Why is creating a xyz Live account so restricted?

[Stark]

Sure, you don't NEED one until you have an Xbox or a GfW title, but why can't you create accounts online? It can't be to prevent spam or name-squatting, since you can make arbitrary numbers of accounts once you have either of these things. It amuses me that the GfW site actually walks you through the in-game account creation instead of just saying 'yeah we'll link your live account to a gamertag off you go'.

[DPDarkPrimus]

You can register X-Box Live names online.

I know because I did it.

[Stark]

I guess that's why everything Microsoft has on their websites says you have to do it in-game, and that's why you had an appropriate link?

Sorry, I forgot you're a dickhead for a second there.

EDIT - LOL! The presence of this functionality (and the strange way it's recovered my in-progress creation from 360) is totally obfuscated in all their documentation, thus returning to the question - why do they want you to do it in-game? The GfW website even have mendacious pictures of the windows guide system, instead of 'oh yeah online form lol'. It's fucking strange.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I had to go find the link, don't be so grumpy all the time.


Getting Started on Xbox LIVE

Sign up on Xbox.com. If you prefer to sign up on your computer, go to the Xbox.com Sign In page, click Register Now, and fill in the details for your account. When you're ready to sign in on your Xbox 360 console, select Recover Xbox LIVE Gamertag and you're good to go.

[Stark]

Ironically this seems to have changed; clicking on 'sign in' takes me to the in-progress signup I had when XBL went down earlier (clicking 'sign in' to create an account is massively counter-intuitive and this is never mentioned in the rest of the XBL documentation, but it certainly exists). When I was trying to find another way to do it, obviously this function didn't work and I was reading their ridiculous 'do it ingame' 'turn on your 360' silliness.

So to return to the OP... why do they do that? Is it a percieved 'simplicity' thing, or an attempt to establish commonality with XBL on the GfW platform?

EDIT - oh that's sweet, you're so dumb you can't even read edits. I thus consider this edit invisible to you also! Amusingly, this page only talks about the console method, and the GfW website is the same. Their site is so poorly managed it has old Xbox stuff mixed in with 360 stuff, though, so it's not surprising.