Somehow my grandchildren will inherit my XBL account...

[Judgmentalist]

Reading the (now locked) discussion about people freaking out, whinging, etc after having their accounts banned from XBL, I was thinking; why do people get so desperate to have their game accounts restored? What type or depth of emotional investment are these hours of strafing around shooting at pixels you imagine are your high school bully or dickhead boss generating? And why on earth would you invoke the theoretical detriment of your currently mythical offspring as a reason to restore something only you yourself will ever use?

And seriously, since their achievements are seemingly more important than life and existence itself to these people, who would believe they'd hand them over like the family china and matching flatware?

 

[Pearwood]

I don't know, I think if I lost all my trophies I'd make a post asking why and if there's a possibility they made a mistake. But then I play legit, I can't say what the people who have broke the rules are doing.

 

[silver wolf009]

Well, what are achievments if not a way to catalog your efforts? Actually, I might have my children inherit my account now... that's not a bad idea...

 

[Pearwood]

Well, what are achievments if not a way to catalog your efforts? Actually, I might have my children inherit my account now... that's not a bad idea...

Probably violates the ToS

 

[tharglet]

Different people have different emotional attachments to things.

Take TVs for example. If someone stole mine, it'd be a minor inconvenience - I don't use it much (watch DVDs during dinner, watch films at weekend), for other people it's a major disruption in their lives. (Steal my PC on the other hand....)
Achievements are like an "I did that" thing you can reflect back on. Some achievements I have a small amount of pride attached to them, because they're genuinely not easy to get. Others, certain games are a large part of their life, so losing the achievements is a kick in the teeth.

If it's accounts in general, there's also a loss of money as well as achievements (which are also a loss of time), as well as the loss of "face" by having a banned/stripped account. Nobody really likes to be called out on something they did.

There's a bunch of stuff I own, that'll never get passed on, that I am proud/happy to own. It's all personal stuff that just doesn't have any meaning to anyone else.

So yeah, I can understand people finding it hard to move on or start again.

 

[Judgmentalist]

You know, a colleague and I had this discussion in reference to WoW. A friend of his theorized that nerds get addicted to it because you put in effort and always get something. Since this is in direct opposition to reality, it possibly explains their rampant freakishness at losing accounts and inability to cope with the failure that is inevitable and necessary in life. Also, it makes them entitled jerks. It seems. To me.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Different people have different emotional attachments to things.

Take TVs for example. If someone stole mine, it'd be a minor inconvenience - I don't use it much (watch DVDs during dinner, watch films at weekend), for other people it's a major disruption in their lives. (Steal my PC on the other hand....)
Achievements are like an "I did that" thing you can reflect back on. Some achievements I have a small amount of pride attached to them, because they're genuinely not easy to get. Others, certain games are a large part of their life, so losing the achievements is a kick in the teeth.

If it's accounts in general, there's also a loss of money as well as achievements (which are also a loss of time), as well as the loss of "face" by having a banned/stripped account. Nobody really likes to be called out on something they did.

There's a bunch of stuff I own, that'll never get passed on, that I am proud/happy to own. It's all personal stuff that just doesn't have any meaning to anyone else.

So yeah, I can understand people finding it hard to move on or start again.

But... video game achievements? Really?

I seem to be having a malfunction processing the actual worth of something so intangible and nontransferable.

EDIT: The closest I can come to this is getting pissed off at Chrono Trigger and whipping my controller at the TV because I died for the bazillionth time. But really, referencing my WoW reply, my reaction indicates this is clearly something I needed to learn to get over. It kind of makes me look like the kind of psycho who would shoot up a Wendy's for not getting extra bacon on my triple-patty double-the-meat stroke special.

 

[MercurySteam]

It's good to know that future generations will be able to see and appreciate all that I've achieved.

 

[tharglet]

But... video game achievements? Really?
I seem to be having a malfunction processing the actual worth of something so intangible and nontransferable.

One the things I quote is "Something is only worth what people think it's worth" (which usually takes the form of "it's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it").
Imo, I think the vast majority of people would find achievements to have zero worth, but here you're gonna get more virtual trinket worshippers.

Me, a lot of my life is non-tangible. I'm a programmer, most of my entertainment is just bits n' bytes, my money is 99% in a virtual state so.... virtual objects are more "real" to me.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Also, I just noticed another pattern in the complaints; it seems the "freedom of speech" thing is used as a bludgeoning weapon in these instances as well.

