Why Be a Completionist?

Lauren Admire

Rawrchiteuthis
Aug 8, 2008
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Why Be a Completionist?



When there are so many great games just waiting to be played, what's the point of being a completionist?

Although a game may be riddled with bugs, bland voice-overs and a plotline that would make even an insomniac yawn, some gamers struggle their way through to the end. While most gamers will throw down their controllers in disgust at a mediocre game, completionists will grit their teeth and bear it, all in hopes of earning every achievement, scoring every point, and downing every single boss until the end. Why do they do it? For the glory:

[blockquote]Most gamers like to be challenged, and there is a certain grim satisfaction to be had from beating a level that once seemed impossible. Any psychological scars from the experience can now be worn as badges of honor, particularly in the look-at-me age of Xbox 360 Achievements. The world can see what you've been through, and can choose to applaud or shudder in response. You completed Gears of War on "Insane" difficulty? High five! You unlocked the Burnout Paradise Tribal Special Hot Rod that looks as if it should grace an Aerosmith album cover? Way to go![/blockquote]

However, before the era of Achievement-mongering and online console communities, you didn't necessarily have the allure of a public victory to look forward to. Back in "the day," there was only the solitary thrill of seeing 100 percent completion on your saved games. In "This Is the End [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_151/4928-This-is-The-End]," Graeme Virtue delves into the stark burdens of being a completionist. What about you? What makes you willing to sludge through a game that "needs more cowbell?"



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funksobeefy

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Mar 21, 2009
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dude what car is that? Thats badass!

oh I dont give a shit about trophys or achievements
 

Hobo Joe

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Aug 4, 2009
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Few games ever entice me so the few games I do play, I play it to death and explore every nook & cranny completing every last thing the game offers.
 

Assassin Xaero

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Jul 23, 2008
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Most games I try to play all the way through to see the end, and I feel like it was kind of a waste to play half of them game and not touch it again.
 

GonzoGamer

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Apr 9, 2008
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I sometimes feel compelled to do everything they programmed into a game but it has to be a really compelling game to begin with. To give you an idea, the only games I have platinum trophies for are Fallout 3, Assassins Creed 2, and Borderlands.
It takes more than (worthless) achievement trophies and unlockables for crappy games to make me want to do everything.
 

Mortons4ck

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Jan 12, 2010
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It seems a shame to shell out X amount of dollars and only delve into a small fraction of what the game has to offer. I am, of course, only taking about good games. I avoid shovelware like the plague.
 

DustyDrB

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Jan 19, 2010
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I'm definitely not a completionist. I rarely go outside of the main story in games. "Collect them all tasks" such as the flags and feathers in the Assassins Creed games (only had 12 feathers in the second game) I just ignore. If it feels tedious, I'm not going to do it. If it's fun, well then that's the point of playing the game. That's my gauge.
 

(whitty name here)

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Apr 20, 2009
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Argh it depends on the game for me.
I went through Open Season: the Game and wanted to kill every type of animal in it.
Avatar: The last Airbender: The burning Earth: The game sucked terribly, but you can get all 1000 in the first 2 minutes, so i was spared the torture.
DoA: Extreme 2 was...just so bad....I couldn't even get one achievement in it, nor did I want to. At least i was able to delete all records of me playing it on my xbox account.
 

funksobeefy

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rembrandtqeinstein said:
funksobeefy said:
dude what car is that? Thats badass!
DeLorean back to the future car: [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_DMC-12[/link]
Its the bat dad!

thats what I thought, but then it looked to beefed out for to really say.
 

Wakefield

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Aug 3, 2009
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I rarely if ever try and do everything (the ONLY game I've done this in is ME2)

Great game deserve all the attention you can give them. Mediocre games can be played and then left. But if you create a whole world, universe put your heart and soul into it then yes, I will spend time there.
 

The DSM

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Apr 18, 2009
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I will if I want to or its worthwhile, I dont 100% games unless its of benefit to me.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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funksobeefy said:
dude what car is that? Thats badass!
Its the DeLorean from the Back to the Future fame, tho it appears that one cant travel through time. Not sure what game its from, might be Burnout from the looks. Crysis had a BttF mod made for it.

Back OT, I play games not for the acheivables, but for the awesome ending sequence you got as a reward for finishing the game. Its sad that most games' ending sequences these days can't hold a candle to the ones made 10 years ago.
 

raankh

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Nov 28, 2007
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I do play some games completionist style; Chrono Trigger, Freespace 2, Fallout & F2, Mass Effect, GTA: Vice City, some more ....

Usually, I throw down my controller/mouse in disgust with bad/buggy games though. I rarely play through a game at all if I don't enjoy the core gameplay considerably. But there's always exceptions ....
 

Cgull

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Oct 31, 2009
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I think the invention of achievements has actually changed what it means to be a completionist.

For example, I played the original Halo to death, completing it on each difficulty solo (I was ill for quite a while, it mae sense) and then later on through co-op numerous times. I did it to pass the time but also because the game was fun and I knew it could be done.

Nowadays just completing the game on it's hardest difficulty whilst collecting all the magical orbs/big honking guns/popular stamp designs of the 20th century isn't enough for it to be considered 100%. Instead, you're expected to do this whilst at the same time meeting some bizarre criteria to earn the elusive last achievement before you can claim it's 100% completed.

Hell, some games require you to do badly to get some of the achievements, Tiger Woods '09 'Lost the Plot' being an example.
 

Snowalker

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Nov 8, 2008
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funksobeefy said:
dude what car is that? Thats badass!

oh I dont give a shit about trophys or achievements
Have you never seen back to the future?

Is a legendary car in burnout modeled after the back to the future car.
 

NamesAreHardToPick

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Jan 7, 2010
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That's the Back To The Future car for Burnout Paradise.

I generally play games to the end, including the god-awful ones that cross my path like Damnation. In a lot of cases I play games well *past* their end until I've really combed it over for fun, and I tend towards games with a lot of variety and replayability so I can spend *months* working a single title over. In some cases, like MAG, I might not even buy a game I'm interested in, if I know I don't have time to dedicate myself to the thing and it's not something I'll pick up for occasional co-op with the kids.

I stick it out to try and finish achievements when they're reasonably attainable, and in some cases I've had an extra bit of fun in the process when I might have put a game down sooner. Trying to get everything for a game is reserved for titles I really like... I went out of my way to get the platinum award for Demon's Souls, and I'd really like to do the same for Wipeout HD but god damn it's so hard.

On the flip-side I completely lose interest in any game my wife starts playing. What I see of her playing through somehow satisfies enough of my curiosity that I can't be bothered to go through the title for myself at all.