Sony Need To Update The PlayStation Trophy System

PlayStation trophies have been around for several years now, but have been given very little maintenance. Sony need to improve the trophy system to keep up with the updates Microsoft have made to Xbox achievements.

[2pacalypsenow]

I love Ms's tracking system with achievements, I hope Sony implements that in the future.

[NerdBurglars]

steam achievements have the same thing, its a cool touch

[Genuine-User]

Yeah the trophy tracking system is pretty cool. I hope Sony are able to implement it soon.

[ziggurcat]

I agree - the tracking system is great, and I hope they implement something like that with trophies.

[sinspirit]

I think they should have a trophy viewing mode similar to Smash Bros. Like the room where all your trophies are on the table with classic consoles on a shelf in the background. If you have PSVR you can get up close to them on a virtual table. With the camera you could snap a pic of your room for use. If you platinum a game you could unlock a room themed after Bloodborne, God of War, Uncharted, etc. and view your trophies there.

I don't get why people are so hardcore about trophies or achievements though. People used to commonly act like they were the decision on whether they would buy a game or not. I like the RPG-like level system to trophies though.

[Ceaser9857361]

being a noob here... whats this tracking system with achievements??

[Mr_Writer85]

It basically keeps track of how close you are to unlocking said achievement.

An example to unlock Achievement A you must kill 500 zombies, the tracker will tell you how many of that 500 you have killed like 100/500.

Its useful when the game doesn't have tracking like PvsZ garden Warfare.

[Ceaser9857361]

Mr_writer85

Thanx a lot .. got you now.. I have seen that mainly while playing The Division and always wanted that feature on the PS.. hopefully Sony takes a notice and brings it on their next update or following ..

[RommyReigns]

Track gameplay hours - psnprofiles.com
Track game stats on the network - Good idea
Copy Microsofts Idea – 'Show a progress bar toward individual trophies', A bit convoluted to introduce atm because of save files, what if you delete the save file of the game you've given up trying to get a particular trophy for example the lamppost trophy on Planet Kerwan in Ratchet and Clank PS4 (not hard to find tbf, but just using this as an example), does the progress bar reset when you replay the game? Would be useful if it does reset and show progress properly.
Customise the trophy ding sound – Nah, the trophy ding sound is legendary and is associated with PlayStation and the trophy system.
Create a public API – psnprofiles.com
Network leaderboards – psnprofiles.com

At least with Trophies anyone can see what games you have worked on specifically with the Percentage and the Platinum Trophy, compared to just a vague number on a user's profile.

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Eeeee, never really got the trophy system or the achievement system.

[MegamanXXX]

I know right. Even Steam have their own achievement system that I could care less about.

[NerdBurglars]

steam doesnt put much focus on them though. most people go for the trading cards

[MegamanXXX]

I agree with the trading cards. I actually like that feature

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Achievement for PC is garbage. If it was universal under 1 system, then it would be better. Trophies and Achievements for Xbox and PS are waaaay better

[SonyWarrior]

no one cares about steam achievements because you could use a hack to unlock the achievements very easily which takes away from the appeal of them

[Big_Game_Hunters]

I think its one of those things teenagers compete over. Even when X360ps3 came out with them when i was in HS i never really understood them.

[FallenAngel1984]

I wish they automatically synced

[meka2611]

So agreed with this.

[Genuine-User]

They do now. Some people on neogaf tested through psnprofiles.com and PS4's quick menu.

[SoulWarrior]

They do sync automatically now, it was implemented a few weeks ago.

[OffRoadKing]

They do.

[segamaniaco]

They made some improvements, now you can see secret trophies.

[RommyReigns]

Secret Trophies were always accessible to see, you just had to press square to view them.

[DialgaMarine]

@Rommy That was a feature introduced just a couple years ago on PS4 (I think along with the trophy screenshot). You could never view them on PS3.

[-Foxtrot]

No synching....that's all I want

I'm sick of doing it...it's such a small thing but by now it shouldn't even need to happen.