 

[General_Potatoes]

Well, They'll be let down by my Nuubishness :3

 

[Judgmentalist]

One the things I quote is "Something is only worth what people think it's worth" (which usually takes the form of "it's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it").
Imo, I think the vast majority of people would find achievements to have zero worth, but here you're gonna get more virtual trinket worshippers.

Me, a lot of my life is non-tangible. I'm a programmer, most of my entertainment is just bits n' bytes, my money is 99% in a virtual state so.... virtual objects are more "real" to me.

Ah, yes, but I read, and that takes less action (physically and practically speaking) than playing a video game for 20 or 200 hours. Am I being a lameass if I think my achievement at finishing a book is just as intangible? Or just a snob because I think I get more out of it?

Sorry. It's too late in the night for this level of philosophy.

 

[Art Axiv]

I believe people who are so clingy to their "e-Achievements" gained from playing games because they have no other achievements in life besides those. It's quite sad, but that's how it is in my honest opinion.

 

[Pearwood]

Those complaints surprised me actually, a big complaint I'd heard about XBLA was that they never gave evidence but in every one of those whywasibanned posts I've looked at the date, number of achievements and type of achievements were given. By incredibly sarcastic forum mods but the information was given nonetheless.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Emotional attachment, I put lot of work on my WoW account, ofc I do not want to loose it.
If I steal your collection of... Bottle caps or Cans. Wouldn't you get mad? It is just junk that can be recycled to something more useful. Some people like collecting achievements or in-game items.
Some people have spent lot of time and effort on their accounts, they don't want to lose them.

 

[VanQ]

For the same reason I flipped my lid when my imp in WoW was renamed in a patch late last year. For the same reason millions of warlocks flipped their lids when their demons were renamed. Just because something is virtual it doesn't mean it has no meaning or value.
People can have emotional attachments to the simplest of things like a blanket or a favourite shirt, why is it wrong to have an attachment to a creature I spent thousands of hours fighting side by side with. The same goes for achievements, a lot of hard work and effort often goes into getting an achievement and often a large time investment as well.
Luckily, Blizzard fixed the problem and I got little buddy Garham back, as well as my frenchy felhound Ghaashon and all my other demons that I had enslaved for so many years.

 

[JackWestJr]

I will be devastated the day that my PS3 eventualy dies and all the TIME AND EFFORT that i put into those games will be lost and never be recognized be anybody. People love to be recognized right? So when trophies and achivements are optained they possess a kind sense of, well... achivement. People like to be rewarded and acknowledged for their efforts.

For example; You have just completed a school project, the best ever, you get on the bus and you trip which causes you to drop said project resulting in it being smashed into hundreds of pieces. All that time and effort spend trying to achieve a particular goal has just been wasted and no-one will ever know how well you did.

 

[[zonking great]]

Grandpappy didn't fight during the EU invasion of the US, no kids, he didn't.
But he did 100% Dead Rising!

 

[Wintio]

Ah, yes, but I read, and that takes less action (physically and practically speaking) than playing a video game for 20 or 200 hours. Am I being a lameass if I think my achievement at finishing a book is just as intangible? Or just a snob because I think I get more out of it?

I'm a bit of an achievement hunter and I definitely would be disappointed if I lost my account. It's a nice little way to look back on what you've done, there are many good memories attached to some of those achievements. I quoted what you said about books because I hang on to most of the books I've read as well- and from the prevalence of bookshelves I would say I'm hardly the only one. It's unlikely that I will read most of those books a second time and even those that I were to re-read, I would probably be better off storing them all in boxes in some out of the way location, from a purely practical point of view...

And yet I don't. My favourites sit proudly on my bookshelf in my room, not to show them off, but because I like to look at the shelves and remember those stories. Although I wouldn't lose anything of any value (I buy most of my books as ex-library books, often in quite bad condition, and I'm not interested in selling even those that aren't) I would be just as upset to lose them as I would be for my achievements.

 

[blacon]

Gaming accounts are a very personal thing. They show your stats and achievements and gaming history and its nice to have all that documented.

Personally, I wouldn't like my trophies etc to disappear, but the thing that would get to me most is if I couldn't get my online name. I've been using the same name since I began and am now strangely attached to it.