The Fun In Gaming; Gone?

[Riku'sTwilight]

I was playing the new Mortal Kombat a few days ago (after constant bouts of putting it up and down since its release day) and while finishing off a few things, and attemtpting to go online it hit me; where has the fun gone in gaming?

In this generation of Achievements and Trophies (which are a great thing, don't get me wrong) do they strive us to complete a game because they're there or do we play games with the intention of 'going for achievements'?

I'm sure there's a mixed answer to this, but in a sense I'm glad that Nintendo hasn't picked up this baton. Because next month, when I go and get my 3DS with Ocarina Of Time 3D I'm looking forward to just purely playing it for a chance to break away from unlocking things, or being a completionista for once, for not having to collect all heart pieces or whatever Zelda's achievements would be if they were there.

So achievements; helping us complete games since 2005, or making us torture ourselves by doing things we'd never normally do since 2005?

 

[FalloutJack]

The Fun In Gaming; Gone?

No.

Fact is, you're looking at a device which can be both good and bad at once. It's all up to the user.

 

[Kopikatsu]

A bit of both, really. If not for achievements, I would never have used MODOK in MvC3...and I learned that I kick ass with MODOK. (My team is still Hulk, Thor, and Sentinel, though.)

And who would have thrown freakin' eggs at the zombies in RE5 without the achievement for doing so? I think Extra Credits had a video on innovative and shitty achievements.

Personally, I think the fun dies in gaming once you reach the competitive level. It's no longer about just having fun with whatever gear or 'perks' that you feel like using, it turns into 'USE THIS BUILD BECAUSE ITS THE BEST IN THE GAME OR WE KICK YOU FROM THE SERVER, N00B!'

 

[crop52]

nope,

you only "play for achievements" if you decide that you want to "play for achievements"

the fun is still there, and it's never gonna go away, you'd be dumb to think otherwise,

 

[badgersprite]

If fun in gaming is declining, I don't think achievements have anything to do with it. I've never tried to finish a game because of achievements. If I really don't like it, I stop playing. If I think maybe I've misjudged it, then I go back and try it again. If I find the game fun, achievements are just something I use to keep me interested by trying to do something I haven't done before.

Like, I'm playing Saints Row 2 again. Fun as Hell game. But to keep myself from getting bored doing the same things I've already done, I figured why not go ahead and try those activities I never completed before instead of just doing the ones I've already done? The fact that there's an achievement for it isn't motivating me to do it - I do it for the sense of achievement, so to speak. The little thing flashing up telling me I did it is irrelevant to me.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

I never understood what people have against achievements. No one is forcing you to go and get them, and you can just pretend they don't exist if you feel they somehow invalidate your accomplishments because some developer thought of them first. Getting an achievement doesn't invalidate the difficulty of achieving it, and some people actually like that the devs can set out specific goals for them to obtain. As said earlier, some games have some really fun stuff to do that honestly isn't readily apparent at first glance (like killing zombies with eggs). Achievements help put this stuff more into focus, and lets everyone enjoy it. For example, I don't think I would have ever even know it was possible to break the monitors in Portal 2 if there wasn't an achievement saying I could. And figuring out how to get them all was almost more satisfying than finishing the rooms they were in.

Sure, you also have completionist and progress achievements, but the former are really more for bragging rights (and to let you know when you are done), and the latter for development reasons and simply keeping track of your progress through the game. Take the flags in Assassin's Creed, for example. If there hadn't been an achievement for it, people still would have gone and collected them all. No doubt about it. But this way you can prove to other people you did it, instead of just bragging about it ("Don't believe me? Check my profile!").

 

[SageRuffin]

Sometimes fun can be had in striving for certain achievements. A few days ago I managed to get that achievement in MK 2011 named "There Can Be Only One". You know, the one where you have to get 10 wins in a row in King of the Hill? I didn't boost it, and as such those were some of the funnest (that's a word?!) matches I've had so far in any fighting game. I had to work for those wins and they didn't come easy, especially considering I'm in the decent to okay range when it comes to overall player skill. There was fun in that, for me at least.

Achievements that demand something really ridiculous - like the one where you have to "master" every single character - can go ahead and "fuck right off", as Yahtzee so elegantly phrased it. That's not fun at all. It's tedious, boring, and fucking annoying. And that's one I have no plan on working towards anytime soon.