Achievements in Video Games

[EagleFan]

I've been having a debate about Achievements in video gaming. I was wondering what everyone on here felt about them.

Basically my friend says they are bad for games because is makes him focus on something other than the game.

I think they are great for games. When they first started to be used I had no opinion of them. Then when you start picking up a few while playing it's not a make it break it thing but it's nice to see that achievement pop.

I don't see them changing how I play a game but I see them changing how long I play a game and to me that makes it even better as I get even more from the game than I originally would have. I still play through a game the same way I always would when I first play it but then I may start looking for some of the achievements that I didn't get in the normal flow of playing through the first time in subsequent sessions. That means I am getting more out of the game which can only be a good thing.

I'll use WoW as an example. Before they came out with achievements I was close to quitting. Then achievements came out and I saw that I picked up a few and soon I started exploring areas of the game that I hadn't previously explored (because they weren't important as I had already leveled past a zone so why go there). I got so much more from the game as I even created a new character to start from scratch so I could grab them as I leveled instead of having to go back to starter zones with a high level character.

To me that is only a good thing.

What does everyone here feel about them?

This isn't a question about how you feel about achievement w****s but how you feel about achievements and how they affect your play.

[CrimsonFox]

I loved the achievements of Wow especvially the holiday ones. Once they switch to cataclysm and the achievements got all fubered up and some didn't translate, I stopped going after them as I didn't want to waste anymore time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The most basic ones -- like prestiging -- are pretty much the main reason I kept playing MW2 and BlOps as much as I did. I'm a level grinder, I did the same thing with online games like Farmville or going back as far as Omerta, so it makes complete sense that I'd do the same kind of thing with console games. There something comforting/pleasing/reassuring about the consistency of having the grind just be there for you.

Beyond that, the impact is pretty minor for me. I'll notice the occasional cool oddball thing & maybe try to get it if it isn't major gamechanger -- like the MW one for falling to your death from a height -- but otherwise they're pretty much strictly things that happen in the course of gameplay.

[SackAttack]

They've never been a focus for me on first-play. I'll unlock 'em as I play, and then once I finish, I might look at what I missed and go back to try to get 'em. That's how Mass Effect 1 was for me, for example.

But I don't fire up a game, say "Okay, what are the achievements? Let's go get these." I just kinda discover them through gameplay. I got the Base Jumper one in Crackdown that way. Didn't know it was there. Just climbed to the top of the Agency Tower, jumped off, hit the water, and *ding*.

[EagleFan]

They've never been a focus for me on first-play. I'll unlock 'em as I play, and then once I finish, I might look at what I missed and go back to try to get 'em. That's how Mass Effect 1 was for me, for example.

But I don't fire up a game, say "Okay, what are the achievements? Let's go get these." I just kinda discover them through gameplay. I got the Base Jumper one in Crackdown that way. Didn't know it was there. Just climbed to the top of the Agency Tower, jumped off, hit the water, and *ding*.

I might take a slightly different approach.

I don't worry about achievements on a first play through but like it when they pop while playing.

A second play through may be guided a little more by achievements. I'll look to see if there are some that I didn't reach which may mean that I missed some of the gameplay. I will focus on some of them in a second run through.

A third run through may be just for achievements if I think there are some that may be fun to try.

Granted it depends on the game type. A game like UFC 10 I have worked towards some of the achievements off and on when I feel like playing a couple fights just to work towards finishing some of the game modes.

[EagleFan]

Would like to hear some feedback from the don't like them group. What about them don't you like?

[CrimsonFox]

I actually don't like them now. At least in wow. I completely ignore them. Since they have already wasted my time. And I definitely don't do the SAME THING over and over again just to get achievements. That's so boring. As for achievemenets in other games, I've seen them pop up in lots of console games now. I just ignore them. They don't add to the story or gameplay. Some might be fun to try but mostly I just stumble upon them. Again I don't want to repeat something a lot JUST to get it, but if something actually sounds like fun doing then sure.

[Julio Riddols]

The only game I don't like the achievements for so far that I have come across is Worms 2 on the XBox Arcade. Theyre all pretty much unreachable wihout being a totally obsessed nutjob and playing the game for months on end.

Otherwise I really like achievements. They add replayability to a game when there may not have been any.