What do you hope to "Achieve"?

[TheKbob]

This is not a thread to discuss the merits or hatred toward achievements. The fact of the matter is, Microsoft made them and the world is following: PSN w/ Trophies, Valve games on STEAM, even World of Warcraft and the future Blizzard games will have them!

No what I want to discuss is what makes a great achievement feel like one. I'm am FREAKING TIRED of collect'o'thon achievement laziness. In a game like Assassin's Creed, where many different kind of achievements can be performed based on the unique playstyle... instead we get "Go find the flag, YAY!" crap that was annoying back in N64 days and should have died there.

or how about achievements that are solid, but do not have the proper weight placed on them. Ninja Gaiden 2. Hey, great, give me 5 point pats on the backs for performing a move so that I can learn to play better. Makes sense. Now give the SAME AMOUNT for playing through the entire game only using one type of weapon? Yes, beating a stupid hard game on, even it's normal mode, with just one weapon in a game designed to use multiple throughout nets you a grand sum of 5 points. Thanks.

What do I like? Creative, fun, or achievements where it means you have DONE something. Creative? How about Dark Sector (which I recommend as a solid rent or $30 or less title) has one called "Double Decap Latte". You get it by decapitating two enemies with one glaive throw. Since you can control the glaive in mid flight and you have to perfect the art of the power throw to do so, it makes A) better at the game and B) is a blast trying to fly it around getting the first decap and going "OH GOD CMON CMON CMON!". When I finally got it I was ecstatic! Fun? How about in FEAR with Zero Point achievements. Get a negative score in MP!... 0 Pnts. Kill yourself 5 times!... 0 Pnts. You killed 5 rats (something I'm sure everyone does)... 0 pnts. Completely meaningless but I couldn't help but laugh when I got the "Verminator".

Done something? Anyone can beat Half Life 2 EP 1 and EP 2... Can you beat EP 1 with only firing one bullet? Can you beat EP 2 whilst carrying around a lawn gnome? This also brings up another point: I hate difficulty based achievements. If I do the cool thing on easy or normal, I shouldn't be penalized because I didn't do it on stupid hard mode. Yes, beating stupid hard mode can be an achievement, but on games like DMC4 or NG2, I want you to find someone who has actually finished their final difficulties. Yes, that is an achievement, but in game rewards should be your pleasure and not just seal off 100 pnts from the average gamer because they would rather have a lemon covered cheese grater as a razor blade instead of even attempting those games.

That's my Achievement Ran, how do you fine Escapists feel?

PS: Feel free to talk about Trophies and other places, Like Kongregate, that has achievements, as well. Not limited to the 360 here!

 

[Bling Cat]

I used to have a little process that scored a games achievements, deducting points for pointless or collect 'em all achievements. Except to get ten you had to wittily name your achievements as well, like Rockstar. I lost it somewhere, but it was still fun.the achievements that really bug me are pointless ones, like acid reflex, or something like 'finish the first level on easy'. Those arent achivements, theyre things that WILL hapen if you dont have mental deficiancies.

 

[AboveUp]

I think Geometry Wars 2 has the most fun achievements to unlock. Shame it's a XBLA game, so they have a very limited amount of them.
Instead of the obvious "get this amount of points without getting killed", like GeoWars 1 had, they give you achievements for playing differently then you're supposed to.
Like surviving several waves of enemies in "Waves" without shooting, wall hugging in pacifism (twice), killing enemies with the deflected shots fired at mirrors, creating a smiley face on your win/loss record in Sequence (I kid you not).
You won't get them by accident, you have to really try your best to go out and get them (some of them are HARD).

At the same time you'll also improve your skills by getting them; they're good practice for the actual game itself.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

True, I'm sick of achievements that make you collect shit. Good achievements should make you get the most out of a game. I have two examples of games with good achievements, at least in MY opinion, and they are Guitar Hero II and Grand Theft Auto IV.