[Genuine-User]

It syncs automatically now.

[InTheZoneAC]

they've automatically sync'd since the beginning of their existence for ps3/ps4, the only time they don't is if you have a second system that isn't set to primary.

[-Foxtrot]

When you click on it it still has to load up and new trophies will pop up you've recently earned. Achievements don't do that, once you get them BAM...they are there.

[Mr_Writer85]

@fox
That's only to view them on the system trophy list.

If you unlock a trophy and then go on your feed it will show as unlocked even though you haven't synced it on your PS4 trophy list.

My brother doesn't click on his trophy list ever but I can see every trophy he has.

[NerdBurglars]

every time i get a new trophy i need to go to the trophy menu on the PS4 and sync manually. Maybe it does it once a day, but i think people want a real time sync

[ocelot07]

Not bothered about tracking how long I have played a game for. But if a lot of people want it am sure it won't be to hard to implant it. What I do like about Sony's trophy system and I can't remember if Microsoft do it. Is when you gain the platinum trophy on certain games I think Bloodborne and Horzion are 2 games that do this. Reward you with a free exclusive theme and gamepic.

[Chexs1990]

Final fantasy 13 had a similar system, where some trophies would unlock themes. As far as I recall, each character had a dedicated theme unlocked through a specific trophy, it was really fun :)
Played the PS3 version though, so don't know if Xbox had the same thing going on in the game :O

[UnHoly_One]

Xbox used to have avatar items unlocked by achievements in certain games on 360.

No themes that I'm aware of, but you can use any achievement artwork as a background, and most new games have different and unique artwork for every achievement.

[Sonic_Vs_Mario]

Xbox 360 had this feature since 2005, when earning achievements you unlock rewards like Gamerpics, Avatar costumes, themes etc.

[nitus10]

I know this may sound strange but achievements and unlocking stuff are up to the developers of the game, not the machine the game is running on.

[TocaCannaBowl]

some kind of system where u trade ur trophies for games ? dlc ? anything on the psn store got a lot of trophies just sittng there .....

[ocelot07]

People would just abuse the system. Buy buying something like Coffin Dodgers that has a platinum trophy that can be unlocked in about an hour. Or Ark Survival where you can use console commands to spawn in what ever you want to unlock the trophies. Or that jar clicker game or that top 1000 game that has a platinum that can be unlocked in like 5 minutes.

They will do this. Trade in the trophies for what ever. Then make a new profile play the easy games again and trade another game.

[Asuka]

Im still waiting on the trophy room... did that ever happen inside ps home back in the day or was that just scrapped????

[SkippyPaccino]

I think it did come to playstation home, but when I got into it, the best part about home was meeting new people and getting promiscuous.... (you obviously had to weed out the dudes pretending to be chick's, but when that was done it was smooth sailing to some sweet naughty pictures..... Tinder before tinder... Lol)

[InTheZoneAC]

so glad ps home was shut down, such a clown and twisted environment

[SkippyPaccino]

Actually I met allot of great people. People I'm still friends with today on psn... For those who liked ps home liked it allot. To each his own, but I was surprised it shutdown with all that merchandise they were selling.

Another great thing about home was the hidden glitches. Almost every world had a place where you could dance your way out of the level, behind the invisible walls... The people you met in the other side were true ps home fans. Lol

[Yui_Suzumiya]

It was supposed to be implemented into PlayStation Home but never was. I used Home from time to time since 2008 when the open beta was launched. Wish it was still around.

[jznrpg]

It's fine to me, I like trophies but after I get them I never look at them again

[nitus10]

There are some trophies that I have for some games that I would like to delete since they were actually put there by my son or his friends using my user name (PS3) or me playing a game that I actually lost interest in playing.

BTW. The PS4 at least has a password access scheme for a user name (essential if you have a PS+ account).

[blackblades]

I want a gif or webm shot of getting the trophy instead of a picture. I wanna see it animated.

[SkippyPaccino]

No they don't....

[Hakoom]

they need to finally open the bloody lvl 100 lol
been stuck at it for over 3 years now !!!

