Poll: How Much do Achievements/Trophies Impact on your Gaming Experience?

[WhyWasThat]

Do you find them a distraction at all?
For me personally, I find that I'm now doing something which I never did before: I'm starting most single player games on the 'Hard' difficulty by default. Why? Because there's usually an extra achievement or trophy in it for the effort.
Equally, I find that when I'm playing a game, I occasionally take a look at the list of Achievements or Trophies in order to see if I'm able to get any before I miss the opportunity. They're always lingering and nagging in the background.
I don't think that they're a bad thing overall, but there's no doubt that at times they can take away from the game itself if they're all you're after. Back in the PS2 and PSone days, I would only play a game for its own merits.

What about you? Does the desire to earn Achievements and Trophies impede on your gaming in any way?

 

[Zhukov]

Hardly at all.

If I see an opportunity to grab one I will, because hey, why not? Otherwise I don't bother.

I only do the harder ones if they sound like fun. A good example is the garden gnome in Half Life 2: Episode 2.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Eh... I don't really let them bother me.

I'm not that much of a trophy whore, mainly because a lot of the games I play don't have trophies per se, either that or they don't interest me. And if they do, I just shrug and go 'oh, shiny' and continue playing...

 

[Rawne1980]

Usually only get the ones that appear for an average playthrough.

The only game I went out of my way for them was Skyrim and that is only because the "harder" ones weren't that hard to get.

If games require multiple playthroughs to get them then there is no chance. I rarely find a game that interests me enough for more than one or two runs.

 

[K84]

I get trophies/achievements while playing games and that's it.
Sometimes i get them by accident which indicate some sort of skill on my part, but that's never my intention.

I also like it that way, not hunting for them, but receiving them without actually trying.
Kinda roughly shows how you play game(s), games i don't like are low on throphy/achievements count, and vice versa.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Well, the way I play is that I usually go through the first playthrough(if it's that kind of game), just playing the game regularly, because I feel trophy hunting detracts from the focus off the game and ruins immersion. If I really like it though, I'll usually start achievement hunting in the second playthrough or if it's an open-ended game world, after I've done the majority of quests and completed most of the games.

Overall, I like achievements though, I like that they suggest alternative ways of playing the game or doing something in the game that you wouldn't normally have thought of. For games I really like, I take a certain satisfaction in getting the achievements for that game, like say Demon's Souls/Dark Souls, Skyrim and Eufloria, among others. I know it's silly, since there's no tangible reward for doing achievements, but I still like seeing them pop up.

As a last note, for seeing your friends' progress and comparing your own progress, in the same game is also pretty useful or seeing where/when they gave up, when they stopped playing.

 

[votemarvel]

I'm not bothered about them in the slightest.

The only game I've actively gone after achievements in was Mass Effect and that was because they have you bonuses in-game.

 

[everythingbeeps]

Couldn't care less anymore, especially PSN trophies, which I've never been into.

I used to really be into X360 achievements, but not anymore.

 

[Able Seacat]

When I first play through a game I won't look at the list because I don't want to spoil anything and I like to obtain the achievements passively. Some games do achievements better than others like some in portal 2 that are quite funny (e.g. pit boss).

After I finish a game I will have a look through to see if there are any interesting or challenging ones. For example, I think Halo 3: ODST had one where you had to get through a mission without firing a gun. But I'm not obsessed with getting 100% of them.

 

[Lunar Templar]

not at all.

if i get any out side the ones you get for clearing chapters, its cause i had use of that activity, other wise, i don't waste my time on them. if i like the game I'll play it again, regardless

 

[Fappy]

I do a bit. Unless they are impossible to get I'll try to snatch them.

 

[Nuuu]

When it comes to Xbox360, i dont care at all. But when im playing a game on steam, ill usually go for it after i finish the game. Now World of Warcraft on the other hand, im going for all of them all the time.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

None. What. So. Ever.

Seriously, one of my most favorite games is Secret of Mana. A game that, despite being nearly 20 years old, possesses me more than the games of today. Currently, I'm thinking about getting back into Secret of Evermore, as well. Man, that game was fun...and very addicting. Especially the way you use spells in that game. One of the things that kept me playing it for so long in the first place.

What the hell did I come in thread for aga-OH, trophies! Yeah, don't care about 'em.

 

[purplecactus]

I rarely go on achievement runs, and if I do then it's never on the first play-through. If I get one without actually meaning to do so, awesome. If there's something that's easy enough to do, also awesome. If not, it can wait until a time where I can be bothered.

 

[Bestival]

They actually piss me off quite a bit. Never really go for them, and it irks me when I get one by accident. Especially something trivial like entering an area that you HAVE to enter for story progression anyway, or getting get some random level up.

Good example of this is Skyrim, where you get an achievement for every story mission you complete. Yeah, I really worked my ass off for those!

 

[TimeLord]

If I don't enjoy a game then I won't bother with the achievements. But if I really enjoy a game (Fallout 3/NV, Force Unleashed, Skyrim etc) then I make a mission to get 100% of the achievements. My most recent focus is completing all the Space Marine achievements. You have to enjoy that game to grind 40,000 kills!

 

[ShindoL Shill]

It depends what it's for.
I don't want an achievement for doing Level 1 or something like that.
I do want one for playing the whole game on Murdersanity Crazyfuck difficulty. Because it lets me show my friends that I did it.

I don't actively go for them though.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Meh, I don't really care about them a whole lot. Yeah it can be fun as an addition challenge to see if you can get certain ones, but otherwise they're meaningless.