Gamerscore: A discussion

[Joshimodo]

Some people do drugs. Some people drink. Some people are addicted to themselves. There are endless addictions, and it just so happens that people are addicted to Gamerscore.

You know the kind I'm talking about. Buys a game, despite awful reviews and/or no interest in the gameplay itself, but purely wants it for that little bit of gratification. The "bleep-bloop", and an ever-extending list of meaningless numbers. The kind of person who plays online to get the 1000/1000, rather than to socialise, or engage in competition.

I'm not one of them, merely an observer. One of my best online mates (a member of my clan), is a self-confessed Gamerscore Whore. He and I were discussing achievements, and how they extend (or shorten) a game's life. I agreed, but I had a valid point: What is the point of Gamerscore?

Now, I'm not bashing achievements or "achievement whores", but I am bashing the Gamerscore aspect of it. The numbers are entirely meaningless. I explained to him and another clan member this comparison:

You get 1000/1000 on Gears of War, Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4. There's some tough achievements there (Seriously, Mile High Club, Nothing Special etc.), and some moderate ones. Worth varying Gamerscore.

You have 3000 Gamerscore.

Someone else goes out and buys Avatar, King Kong and Open Season. Within a day, they have equal Gamerscore to you. Now, they don't have good achievements, but at face value, they have exactly the same as you.



In the next generation, things such as Achievements and Trophies will more than likely be implemented. It's a lure, it's profitable, and in some cases, a viable way to extend the game's life. I for one, hope Gamerscore (or anything like it) isn't put into future consoles. Achievements/Trophies, sure, they're sometimes fun to get, and show off your m4d 1337 sk1llz, but Gamerscore is ridiculous, the way it is.

So, what's your opinion, Escapists? Do you agree with the addict culture? Are achievements or trophies a blessing or a curse? Do you think getting 1000/1000 or all the Platinum trophies count as "finishing" a game?


Anyway, goodnight everyone.

 

[grimsprice]

whatever gets them hard. If it be looking at a big number next to their avatar more power to them, at least their sickness is locked away in their basement.

EDIT: I'm sorry that was totally sexist, i'm ignoring the female demographic. Whatever gets them hard and or wet.

 

[VanityGirl]

I honestly like my gamerscore. (It's a modest 14,000 something). While I don't try to dig deep to get every single little achievement, I do get the warm fuzzies when I get the little *blip* for a job well done.
I mean, if you can pull off "nothing special" from left 4 dead, I think a little blip is a good thing. It's like the game's trying to tell you how badass you are.

Achievement whores are annoying, but you'll always have those people who want bragging rights in every games. Whether it be gamerscore, kill death ratio or whatever, you'll always have a douche bag punk around.

 

[MortisLegio]

I dont really try and "hunt" for achievements unless I have all but two or three

 

[D_987]

Honestly, who cares? I don't see your point at all OP. The gamerscore system is not meant to show "true skill", they are there to encourage people to play the game more often; to give them an incentive to replay it again, to play all modes etc...

The system itself is fine, and its a great feature of the 360. The point of gamerscore is, as I stated above, an attempt to prolong the life of a game. If you don't like it, then just ignore it...

 

[hagaya]

I have a fair gamerscore (7000 something) but I honestly could care whether I had ten or tens-of-thousands. It's really just a number. It tracks your accomplishments and it shows your progress, but it's mostly for show. (I hate Halo, but) Halo did achivements right by giving a reward for them. You got new armor for your MP character for getting them, and soon TF2 followed suit with class updates. I like achivements when you get something in return for them, but I guess the whole matter doesn't really matter to me. As I said before it's just a number.

 

[Undeleted]

The mindset of most gamers today seems to be max everything out, complete everything as fast as I can, do everything and get everything before everyone else. I blame achievments and gamerscores for this pandemic.

 

[The Blue Mongoose]

My gamerscore is something like 490. Partially because I play Fallout 3 offline, and partly because I couldn't care less.

I have started shooting for achievements in Left 4 Dead, but that's only so the game can be challenging again...

 

[Corkydog]

I think the trophy system fixed this by not putting a number value next to it. I have both consoles (in my mind the Wii is a toy, not a console, but that is a whole 'nuther bag o' pop rocks) and I think both achievements and trophies do well to encourage replayability, or just rewarding the player. I mean, look at Guitar Queero, the episode from South Park. They did all that work, and the screen just yelled, "YOU ARE F*GS" That isn't fun for anyone. And going for that perfect 1000 for a tough game or finally getting your first platinum trophy, well, it's a damn good feeling.

 

[APPCRASH]

My friends and I compete who can get a higher score, though we don't take it seriously. It's more of a personal contest to see who can "nerd out" the best and start grabbing points.

 

[Shapsters]

Honestly, who cares? I don't see your point at all OP. The gamerscore system is not meant to show "true skill", they are there to encourage people to play the game more often; to give them an incentive to replay it again, to play all modes etc...

The system itself is fine, and its a great feature of the 360. The point of gamerscore is, as I stated above, an attempt to prolong the life of a game. If you don't like it, then just ignore it...

Exactly, who caress?! I have 14,00 and I enjoy gettign achievments, who cares? You have 2000 and could care less, who cares? Bill is a whore and has 50,000, who cares?!

Its honestly not worth disusing over and over again, some people like them, some people don't. But in the end... who cares?

 

[NAKEDsnake2010]

The achievements are good it is the gamerscore i have a problem with. It just sits there. It,d be different if you could use it. There have been quite a few times i didnt have enough microsoft points and thought "well, if i could use my gamerscore i'd be ok."

 

[Lucane]

Huh didn't realize that every game on 360 caps at 1,000 points that sort of make the gamerscore lose some meaning but the indivual achievements (when they are uniqe or difficult for you.) do feel good when you see them unknowingly or it takes timing/skill to do or a limitation you wouldn't have done normally (Example: Getting "One Gun" on Dead Space by never using any other gun except the Plasma Cutter.).

On the PS3 thier ranked generally by difficulty or time needed to put in with no set total number of points game to game.So it's clearer to see if someone got alot of bronzes to boost thier level or if they know a thing or two about what they play or just go for easy games alot.

I'd say put something on the Gamerscore that spilts the point total as
Total Score=Common Score + Rare Score /Total Completed
could possiblly make it a little more fun for some people.