[ziggurcat]

don't you mean you, and everyone else helping you with acquiring trophies?

[BlackTar187]

Lol lvl 100 get a job

[Hakoom]

who?
you have proof to backup your claim?
iam a well known respected trophy hunter in the playstation community..
get your facts straight before posting these types of comments

[franwex]

Lol. You are one in a few sir, not too many of us have that issue. Then again, we are not the number 1 trophy earner on the planet either.

[Hakoom]

around 200ppl+ have it for many years now

they already opened lvl 50 when i was the only 1 with it in a few months..

not sure why 100 is taking years

[rainslacker]

So you can draw more attention to how proficient you are at using exploits in games? You admit to exploitation and you complain about being stuck at lvl 100? What more can you realistically want? you already have the recognition, such as it is and for how little it means.

Would be impressive if you actually discovered these exploits.

[Hakoom]

which type of exploits?
exploiting a game in a legal way isnt against sonys TOS
for example u can buy every item in a game for a trophy then quit out without saving and buying the other stack then for the other trophy..
and not every game has these types of exploits its a few only...
using a chess program to beat a chess master in a game isnt against sonys TOS either

can you please link me where i "admit" to using illegal types of exploitation in games?
and btw there are over 200 ppl maybe now at lvl 100.. its not just me..

it amazes me how ppl on n4g always type things without backing up what they say lol

[rainslacker]

Never said it was against their TOS. But when you go on about how you use exploits and don't even play some of the games, it discredits your entire accomplishment.

I never said what you were doing was illegal, but we have had a discussion about whether exploits are worth giving you credit for, and almost all trophy hunters would agree it's not. Not that some may use some glitch or exploit to get the same result here and there, but obviously nowhere near as much as you do. Anyhow, an exploit is something that takes advantage of the game design to garner a positive result that was unintentionally included by the developer. Like when you use a box fan in front of the microphone for that singing game.

This is of course assuming you only gained them this way, and don't have multiple people helping you get trophies in 8 hours which normally take 40-50 hours, but others have called you out on that, and I'm still giving you the benefit of the doubt that you at least actually played or exploited the game personally.

You yourself gave up this info about a month or two ago when an article was posted about how you achieved some new milestone. We discussed it. I was about the only one that didn't assume you were cheating...although I think you do or do it as a group....but instead argued with you about your admitted exploits.

All that being said, sure not all games have these kinds of exploits, but reasonably, no one can play that many games in the time span you have without cheating or being part of a group doing it....so which is it? You cheat to get trophies that take days to get, yet somehow get them in 8-10 hours, you don't cheat and exploit often, or you are just a fraud getting recognition for something you didn't earn, and now saying Sony has to accomadate you to make you look even better?

There are what? less than 10 people worldwide at lvl 100?

[BlackTar187]

Do you have the MK trophy were you play as each character for 24hrs? Do you have the top ranked streetfighter trophy? Do you have the lost planet 2 trophies?

[ILostMyMind]

Maybe with PS5.

[UnHoly_One]

"When the trophy feature first launched for the PS3, it made the Xbox achievement system seem a lot less valuable. Having tiered rewards for each unlock made much more sense than a few more points to a total score."

I could not disagree more. The trophy system has never made any sense to me. How much is a bronze worth? How much is a gold worth? How many silvers does it take to up a level if you are level 5? What if you are level 37?

As a guy that deals in numbers for a living, it drives me nuts that trophies do not have a definitive value. As soon as they added them, I instantly didn't care about them because there is no way to quantify what one is worth.

Xbox achievements all have a number and a value and add up to a logical total using real math. You can compare your total to somebody else and instantly know exactly what the difference is. You can't do that with trophies.

I love the concept of the platinum. That is the one unique idea that they had, but again, it has no quantifiable value and that ruins it for me.

[Razzer]

I'm the opposite. The achievement numbers mean nothing to me. With trophies, you can view the numbers via tiers, but really the Platinum count is the only one that matters.

