How do you feel about game achievements?

[Varchld]

Achievements are like Whose Line is it Anyway?, where everything's made up and the points don't matter.

Wait, the U.S. version or the U.K. version?

Anyway, just to repeat what most people are saying...
Achievements don't really hurt, you can ignore them and play the game normally but to others they can provide more replay value or guide people to new/different ways to play.
The only real downside is that you do get some people comparing their achievements to others, but if they mention it at all then you know not to bother playing with that person again.

I don't really go out of my way to grind achievements, but I have started trying to oneshot witches in L4D instead of just avoiding them.

 

[xitel]

My name is Andrew, and I'm a gamerscore whore.

But seriously, I will actually sometimes go out of my way for achievements, and I get angry when I cant get them, but the main reason I like them is because of the replay value it adds. There's just a sense of achievement (pun intended) when you get that little ding that tells you you did something that was actually somewhat difficult, that you managed to do something that the developers of the game thought was difficult enough to merit a special reward.

 

[stompy]

I like achievements. They are the metaphorical carrot on a string that leads me to play the game more. Though, it's all in the name of fun; I'm not too concerned with gamerscores or anything, but I do congratulate friends who complete hard achievements like Keep off the Sand.

PS: Anyone know how to get the achievements list for Half Life 2, off steam, or is it just for the Xbox 360 version?

 

[Twilight_guy]

I like achievements. They are the metaphorical carrot on a string that leads me to play the game more. Though, it's all in the name of fun; I'm not too concerned with gamerscores or anything, but I do congratulate friends who complete hard achievements like Keep off the Sand.

PS: Anyone know how to get the achievements list for Half Life 2, off steam, or is it just for the Xbox 360 version?

The Steam version has achievements. If I'm not mistaken, in the main menu at the beginning there's an option for "achievements". It lists all the achievements and how to get them, mostly, except for the ones you get through the main story. Otherwise, GameFAQs, dood.

 

[Silver]

Wasn't there a thread like this already?

I feel that achievements could be good, but that they aren't, personally. They're never designed in a good way. Achievements should be there to make you try something new, something you might have missed. Perhaps there's an achievement for trying different playstyles, for being extra careful, for going the pacifist route, or whatever. To challenge you in a new way. The flash-game site kongregate had one of these, one time. It usually only has the standard, awful things, like "complete the game", "kill x enemies", etc, which sucks. But one time, it had a badge named "you're doing it wrong", in a puzzle game. You were supposed to help your enemies as much as you could, and then still beat them. It was a really fun challenge actually, because it offered a new experience, something different. It wasn't about grinding, it wasn't about just doing the ordinary stuff, it was interesting. It was different. It really was about beating the game at what it was good at, and that's what made it so nice.

Sure, it was the simplest thing ever, accomplished and forgotten in ten minutes, but the idea was the right one. That's how an achievement should be designed. Challenge us to do something different, not see who has the most patience.

Getting an achievement for doing the same thing 200 times or whatever though, that's just ridiculous. It doesn't add anything.

 

[stompy]

The Steam version has achievements. If I'm not mistaken, in the main menu at the beginning there's an option for "achievements". It lists all the achievements and how to get them, mostly, except for the ones you get through the main story. Otherwise, GameFAQs, dood.

I'm not asking how to get them, it's just that my copy of Half Life 2, off steam, doesn't list anything about achievements. Nothing on the main menu, no options or anything. Thanks anyways.

 

[latenightapplepie]

However, I do think people who start to "compare" or whore out achievements should instantly be electrocuted. Achievements should be something you try to attain for fun, not whore out so you pretend you're better than someone else.

This.

I always keep my pursuit of achievements personal. Even if they aren't always fun.

After all, when my brothers ask me why I bother I reply with a tiny bit of OCD perfectionist hysteria: "I. Can't. Stop." And its true. I have no idea why and therefore: I can easily understand when other people couldn't be arsed and I don't view acheivements as some kind of superiority over someone else.

 

[Laughing Man]

They actually do have a purpose, which is to increase your gamer score (at least on XBL

Okay, so let's assume I am talking about XBox Live and not PSN and ask the next logical question. What exactly does having a higher gamer score give you?

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

They actually do have a purpose, which is to increase your gamer score (at least on XBL

Okay, so let's assume I am talking about XBox Live and not PSN and ask the next logical question. What exactly does having a higher gamer score give you?

Just a high gamerscore, as opposed to having nothing if you were playing on PSN.

 

[Woe Is You]

The Steam version has achievements. If I'm not mistaken, in the main menu at the beginning there's an option for "achievements". It lists all the achievements and how to get them, mostly, except for the ones you get through the main story. Otherwise, GameFAQs, dood.

I'm not asking how to get them, it's just that my copy of Half Life 2, off steam, doesn't list anything about achievements. Nothing on the main menu, no options or anything. Thanks anyways.

