PotW: Are you an achievement addict?

[Harry Milonas]

PotW: Are you an achievement addict? by Harry

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[Felonioustub]

I used to be a really bad one, mainly going after all the single player ones, I got to 40,000 when it was still a really high score but I started to loose interest when I started playing really bad games just for the points. Eragon rings a bell. Now I just play the games that I want and generally just unlock any achievements just by playing normally. Occasionally I'll still check out a list and go for one or two but the whole appeal isn't really there for me anymore.
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PSN ID: FeloniousTub
Wii code: Too long and useless to care!

[Qbert]

I was a bit on the fence with the question. I am one of those gamers who looks at the list of achievements and tries to get all the ones I think I can if I enjoy the game. I don't try to get every achievement in every game, though a lot of that is due to lack of skill and or time. I voted no in the poll because I don't see myself as an achievement addict, although I do go out of my way to get many of them (though I am having fun doing this).
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[mipac]

I was never really into achievements on 360, and I'm not too interested in trophies on PS3, however I am slowly becoming obsessed with the PS3 system. The fact that you are rewarded with a platinum trophy for earning every trophy in a game is something to show off. I'm yet to earn a platinum trophy, but it's my goal to earn one when I can find the time.
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[Island_Wolf]

Me???. I don't need to get all the acheivement but I do try and get as many as I could.

Also, I sometimes compared myself with nikack in Fable 2, who is always ahead of me and try and beat him (so far not successful)

Can't say I'm an addict but I do try and a collect them for fun and also making my gamerscore looks sexy but if it looks like it takes hours to do or need someone else involve in getting the achievement then I won't bother with it.
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[Passa]

It's nice when I get then.. I do feel that sense of reward. But I don't go too far out of my way to get them, unless it's a game I really love (and so far the only game I'm doing that with is Mirror's Edge).
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[Itachi]

I have to agree with passa i am doing the same thing with Broken Bond. Like really who in there right mind would collect over 1500 gold coins heheh i am for the achievement. IMO i just think it adds more to the reply value because i know if broken bond never had achievements i doubt i would bother with the mini games.
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[legend166]

I don't think there's anything I could care less about, to be honest.

[heatseeker]

I only try to get them to beat friends. Only time ive basically ruined the game to get an achievement was for Half Life 2 Ep 2? Where you had to drag that bloody gnome though the WHOLE episode! It was really insanely pointless and time wasting.
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[jomonjin]

I couldn't give a rats at all. The only game I've even looked at the achievement list for was Soul Calibur IV because 30 achievements was the easiest way to unlock all the CAS items.

However I'm a total addict for unlockables... if more games actually provided a reward for those achievements I would be a total achievement whore.

[El Taco]

I reckon that Achievement points should be used to unlock cooler items in the avatar system.
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[bobboblaw]

I've always been a fan of achievements/trophies mainly because they provide more replay value, or give you an incentive to do either something creative/something you never thought of, or persevere through a task you may give up on due to difficulty (like Mirror's Edge Time Trials more recently). However, there is room for improvement in their implementation and their creativity.

Yes, I'm an Insomniac and Naughty Dog fanboy, but I'll use them as an example. Nobody in the business does achievements (or skill points as they were referred as) than Insomniac. Too many achievement/trophy lists resort to the boring completion tasks, ie beat Chapter 1, 2, 3 etc. For example, in Resistance, you were rewarded for tea-bagging 20 Chimera corpses, and the goals only get more zanier in the Ratchet series. Now onto my next point, I like achievements/trophies that go beyond rewarding the player with just points or trophies. Even though they are nice, Insomniac and ND give more incentive to the player to 100% the game. Unlockables such as Making-of docos, concept art to the much cooler unlocks like character skins and cheats (that aren't just cut from the retail release and sold as DLC, but that's another rant).

