Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

[TracerBullet]

So I was reading an article on why Nintendo doesn't have system wide Achievements/Trophies. Here was their reason:

"When they create their games, [Nintendo's designers] don't tell you how to play their game in order to achieve some kind of mythical reward. Basically, the way the games are designed is they're designed for you to explore the game yourself and have this sense of discovery. To that end, I think that when you look specifically at games from EAD [the group long led by Mario and Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto] and a lot of other games that Nintendo has developed as well, there are things you can do in the game that will result in some sort of reward or unexpected surprise. In my mind, that really encourages the sense of exploration rather than the sense of 'If I do that, I'm going to get some sort of artificial point or score that's going to make me feel better that I got this.' And that, to me, is I think more compelling."

I also noticed in the comments section of that article more than a few people say they hate achievements/trophies.

So how do you guys feel about them? Does it diminish the game more or does it enhance it in your eyes?

[Bellsprout]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

They don't bother me, but they don't do anything for me either. When I unlock a trophy I think to myself "cool" and then I keep playing. And I've never been "I have to do this to get the trophy" guy.

[DakkoN]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I hate achievements and trophies. They have pretty much ruined the love I used to have for video games. I'm a huge completionist, possibly with OCD, and I don't even want to start a new game without the intention of getting a good amount of achievements on it because I don't want it showing up on my gamerscore.. Back in the days of SNES/N64/PS1/PS2, I would do everything a game has to offer just for the fun of it.. Now I do everything those games have to offer, for the purpose of getting those last few achievements I need. I hate that I'm like that too.

[Blzer]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I hate achievements and trophies. They have pretty much ruined the love I used to have for video games. I'm a huge completionist, possibly with OCD, and I don't even want to start a new game without the intention of getting a good amount of achievements on it because I don't want it showing up on my gamerscore.. Back in the days of SNES/N64/PS1/PS2, I would do everything a game has to offer just for the fun of it.. Now I do everything those games have to offer, for the purpose of getting those last few achievements I need. I hate that I'm like that too.

Well I stated this in another thread, but I like making the argument that achievements help prolong your game playing experience. I know I wouldn't keep playing some of my games if it weren't for some sort of incentive, some ending goal. I like that I can proudly display my in-game accomplishments, even if some are very ridiculously set by the developers.

I mean I don't really see a downside to them. If you don't aim to go for them, there's nothing forcing you. At least they don't unlock other portions of the game for getting a platinum or something... unless that's a 100% achievement within the game.

[DickDalewood]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

Lol... Talk about some massive PR spin, cover our *** talk by Nintendo. I have a Wii and a PS3, and like Blzer said, Trophies simply give a little extra incentive to replay a game. At least, with Donkey Kong for example, if it DID have trophies, people on my friends list could go "hey cool, he completed 100% of that game". Does it mean anything? Obviously not, but it's still a neat little way to kind of see what you're friends are up to, etc.

There's no reason NOT to have them, other than simply "****, I wish we ha thought of that, so let's make up some deeper meaning as to why we didn't." haha.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I definitely see Nintendo's point.

I think trophies/achievements are a good addition to gaming, but their implementation needs to be more thought out.

First off, I think achievments/trophies should ALL be hidden. Meaning, I think it is cheap for someone to scour what the trophies are before they even play/buy a game. Anyone can get trophies when they KNOW what hoops to jump through beforehand, doesn't prove anything to me. Not to mention, some single player games have major spoilers in their trophy descriptions.

They should also reward the user with trophy accumulation. So far, I haven't received a damn thing from Sony for being what ever level I am. It would be nice to receive some credit for the PSN store or something.

More multiplayer trophies should also be given. Some people play a lot more online, but few games reward them with trophies.

*BTW Sony, if you need a consultant, I am your man.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

Multiplayer/online achievements/trophies are the devil. I hate them. They would be okay if say it was thought out, but the ones used in games so far..suck.

EA is the worst in this, they had an achievement in FIFA 11 for quitting 5 games while losing. What?! You are encouraging quitting while losing a game?

