Achievements.

[frogbeastegg]

What do people here think about them? Originally a high-profile aspect of the xbox 360, they're now present in varying forms in Wii, PS3 and PC games.

The Microsoft side is still the only one to keep an overall track of which ones you have gained, though Home on the PS3 is meant to be adding similar functionality.

I was very sceptical of them until I got my 360. After a month or so I realised I liked having a record of what I'd been playing, what I'd done, and when. I've collected all the playable characters in Lego Star Wars and I got a neat little icon and some points for it. Achievements which are implimented well encourage you to explore every last aspect of the game. I enjoy exploring game worlds and it's nice to get something for doing so.

Achievements which are well placed give you an idea of how close you are to completing the game. I've got 2 1/2 tracks of achievements left to get in Oblivion now, and I own exactly 2/3 of the total achievements. The end is gradually coming into sight.

Some of my sceptisim does remain. They're useless. I collected all the characters and got a useless icon and some useless points for it. Is that really any better than getting nothing at all? Quite a lot can be gained by doing nothing noteworthy. Finishing level 1 on ultra easy is an achievement? Anything which requires you to play for a certain amount of time is rubbish. Certain games are too stingy. You'll collect about 70 points worth of achievements for finishing Blue Dragon, a 3 disc 40 hour JRPG. Then there's the addicts, the ones who rent rubbish easy games to grab the points so they can have a high gamerscore and behave obnoxiously to anyone with a smaller total.

One day I will get the full 1100 for Bioshock. One day ...

[Fragony]

Couldn't care less really

[Mikeus Caesar]

I do believe that the new Half Life games (TF2, Portal, HL2:Ep2) come with achievements which you can keep track of online, even if you do it on a PC.

[Craterus]

I kind of like the idea but wouldn't pay much attention to it. How do I check my achievements on the PS3? Do I need to have an online profile set up? Because I imagine I'll have got some of the Assassin's Creed ones (if there are any).

[Kekvit Irae]

I love achievements. They give you a good estimate on how good you are at the game. The achievements I do NOT like are the "Collect 3000+ Hidden Bottle Caps" type of achievements (The Simpsons Game), purely multiplayer achievements (Call of Duty 4), or gaining achievements for just doing nothing but completing the game (King Kong).

[Mikeus Caesar]

I love achievements. They give you a good estimate on how good you are at the game. The achievements I do NOT like are the "Collect 3000+ Hidden Bottle Caps" type of achievements (The Simpsons Game), purely multiplayer achievements (Call of Duty 4), or gaining achievements for just doing nothing but completing the game (King Kong).

Completely agreed. I prefer achievements that are actually achievements, such as getting the gnome in HL:Ep2 all the way through the game and putting it in the rocket.

Now that, that is truly an achievement.

[Kekvit Irae]

Completely agreed. I prefer achievements that are actually achievements, such as getting the gnome in HL:Ep2 all the way through the game and putting it in the rocket.

Now that, that is truly an achievement.

I could never manage to do that. He always seems to get lost during a stage transition.

[Mikeus Caesar]

I could never manage to do that. He always seems to get lost during a stage transition.

For me he either got lost in the chaos of the antlion hive or fell out of the car during some major action, and i didn't notice.

[Ramses II CP]

I did all the HL2 Ep2 ones because they seemed like a fun addition, and I did all the Portal ones except the fewest steps and some of the timed ones, but... I don't own any consoles, and I think for most games it would just be sort of irritating and encourage cheating and exploits. I remember all those knife and pistol servers in BF2, and the people who would do the knife spawn (you know whats) to try to get their badge.

Overall, frankly, I hope developers aren't wasting time that could be better spent on debugging and testing creating that kind of minimally additive content.

[TinCow]

IMO, 'achievements' are a method the console developers created to increase replayability. They are an inferior console substitute for PC modding.

