But that isn't what an achievment is at all. It's completely optional. There's one instance in which I can see an achievment effecting gameplay, and that's the Hayabusa armour recieved in halo. Which is also useless. Achievment's are there for a way of justifying some stupid stunts pulled, or gratifying some amazing ones.
How Important Is Gamer Score To You?
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
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i personally really like it. i like being rewarded for my game play. i have both a 360 and PS3 so when games come out for both i buy it for the 360 (not just for the better online play) but for the achievements.
Not at all, but I love Achievements. Achievements force my obsessive-compulsive side to go to war with my often limited game-attention-span. And they have, several times, caused me to go back and put more time into a game that I likely would have left on the shelf and never played again on any other system. There is intangible joy in hearing the 'ping' and seeing the Achievement award notification pop up.nilcypher said:
I also find it bizarrely interesting to be able to look back at all the Achievements I've ever earned and see what games I played, when I played them, and for how long. And it's interesting to use them to compare gaming tastes with friends (by seeing which games were played, and what achievements they unlocked. Not by comparing scores). For example, my profile makes it pretty obvious that I don't care for shooters, and don't play online often.
The score itself though, I wouldn't mind if it were gone entirely. While I like the Achievements, I like them as objectives. I don't really care for them as a competition metric.
[hr]Edit: Since we're on the topic, if you're registered and have a gamertag, go add it to your profile [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view]. We also have a members leaderboard [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/xbox_live.php] if you're into that sort of thing.
I think the achievements are an awesome social tool, but giving point values to them is kind of silly (especially given how skewed the numbers are). The real power of achievements is to give a shared experience to gamers that is a little above and beyond what someone who rushed through the game got. Some of the better achievements don't just have points, but whole STORIES. You can recount that epic combo that got you the last Bejeweled award, or the night you and your friend spent trying to get a Co-Op Legendary completion on Halo 3 (note that these stories are not at all interesting to anyone else).
Did anyone here ever play Super Mario RPG for the SNES? There was a secret item you could get for landing 100 jumps in one turn. Or what about the WEAPON monsters in FFVII? Who here HASN'T seen just how many people they can kill with the chainsaw in GTA[insert numeral:subtitle here]? They are ridiculous, but I tried for it anyway. And even if I failed, I still tried something I otherwise wouldn't have. Later, I could compare notes with my friends, and it gave us something to talk about besides the riveting social commentary of Crackdown.
That's what some of these achievements are like. They ask gamers to try and find every "lambda" symbol in Half Life or win 200 ranked basketball games, and along the way, create a shared experience that reaches out beyond the scope of the game itself. Something you can look back on with a friend and say "Remember that night we tried to get the Pacifist achievement in Geometry Wars?"
Did anyone here ever play Super Mario RPG for the SNES? There was a secret item you could get for landing 100 jumps in one turn. Or what about the WEAPON monsters in FFVII? Who here HASN'T seen just how many people they can kill with the chainsaw in GTA[insert numeral:subtitle here]? They are ridiculous, but I tried for it anyway. And even if I failed, I still tried something I otherwise wouldn't have. Later, I could compare notes with my friends, and it gave us something to talk about besides the riveting social commentary of Crackdown.
That's what some of these achievements are like. They ask gamers to try and find every "lambda" symbol in Half Life or win 200 ranked basketball games, and along the way, create a shared experience that reaches out beyond the scope of the game itself. Something you can look back on with a friend and say "Remember that night we tried to get the Pacifist achievement in Geometry Wars?"
See, that's something you should be ashamed of. There's a limit below which one should not sink. (I also don't boost to get online achievements, that's stupid as well, if you can't do it straight, admit that you suck and move on).meffex said:
I care more than I should. However, the only games I'm 1000/1000 on are Mass Effect and Oblivion. Some games make poor decisions with how to award gamerscore, like Burnout:Revenge, but in most cases it's something extra and fun to do with a game after you've beaten it.
I think I might be lying to myself when I say, 'I don't really care about gamerscore or achievements.'
I think I do.
I mean, I want my gamerscore to be respectable, y'know? (I think I have about eight hundred points, but, mind you, I only own about three 360 games.) Some of them I'm not really happy about doing (No, I'm not going to Get Some Grub) but I try for ones that seem relitavely easy (I.E Two Points).
So I'm actually going to have to go with 'Yeah, I care about Achievements and Gamerscores.'
I think I do.
I mean, I want my gamerscore to be respectable, y'know? (I think I have about eight hundred points, but, mind you, I only own about three 360 games.) Some of them I'm not really happy about doing (No, I'm not going to Get Some Grub) but I try for ones that seem relitavely easy (I.E Two Points).
So I'm actually going to have to go with 'Yeah, I care about Achievements and Gamerscores.'
Gamer Score to me just shows how much free time one person actually has. I have about 2500 and that is very very low in comparison to the XBox community and I play about 1-2 hours a night during the week (mostly online which of course doesn't normally get you points). For those that have over 10K in points...LEAVE THE BASEMENT AND GET SOME FRICKEN SUN!
