Why do gamers feel like they need to be "rewarded" to play games with Achievements?

Yeah, achievements for trivial tasks like, ya know, actually playing the game, I agree are kinda retarded. But at the same time I don't really pay attention to such achievements, it's not like there's a big huge sign that covers the screen saying ACHIEVEMENT! It's just a tiny little box in the corner of the window that for the most part I ignore or probably don't even notice most times.

Usually I only start to actually care about achievements after I'm already a decent portion into the game and thinking "well, this game is fun, I wonder what the achievements are", quite often I don't even look at the achievements until AFTER my first playthrough because they often give spoilers for the game.

You guys act like there's a large annoying man with a bad odor who jumps out and beats you with an "achievement" sign every time you do everything :p If you don't care about the achievements they're pretty easy to ignore, though it would be nice if the notifications could be turned off.
 
I don't pay attention to them in most games. Some of the achievements are actually kind of fun. In ME3 there is the "Mail slot" achievement for shooting guardians in the face through their shields which have tiny slots in them to see through.

I enjoy achievements like that. For games I really like I often try to do all of the achievements. For ones I don't really get into too much I just ignore them for the most part.
 
now that im thinking... well i DID this in 2009 only for the 10 gold star ranking... :p

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Just add more content to the games. I don't want an achievement for finding the Daedric Crescent in Morrowind. Just finding it is reward enough. Make the game interesting and we will want to do these things anyway.

That said, achievements for easter eggs and feats of gaming prowess are not things that bother me. Just keep it low key and don't blow your development cash on too much of this shit.
 
yes, thats it, 10 gold star in silent hill gives you the hyper blaster (unlimited ammo space gun) with a green laser!
 
I have never given a shit about achievements. I thought it was cute for the first couple weeks of TF2 achievements back in the day. Now every single game does it and in games like BF3 it starts to feel really silly the way every single action is tracked and rewarded. I wish more games would allow you to opt out of achievements and other exterraneous "Skinner Box" cruft.
 
Here's what I want as a standard in every game with achievements: the ability to hide and never display achievement notifications. If I want to see them I can go to my achievements menu. Otherwise, I personally usually don't want to see popups while I play a game.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Just add more content to the games. I don't want an achievement for finding the Daedric Crescent in Morrowind. Just finding it is reward enough. Make the game interesting and we will want to do these things anyway.

That said, achievements for easter eggs and feats of gaming prowess are not things that bother me. Just keep it low key and don't blow your development cash on too much of this shit.
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I think the whole point of achievements is extending the game somewhat with extremely little effort :p

It probably takes less effort to add 30 achievements than add 1 fly on the arse of the pig wandering through a back alley of a virtual town.
 
The game that most recently pissed me off with this was Space Marine. I played it on Steam, so you know the type of box that pops up in the corner. During the first few levels, I was getting so many achievements and progress notifications that the boxes literally stacked halfway up the side of the screen more than a few times.

Thankfully it was a cheesy arcade game that didn't bank on atmosphere and immersion. If I were getting those damnable popups in a game like Stalker, then I'd really throw some keyboards in rage...
 
Tudz said:
I think the whole point of achievements is extending the game somewhat with extremely little effort :p

It probably takes less effort to add 30 achievements than add 1 fly on the arse of the pig wandering through a back alley of a virtual town.
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Often, it doesn't. As others have mentioned, many achievements are for idiotic things like beating a boss, or killing 15 of a certain enemy type. That really adds nothing to the time it takes to complete a game, and just wastes dev money that could be used in making a game... more fun. ;)

If it is finding Riddler trophies, I have no problem with that. Hell, the NES game RC Pro Am had us trying to collect letters to spell the word NINTENDO for extra points back in the mid 80's. Points and high scores were already an arbitrary reward system.
 
The achievement system is made to keep you playing longer for less. A big word you will hear on reviews is replay value. Without achievements, I doubt that current games replay values would not be so great.
 
Look at the achievements they added in WOW...some of them are ridiculous, yet people grind them out. I could care less for the most part, although sometimes it's fun to go back and look at some of them just to see what you've done in a game. But it's extremely rare that I jump in a game to specifically try to complete a certain achievement.
 
Because gottacatchemall, brah. Too many games implemented detrimental achievements and "RPG elements" in the last generation.
 
you toss a grenade: achievement. you shoot someone: achievement. you start playing the game at 13:40pm: achievement. you quit the game at.....
 
zamardii said:
I felt like I was a "special" kid getting high-fived everytime I tied my shoe laces correctly (no offense). Like getting rewarded for shit you are doing anyway, or should be doing anyway.
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Agreed.

Scratch that. So fucking agreed I can't possibly express how much.
 
