Poll: The Importance of Achievements and You!

[G00N3R7883]

I think achievements are a good thing, when they're done the right way. Some of them can be excessively grindy or encourage you play the game in the wrong way. But they can also extend the life of a game, give you some extra challenges or encourage you to try different playing styles.

What I tend to do is play a game through once without looking at achievements and just focus on enjoying the gameplay and the story (sometimes I'll even disable the popups on Steam). Then after I've finished, I'll have a look at the achievements list, see which ones I got, and then see if there are any that look fun that I can go for on my next playthrough.

 

[Evonisia]

I think they're good for keeping track of what you've done in games, and they can be fun if you like 100%'ing everything.

Personally achievements have only appealed to me on the 360 and I can't pin point why. I think it might be because when you get an achievement it pops up at the bottom of your screen in green, whereas on the PS3 and Steam they just pop up in a corner in a drab, grey colour (though some Steam games will have achievements show up in chat if text based). I also find the gamerscore appealing because it's an arbitrary number and nothing gets me more interested than arbitrary numbers, which is something the PS3 doesn't have.

In rare cases achievements can used to good effect. Somebody already mentioned it but Spec Ops: The Line's story is helped by an achievement occasionally popping up going "congratulations, you've just killed fifty people with this gun" while the story tells you that you are a monster.

Don't even get me started on achievements based on collectibles. Some games do it right. Again, I bring up South Park: collecting every chinpokomon is a cinch, and if you don't find them all before the end of the game, going back to get the remaining ones isn't a painful task. You don't even need a guide to collect about 90% of them, or even 100% if you enjoy exploration. But the achievements for getting all of the collectibles in Assassins Creed? They can fuck right off.

Oh how I know this agony. Back when AssCreed IV came out my Dad got it for himself and has probably spent more time searching for collectibles than he did finishing the campaign or upgrading his ship to max (or near max, I'm not very familiar with AC IV). Seems like a waste of half of the 99 hours to me.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I don't bother with them. I play my games in a way that seems fun and natural to me, and if the game wants to bestow upon me meaningless awards then that's it's business. I don't look through a game's achievement list and spend ages trying to do a mission/level in a way I wouldn't normally just so I can get an empty electronic pat on the head, but I do know a few achievement hunters and if that's the way they get their kicks from gaming then good for them.

In other words I don't care for achievements but I don't mind them being there either.

 

[loa]

Congratulations, you just found out you can shoot the dragon on the bridge in dark souls in the tail with a bow if you position correctly.
Would you rather

-get a secret weapon out of it
-have the game go "Achievement unlocked! You shot the dragon in the butt!"
?

You'd want the weapon, right? You'd want something of consequence, right?
Now try to imagine how many would-be secret weapons turn out to be "conglaturation buttshot" achievements simply because achievements exist.

And those are even the good kinds of achievements.
The regular chaff simply sees fit to reward you for playing the game.
Achievement unlocked! Pressed A on the controller.

 

[DementedSheep]

Congratulations, you just found out you can shoot the dragon on the bridge in dark souls in the tail with a bow if you position correctly.
Would you rather

-get a secret weapon out of it
-have the game go "Achievement unlocked! You shot the dragon in the butt!"
?

You'd want the weapon, right? You'd want something of consequence, right?
Now try to imagine how many would-be secret weapons turn out to be "conglaturation buttshot" achievements simply because achievements exist.

And those are even the good kinds of achievements.
The regular chaff simply sees fit to reward you for playing the game.
Achievement unlocked! Pressed A on the controller.

Why do you assume you would get anything for that sort of thing if achievements didn't exist? They aren't hard to make. It not diverting resources that could have gone into secret weapons to put them in and there is no reason you couldn't get both an achievement and a weapon. If there aren't secret weapons chances are there was never going to be any regardless of if they have achievements or not. Dark Souls also uses achievements.

 

[FoolKiller]

I've despised achievements ever since they were introduced, and have had them forced down my throat ever since.
At best they are intrusive and immersion breaking like a steam friend message popup, at worst they actually play some role in the game and you might even have to rely on achievements to unlock in game content.

Umm...useful point.

You can turn off the notifications. You never need to see them.

I like the ones that make you try different things and I like the milestone ones.

I hate glitchy and multiplayer ones as they rely on things outside my control to end up working.

On Xbox, there is a financial incentive to get to 75000 points though. Its a 3% rebate on the digital store. So they're not completely useless now.

 

[Elijin]

I will say that sometimes when I dont have any 'goto' games and am looking to kill some time, I will look through the achievements on the games I've previously played to see if anything inspires me to launch a game and give it a try.

So in that respect they're interesting to revisit a title later and be encouraged to play it differently than you have previously.

But otherwise, they're there and pop up while I play. Sometimes they might get a chuckle for being cleverly worded (though less and less, as achievements become more all encompassing to the industry, they seem to make fewer attempts to make them clever or humourus) but normally they're just inconsequential pop-ups, gone a second or two later.

 

[LostCrusader]

I will go after achievements after I have seen they are there, but I don't go out of my way for them unless I really like the game. As far as achievements being a selling point for a console, that's ridiculous and I can't imagine any one really getting a console for them.

 

[Willstown]

For me they extend the life of a game to get more value out of my purchase. If you don't like having them there's nothing there forcing you to get them and can ignore them totally.

Considering the price of AAA games anything that can give you more play per £/$ is a good thing.

I don't go for 100% completion in every game I play, or buy stupid games just for the sake of trophies, but if I like the game I'll pick up those trophies and enjoy doing it.

