[Poll] Do you actively try for achievements?

Do achievements matter?

  • Yes, they add value

    Votes: 53 31.7%
  • No, they do not add value

    Votes: 52 31.1%
  • I must 100% every game

    Votes: 2 1.2%
  • I don't care about them at all

    Votes: 60 35.9%

  • Total voters
    167

Shantarr.Dalrae

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
1,074
I was in a recent conversation with someone who is sure that 'most people' feel that achievments add more to a game and I wanted to see what the opinions were here.
 
For me I don't try to get every some here and there. I don't typically try to get all of them. I usually play the game and whatever achievements I get thats it I don't usually go back and try to get all of them.

The exception for me was Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag I pretty much tried to get just about everything in that game.
 
I don't think they hurt a game as long as they aren't a requirement to play successfully ... but if they provide alternate methods to play or incremental rewards then I see no issues with them
 
I only do them for added value if they unlock additional items, areas, quests, etc.
 
No, I don't think they are rewarding enough. I don't even pay attention to what achievements there are for each games. I'm not interested to go out of my way just to do some difficult additional task just for achievements.

Here I'll take Final Fantasy X as an example. If it had an achievement that requires the player to capture 5 of every single monster, or to dodge 200 lightning bolts, I would not have done it, that would be a waste of time.

However, in the actual game, capturing 5 of every monsters will reward the player with stuff that could break damage limit, or dodging 200 lightning bolts will unlock an ultimate weapon that breaks damage limit. Now that's something that's cool. It's not required to complete the game, you can beat the final boss without that. But the game have additional optional tougher boss that would make such ability worth it, and for me that's good enough a reason to go out of my way and try to achieve those difficult task.
 
If it's fun and not just some arbitrary number goal for actions that you already must perform.
 
i like them if they're coupled with a reward of some kind like unlocking a weapon or camouflage etc. It's such a simplistic tactic to get you to keep playing but what can i say, it works. lots of times i end up having fun and finding a new aspect of the game i otherwise wouldn't have. for example one of the weapon unlocks in BF3 required you to get a kill with the EOD bot. my first thought was ":rolleyes: this is ridiculous, how tedious and stupid." ended up laughing my ass off and having fun. sometimes it's fun to be juvenile.
 
The poll options are too polarized, imo. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say they don't add any value (even though that's what I voted), but I very rarely go out of my way in-game to get achievements.

On a few very rare occasions, I enjoy a game so much that I'll spend extra time going after achievements just so I can spend more time in a game, but more often than not, I pay zero attention to them.
 
On steam they do not so much...I've tried 100% steam games, the feel isn't there. I like the comparison features of consoles, or the trophies for completing a game. Some achievements on steam are WAY harder than others but there's no representation of that.

I voted yes though.
 
I used to think they didn't add value, but lately I have changed my mind. I think now that it makes the game even more engaging.
 
Depends on the game, my level of enjoyment with it and my level of progress. I enjoy achievements that are "stretch goals" above and beyond what it takes to beat the game. I can't stand achievements that are like "GOOD JOB YOU BEAT LEVEL 1"
 
I'd prefer if they were all hidden and through luck or skill you could see the pop up that you did something extraordinary.
 
I'm confused as to people who think it could do anything other then add value.

Sure you make not like achievements, but it a tiny amount of effort to add them into the game and if you don't like it then just ignore it.

Some people like them and they are appealing to those people. Lets say you are a poor person and you only get 1 game a year. The achievements would allow you more game time to complete those.

If there were any real cons to achievements I'd say they are not worth it but there aren't any cons...as long as they don't force it or tie it into the game.
 
I do try for some achievements. They do add some value to a game, and in some cases replay value for games that aren't about the story. They should not be a substitute for a good storyline.

Without them, you are playing for the story, high score, or some random easter egg. Sometimes they add a much needed challenge which many games are lacking these days.
 
Only if its integrated into the game and they make you do fun things, out of the ordinary things. But nothing too random, it has to make sense in the game world.
If it's just a stupid list, (get 25 coins!; get 50 coins!; get 100 coins!...) then it's stupid and don't care.
 
Over 8000 points on windows live and over 2,000 steam achievements unlocked.
 
People that derive some kind of satisfaction from these asinine things can best be described as pathetic.