Anyway, that's my opinion on the subject. They are a great thing for some gamers in terms of replay value and incentive to complete the game, but there's much room for improvement in the rewards and creativity of them.
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Steam: bobboblaw

[Tom101007]

there is something satisfying about the little "bleep-bloop" from getting an achievement, and i guess i never would have done alot of things in fable 2 if it werent for the fact that they are achievements (I mean who thinks to kick a chicken when they see one?)
but while it did change the way i played i cant say im addicted, the word seems a little too extreme, I mean i like achievements, its an oddly compelling system but i think addiction is a bit much
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If you looked at the list of console i own you would swear i was a nintendo fanboy, but i like all the consoles, really i do...

[Benza]

not really, till I started doing the WoW ones.
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[3mt]

I'm not an addict. Some parts of the game become too monotonous, and I get put off trying to replay that scene in order to unlock one achievement, out of the many that I know I will not be able to fufill.

Just like in hl2, I didnt bother with replaying any levels to unlock achievements.
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[Newland]

Yes I am! I also agree with Itachi. For me, achievements add far more replay value to a game. I'l finish a game, then check what achievements are left over and do it all again. I mainly stick to the single player side due to my piss poor internet connection for the Live ones. And there's also the achievements that give you bragging rights aswell.
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[Eyce]

I'll only vote 'Yes' if I get a boost in my GamerScore, damnit.
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[LeonJ]

I love them but if they are insanely stupid or end up as fetch quests I skip them. Often I'll play a game twice now (the hardest setting) which is a good thing. If they are awfully hard, yet gettable and I've fallen in love with the game, I'll often grind away however. Soul Cal 4 is a good example.

PS3 is an abomination in terms of achievements. I hate that system (not the game trophies themselves, just the interface) and don't even bother because it's so slow and ugly. I can't understand how anybody can use that system and think it's great. Nice idea (i.e. one platium trophy for getting all trophies), terribly poor execution. 360 is perfect as it's inbuilt with the whole system and is lighting fast (plus it doesn't have to SYNC).
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[Mr Waffle]

[admeister]

I'm with Qbert. As I was saying to Itachi the other day, the numbers mean little to me, it's the actual acheivements that are interesting because you can see how much of a game you've completed compared to someone else you know. I've been trying to beat Itachi at completing Broken Bond, but he's always one step ahead. Just when I thought I had him beat, he comes online and updates his acheivements.

I won't go out of my way to get acheivements if it means I won't enjoy the experience, there's little point really. They do make for a good challenge sometimes though, if you're finding the game a bit on the easy side. My younger bro seems to love collecting acheivements though (he's of the mentality that if it's there, it must be gotten, or at least atempted), my gamerscore is a little higher than it normally would be thanks to him.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[rufati]

Achievements are (for the most part) awesome as bragging rights for the modern age of gaming. I think it goes back to times when one of the only ways people could show off was to, for example, take a screen shot of their #1 score in a Counter-Strike match, or perhaps their first kill of something in WoW, and so on. However now we get our own digital billboard showcasing what we've managed to pull off.

So yeah, I like getting them when I can, maybe I'm even 'addicted'. They can also add a lot of replay value to a game. But I just think the sad part to all this is that nowadays games tend to have less unlockables than in the past. Achievements are nice and all, but I think more in-game unlockables would be much appreciated alongside them.
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[AllSchoolGamer]

i was for a while but when i realised i only bought tmnt for the achievement points i stopped cause i wasnt really playing the games to play them. which is why my gamerscore is so low..i was fortunate to realise early. however i have a great many years left with the 360 so ill see how high i can get it without focusing on it.
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[Felonioustub]

[The Genius]

I never even check the box to see what achievements there are and how you get them.

Just enjoy my games even without achievements. It's not like games were never fun until before achievements came along.

But when the nice pop up sound for an achievement unlocked comes up I still do enjoy it. Then I go and check back how I earned it.

If I tried going 1000/1000 score or platinum trophies I know I wouldnt enjoy the game and waste so much time.

If achievement scores on Xbox or trophies on PS3 could be turned into cash or a real life reward or gave you celeb status then maybe I would try and go for it. But as it is right now, no one knows you online even if you have a high score alongside your profile. They just see your gamertag and that's it.

[donovan515]

I ignore them.