Some sort of teeny tiny reward system would be nice for the PS trophies, a free theme or PSN avatar for reaching certain levels would be nice. Something cheap and cosmetic.

 

[Elijin]

Some sort of teeny tiny reward system would be nice for the PS trophies, a free theme or PSN avatar for reaching certain levels would be nice. Something cheap and cosmetic.

On XBL you get back a % of the money you spend on the marketplace, based on your achievement score.

I've maybe gotten a few dollars over the lifetime, because I dont purchase full releases digitally on the xbox, only DLC and arcade games. But its a neat novelty.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I dislike them quite a lot to be honest I think they do more harm than good they are absolutely pointless ofc but I also find them patronising and a bit pathetic ahhh you finished the game did you have a gold star and it will go on your permanent record isnt that great?

I wouldnt have so much of a problem if they could be turned off as in you dont get any achievements if you dont want to but its tied into a competitive drive to get you hooked to see how many you can get so they can sell more games and get more money. Their existance pushes towards trivializing games you shouldnt need or want any other incentive to play games other than the experience they themselves provide. Achievements are there to provide a cheap thrill that is ultimately empty and worthless but make you feel good about yourself for a second, however in adding that in it actually takes away a lot from the experience as if its giving you a condescending pat on the head.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't go too far out of my way for them, but I do get a small amount of pleasure from the trophy/achievement unlocked sound. On the other hand...

I have such a love/hate relationship with them.

I love a good game with lot of achievements for me to work on, but if I can't get them all they just get my OCD going...

I can't consider the game 'finished' if I don't have them all, and unfinished things bother me.

I used to be like that, but several games "broke" me a while back. It's basically become a war between my obsessive nature and my lack of enjoyment. For example, I could probably Platinum The Amazing Spider-Man, but that would require me playing the whole game again on the hardest mode. And there were a lot of boring parts. At that point, it's simply a chore. Similarly, there are two missable trophies/achievements in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I got one of them, found out about the other after I hit the point of no return. Now, this one's not even difficulty related: all that's required is that I play far enough into the game to get to a point where I can do it. But that's two chapters, including one so boring I practically quit the first time through.

Boredom, or the sense of a chore, are about the only forces that can over come my compulsion to complete something.

 

[DSK-]

I think they are about as useful as a fish with tits, but I know a lot of people love them, so I don't really care how they are implemented.

I'm happy with buying a game, completing it, job done.

 

[Username Redacted]

I do not in any way, shape or form chase after achievements. That said I appreciate that they exist. This is because whenever I get an achievement it serves as a reminder to turn off notifications on the console that I'm using.

 

[Frankster]

You can turn off the notifications. You never need to see them.

Thank you good sir, that is a very useful tip that I'm shocked no one informed me in all my years of bitching about it.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Well, my answer isn't on the poll. I like them a lot and I like to spend time getting them when I'm bored, but I wouldn't say they're important.

I really don't understand why some people demand they be removed from games though. If you don't like them, don't bloody go for them and just let the people who do like them have our fun.

 

[Ieyke]

I like them when they're well-thought-out to the point that they enhance gameplay. Stick of Truth has one of the best achievement lists ever created in that regard. They push you to do things you otherwise wouldn't think of, and the results are hysterical. The only one that felt even the least bit grindy was one of them you get in Canada. I had a really good laugh at almost every achievement, so getting them all added an extra level of depth to the game. And besides, you have to admit that the "Heisenberg" achievement was a stroke of genius.

Now, flip over to Dishonored. That game's achievements are about as shitty as can be if you try to get them all. One that I attempted to get on my first playthrough (just to get it over with) turned the game into such a tedious bore that now, months later, I still can't find the heart to pick it back up for another go. Of course, it doesn't help that the endings encourage you to play in that extremely boring manner - you can't treat Dishonored as an action game unless masochism is your one-way ticket to multiple orgasms. However, treating it as a pure action game is yet another achievement, one that's diametrically opposed to the achievement I mentioned above, and requires another full playthrough that, from what I've heard, concludes with extreme disappointment. So, in my humble opinion, it's the most forcefully stealth-required game in the history of stealth games, and that absolutely ruined it for me despite the fact that I actually like the occasional stealth game. Dishonored's achievements only compound the yawn/pain factor.

What are you on about?

Dishonored is SUPER easy.
I beat it on complete stealth, pure combat, and mixed in 2 days without problem.
I was just going for the different endings and happened to get the achievements in the process...

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

What are you on about?

Dishonored is SUPER easy.
I beat it on complete stealth, pure combat, and mixed in 2 days without problem.
I was just going for the different endings and happened to get the achievements in the process...

I'm glad you found it easy, but it was hard for me to get through because it didn't exactly gel with how I like to play games. And with ADHD, the game was so stinking slow and tedious that I couldn't play it without my mind wandering to other subjects, such as the greatest alien abductions of the late 18th century. Getting into Dishonored was impossible because I was simply too bored to care.

Also, try playing stealth when your head is floating around Neptune. It's not much of a problem in most stealth games that allow you to slip up and let loose every once in a while, but Dishonored is the most stealth-reliant game I've ever played and that quality resulted in the game's complete failure to capture my attention.

-------------

EDIT - here's something I wrote in another forum regarding Dishonored, and how much I actually wanted to like the game:

It's a real shame because steampunk is one of my favorite styles of art/clothing/expression in the whole world. Dishonored should have charmed me into a loving embrace; a passionate, heated love affair; and me popping out a dozen of her cog-driven babies, all born wearing top hats and monocles. As bored as I've been trying to slog through AssCreed 2 (for over eight months, nonetheless) Dishonored feels about 10 times as slow and tedious if you play it the "right" way.