However I can make an exception for achievements that challenge the player to do something hard or unusual. But that's neither here nor there. We're talking about the 100% achievement-loving poopsockers who will do anything for their next in-game attaboy.
 
About 98% of the time I don't care for the achievements, on rare occasions I will try to get them but these days I couldn't be bothered or care less about them.
 
I voted no because I think that overall they detract from games since it often seems to be used in an attempt to artificially inflate gameplay time and then as an excuse to replace actual gameplay with tedious busywork. It is however mildly interesting to see if I've unlocked any interesting achievements in a game and occasionally I see one that looks fun to unlock but I can usually think of more interesting ways to screw around than what they suggest.

I consider unlocks to be something else entirely since they give an in game reward rather than trying to push some psychological reward button or exploit some peoples OCD tendencies.
 
Only bothered on two games -
COD2, where the last achievement was to complete the game on the hardest difficulty (that took about 8 months on/off, and was worth it :))
GoW1 - getting all the damned cogs.
 
If a game has challenges that integrates directly with the game itself and does not specifically take away from completing the game's story or course, then sure, I might try if I know specifically.

But if it requires me to deviate without point, to alt-tab and or go through a bunch of menus to see "perform X at Y location", then no. Waste of time. I have no problems with achievements in the general sense but I think they've overblown to the point of just being game time inflation.
 
I want to say "no, but yes". I don't ever put achievements before just playing the game and enjoying it my own way, but if I enjoyed the game enough then I'll look at what achievements I didn't naturally get along the way and then I might replay some to get those achievements.

So, while I don't focus on the achievements, I think achievements can add replay value.
 
Achievements are a cheap and rip-off way by devs to add more game time to a game that doesn't have it on its own.

Achievements aren't actual achievements in the real life sense, they are a blatant manipulation attempt and any reasonable consumer is able to see right through that shit.
 
I don't really care about them, since I'd never get them all in games with multiplayer aspects like the bioshocks since I only play the single player campaigns. I guess they can add some value if you enjoy that part of gaming to me completingthe game and enjoying the journey iswhat counts.
 
I was hovering between the no value and I don't care option. I feel they are useless for me personally, but I can see them adding value for someone else.
 
i used to care about trophies/achievements when i primarily gamed on a console, after rejoining the pc crowd( built my old rig in 07 amd x2 6400, 8800 GTS 512) i find them pretty useless, and actually detract me from playing good games because i couldnt 100% the games. i do find they add some replay value on games though.
 
achievements can be, when given some thought and effort, the difference between putting away a good game because you've beaten it so many times, and another play through or two because there's still more to do.

a bad game or lackluster achievements won't draw extra time played.
 
Any game i play i make sure to get every single achievement. won't stop playing until i do.
 
why would i spend hours to put color in an icon, back in the day they used to give you special items for going above and beyond.
 
I can't even remember a game that I played that had achievements. That or I just not aware or care enough to check them out.

Edit: I think Diablow 3 had some. At least every now and then some annoying shit would pop up on my screen telling me how awesome I am.
 
I can't even remember a game that I played that had achievements. That or I just not aware or care enough to check them out.

Edit: I think Diablow 3 had some. At least every now and then some annoying shit would pop up on my screen telling me how awesome I am.

D3 has a metric fuckton. Most of them are completely fluff, but some are OK.
 
It really depends on the game. For the most part, I don't give a shit. But if it's a game that I'm enjoying and I finish it, I might spend some time going back to get the achievements to give me an excuse to play it for a bit longer.

I'm not the sort of person who can play a game just for the hell of playing it, if I have nothing to aim for, I just get bored and quit. Of course if the game is shit to begin with, having something to aim for is kind of irrelevant as I'm not going to play it all that long anyway.
 
It depends on the achievement, the game, and how much I like the game.

I mostly go for the difficulty achievements. I am pretty competitive so if there is an achievement for beating a game on a higher difficulty I will usually aim for that. I also like unique and challenging achievements, such as defeating enemies or accomplishing tasks in unorthodox ways.

I don't bother to try if the developer just adds in a ton of worthless or stupid achievements just to say they have them, or if they make every little thing an achievement.
 
I appreciate the comments along with the votes, guys! It really gives a great insight into the perspective of actual gamers.
 
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