[InTheZoneAC]

I think it's best you just stop thinking of trophies or games in general. You took a very simple concept and complained about it in an unnecessary manner. Stop making trophies into something more than they're not and stop literally whining about them.

[BlackTar187]

Lol you don't get trophies k

Isliterally the way all competitions are scored.

Like 30ok gamer score is easier to understand then 30 platinums.

[rainslacker]

How hard is it to understand that 30 platinums means more games completed than an equivalent user score?

One is a tiered system, with an accumulation feature, while the other is just a tally of all the point gained, regardless of how much of a game is completed.

If you need a numbered metric to understand your fellow gamer, then Trophies do have a level system which should provide the same thing.

[nitus10]

You can complete a game without getting a Platinum.

For me, the most important part of playing and maybe completing the game is having fun.

For some games getting a Platinum becomes a grind fest which usually entails getting a how-to or some cheats. This is great if you are a completionist but is that really fun?

[yeahright2]

Not really. 30 platinums means you got all the trophies for 30 games (dlc and sometimes mp excluded as it should be.) 30K Gamerscore could be all made up of multiple games without completing a single one, or a bunch of games, or a few games, who knows?

[BlackTar187]

You guys went real literal to my example. I guess this is the internet.

[rainslacker]

PS Trophies also have a number value assigned to them. It's just not readily available to view. Each level of trophy is worth so many points. Each game is assigned a certain number of points, and the trophy list has to conform to that point system to decide how much of each level of trophy could be in a game.

Overall though, for any level of game(as there are different levels for different kinds of games), there is a set number of trophies that can be within a game. Exceptions can be given though if requested by the publisher. This makes it pretty much like achievements, sans there are extra points assigned for the actual platinum on the accounts user score.

[P_Bomb]

What? Gold silver bronze are as universal a concept as you can get. Olympics, world juniors, currency. There's nothing to not understand.

Same with the level system. It's what videogame RPGs have been doing since the dawn of time.

The more you level the longer it takes to get to the next level. Golds are worth more than silver which are worth more than bronze. Platinums give you an extra buff to boot. Seriously, just play anything with RPG elements. It's that.

What do you mean you can't compare? There's numbers everywhere. If I'm a level 30 with 50% to my next level and my friend is a level 16 at 10%, I know what the difference is.

If I have 500 golds and he only has 100, I can derive some meaning from that as well.

It also separates DLC % from the main game if you want to number crunch in more detail. I can see that Bob has 100% completion of the main game, 66% of DLC1 and 0% of DLC2...as well as an overall combined % and a running individual tally.

If you're a numbers guy, you''re set. I can tell you how many gold I have at a glance. I can't quickly survey how many 100g you have.

[UnHoly_One]

You're missing my point.

"What do you mean you can't compare? There's numbers everywhere. If I'm a level 30 with 50% to my next level and my friend is a level 16 at 10%, I know what the difference is."

Ok, so if you know what the difference is, then tell me exactly how many trophies he would need to get in order to catch you. Exact number of each tier. Go.

You can't tell me the number because the system is a convoluted mess.

I have 219008 gamerscore. My friend has 215363. That's a difference of 3645. He can catch me by completing three entire games and getting 645 points out of a fourth game or from DLC. Or he can get 73 50 point achievements from various game, etc, etc, etc....

My point is. I like math. lol

Maybe I'm a big nerd, I don't care. But having all the numbers and calculations hidden pisses me off.

[P_Bomb]

@unholy
I get the point but its splitting hairs imo as both systems emphasize some numbers while hiding others. Pick your poison, but to say trophy numbers are "ruined" is ridiculous.

On PS, the emphasis is more on various cumulative totals, how many you have of this or that. The metric there is a simple 1-1. If I have 6000 trophies and my friend has 1500, you can figure it out. Xbox is more about that RNG gamerscore and doesn't really value individual achievements in and of themselves. Logical total real math? What logic goes into one cheevo being 5g, another being 10g, 15g, 20g, 1g, 0g, 40g, 50g, 100g, 150g? It's a free for all.

