing some of our games.

How do I redeem my original cash card?

Origin Points can’t be used as a currency. Think of them as a confirmation of your achievements as a gamer. They only stand proof of your gaming abilities and experience, but they don’t serve as currency. You can’t buy anything using Origin Points. You can’t use them to get discounts either.

Speaking about spending your points, if you’re interested in purchasing DLC or other game items for older Bioware games, you can use Bioware Points. Keep in mind that Origin and Bioware Points are not the same. There is no connection between the two.

To redeem your Gift Card, Visit https://www.origin.com/redeem and follow the instructions to enter your code. After your card is redeemed, check your EA Wallet balance by going to the Payment Methods tab (see EA Wallet) at myaccount.ea.com.

Where is my product code origin?

Go to your Game Library. Right-click the game’s tile and select Game Properties. You will see the Product Code in this window.

Does Origin have a wallet?

You must have an EA Account to open an EA Wallet and redeem an EA Gift Card. You must accept these Terms and Conditions in order to redeem an EA Gift Card and activate, access, and use your EA Wallet to make purchases from www.origin.com or other EA online stores that accept the EA Wallet as a payment method.

Can the program be terminated?

Yes. We may, at our discretion, cancel, modify, restrict, or terminate the program or any aspect or feature of My Origins Rewards at any time without prior notice, even though such changes may affect the value of rewards, benefits, and points already accumulated or earned and the ability to redeem accumulated rewards, benefits and points.

What is the My Origins Rewards loyalty program, and how does it work?

Your points unlock tier benefits and can be redeemed for rewards. This is another way for us to say thank you to our customers and show how much we appreciate your loyalty. Learn more at https://www.origins.com/origins-loyalty-marketing-page.

Who is eligible to join?

Can the program be terminated?

What happens to any points, benefits, or rewards I have earned if my membership in the program is terminated or expires?

If your membership is terminated or expires, rewards, benefits, and points in your account will automatically terminate.

What happens to any points, benefits, or rewards I have

earned if the program is terminated?

If the program is terminated, your points, benefits, and rewards will automatically terminate. We will advise members of the effective date of termination of the program and its points, benefits, and rewards.

What terms govern the Program?

Please refer to the My Origins Rewards loyalty program Terms and conditions of participation for the full list of program terms.

What does it mean that products, services, and gifts are “for personal use only”?

Friends, If your membership is terminated or expires, rewards, benefits, and points in your account will automatically terminate.

If the Program is terminated, your points, benefits, and rewards will automatically terminate. We will advise members of the effective date of termination of the Program and its points, benefits, and rewards.

How do I earn points?

Members earn 1 point for every $1 spent (no limit) on eligible purchases at Company-owned Origins freestanding retail stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) and on Origins.com.

Qualifying purchases include merchandise and exclude gift cards, sales tax, state fees, shipping charges, delivery charges, or other excluded charges specified by us from time to time.

When shopping at Origins Retail Stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts), members must provide the email address associated with their My Origins Rewards loyalty program account at checkout to receive points.

When shopping online at Origins.com, members must be logged in to their My Origins account at the time of purchase to receive points.

If you are not a My Origins Rewards member, your qualifying purchase made at an Origins Retail Store in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) may still earn you points if you provided an email address at the time of purchase. You enroll in My Origins Rewards at Origins.com by 11:59 pm Eastern Time that day, using the same email address.

When I make a purchase and pay with an Origins gift card, can I earn points for that purchase? Yes, when using a gift card as a tender for a qualifying Origins product purchase, you will earn points for that purchase as long as you identify yourself as a loyalty member. Members do not earn My Origins Rewards loyalty points when they purchase a gift card.

How do I redeem my points for product rewards?

At certain point levels, you are eligible to redeem your points for product rewards with any purchase on Origins.com. To redeem on Origins.com, log in to your My Origins Rewards account at Origins.com and choose among your available rewards. Select “redeem” and proceed to your shopping cart. Shipping charges may apply.

You can redeem as many rewards as you have points available and redeem multiple products (limit one of the same products.

Can my points expire?

Yes. Your accumulated points are valid in your Program account for one year from your Program “anniversary date.” This is the anniversary of the date you enrolled in the Program and occurs on a 12-month cycle.

On your anniversary date each year, your points reset to zero (0), and you start accumulating new points benefits and unlocking new rewards.

Are any types of purchases not eligible for points?

Members will not receive points on purchases made in department stores, specialty stores (such as Sephora), stores not solely owned and operated by Origins Natural Resources Inc., or Origins Retail Stores in Massachusetts.

Members will not receive points on purchases that are reimbursed by corporations or other organizations ineligible to participate in the My Origins Rewards loyalty program.

You can earn points for purchases made at Company-owned freestanding Origins Retail Stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) and on Origins.com.

We reserve the right to place limits on the number of purchases or activities that are eligible for My Origins Rewards and for any given tier or level of points in any given period or for the duration of the Program and any combination thereof.

When I earn points, can I redeem them immediately? How long does it take for my purchases to accrue points to my account?

It may take up to 30 days for eligible purchases and other program activities to post to your account. For purchases on Origins.com, points will pend in your account until your order has shipped.

For purchases at Origins Retail Stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts), points will pend for a maximum of 30 days. If points have not been credited to your account within 30 days, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-ORIGINS or OriginsOnlineService@origins.com.

What is the immediate discount reward?