[Lehesu]

I originally thought that achievements got you Microsoft Points. Naive, I know. Having learned otherwise, I find them more or less useless...I don't really go out of my way to acquire them.

[frogbeastegg]

How do I check my achievements on the PS3?

Until Home arrives there's no overall tracker for them. Supposedly there will be a special virtual trophy room where players can view the awards they have collected. Certain games have in-game lists which may or may not be for use with this. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction are the only two I own with them.

I originally thought that achievements got you Microsoft Points. Naive, I know.

I thought that too.

purely multiplayer achievements

Quite. I don't play MP at all. I don't have a gold subscription. I'm not going to get one.

IMO, 'achievements' are a method the console developers created to increase replayability. They are an inferior console substitute for PC modding.

I'd disagree. Many games allow you to collect all or most in a single playthrough. The ones which require multiple playthroughs are those with different plot courses to explore (e.g. Mass Effect) or are of a type where playing repeatedly is part of the expectation (Devil May Cry 4). Console games have had unlockables, secret and different difficulties to encourage replay since the invention of on-cart saving. New material is more encouraging to replay than an icon which goes "blink" and gives you 20 useless points.

I definitely can't agree it's a substitute for modding. That's like saying bananas are a substitute for nails. Two entirely different things One records what you have done and encourages you to try things you might not otherwise. The other allows you to tinker and build.

Incidentally, Sins of a Solar Empire, a new PC 4x strategy game, has achievements, including one related to building and testing your own level with the editor.

[Kekvit Irae]

Let's not forget that some games (Mass Effect, Dead Rising) gives you in-game bonuses for nabbing achievements.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The only achievements I really keep track of are the multiplayer medals in WiC and the medals, badges, and ranks in BF2. BF2 is especially nice, because a rank upgrade gets you more weapons.

[Xiahou]

IMO, 'achievements' are a method the console developers created to increase replayability. They are an inferior console substitute for PC modding.

I get your sentiment, even if the comparison isn't perfect. The main thing achievements seem to indicate to me is how much time you're willing to spend getting achievements. If the only reason a replay part of a game, find certain items, or to explore certain content is to get an achievement, then aren't they really just a crutch for bad game design? If it's new content, it should be good enough to see on it's own- if you're only going somewhere or doing something because of an achievement, what's the point?

My only real experience with them is in games like TF2. From that, I would say that I think they're interesting, in terms of stat tracking, but I did not feel compelled to play the game any differently in order to collect achievements. In fact, if it just tracked stats and dumped the achievements, I really wouldn't mind.

[Motep]

Eh, you said it all...

[ArtistofWarfare]

Couldn't care less really

Basically the same...

If they went as far as becoming a widespread gaming standard (as they look to)- Great. I'm sure I'll enjoy some of them. Further, as has already been stated...it's nice to have a record etc.

That said, if they were to never be seen or heard from again entirely, starting tomorrow- Couldn't care less.

Achievements are nice. But I wouldn't miss them one bit.

[Husar]

My only real experience with them is in games like TF2.

I got more than you there! Ahahahaha, pwned!

Well, I like to get more and more and sometimes they can show whether you're good or not (Xiahou got 1000 kills two months or so before me ).
But overall, I wouldn't try really hard to get them, just sometimes I thought "hey, why not play a medic to get some points for that medic achievement?" so they can be useful if well-implemented.

I never bothered to look for some dwarf in episode two though, never seen any either.

[Decker]

I don't own a game or gaming system that has any type of achievement system, but imo, I think that a game should be good enough to make you to want to explore the world more and that will reward you with cool little doodads or something that open up other areas of the game for more exploring. Imo, a game or system that gives you little achievements sounds a little weak, unless you can get any game you'd like after collecting so many achievements or something as the only games that I ever played that really made me want explore more is The Legend of Zelda: Orciana of Time and Morrowind: Elder Scrolls IV or which ever one came before Oblivion.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I love them, even if they did originate in the teeming, fetid mass markets of the console.