Achievements? The start of something…

We at MonsterVine always enjoy a thorough introspection of the many things the video game industry has to offer, big or small. But community member, WarDragon989, has managed to make even the small look big as he examines the integrity of Achievements, Trophies and Steam Achievements and their consequent impact through the coming generation.

WarDragon989 writes:

Wonderful? Maybe.

The idea of what an achievement, is an accomplishment for completing a certain task which could have a ranging difficulty curve. Before Xbox released a viewable portal to the concept, these rare “game achievements” were only viewable on youtube or similar video sites and of course the good old gaming forums where people recited their moments to whoever would listen.

The Xbox System

In 2005, Microsoft and their brand new system, the Xbox 360, announced an in-built system know as “Achievements”. These achievements had “gamerscore” attached and when totaled up gave number differences, which raised a number of gaming egos in the process. It was a welcomed addition to the console market though some showed concern about them mentioning an unsettling addiction with acquiring them or that they “needed” to get the 1000/1000.

The policy that Microsoft imposed was simple; a game released on retail had to have 1000/1000 gamerscore with it, and the number of achievements can range from 4 to 99. A game released as an arcade can have 200/200 with 12 achievements being a normal static amount. Their policy has changed over the years with the inclusion of DLC, such as expansions. Retail can now have an added 250 points, totaling 1250 and the arcade added 50 more totaling 250. These of course are only available to people who have the new content. Halo 3 recently set 1750 achievement points, this would mean that any game can have a number of expansions added, but of course i believe there is a hidden cost.

Achievements are a nice addition if they are in the right hands, over the two years that Microsoft has had the achievements system, many game developers have retained a sense of ranging achievements from completing a game on different difficulties, to a boss battle, to killing 3 people in 5 seconds. In the later years, Halo 3 let people acquire new armour for getting a certain achievements and it recently updated to include many community based achievements.

Notable achievements are mainly ones which require time, effort, skill and the inability to cheat but this has caused many to believe that the “prestigious” achievements are more of a burden and struggle especially when they have acquired them;

* 5/7 day survivor (Dead Rising)
* Mile High Club (COD4)
* Seriously… (Gears of war) and their notable spin offs, No Seriously (The Club) and Beans Bullets Bandages (Battlefield: Bad Company)

Of course these game developers are the ones who have a good range of achievements so it doesn’t feel like a waste just to get one. Other developers are using the addictiveness of achievements as a secret latch for their games; for example The Simpsons and Avatar which both have very easy achievements and game concept. But due to the actual achievements selling the game and not the game selling itself, has the meaning of achievements been lost along the way?

Xbox achievement have a sense of addiction which a number of companies have taken advantage of and even the ability to “cheat” the system has caused a mass of players to claim a number of points without really trying, it became a major concern and Xbox HAD to do something about in 2008.

Overall, Xbox started an idea, which had a great concept and so far it has been very successful, but I believe they have made people forget what an “achievement” really is, and what it really means to get one.

Steam Achievements/PC

On the momentum of Xbox’s, now successful, achievement system Valve, a PC based company incorporated Achievements for a number of its games into their new Steam system, so far only a hand full of games support achievements, mainly their own games and a number of arcade type games.

The rules about them seem much more relaxed then Xbox’s version, with no gamer score, and the amount of achievements removed. Valve, using there own game Team Fortress 2 uses achievements to give the players new weapons with milestones, constantly updatedthe achievement list with new class and map packs making the achievements list almost endless with no restrictions.

Recently, World of Warcraft a popular PC game, adopted the achievement idea; which covers all aspects of the game. They have used the achievements points system, rating each one with points and give in-game bonuses for collecting a number of achievements.

Overall the PC version has gone in the right direction with achievements partially, Valve, who try to remind people that it isn’t about points, its about what you do and getting rewards for it.

Playstation 3 Trophies

Xbox’s competitive console rival, Sony, saw the impact achievements had on Xbox sales, and on the console itself, and believed a system would be needed for the PS3 system, they created Trophies.

Trophies are split into 4 different areas; Bronze (simple tasks), Silver (medium tasks), Gold (hard tasks) and Platinum (which you get when you have every other trophy). Instead of showing off the score, each trophy has a hidden score which is then added to a total bar. This bar increases in level and get harder to level up each time.

The difference between trophies and achievements is that a number of games require a sense of commitment to the game such as Warhawk, Wipeout HD and Socom. All mentioned require skill and time for you just to get one trophy and is not a simple one night play which some Xbox achievements are.

Trophies are a fairly new concept and are now in 2009 mandatory for future games, a number of old games including Metal Gear Solid 4, Heavenly Sword and others have yet to be patched and Sony is more relaxed on not forcing them to do so, which has angered a number of the community.

Overall, Sony has taken the Xbox idea of achievements and shook it down to its foundation and Trophies are that. Sony is much less restrictive on how many and what is needed to complete, and it is more to the developer.

The meaning of an achievement

Overall, Achievements/trophies are great to have as they add “more” replay value of a game.

The achievement idea is great in theory, but the meaning is lost. Xbox generally though it was better to reward people for almost everything in a game, while attaching a score for the ego inside us. PC generally though achievements where as Xbox’s was for any action and not attaching a score. And Playstation is between the two, while not have a score they have a total bar, that all the trophies add up to.

An achievement is an accomplishment for completing a certain task that has ranging difficulty attached. While most achievements and trophies hold true to this idea. When you look back at the “true” achievements and stories of people who do these cool and unique things, you wonder why they don’t have an achievement for that. It’s a shame that achievements are now game seller reasons and from the makers point of view you don’t want a customer to be frustrated with the game.

Achievements are dubbed down view of what “true” achievements are, this means that instead of doing days upon days of training; anyone can get an achievement which makes the achievements meaningless. While we have seen unique achievements for games, few have show commitment. The ones that do are normally pushed aside and labeled as “too” hard and “too” much commitment. A number of PS3 trophies require you to be committed to the game (hours upon hours) this is what it should be, achievements should not be a walk in the park; it should be a walk on the side of mountain-side trail.

Also there should be more community based achievements, for example Bungie are very in tune with their community and now have “Vidmaster Challenge” achievements or Wipeout HD, where you have to beat a staff members race time, almost giving a meaning behind it.

So in the end, i believe the Xbox 360 version lost the plot, with its restrictions and its score, while PC and PS3 versions showed us what committed meant, no score, no restrictions and playing the game then getting an achievements for it, not the other way round.

While comments are allowed below, please feel free to discuss this article in the original thread found here.