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I'm ok with basic achievements like round mvp or someone getting honorary mention for defending a flag/bomb/etc. I'm also ok with snarky awards like dead island having achievements that poke of me for doing way too many head stomps or overdoing it with the boat paddles. I do take offense to achievements that are for basically doing nothing. More because they take me out of the game than anything else. I hate losing immersion.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Often, it doesn't. As others have mentioned, many achievements are for idiotic things like beating a boss, or killing 15 of a certain enemy type. That really adds nothing to the time it takes to complete a game, and just wastes dev money that could be used in making a game... more fun. ;)

If it is finding Riddler trophies, I have no problem with that. Hell, the NES game RC Pro Am had us trying to collect letters to spell the word NINTENDO for extra points back in the mid 80's. Points and high scores were already an arbitrary reward system.
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Yeah but the other side of my post was that it doesn't take long to implement an achievement compared to actually working on the game ;) I'm sure Valve has made it plenty easy that when X is triggered Y achievement is fulfilled, and given the game is triggering signals to tell it when a boss fight is over and the next cutscene needs to begin or whatever, I'm sure it's actually not taking them much time to implement these things.
 
Skripka said:
I laughed at that Sky rim achievement...they call it Master Criminal, which ironically you get by getting caught stealing or killing. Seriously, isn't a master criminal someone who never gets caught-not someone who gets caught in the act everywhere he goes?
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LOL
 
wonderfield said:
I've always played for "achievements", even back before there was such a thing.

Play through The Shores of Hell in Doom without taking damage
Play through Thief: The Dark Project without being seen (ghosting)
Play Skyrim without using fast travel
Play CS:S using only a pistol

Achievements, and achievement tracking, just legitimize the little challenges I've always set for myself whenever I want a fresh way to play games I've already played through.
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x2

hell, I still recall going for 100% in the modern '3D' GTA games (hidden packages, all missions, etc)... long before achievements became a thing.

Considering that they really don't add anything to the actual game itself, I don't understand why someone would give a crap about them if it wasn't their thing. So just dont go for them? Why complain about it?

The way that I see it is like trying to beat high scores in the NES/Arcade days. It's just giving you something to work towards but doesn't in anyway effect the gameplay. It can be rewarding (from a personal goals aspect)... especially if said achievements are especially hard to get.
 
dr.stevil said:
x2

hell, I still recall going for 100% in the modern '3D' GTA games (hidden packages, all missions, etc)... long before achievements became a thing.

Considering that they really don't add anything to the actual game itself, I don't understand why someone would give a crap about them if it wasn't their thing. So just dont go for them? Why complain about it?

The way that I see it is like trying to beat high scores in the NES/Arcade days. It's just giving you something to work towards but doesn't in anyway effect the gameplay. It can be rewarding (from a personal goals aspect)... especially if said achievements are especially hard to get.
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Missing the point. "Achievements" (note quotation marks) pander to a generation of everybody-wins, instant-gratification-seeking, entitled, self-satisfied, lazy, unimaginative, herd-mentality morons. I belong to that generation, by the way.

Your examples are actual achievements: completing a game fully, finding every hidden whatever, and so on. Not "BAM KAPOW your level 3 Barbarian makes epic, screen-shaking swings and sends ten enemies flying with a single stroke. 'Achievement: Be rewarded for nothing' granted."

"Achievments" are to gaming as amphibian extinctions are to the environment. They herald a bleak future.
 
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The only time I cared for achievements was in Red Dead Redemption, because if you complete 100% of the game's content, you get the "legend of the west" outfit with more dead eye meter. Otherwise pointless achievements are pointless.
 
D4rkn3ss said:
yes, thats it, 10 gold star in silent hill gives you the hyper blaster (unlimited ammo space gun) with a green laser!
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Yeah, speaking of which, I was incredibly disappointed when finding a completed "golden gun" in Max Payne 3 didn't give you the option for unlimited ammo with that weapon. Apparently you have to collect all of them? Fuck that.
 
Feed the rat when it gets through the maze. Next time it gets through faster.

Eventually it will go through the maze with no trouble at all for no reward.
 
