It's a controversial subject that everyone seems to have an opinion about so here's mine:
As a gamer, I find the XBLA Achievements and the PS3 trophies to be both something of mixed blessing: On one hand, you are being rewarded for playing and for doing something cool but on the other, you are ultimately being driven towards something superficial.
There are a few things that I feel work with these achievements.
For one, it brings a sense of challenge: It's great to play a game you like and to be rewarded for doing something interesting is all the better for it. And many games, like Mass Effect, Rock Band and Red Dead Redemption, boast achievements that can actually effect the way the game is played.
For two, it adds credibility. Whereas on previous consoles when you did something interesting/challenging and you told your friends, it was solely your word. Now, with achievements any claims can be backed up with hard evidence.
And for three, it's something of a social element. Indeed, when I add friends to my XBLA account, I like to compare scores with the games we've played and see how our progress matching up with each other. And bragging rights are always fun.
But on the other hand, there is still a lot that this concept does wrong and no amount of praise can overcome.
Firstly, challenges are fun and it’s always a welcome surprise to do something and unexpectedly get a shiny gold star for doing so. But somehow gaining an achievement just for the sake of progression is kinda dumb. I ask you: so what? Anyone can do that is making into an achievement is pointless and baffling as to why it’s made so special. Sure getting an achievement for completing a game is acceptable but to get one after so much progression is kinda daft. More so when the achievement is watching a cinematic and requires very little effort on the player!
Secondly, whilst having a large achievement score is fun for bragging rights, it does raise the issue of how the score got so big. Indeed, I heard someone on XBLA racked up a score of 1,000,000! An impressive feat to behold yes but to do that one would have to play literally thousands of games (as such it’s believed that the user in question wasn’t one person but a whole group of people).
And thousands of games would certainly include the lousy ones.
So what’s the point? Previously if you played a game that you ended up hating and was ridiculed, then only you would know about it. With the advent of online profiles, everyone can now see what you’ve been playing and secret shames can’t be ignored or hidden.
And if you’re playing a game just to rack up your achievement score then something really is wrong. The key word here is FUN! That’s why we play games and achievements are (more or less) there to add to it. Seriously, if you’re playing a game for any reason related to FUN value then maybe it’s time to go out and do something else. Like getting laid. Or jumping in front of a bus.
Thirdly, what is really the point? Bragging rights are nice and well – and it is indeed fun to match one’s progress between friends, but considering the effort that is usually put into scoring one achievement, what exactly is the payoff? A score you can’t do anything else with? If that’s the case then what was the bloody point then?
In the terms of a payoff, the games I feel that do achievements well are Sid Meier’s Pirates and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The former has achievements that can lead to game money used to unlock artwork and videos whilst the latter boasts achievements that unlock a full range of trophies. Ironically, neither game is on the XBLA or the PSN [*]
Fourthly, what effect is this going to have in the long term? As this blog has made clear many times before, I take things at my own pace and prefer to discover things in my own time and see things with fresh eyes. I take great pride in this and have often found that anything can be awesome even when many people have trodden the same road long before. Anyone who checks my XBLA profile (Death Jester558 for the curious) will know nearly all of my achievements have no date attached. Why? I don’t care when I did it – why should I when IF is more important.
And when you think about it, what will happen in ten years or so? Will XBLA carry into subsequent generations? Will people with big scores now have an even bigger score by 2021? Would anything you did in 2007-9 be kept as a record – and more importantly would anyone care?
All of this is speculation – no one knows for sure. And therein lies the rub: Racking up a big achievement score may be all well and good now but what will it matter years later?
Ultimately through, if you’re scoring achievements because you love the game in question then good for you. If you’re not in for the fun value and doing something that’s ultimately meaningless and/or in the name of a large score then do us both a favour and piss off.
Thank you.
[*] well maybe not SMP but I played the original Xbox version as opposed to the one on XBLA so I wouldn’t know the difference
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