Gamerscore, why?

[Uber Waddles]

To prove my point, I would like to direct you to my old friend, the PS2. Now, I was an avid gamer, but as games developed more graphically, game kinda ended and then that was it.

Period. I beat the story, got the best weapons. In the later stages, few games had any real EXTRAS, something to sink my teeth into after I beat the game.

Now enter Ratchet and Clank, one of my favorite series. A way that all of the games caught my attention for hundreds of hours was the vast ammount of extras and "Skill Points".

You see, I could beat the campaign 100 times, but wheres the challenge in that? Try beating 100 rounds of the Arena with only your wrench, and NOW we got ourselves a challenge. It was fun to do, not mandatory, and kept my playing.

Achievements are that, exactly. They're supposed to be extras awarded for playing games. It gives gamers something to go back and do after they beat the initial story in the game. Essentially, its fluff. Fun fluff. Achievements ensure that gamers continue to play a game long after they have beaten the story and/or grown 'meh' with the multiplayer. Its something fun to work towards.

Gamers come up with unique challenges for games they play all the time; an example is a scramble challenge in the Pokemon games (which adds unique twists to the standard teams). Achievements are like that, but added by the developers. Its just fun. Mindless, addictive, fun.

 

[hooksashands]

The whole gamerscore = penis metaphor is starting to get REALLY old.

Especially from obsessive compulsives who collect all the goddamn Pokemon.

 

[dot com]

I think of game scores as a fun little distraction to help get more life out of a game. I've been playing the 360 for a while and I've never thought my near 40000 gamerscore makes me a better gamer.

It's just for fun.

 

[RobCoxxy]

can you use the points to get any goodies a lá Nintendo?

Your thoughts please

When did they start doing that?

Gamecube. 1st hand games had points cards which you could use to get awesome (and really shit) stuff off their wesite for.

OT: It annoys me that when I got a 360, my friends who had been crazy, full-time game nerds for two years previously still thought they were "better" by having more achievements.

"Give me time, *****-tits."

 

[Riku'sTwilight]

I love gamerscore.

It's a great incentive to play a game until you've properly gotten everything out of it.

Microsoft is a freaking genius to have come up with the idea.
Points don't mean prizes but this doesn't stop you from accumulating them.

It's a nice (and addictive) way of reminding your friends that you are simply better than them.

Random people online I dont pay any attention to (unless they wipe the floor with me in Halo - then i'll have a look)

But bottom line is that it's mainly for kudos among friends.

 

[EatPieYes]

I hate gamerscore. It's stupid and unnecessary. I miss the good old days of gaming (well, not too long ago) when the games would speak for themselves. When you beat a game it was like an achievement in itself. There's no need for gamerscore. It pains me to say (not really), though, that I do obsess about them. Talk about being hypocritical.

 

[EatPieYes]

I hate gamerscore. It's stupid and unnecessary. I miss the good old days of gaming (well, not too long ago) when the games would speak for themselves. When you beat a game it was like an achievement in itself. There's no need for gamerscore. It pains me to say (not really), though, that I do obsess about them. Talk about being hypocritical.

Edit: Whoops, doublepost fail. Sorry...

 

[imnot]

I like it, not obsesivly but its fun to collect?

 

[Plastic Muscles]

They can give me something else to do when I play a game, usually there is enough achievements left that I can do a second playthrough of the game but try try and get all X collectable.

 

[Tukadian]

I am what you call an achievement whore, I absolutely love them, and I think they were an awesome idea. I can see the appeal of gamerscore comparing freaks, especially comparing between friends as one person said, but it's just not for me. As I said, I love achievements, and try hard to get them for that sense of accomplishment, but I have no clue what my gs is, I haven't looked at it in over a year.

 

[TPiddy]

1. They exist as proof of your gaming accomplishments; whether your gaming accomplishments are worth proving or not.

2. They provide extra incentive to replay a game.

3. They could make you play a game in a way you hadn't previously thought of before.

Well done achievements are awesome. I'll go after any achievements I deem to be worthy of my time.

 

[Huxleykrcc]

Obviously, your gamerscore is a function of time spent playing. Who cares?

Achievements are actually really fun, in my opinion. It's not a point of pride for me, but I sort of enjoy trying to get the difficult ones (that Reach achievement for a falling assassination is hard as hell).

I think the whole system is kind of a cool, but anyone who thinks it means they're "better" at a source of entertainment because of it is obviously a bit of a twat.

 

[AnAngryMoose]

I like getting Achievements. Not too bothered about Gamerscore. If it could be used as a form of currency along with MS Points then it'd be useful.

 

[Talon_Skywarp]

I am lazy as crap.

If you saw my trophy collection, people would laugh.

 

[Gyrefalcon]

I suppose it is supposed to be bragging rights. I would prefer it if unlocking achievements or getting a high gamer score got you points for marketplace goodies. Instead it seems pointless and I don't really care for everyone being able to see what you've done. I'd rather post the things I actually thought were cool to achieve instead of a litany of junk that I didn't even realize I got or scored.