In GTA IV's case, the "collecting" achievements are ways to make you get the most out of the game. Take 100% Completion for example, to get it, you need to go through every nook and cranny GTA IV offers you, which is what makes it a good achievement.

In Guitar Hero II's case, the achievements progress with your skill level. For example, you get 10 GPs for completing medium level, 30 for completing medium level with all 5 stars, and so on and so forth. What makes this a good achievement plan is that it bases them on the player's skill, not the player's ability to faff about, thus letting the player get the most out of the game.

In the end though, that's just my opinion.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

Oblivion had good achievements. If you advance in a guild you get a nice 10 points it's not much but it makes you smile. Proceeding in the main quest got you a nice 50. It wasn't overly hard to get all 1000 but it sure was fun.

But seriously the Simpsons game "Easiest achievement ever - Press start to play." that is just stupid.

 

[Goenitz]

Mass Effect had good achievements... 250 assault rifle kills.... that was fun to get.

 

[Lt. Sera]

Achievements that show you a new/fun way of playing the game are great, achievements for doing something special are awesome. Achievements which are basically "do action X/ collect object Y 34535453453455 times" are lame.

So what i basically hope that achievements will achieve is that they will add (re)playability to a game.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I've held it up as an exemplar before, but Crackdown's "Base Jumper" achievement is the one I that most enjoyed the process of earning. First the puzzle of finding a route up the Agency Tower, including some pretty challenging jumps that you can't make until you're pretty far into the game; then the pay-off at the top with an amazing view of the city-scape and (in surround-sound, anyway) ambient wind noise that put *you*, not your character, on that tower. And then the jump itself, that somehow RTW can make you *feel*, and the challenge of landing in the one pool of water deep enough to cushion your fall...

Amazing stuff, and I'd never have thought to try it without that medal suggesting it could be done. I'd love to see more Achievements like that one.

-- Steve

 

[j1-2themax]

I thought Dead Rising was an example of Achievements done both well and poorly.
Poorly: They were all worth 20 points. ALL OF THEM. That means killing a whole town's worth of zombies is worth as much as taking a picture of a dead psycopath.
Well-done: Some of the Achievements were really creative (i.e. wearing every piece of clothing, killing a whole town's worth of people, putting novelty masks on zombies, etc.)

 

[Madz]

Aaah, Achievments, seriously, I think achievments are something as awesome as Wii's control.

To me most of them, even the lame ones are kind like medals or souvenirs, to remember you that you did something they think is worthy of remembering, of course they can also be humorous for a cheap laugh.

My opinion be a little extremist but I think a game only wins more value when achievments are added, call it an adiction or a psychological weakness for the reward feeling, hell, they don't even need to grant me points, just put a pretty picture, a quirky remark and I'll hunt every one of those bastards. >_>

By the way, has anyone here checked Amorphous+? It's a flash game with whooping 110 "awards" that unlock extra content as you get them.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

If an achievement encourages me to play in a way that is either:
1) Stupid
2) Pointlessly hard for the sake of being hard
3) Something more resembling work than a game

...then I ignore it. See: Little Rocket Man, any achievement where you have to run around collecting flags or shooting pigeons, "Eat Every Type of Food in the Mall".

If it's something I'd get through the course of normal gameplay, I don't much care about it, because of course I'm going to get those.

If it encourages me to do something fun, but out of the way (Base Jumper, Vorticough, Raining Zombies) then it's awesome.

- J

 

[Jumplion]

So far I have about 10 trophys in SuperStardustHD and everytime the trophy symbol comes up in the top-right hand corner of my screen I always have a funny feeling in my stomach.

It feels awesome...

I can't wait untill more trophys are intergrated, specifically what Insomniac will come up with in Ressitance 2. I never would have thought to shoot all the air tubes off of a chimera before I killed it. thank you Insomniac.

 

[the jellyman]

I liked the achievement in the orange box for killing a hunter with it's own missiles. It's a good way to use the grav gun ad is actually fairly easy (i killed a hunter like this 4 times on medium 1st time I played) but sounds incredibly hard how about an achievement for finding all the easter eggs in a game?

