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Reply With QuoteI really enjoy some of your articles such as these, this one is a good example keep up the good work.
It's three in the morning. You probably should be getting some rest for that big presentation tomorrow, but instead you're glued to your PS3 hunting down all the treasures in Uncharted 2 for that elusive Platinum Trophy. After countless hours of searching every inch of every level, you finally did it. You earned that virtual trophy. And it feels good.
Trophies give us a reason to play the games we love. It gives us a sense of accomplishment for all the time and effort we've put into these games, and shows fellow gamers how amazing we are. Achievements and trophies often allow us to get the most for our money, forcing us to come back even after we've beaten the game several times over. Although achievements do many things right for us, they are far from perfect.
Many gamers aim to get the highest score possible, usually as bragging rights. While there is a slight relationship between Gamerscore and someones ability as a gamer, far too often people 'farm' games for points. I'll avoid naming games... but we know what they are. And shame on you for playing them! What ever happened to playing games for fun, not for points? I fear Trophies and Achievements are changing the way we play for the worse.
Another issue is the fact that some trophies are just awful. No, I don't want to throw a ringer in horseshoes, I want to shoot people. Cool, I got a trophy for starting the game. Achievements are meant to improve the game experience. I don't want to get an achievement for something that was easy, I want to feel like I earned it. That being said, some achievements aren't worth the time. Far too often I find myself chasing an achievement past the point entertainment, and it becomes a hassle.
This paradox makes me question what I believe about achievements. When they are well designed, they can improve our gaming experience, but if they are poorly executed, expect to run out of patience. For now, try not relate someones Gamerscore to there ability as a gamer, but to how obsessive they are.
It will be interesting to see how this system is tweaked for the next generation of consoles. Hopefully, developers take what they have learned from this console cycle and set goals that actually are fun to chase after. Perhaps the next consoles will change how achievements work altogether.
Instead of getting rewarded for every tiny thing, what if you only could earn 5 trophies max from each game? This would mean that they would have to be significant elements of the game, eliminating many of the annoying goals that have nothing to do with the game, or are simply out of place. This would also mean that larger games that do have more to interact with may be out of luck. Let's hope that there is a good solution in the works as we wait for the latest consoles to be announced.
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I really enjoy some of your articles such as these, this one is a good example keep up the good work.
You're wrong. Trophies show how well you play the game. How well you like it and how good you are at it. I noticed you included a trophy from red dead redemption in your article. The reason it's there is so you play every aspect of a game. Sure you might want to go around and shoot people with your revolver, but that isn't the whole game. They just want you to try the minigames such as horseshoes.
Trophies show how much of the game you have played. Most people have little desire to get a bunch of trophies by farming. Most people like getting trophies for doing what they want.
Trophies can also be challenges. Things that most people won't do naturally through the game. They are there to prove how good you are.
The system is not flawed. The number of trophies depends on the game. The devs make trophies. I think the system is fine and we don't need to make every 8 year old that sucks at video games feel special by giving him a platinum.
I think your both correct. Trophies are a bit of farming, for those who want to show-off, and then there's trophies that show off how much you play each game, and how good you are them.
Thanks Phoenix, that means a lotOriginally Posted by Phoenix
@wastedbro
I see you're point. Trophies do encourage people to explore other parts of the game. Being a big fan of Red Dead, I was excited to try and get the Platinum. Sadly, these side trophies were not very enjoyable to try and get. Horseshoes was a nice diversion for awhile, along with all the other minigames, but making the trophies that correspond to these activities so difficult was frustrating, I simply did not enjoy playing anymore.
I understand they shouldn't be easy, but I feel that they should at least deal with aspects of the game that are more fundamentally sound, or at least not drive me away from the game. If they want to expose us to other elements of the title, they don't need trophies to do that. They could just introduce it through the gameplay. For example, you walk into a new town and it shows you all the activities that are in the area. If some appeal to you, go try them. If not, then there are no ridiculous trophies forcing you to play for the platinum.
I see your point as well. But you have to remember when you play through that entire game, you're bound to get 25%+ of the trophies. And that is good enough for a lot of people. Others think they should fully enjoy the game by doing everything. Then they may have 60%+ of the trophies. Then there's that last part that are just challenges. Like getting to legendary online. I mean that's hard. The only reason why i got it is because I played for like 8 hours while they had 4X xp.Thanks Phoenix, that means a lot
@wastedbro
I see you're point. Trophies do encourage people to explore other parts of the game. Being a big fan of Red Dead, I was excited to try and get the Platinum. Sadly, these side trophies were not very enjoyable to try and get. Horseshoes was a nice diversion for awhile, along with all the other minigames, but making the trophies that correspond to these activities so difficult was frustrating, I simply did not enjoy playing anymore.
I understand they shouldn't be easy, but I feel that they should at least deal with aspects of the game that are more fundamentally sound, or at least not drive me away from the game. If they want to expose us to other elements of the title, they don't need trophies to do that. They could just introduce it through the gameplay. For example, you walk into a new town and it shows you all the activities that are in the area. If some appeal to you, go try them. If not, then there are no ridiculous trophies forcing you to play for the platinum.
Only the players who are willing to beat those difficult and possibly time consuming challenges should get platinum. Out of about the 12 games i have, I only have 1 platinum, and that's for MW2. Yes, beating all the spec ops on veteran was really hard and VERY time consuming, but I honestly did feel like it was worth it at the end.
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