How do you feel about game achievements?

[-Seraph-]

my achievement comes from playing the game and getting the sense of satisfaction of accomplishing something and progression. I don't need some stupid box telling me what i achieved and how many points i earned. I liked it better when we didn't have them, fel more satisfying essentially making up your own achievement.

 

[lukey94]

As we all know, both Steam and XBL have added the achievement factor to their games. People feel very differently about these achievements as well; some think they're pointless wastes of time, while others feel they enhance the gaming experience.
Personally, I like the achievements because they allow you to challenge yourself. Yes, people say that games should be played for the fun, but games wouldn't be fun if there was no challenge. Achievements just add an extra challenge, and whether or not you choose to indulge in them and challenge yourself to that extent is up to you, so I think they're completely appropriate in games. But that's my opinion. What are people's thoughts?

QFT - I've always wanted to say that lol
I totally agree with you dude, i love the challenge of kill X in Y seconds with Z
or reach P with L
or my favourite - shoot a F in the A

 

[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.

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.

I think you miss my point, I like achievements. What I'm saying is that the rewards for video gaming is all arbitrary anyways. You will not get gold, pie, or stocks for your efforts. You will get nothing you can sell, trade, or eat. The rewards are all abstract, arbitrary things anyways when you look at the big picture. Its some artificial construct that gives you a sense of accomplishment. So really, what differentiates the reward of beating a game, getting a high score, or hitting level 70 from getting a new icon in a list of possible achievements? Its all in your head, so whats the harm in another equally arbitrary reward? I always find that beating a game is the biggest sense of accomplishment for me: Its another piece of art that I have experiences in some fullness. If that puts an icon on a list that other people can see, Im all for it.

 

[Drednought1]

I quite enjoy the acheivement system on the XBox, although i havent had much experience with the Steam ones i gather that they arent quite the same as in gamerscore and things like that but anyway
I think acheivements are a good way to make the game last longer once you have had a few run throughs of it or however many you guys play through although they arent really essential to making games great, just a fun add on i find. I kinda uinderstand why people start to hate them as it is basically a contest that many people ive met online take way too seriously.

 

[Ophiuchus]

I don't have a problem with achievements per se, what with them being quite useful for adding or extending replay value. What I don't like is gamerscore because it rarely seems well distributed within the game - "what the hell, I got 5 points for killing ten baddies but only 15 points for killing five thousand?" - and just serves as an e-peen extension and yet another way for kidiots on XBL to be douchebags.

 

[Simalacrum]

i don't know what "Steam" achievements are... i know of Xbox Live + PSN trophies, but not of Steam. still, since it seems on topic, i shall add my own opinion

i don't ever go actively hunt down achievements and trophies... but i think its nice to have that "blink" and getting an achievement suddenly, its kinda a pleasant suprise, so i think its good to have it doesn't do much, but it makes me feel like i did well in deh game XD

 

[SinisterDeath]

I don't really care for Achievements, as they just have no 'value' behind them.

That said, there are times ACHIEVEMENTS are awesome,
one example is,
Battlefield Games, They have an 'achievement system', and paired with that, and some kind of 'xp' system, you are able to unlock new weapons/gear.
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, has the standard 'achievement system' you see in alot of games, and one of the fun parts about it is, every 'achievement' is worth so many 'points' or 'coins', and when you have a certain number of 'coins' you escentially unlock, in Uncharted, different game modes, extra content, ect.

Unless Achievements actually AFFECT the game, I don't give a rats ass about em!


Also, the ONLY flaw in Left4Dead, is the game doesn't Track every stat for every game you have ever played!

I seriously want to know what my accuracy is, the number of head shots I've gotten, how man times I've shot my allies (As well as my accuracy on that ), how many smokers, ect I have killed.
But because the game doesn't keep track of that number, (well it does, just only for that 1 match) the achievements are really 'pointless' to me.

 

[Natural Hazard]

If you like looking at a few digits.. sure...

 

[Toiboi]

there okay I don't try to do them all but everytime i do get one I think *well thats cool* See the thing is some are so crazy and so tedious i don't really find it worth it. Like *play the game again on EXTREME difficuly* or *play the game again but be AS A BAD GUY* or *play the game again but this time don't kill anyone* serouisly once i beat a game only some DLC is going to get me back into it or some kick ass multiplayer.

 

[Liverandbacon]

I don't really like achievments in games like TF2 or HL2:Ep2, as I don't want someone to tell me that I've achieved something. If I've achieved it, and it's meaningful, I know it.

However, in more arcade-ish games like Audiosurf, achievments can be masses of fun: Brutus, for example from dethroning a friend from the global scoreboard on a song. That achievment is what got a friend of mine and I started on a long and ongoing rivalry in that game. Both of us have the achievment by now, but it's what got us started.

 

[Bagaloo]

They add a certain extra flavour to games I think, plus some of them can be obscure and challenging enough that you really have to work for them, which just makes it all the more rewarding in the end

 

[Naterstein]

Not a fan really. I would rather just have a stat tracker that tells me how crappy I am and if I am getting crappier or clawing my way up to mediocrity. I also loathe "unlockables" ESPECIALLY in a FPS like RS6V2.

 

[Laughing Man]

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

The logical response has to be a big 'so fucking what?'

In the god old days if you spent time working to 'achieve' something you got a reward for it that you could plough back in to the game, the aforementioned attack chopper in GTA VC. Now all you get is a shiny gold trophy and 50 extra 'I can waggle my willy better than you' points.

I like the idea of being rewarded with something that lifts me above the other peons that play the same game, IF and only if I can use that item in the game. Not when the reward is a lazy excuse by the developer to excuse why they couldn't be bother to give me great big fuck off gold plated gun number 25a.

 

[huntedannoyed]

I get very excited about the "bleep" my xbox makes when I unlock an achievment. Good times. Pavlov!

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

I really couldn't care less. That is all.

 

[Mean Mother Rucker]

For the record, PSN has achievements, oh, excuse me, "Trophies" now as well.
And basically, achievements are the industry's way of keeping you playing their material.
Expansion packs and achievements are the real milking machines of consumer marketing.
For a basic premise of what I mean, follow this link:
http://www.crispygamer.com/comics/ding/

 

[thatotherguy2]

I enjoy achievments. they let me get some thing to wave infront of my friends and get me new armor in halo 3 whats not to complain

 

[Mean Mother Rucker]

I enjoy achievments. they let me get some thing to wave infront of my friends and get me new armor in halo 3 whats not to complain

In case you're talking to me, I'm not complaining, I think the gaming industry is clever for implicating this.

 

[frozenshad]

impo they're nice things to have, but if you play a game JUST to get the achievements/points then you are missing the whole experience of gaming

 

[stompy]

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

Thanks for that. 'Tis a shame though.