Or the great, "Kill 10,001 guys" achievement. Stupid.

Call of Duty has had this right over the years keeping all achievements offline. Too many people play games the wrong way to gain an achievement online. Battlefield Bad Company 1 had one for running over 1000 trees while online. I remember getting in games and watching guys grab tanks only to drive off into the forest instead of trying to help the team out. LOL

Hate, hate, hate them.

Offline though, I love achievements. They have extended many a game's life for me. At the same time, even though I'm a total achievement whore, I won't play a ****ty game longer than needed to gain an achievement. I have many games with 100-200 achievement points when the game sucked. Just not going to sit there and grind out just to do it and say my score is higher.

I also don't get the cheating to gain achievement's/trophies. People do it a lot, and it's never made sense to me. Now it's running rampart on PS3 as well with the trophy programs that have been hacked. What does that prove? Then you have that guy who's going for a 1 million gamerscore on XBL that people have proved with multiple people using the account night and day playing games to earn achievements. If you don't actually earn it, it's not an "achievement".

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

So I was reading an article on why Nintendo doesn't have system wide Achievements/Trophies. Here was their reason:

I also noticed in the comments section of that article more than a few people say they hate achievements/trophies.

So how do you guys feel about them? Does it diminish the game more or does it enhance it in your eyes?

I am an achievement/trophy whore, plain and simple. I like that they added them to games this generation and would be disappointed if they ever go away. I do hate the online only achievements with a passion. They have some absurd ones from time to time.

They help prolong games for me as I'll go through games 2-3 times sometimes so I can get the platinum.

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I love achievements. I'm not a huge fan of the online ones, but I play more games because of achievements.

That being said, I'm a bit of a whore about achievements.

[ASB37]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I love trophies/achievemens when done right. They can add great replay value to games, and often I find myself playing games over where I would otherwise maybe never pick it up again.

That said, the way online trophies are done are atrocious. I have maybe 4 trophies unlocked in NHL 11 because the majority of them require you to be involved in online leagues and things of that nature. IMO games shouldnt load up achievements to be so online heavy.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

EA is the worst in this, they had an achievement in FIFA 11 for quitting 5 games while losing. What?! You are encouraging quitting while losing a game?

Unbelievable.

[Beantown]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I've very indifferent about them. I don't think I've ever really looked at a list of achievements while playing/before playing and then set out to get specific ones. If I get them while I'm playing my way, I get them...but I don't try to.

[TracerBullet]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I'm with everyone on the online achievements being badly implemented. Personally I'm more like Dayman & Beantown and if I get them it's usually by accident and I don't really know what I did till after it happens. I think the offline one's are great because they let you know when you accomplish something different (usually). I've never been a game perfectionist so they'll never bother me unless I happen to look and they tell some of the single player story. Imo those should always be secret.

Also, I agree with Dick on this being a PR move by Nintendo.

EG, do they give you points for that FIFA achievement? I remember DOA4 gave you achievements for losing online or quitting, but they never gave you points. It was more of a mark of shame on your profile.

[42]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

Battlefield Bad Company 1 had one for running over 1000 trees while online. I remember getting in games and watching guys grab tanks only to drive off into the forest instead of trying to help the team out. LOL

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[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Your thoughts on Achievements/Trophies?

I'm with everyone on the online achievements being badly implemented. Personally I'm more like Dayman & Beantown and if I get them it's usually by accident and I don't really know what I did till after it happens. I think the offline one's are great because they let you know when you accomplish something different (usually). I've never been a game perfectionist so they'll never bother me unless I happen to look and they tell some of the single player story. Imo those should always be secret.

Also, I agree with Dick on this being a PR move by Nintendo.

EG, do they give you points for that FIFA achievement? I remember DOA4 gave you achievements for losing online or quitting, but they never gave you points. It was more of a mark of shame on your profile.

Correct, it's a zero achievement, but if you are a completionist, you're going to go insane if you say have 49/50 achievements. I don't know the rest of the FIFA ones, but you get what I'm saying. Even being zero, there's still an achievement competition percentage that it would negatively affect if you didn't get it.