Load up the Xbox app right now on your phone. Compare your profile to your friends. There's nothing telling you how many total achievements they have across everything. How many 100g or 5g they have. Click on his profile, there's no "6532 achievements unlocked" tally.

You have 200,000gs. Ok, but how many cheevos do you actually have? Someone could have more achievements than you but less gamerscore. Where's that stat? Why does total gamerscore matter more than rarity or difficulty? My feed says friend x is 500g ahead of me this month. What does that mean though? 6 cheevos on Frozen Freefall, or 22 on Halo 3? I have to dig. Don't want to.

Like I said, pick your poison. I just dont think ones a "convoluted mess" when the other is basically a glorified random number generator.

[Mr_Writer85]

Trophies do have a number value, I can't remember exact buy think it's

Bronze - 100
Silver - 200
Gold - 400
Plat - 800

They contribute to your level. So level 1 is like 1000 so would take 10 bronze to get to level 2 but only 3 gold.

I know people who have nearly triple my trophy count but I'm a higher trophy level as I have more Gold and Plats and they have mostly bronze.

Yet with Gamerscore you could have a GS of say 10,000 by completing games, yet I could have the same score by playing more games.

[yeahright2]

Bronze = 15 points
•Silver = 30 points
•Gold = 90 points
•Platinum = 180 points

Total Number of Points Required to Reach Level:
•Level 1 = 0
•Level 2 = 200
•Level 3 = 600
•Level 4 = 1,200
•Level 5 = 2,400
•Level 6 = 4,000
•Level 7 = 6,000
•Level 8 = 8,000
•Level 9 = 10,000
•Level 10 = 12,000
•Level 11 = 14,000
•Level 12 = 16,000
•Level 13 = 24,000
•Level 14 = 32,000
•Level 15 = 40,000
•Level 16 = 48,000
•Level 17 = 56,000
•Level 18 = 64,000
•Level 19* = 72,000
•Level 20 = 80,000
•Level 21 = 88,000
•Level 22 = 96,000
•Level 23 = 104,000
•Level 24 = 112,000
•Level 25 = 120,000
•Level 26 = 128,000
•Level 27 = 138,000
•Level 27 through 98 = previous level plus 10,000
•Level 98 = 848,000
•Level 99 = 858,000
•Level 100 = 880,000

[LandoCalrissiano]

I agree. Even the link the article references from makes the point that the telltale games game walking dead gives you a platinum just for beating the game. Ever play a telltale game? They're pretty easy and doesn't take very long to beat. People here think platinum trophies are the ultimate prestige but not really. People think platinums are the ultimate achievement hunting but you get 1 just for beating an easy game.

[P_Bomb]

That's an isolated situation as that's the only kind of game Telltale makes. They get a 1000gs nowadays just the same, so you could argue total gamerscore is just as irrelevant.

There will always be those easy 100g cheevos for doing nothing in Goat Simulator vs the piddly 40g I got for beating Alan Wake.

Not every PS game has a platinum. Telltale's Walking Dead Season 2 didn't. Indies don't get the 1000gs they do on Xbox, so you can't knock off an easy 1000g platinum on Inside because it doesn't have a platinum. Does every game getting a 1000gs now instead of 200g or 400g devalue the gamerscore? Pick your poison.

[Aenea]

Wait, Sony are being dicks because they don't immediately imitate an Xbox feature?

Then MS are even worse! Where's SharePlay? Or RemotePlay? Or, nah, you know what else.... .

[Mr_Writer85]

I think Xbox does have a remote play feature now.

[Aenea]

Only to PC's and also only on the local network. MS are being dicks to not release a handheld console and/or not making it work over the internet instead of just local only....

[Mr_Writer85]

Harsh, Sony have tried twice and failed to keep a handheld alive, unless it's Nintendo it won't float.

MS arent stupid, also doesn't it work with Nvidia Shield?

[Aenea]

"Harsh"

I know, so is this writer of this article, says Sony are 'dicks' because they don't copy an Xbox feature fast enough for his liking!