As one of our rewards, you can immediately reduce the purchase price of eligible merchandise in exchange for the redemption of a specified number of points. Minimum purchase requirements may apply.

The number of points to be redeemed to achieve a particular discount may change, and there are limits on the maximum immediate discount available.

Please review the terms of the immediate discount reward prior to redemption; other terms and conditions may apply. If you return a product purchased with an immediate discount reward, your points will not be credited to your account. Still, the purchase price, if any, will be refunded to your original method of purchase.

We may discontinue or change the terms of the immediate discount reward at any time. The immediate discount reward may be used for the purchase of merchandise only. It may not be used to pay for services, sales tax, or shipping charges, if any.

The immediate discount reward is not cash, has no cash value without a purchase, and may not be altered, sold, bartered, or transferred. The immediate discount reward cannot be combined with other discounts.

No points will be earned on the value of the immediate discount reward. Still, you will earn points on any incremental dollars spent on merchandise over the amount of the immediate discount reward.

What happens to my points if I return a product or an order is canceled?

Any product that is returned or any order that is canceled will reverse or decrease the points you received from that purchase. If you moved up a tier on that order, your tier will also be adjusted accordingly.

If it is found that an order is obtained through fraudulent or other activity that violates program Terms and conditions, any earned points and your tier status, if applicable, will also be reversed.

What gamers say about Origin Points

Many gamers said they would love to see Origin Points used in some way. They suggested EA should allow players to use Origin Points to get at least some cosmetic items.

Others said the points are proof of gamers’ loyalty to the platform, and they should be somehow rewarded for that. Many drew a parallel to Ubisoft’s system and the fact that the company lets players use Ubisoft points to get in-game rewards or discounts.

Some players suggested that users should get a free month of Origin Access once they reach 5,000 points.

Some gamers suggested that EA could let users spend Origin Points to get discounts for less popular games. In this manner, the company could promote games that are less popular thanks to discounts.

Members earn 1 point for every $1 spent (no limit) on eligible purchases at Company-owned Origins freestanding retail stores in the United States (excluding Massachusetts) and on Origins.com.

Conclusion

EA introduced Origin Points in May 2013. It’s been 7 years since this system was introduced, yet there are no practical benefits in it for gamers.

The only role of these points is to encourage gamers to spend more time playing games on Origin. The more they play, the more achievements they unlock, the more points they get.

But from a practical point of view, there is nothing gamers can do with Origin Points: they can’t get discounts or free access to certain games.

What are generalized coordinates?

An ordinary coordinate system describes the position of a point in space in terms of its distances from a specific point – called the Origin. If the coordinates of a point in a two-dimensional coordinate system are (a,b) – for example -, then this means that this point is “a” horizontal units away from the Origin and “b” vertical units away from the Origin. An n-dimensional space generally needs an “n” number of coordinates to define a point uniquely.

All of this is well and good, so why generalized coordinates? The idea is that sometimes you won’t need n-dimensional coordinates to specify a point. Consider a point – a particle if you like – moving around in a circle. You can use the XY coordinate system to describe its motion; that’s perfectly fine. But if you pay attention, you will notice that doing so is unnecessary.

The particle can only take the point on the circle, so vast swaths of your coordinate system will be unnecessary and meaningless; the particle would never set foot on them. Is there a better way?

Yes! We construct a radius extending from the center of that circle to the particle, and the angle that this radius makes with the horizontal ( or the vertical; it’s a matter of convention ) is enough to define the particle’s position at any moment uniquely. You have effectively reduced the particle’s motion to motion in one dimension, describable by a single number.

What is the purpose of Origin Points?

So why were we able to do this? Because the system is constrained. It is not free; it does not have the luxury of taking any arbitrary point, and it’s only allowed to a unique set of points. It is said to move under a constraint; a Constraint equation describes this constraint. In our example, the constraint equation was: X^2 + Y^2 = R^2, where “R” is the circle’s radius.

The “thing” that describes it is called a generalized coordinate because it’s not coordinate in the usual sense of the word; it’s a more general and compact version of it, an abstraction of the concept of a coordinate that does it function more economically.

And it doesn’t have to be an angle. Consider a point particle again, this time sliding on a wire. The particle’s position at any instance is describable by its distance from a certain point on the wire, an arc length. In this case, the constraint equation is something like F(x,y) = 0, where F(x,y) is whatever function that describes the curve that the shape of the wire takes.

Consider a projectile moving in a parabola; any point on a parabola can be uniquely described by the angle that the tangent at this point makes with the axis of symmetry of the parabola. An ellipse? The distance to one of the foci, etc.

What is the purpose of Origin Points?

In general, a physical system consisting of “N” particles in “D” dimensions and under “k” constraints can be described by the “ND – k “number of generalized coordinates. If our system were two particles moving in a circle in two dimensions – for example -we’d need (2 x 2) – 1 = 3 generalized coordinates to describe it.

That’s logical, one angle to describe each particle. Then, a third one describes the position of one relative to the other, for a total of 3.

Can we extend this concept? Yes! We can find the rate of change of the generalized coordinate; this is the Generalized velocity. We can find the rate of change of the generalized velocity to get the Generalized Acceleration. We can multiply the mass by the generalized velocity to get the generalized momentum or the mass by the generalized acceleration to get the generalized force. You get the idea.

If you’re an Origin user, hit the comments below and share your thoughts on this topic.