SPARTAN VI said:
The only time I cared for achievements was in Red Dead Redemption, because if you complete 100% of the game's content, you get the "legend of the west" outfit with more dead eye meter. Otherwise pointless achievements are pointless.
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i wouldve played that on pc even if it was a shitty port
 
Oh, let's not forget, there's actually an achievement for getting a set of achievements or for completing all achievements, LOL.
 
wabbitseason said:
Missing the point. "Achievements" (note quotation marks) pander to a generation of everybody-wins, instant-gratification-seeking, entitled, self-satisfied, lazy, unimaginative, herd-mentality morons. I belong to that generation, by the way.
...
"Achievments" are to gaming as amphibian extinctions are to the environment. They herald a bleak future.
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No, that's really not true. Shit achievements like "you got past level 1!" are really pandering to nothing, I don't think anyone actually takes them seriously and I really don't think anyone is remotely gratified by it. Achievements like "kill x people in 30 seconds" and "complete y level on hard without dying" again aren't really related to what you talk about either. They are simply a way for people who enjoy that sort of thing to extend the experience of an already enjoyable game.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying achievements, there's nothing lazy, self-satisfying, unimaginative, etc etc beyond anyone else for actually liking achievements. Some people simply prefer to be given an objective to do something rather than just doing it for the hell of it. There's nothing wrong with that.

Degradation of gaming has little to nothing to do with "achievements". Shit achievements are shit, no denying that just like anything shit is still shit, but the presence of "achievements" in and of themselves is not bad for gaming, it's not a sign of bad development and a gamer enjoying achievements is not a sign of any of the things you mentioned.

Obviously the trivial achievements would be a bit sad if people actually really enjoyed getting those, I can see OCD people feeling the need to get them all, but other than that I don't think anyone actually takes them seriously. I've actually wondered if Valve encourages achievements like that so they can track how much people play games. They may not release the numbers, but they know how many people have bought X game, and then they can look at how many people got the achievement for passing the 3rd level compared to the people who finished the game compared to people who didn't get any achievements. But that's just me with my conspiracy theory hat on :p
 
Achievement Unlocked: Reading this thread.

Achievement Unlocked: Reading this comment

Achievement Unlocked: Finding this stupid
 
I really hope the PC version of Aliens: Colonial Marines doesn't have all that shit popup. If you watch the latest trailer... literally every time you kill a alien in-game, somethings pops up.

You can even see the guy running, kills one alien, and then kills another right after in which "Double Kill" pops up. Shouldn't that be reserved to multiplayer at least? Completely would take me out of the Aliens environment. Any immersion I would have in a Aliens game would be completely taken out if I see shit like that popping up all the time.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/15/aliens-colonial-marines-trailer-is-looking-stylish/

Achievement Unlocked: Posted Link!!!! 5000pts!!!!!

Great article about how achievements feel like we play games now for different reasons other than just enjoyment.

http://trueslant.com/tassi/2010/05/20/are-achievements-killing-gaming/
 
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BravO))) said:
The achievement system is made to keep you playing longer for less. A big word you will hear on reviews is replay value. Without achievements, I doubt that current games replay values would not be so great.
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This ^. I don't think gamers care for achievements that much but some will go back just so they can 100% complete a game.

I agree that they break immersion in some games such as the achievement popups in F.E.A.R. 3 and there should be an option to hide them.
 
I love achievements and will occasionally go achievement hunting. However, I think it's really very crucial that companies start putting in the option to hide achievement notifications. If I am not trying to go for achievements, then seeing those pop ups and progress counters is just so annoying.
 
timestretch said:
I love achievements and will occasionally go achievement hunting. However, I think it's really very crucial that companies start putting in the option to hide achievement notifications. If I am not trying to go for achievements, then seeing those pop ups and progress counters is just so annoying.
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You can on the 360 I know, not sure about Steam or PS3.
 
I like them, I think it adds some replay value, but I don't go out of my way to get them unless I've beaten the game already and even then I will get some of the easier ones but generally don't waste my time on the ridiculous ones.

One more thing is they sometimes teach you other ways of playing the game. Case in point - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved "Pacifism". Fairly easy to get, but towards the end of that minute, things start getting crazy. Obviously that one was liked enough, they put the Pacifism mode in the sequel.

I think people who rack up their profile with as many "points" or achievements as they can get are lame, but eh, if they want to waste all that time on points that generally mean nothing - by all means, have at it. I think gloating over them is even more ridiculous. "I've got one million achievement points". Cool. I've got 10,000 (ish) along with a family, a full time job, school, and other hobbies. If you want to play Yaris more than I wasted my time with it just to get 200 more points, knock yourself out.
 
They seem harmless to me until aspects of the game's design start to clearly revolve around them.

I suppose this could happen one day. I thought the Diablo 3 AH system would be harmless until I realized that every aspect of the core gameplay was built with it firmly in the front of the developer's minds.
 
I don't see a problem with giving out achievements. I won't base my buying decision on them and will only go for them if they offer a reward
 
The only achievement I liked was in Unreal Tournament games -- particularly in UT2K4 where the announcer screamed out your killing sprees... and it was actually difficult to string together that many kills in the first place.

Hearing the "Ludicrous" and "Holy Shit kills" never failed to make me happy.
 
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