I was trying to make fun of the article :)

[Mr_Writer85]

Ahhh fair enough I didn't read the article XD

[Nacho_Z]

You have the target to aim for and you work for it, doesn't have to be any more complex than that. Making things more complicated isn't necessarily a good thing.

[Eonjay]

I want the API

[Bismarn]

Okay trophies could use some work, but why are we talking about this when Nintendo still has *nothing*

[Soy]

Nintendo can't even get online voice chat right - I'd say achievements/trophies are far down on the list of priorities with them.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

Agreed.

[chris235]

they could, like, let the user switch them off completely. like not only not showing them to others but just to push them off. but i know this will not happen as they are not something to brag about but the should animate others to also play a certain game and therefore getting more $

[DELTABOY04]

people reaching for anything to hate on sony right now lol..

[ifrit_caress]

Sony needs to fix its PS store.

[ILostMyMind]

I agree. There is a lot of mess there.

[ryan8889]

They are being dicks again.

[OffRoadKing]

Running out of things to attack Sony for so turning to trophies now, huh?

[slappy508]

It's something new every single week. Wonder what is next?

I'll take a guess:

"Sony needs to Stop releasing too many highly acclaimed exclusives close to each other and rather focus on backwards compatibility"

[OffRoadKing]

lol, right?

[lio_convoy]

I'm pretty sure that title should be "needs" and not "need". I think we all learned about that in grade 1. How the heck does anyone screw that up? That's as far as I got. Come on, if you're gonna post something, at least make an effort to get the spelling right!

[NohansenBoy]

Why do people care so much about achievements? When I play Skyrim and it gives me that "you have mods so achievements are disabled" I just roll my eyes, not give a crap, and start playing.

[T2X]

Too bad they couldn't make them worth something. Like trading stamps used to be.

[GamesMaster1982]

I think the trophy system is fine just the way it is. I like it way better than Microsofts achievements.

[raiftrkmn]

we are all players waiting big changing about trophy system , we will play the waiting game.

[LoveSpuds]

I prefer trophies over achievements by a country mile personally and something I do like that achievements don't have is that it displays the rarity of the trophy among those who have played the game. For example, it's cool knowing less that 1 percent of people who played a particular title have earned a trophy you have, it's helps you determine just how difficult it was to earn.

There is no argument that tracking would be awesome to have, but MS don't have the above trophy functionality either so both have advantages and disadvantages. The guy who put this joke of an article together looks like someone who is out to slate Sony rather than offering a balanced opinion on what he would like to see......getting pretty fed up of these kinds of flamebait opinion pieces.

[feraldrgn]

I like Trophies more than Achievements & I don't care about not being able to see progress from the Trophy screen, since I can just... play the game for that information & just keep playing the game until the Trophy pops.
I'm assuming the Achievement system checks the individual game saves & marks the progress that way.

Best update to Trophies was revealing the "hidden" trophies, because it was stupid expecting us to guess what they were.

[pyroxxx]

I want a system wide ''time spent in a game'' feature,.. like on steam,.. does not have to be 100% accurate ,. but it is a metric I miss a lot

[narsaku]

You mean delete it.

[SpinalRemains138]

The rarity of trophies aren't some obscure measurement or a secret developer or SONY formula. The rarity is the actual percentage of users who obtain the trophy. What could possibly be more accurate?

[DialgaMarine]

I agree on the point that stat tracking is cool, and would be great for trophies, but I had to stop reading after that.

"Sony are being dicks again, while MS is working hard"

Like, really dude? You're telling me that MS releasing a $500 Xbone, essentially designed to abandon the ~30 million early adopters, while admitting they have little interest into investing more into they first party, and throwing games like Crackdown our way, is working their ass off? You're really trying to claim that games like God of War, GTS, TLoU2, Death Stranding, Spider-Man, Shadow of the Colossus, and Days Gone are all minimal effort by comparison?

What a crap article. Terrible stealth troll.