 

[mbv-]

i never feel like I achieve something in a game..even though they tell me I did. aah the wonder of Illusions.. or should I say a lame attempt at extending gameplay. You decide.

 

[TheKbob]

If an achievement encourages me to play in a way that is either:
1) Stupid
2) Pointlessly hard for the sake of being hard
3) Something more resembling work than a game

...then I ignore it. See: Little Rocket Man, any achievement where you have to run around collecting flags or shooting pigeons, "Eat Every Type of Food in the Mall".

If it's something I'd get through the course of normal gameplay, I don't much care about it, because of course I'm going to get those.

If it encourages me to do something fun, but out of the way (Base Jumper, Vorticough, Raining Zombies) then it's awesome.

- J

While I agree with your other examples, Little Rocket Man reflects a certain play style. The reason that was made an achievement is because game testers were actually doing this... before the achievement even existed. So while I agree with your points, but I think LRM falls under possibly only #1 and that's open to opinion.

I would have more LRM type than kill 10000 guys in Gears of War.

 

[downskitty]

Most people seem driven by the achievements simply because of the notion of bragging rights. It's the same idea as having a displayed "Top Scores" board for all to see: That particular number quantifies that person's ability and/or value relative to whatever activity is being measured, be it baseball with its batting averages, RBIs, ERA, or Halo 3 with its total kills, assists, and flag recoveries. Get enough accomplished in one respect and recognition is gained in the form of some variation of the pat on the back. Sometimes, it's more of a perfunctory handclap and "Bravo. Continue."

Personally, I'm more a fan of the ones that are based on style of play rather than "You completed Chapter 2: 20 points!" Ones like getting a triple kill with the plasma sword in Halo 3 ("Steppin' Razor") or many of the ones from Dead Rising, especially with the rewards mentioned below. Basically the achievements should really live up to the term: Something that took more than ordinary effort to accomplish. Be it a ridiculous killing spree or going zombie bowling.

I thought Dead Rising was an example of Achievements done both well and poorly.
Poorly: They were all worth 20 points. ALL OF THEM. That means killing a whole town's worth of zombies is worth as much as taking a picture of a dead psycopath.
Well-done: Some of the Achievements were really creative (i.e. wearing every piece of clothing, killing a whole town's worth of people, putting novelty masks on zombies, etc.)

What makes them even better is that there are tangible in-game rewards just like gathering all the packages in the GTAs. The achievements not only encouraged playing in a different way, but some of the rewards given take that notion a step further.

As for the points, yeah, it would've made better sense to scale them.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Oblivion had good achievements. If you advance in a guild you get a nice 10 points it's not much but it makes you smile. Proceeding in the main quest got you a nice 50. It wasn't overly hard to get all 1000 but it sure was fun.

Oh boy, I really hated the achievements in Oblivion. However, that could be because recently I forced myself to get all 1000 (not including The Shivering Isles), thinking that it would only be a matter of time. By the time I'd finished I never wanted to look at the game again. Some better achievements would be 'Find all the locations in the game', or 'Get a 10000 gold bounty on your head'. Yes, finding all the locations would be a 'collection' achievement, but since randomly meandering through the countryside is the best part of Oblivion it would be fun.

As you can see from the examples above, I think that the best achievements set goals which you have no reason to achieve other than for the achievement. It extends the lifespan of the game, and you can have fun clowning around. For example, some of the achievements in Crackdown (you know, do a double flip in a vehicle or whatever) and most of the achievements in The Orange Box (kill someone with a toilet, break the mini-teleporter, etc.).

 

[OnlyWonderBoy]

Haha I did the fire one bullet on Half-Life 2 Episode 1. I don't see a problem with extra hard achievements. It's locked off from the average gamer but how many average gamers even really care? Achievements are more of a hardcore gamer thing, in my opinion anyway.