what are achievements/trophies to you?

[scorpion]

lets face this console generation is dominated by a new feature called achievements or trophies if you have ps3. so heres thread to discuss what you think about them. are you the type of person that just has to get every achievement/trophy for a game you get or do you not care if you get them? personally I try to get all the achievements I can for a game, I like seeing that achievements unlocked thing pop up on my screen, makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

[Phakiel]

I pay absoluetely no mind to them. Maybe if it was something more special. Like I am always playing and just because I finish a level I get a trophy, I mean, everybody who has played that game has probably reached that level and gotten that trophy, what makes my stand out?, nothing really.

Maybe if it was more like how you finish certain things, like if you get an outstanding knockout win in a game, or kill a boss with an specific method.

If it just because you pass a level, why dont you just give one single final trophy for completeness.

[Blackdragon]

I pay absoluetely no mind to them. Maybe if it was something more special. Like I am always playing and just because I finish a level I get a trophy, I mean, everybody who has played that game has probably reached that level and gotten that trophy, what makes my stand out?, nothing really.

Maybe if it was more like how you finish certain things, like if you get an outstanding knockout win in a game, or kill a boss with an specific method.

If it just because you pass a level, why dont you just give one single final trophy for completeness.

It's my understanding that it pushes the player to complete the next level. It's like a shot in the arm. It helps me get through certain games that I feel might be becoming a little bit of a chore. Whatever their thought process it, it's working


I love collecting achievements/trophies. It gives me a reason to go that extra mile in a game, and gives me something to look forward to when I invest my time in them. You get a little something to show for it, useless or not.

[Phakiel]

But, arent we gamers? We dont necessarily need something to make us complete games besides the incentive to play the game like we have always done. They actually sometimes bug me.

Sometimes they are good, the particular ones, like killing certain amount of enemies, but most of them are just grossly unnecessary.

[CoolOtaku]

I don't mind 'em. Sometimes they're kinda fun. If you're bored with one of your games and don't have anything else you feel like playing, sometimes you can find something in the trophy list that sounds like a fun challenge. It can add a bit of life to the game when it would otherwise be over for me.

Aside from that, it's really just a way for people who play games to compete with each other. That's a pretty motivating factor for some people I think. What does this lead to? For some, higher completion rates, and for others it leads to just buying and playing more games. You get simple trophies for completing stuff that will happen as long as you beat the game and you get the higher rank trophies for stuff that takes a hell of a lot more effort.

Sometimes the recognition is nice. As dumb as I feel saying that cause you're right, Phakiel. I never needed them before.

[Blackdragon]

I agree with you CO. Sometimes I get to the point where I'm just ready to trade a game in, then I look at my achievement list and go "Wait, this game might have some life left after all."

And the reason we didn't need it before was because we were younger then. We had all the time in the world after homework was finished to play games. Now that we're older and have gained way more responsibilities we just don't have the time or patience of our youth. So that little push is sometimes needed. This may be just me though.

[drunken monk]

It can add a bit of life to the game when it would otherwise be over for me.

This.

If you like em, they can add a bit of replay value to the game which is nice. And if you dont you can just ignore them. They dont hurt anyone. Personally, Im glad theyre around.

[CoolOtaku]

There are certain titles, like Demon's Souls and Infamous, in which the presence of the trophies really encourages you to play the game in different ways. It reminds you that you could be having a significantly different experience. I really should go back to Infamous and play as the anti-hero. Such a fun game.

[Luisfe]

It is silly, and it is a way for game companies to do some data mining out of their userbase, which is interesting. I normally don't much think about them much, but on Steam things are changing, with extras and bonuses being added when achievements are reached (for example, in the thanksgiving sale they added hats to TF2 when you reached certain achievements/milestones AND with each of the listed achievements you got a ticket to a couple of game contests).

They are useful as well to make people realize different ways to play, which is neat.

[Less Than Liz]

I actually really like them. You were still going to get the infinite ammo bandana, stealth, and play extreme in MGS. Now you get a trophy and a level for these things too. It's cool. They actually got me to stick with games where my interest would wane a bit and probably are part of the reason why I really pour into games now much more than I did before.

[Sushi_b]

I don't mind them. Not so keen on how the can be compared with other people as that isn't very important but the give me some extra challenge at times. There has been a number of times when I would usually play through a game once and leave it at that but then I really started to replay many games because of the achievements and try something new with the game. Overall they are a good idea to encourage people to really value the game they are playing (except for some games that people have used to pad their stats and then they think they are something special for having 1000000 achievement points).

[Blackdragon]

Which is why I discredit people that 1000 pointed Avatar: TLAB (The easiest game to do so in from what I hear.)

I don't play games just to boost my score. If I don't enjoy the game or find it challenging enough I'm not even going to bother. I typically drive myself nuts (Legendary campaign on Halo Reach solo...) trying to achieve some of them. Grants a sense of accomplishment when I can join the list of elites to do such a task.

[CoolOtaku]

I typically drive myself nuts (Legendary campaign on Halo Reach solo...) trying to achieve some of them. Grants a sense of accomplishment when I can join the list of elites to do such a task.

I wish I had the time to do stuff like this in games. I can often only spare enough time to finish one run-through, and that's only if the game holds my interest. If not, I usually can't even force myself to play past the ten-hour mark. My free time is precious after all. Games that I still want to play even after I've beaten them are few and far between, Demon's Souls being the best example. I've played that game way too much.

[Luisfe]

I really, really hope that Steam adds the "get achievements for prize opportunities" thing and that the thanksgiving one was not a one-off. That was entertaining.