Comments on: What Have You Achieved?

By: Mike B

Mike B — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:37:59 +0000

I fell into the same trap you did. I became so concerned with squeezing every possible point out of the games that I slowly but surely stopped enjoying. Just forget achievements and view them as nice surprises when they happen. A bonus only. Not something you NEED>

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By: Rikard O

Rikard O — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:26:20 +0000

Spot on! I’d like to quote Yahtzee here: “Yes, fun. You know, like we used to have before gaming felt like a second job.”

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By: Rikard O

Rikard O — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:25:22 +0000

That’s a really good point, I think. I really hate it when achievements are awarded for things which you would never have done if there wasn’t an achievement or a trophy in it for doing so. Some games do it well, like you said with Mass Effect, and and another clever one is Left 4 Dead.

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By: Rikard O

Rikard O — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:19:44 +0000

Absolutely true. If you enjoy a game you’ll probably get the majority of the trophies or achievements just by playing it a lot. Mirror’s Edge’s achievements are actually some of the best I’ve seen, because most of them are awarded for doing things that you would do when you played the game anyway, and that’s exactly what it should be.

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By: Rikard O

Rikard O — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:16:57 +0000

I do try to not let it affect how I play games, but sometimes it’s inevitable, especially with Arcade titles I’ve noticed. It’s just so much Pavlovian satisfaction baked in to the little “Achievement Unlocked” notice.

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By: trained_killa

trained_killa — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:09:44 +0000

Mate,

I hear you and you are right about perfectionism. Now I am on PS3 camp and we have trophies. I have Killzone2, GTA4, MGS, Motorstorm Pacific Ridge and Bioshock to finish. All of them bar MGS have trophies. Do I just balst through them aon easy to finish and not to worry about the trophies or like I am doing at the moment go for the hardest level and struggle so much that I piss myself off of the game. I am slowly slowly coming around of the idea of not worrying about the trophies. It’s much more enjoyable that way. If by any chance I unlock some trophies it is all well and good if not I enjoyed the game didn’t I? That’ll do. I achieved Platinum in little big planet because I loved it. I could stand playing it time after time. Soem games just will not lend themselves to that hence go enjoy it any way you like rather then trophies.

Take care

Koray

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By: LordCancer

LordCancer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:31:29 +0000

achievements suck. most of them suck the fun out of a game pretty quick like the warlord achievement in farcry 2 requires 1.5 million xp. After more then 400 hours I am a level 25 (700,000xp) I’m never going to get that.

I don’t even suck at games, I beat all of cod2 on veteran and have beaten several levels on veteran between modern warfare 1 and 2. Though to be honest I’d rather play a game on normal and enjoy it vs hardcore modes where the difficulty curve is a massive hp and damage boost to enemies which in my mind only magnifies the short comings in a games design.

Some of the achievements that really wound my psyche are the collectathon achievements. The search the level for one or two hidden items crap that get you nothing but a few gamer score. I only made it a few levels into condemned criminal origins and I enjoyed the game but got sucked into searching for hidden items and after not being able to find them all on a level I was frustrated and discouraged and never finished the game.

I just picked up battlefield bad company I managed to get all the single player achievements but had to use a guide to find all the hidden stuff. I hate the idea of wasting time looking for stuff I’ll never find on my own. Some of these levels are huge you could spend hours looking and never see or simply overlook one of these items. What really bothers me is finding these hidden objects don’t reward you with anything at all. In modern warfare as bullets and rpgs scream over your head you don’t have time to look for enemy Intel items and when you find them, nothing happens except the ticker acknowledges you found it… whats the point?

I also really hate online achievements, I can’t invest hundreds of hours into every game to unlock them.

Another thing that bugs me is thing like in fear theirs an achievement for beating the game using less then 500 bullets? what the hell kinda nonsense is that? It bugs me that I have to play a game a certain way to get these achievements or play to enjoy the game and get zero recognition.

Before achievements it was about enjoying the games I played now its about a struggle with the short comings of human psyche.

Bioware’s mass effect game is the only game I’ve played that uses achievements in an intelligent even innovative way unlocking in game bonuses that give you an advantage. I think that’s cool but still dislike the manner in which you have to unlock many of them because its bioware telling you how to play the game which for me just really sucks the life and fun out of a game.

I had more fun with xbox games then I’m having with xbox 360 games. For me achievements have made a negative impact on how I play and enjoy games.

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By: GAMERJET

GAMERJET — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:10:08 +0000

I wouldn’t take to heart what that gamer said. It really doesn’t matter; and this is coming from an addicted Trophy Collector (+1550 Trophies) on the PS3 side. I’m willing to accept when I can’t achieve a certain Trophy and I just let it stay locked; because some of them are just ridiculous.

Anyways, to my point. Don’t worry about it! Just play, get trophies (or achievements in your case) as you please, and ask yourself, is really worth getting this stressed over? I mean really, think about it!

Good Luck,
GAMERJET

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By: Wyatt

Wyatt — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:29:51 +0000

A well written and enjoyable read, especially with gaming becoming more and more focused on Trophies and Achievements. We can’t lose sight of what’s important when playing videogames: fun!

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