The original Half-Life 2 doesn't have achievements. They were introduced in the episodes.

 

[Sir_Montague]

Do em for fun, do em for a challenge, but don't define the game or the skill of the player who has/hasn't done them... Granted I'm an achievement whore myself, but that's cuz I like the challenge. I think it adds a little something extra to the game.

 

[Senock]

I like Achievements, especially the TF2 ones. I've actually gotten every single achievement on the 360 version. They added a lot of replayability.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

They brought in the achievements system to WOW a few weeks before the new expansion, and it sparked a whole new lease of life into a world that was dormant, no-one wanting to do anything 'because I can get better in the expansion'. Not only did it get people playing against, but it got people revisiting dungeons that hadn't seen a single visitor in months.

To me the only time they're a bad thing is when you're in a group and one person decides they're gonna do something idiotic mid fight to get an achievement instead of helping the group.

Of course, that's a problem with the player, not the achievement.

TF2 , there's a few achievements which either are near impossible to get during a game, like 'Burn a spy while he's doing the disguise kit taunt' which just won't happen. OR, it encourages players to not play in a teamwork style. I think apart from the few like that, they're a great thing!

 

[Deadarm]

I generally go for game completion before I start thinking about the achievements. While I only have Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 on my own system I have actually played through and gotten random achievements on my cousin's console before buying mine. As far as some of them go they are really easy (completion and unavoidable stuff) to a complete pain (such as the kill 100,000 enemies in gears) but most of them are kindof fun or just random to do once you try. One achievement that I've heard about was the roaming gnome one in orange box, and that seems to be one of the more comical ones that also happens to be somewhat of a challenge because you have to keep up with the gnome. I wouldn't judge anyone by their achievements unless they can't even get basic combat ones or simple find ones. (like the kill 10 enemies with this gun type of stuff and the fable 2 gargoyle achievement which is really easy)
As for me I see myself becomming an achievement whore once I have about 5 or 10 or so games for my xbox that I'll beat before doing all the achievements.

 

[Xanadu84]

They actually do have a purpose, which is to increase your gamer score (at least on XBL

Okay, so let's assume I am talking about XBox Live and not PSN and ask the next logical question. What exactly does having a higher gamer score give you?

Just a high gamerscore, as opposed to having nothing if you were playing on PSN.

Fact of the matter is, none of it matters. Its a video game, there is no tangible reward, its all pixels on a screen. If you get a sense of accomplishment, more power to you.

 

[Miles Tormani]

For the most part, they're a nice addition. Sure, all you get is an arbitrary score and/or an arbitrary 'level' (depending on your system of choice), but even some of the most mundane achievements (like the kill count ones in Army of Two) can encourage you to try new equipment and play styles.

This is more of a personal thing for me, but they also serve as that special completion symbol long after your save file disappears. My Xbox may be gone, but my proof of a successful reverse-Warthog-jack is not.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

They actually do have a purpose, which is to increase your gamer score (at least on XBL

Okay, so let's assume I am talking about XBox Live and not PSN and ask the next logical question. What exactly does having a higher gamer score give you?

Just a high gamerscore, as opposed to having nothing if you were playing on PSN.

Fact of the matter is, none of it matters. Its a video game, there is no tangible reward, its all pixels on a screen. If you get a sense of accomplishment, more power to you.

Of course it matters. Haven't you done anything skilled and been rewarded with something to show your hardwork? look at the Megaman achievement's, if you complete the game without taking a single bullet wouldn't you rather have an achievement to show for it than nothing? and besides if you did it without achievements to show it you would be branded a liar.

 

[Jumplion]

They actually do have a purpose, which is to increase your gamer score (at least on XBL

Okay, so let's assume I am talking about XBox Live and not PSN and ask the next logical question. What exactly does having a higher gamer score give you?

Just a high gamerscore, as opposed to having nothing if you were playing on PSN.

PSN gives you more "XP" so to speak to get you to the next Trophy level. For example, I'm level 5 and I need about 46% more to get to level 6. Each trophy has it's own value, with the platinum trophy (earning all trophys) being pretty much an automatic "LEVEL UP!"

But anyway, I personaly like achievments/trophys. I am a trophy whore, but any achievement that seems to take waaayyyy to much effort (Like "Liberty City Minute" or "Key to the City" in GTA4) I just ignore. But usually I atleast try to earn most of them, it's great fun really

But I admit in playing some Trohpy spam levels in LBP :U

 

[Miles Tormani]

Heh. Surprisingly, some of those trophy spam levels are actually fun to mess with. And at least they're admitting that they have gratuitous point bubbles for those 20x multiplier and 1mil points trophies as opposed to some of the so-called "legit" levels.

I actually got the Sackbird trophy accidentally through a physics glitch. My Sackboy got stuck in between two platforms and stayed floating for a full minute before I could move him. First level too. Thankfully it wasn't a sign.