The short answer would be no, don't care. I care more about the mute button and "avoid player"
The short answer would be no, don't care. I care more about the mute button and "avoid player"
I have a bit of a completionist mentality, but I still won't do something in a game that seems totally pointless -- unrelated to the storyline, doesn't help my character, you know. In Zelda games, for example, I'll always collect all the heart pieces, but I'll never collect the bugs. In Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, I went through the main quest, all the guild quests, and all the Daedric quests, but the other side quests went largely ignored.
Gamerscore is that little incentive that puts me over the edge and makes me a REAL completionist.
I'm currently working on Little Rocket Man. No way in HELL would I go to all that trouble if there wasn't an official mandate with a totally arbitrary reward!
Gamerscore is that little incentive that puts me over the edge and makes me a REAL completionist.
I'm currently working on Little Rocket Man. No way in HELL would I go to all that trouble if there wasn't an official mandate with a totally arbitrary reward!
I find it a bit hit and miss.
You get all these people who have huge gamerscores, because theyve gone out and played alled the games where the acheivements are laughably easy to get (Such as Samurai Warriors 2, where you get all your acheivement points just by playing the game and unlocking all the other characters)
Those people bother me, because its not like they are playing and getting the acheivement to show how far they are in a game or all the extra stuff theyve done, but its more of a 'look at my score, im more hardcore' thing to them.
I think what bothers me is how differant some of them feel. It can easily range from 'That hardly felt worthy of an acheivement' to 'Do I really want to spend all that time for just a few extra points?'
Theres a few games that only require you to play for a short time before it just throws an acheivement at you, while others will have you do something that can take a such a huge amount of time (Not including acheivements for completing or getting so far into a game)
My biggest issue with it probably, is that it reveals what games you play. While some people dont mind this, it can be a problem for others, can make you wonder why none of your freinds have played game x, or if your the only one who hasnt played game y.
Add that to the fact that you only have to let a game load up for it to be listed forever in your profile, which is especially annoying when it comes to demos of the live arcade games.
I'd like it if there was a way to hide the games your played, so it only shows your score and rep, or to select games to be hidden if you never got any achievement points and/or never really bothered playing the game.
Ive actually created a 'test account' on my 360, so I can play a game for a bit to see if I like it before using my actual account to play it...
You get all these people who have huge gamerscores, because theyve gone out and played alled the games where the acheivements are laughably easy to get (Such as Samurai Warriors 2, where you get all your acheivement points just by playing the game and unlocking all the other characters)
Those people bother me, because its not like they are playing and getting the acheivement to show how far they are in a game or all the extra stuff theyve done, but its more of a 'look at my score, im more hardcore' thing to them.
I think what bothers me is how differant some of them feel. It can easily range from 'That hardly felt worthy of an acheivement' to 'Do I really want to spend all that time for just a few extra points?'
Theres a few games that only require you to play for a short time before it just throws an acheivement at you, while others will have you do something that can take a such a huge amount of time (Not including acheivements for completing or getting so far into a game)
My biggest issue with it probably, is that it reveals what games you play. While some people dont mind this, it can be a problem for others, can make you wonder why none of your freinds have played game x, or if your the only one who hasnt played game y.
Add that to the fact that you only have to let a game load up for it to be listed forever in your profile, which is especially annoying when it comes to demos of the live arcade games.
I'd like it if there was a way to hide the games your played, so it only shows your score and rep, or to select games to be hidden if you never got any achievement points and/or never really bothered playing the game.
Ive actually created a 'test account' on my 360, so I can play a game for a bit to see if I like it before using my actual account to play it...
I don't really care too much about gamer score, I've had an xbox360 since christmas and i have about 200gp. where my sister has about 1000 from playing kiddy games like Harry Potter, That thing givs you points like there's no tomorrow. The only games I've even played though are Eternal Sonata, Assasins Creed and Halo 3.
I don't care much for the overall score, though it is vaguely gratifying to see it climb.
I do care for some individual Achievements, though, especially the ones that look fun in their own right (ex. "Base Jumper" and "Car Juggler" in Crackdown, "Too Close to the Sun" in Halo 3) or reward playing through at the higher difficulties. Adds replay value, gives some bragging rights, and makes interesting suggestions on different ways to play.
That being said, I'm not going to try for many Achievements... "Little Rocket Man" sounds more like a chore than a lark to me.
-- Steve
I do care for some individual Achievements, though, especially the ones that look fun in their own right (ex. "Base Jumper" and "Car Juggler" in Crackdown, "Too Close to the Sun" in Halo 3) or reward playing through at the higher difficulties. Adds replay value, gives some bragging rights, and makes interesting suggestions on different ways to play.
That being said, I'm not going to try for many Achievements... "Little Rocket Man" sounds more like a chore than a lark to me.
-- Steve