260°

Are Trophies and Achievements Needed?

Trophies and Achievements may offer players some incentive to explore the game world fully and complete certain tasks. But do we need them? Or can we play games without them?

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northern-gamer.com
CatCouch1777d ago

I think they add value not just to a game but to a platform. It's great to have a record of your achievements on whatever platform you play games on. I certainly feel there is something missing when a platform like the Switch doesn't have them.

FalconofLucis981777d ago (Edited 1777d ago )

Exactly thats whats putting me off buying a Switch. Whether you believe me or not, and the fact that theres no Windwaker port ;)

gamer78041777d ago

Same here, ill get the next version but i like having a catalog of achievements

1777d ago
sprinterboy1777d ago

Nintendo could do awesome trophies too, maybe use Mario coins and stars as a example.
I'm no computer wizkid but I'm sure it wouldn't of taken much time to implement when they were designing the switch?
Nintendo never fail to amaze me how far behind the times they are

Bleucrunch1776d ago

Yea Windwaker is my favorite Zelda, but to say the Trophies or Achievements are needed is a bullshit.

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sprinterboy1777d ago

Totally agree, I'm no trophy whore but it's great checking out which trophies I still need or can get on my 2nd playthrough.

Its also nice to chat to psn buddies and go through them, especially if you get some tough trophies which shows your skill level etc.

What I don't understand Is why do we have this article, if you don't care for trophies or achievements just turn off your notifications and never click on the trophy icon or gamers score. Pretty simple really.

AnubisG1777d ago

The reasom for this article is simple; to get rage clicks.

However, there are people out there who think that trophies and achievements should be erased and because they don't care for it, no one can enjoy them. They even go as far as call people not gamers for liking trophies and tell them that they are wasting their time for playing to unlock trophies.

As for me, I don't understand how trophies are different from completing a mission objective in a game. That is pretty much what they are, objectives to complete within a game which can extend the life of a video game. That is how I see them. It is also fun unlocking platinums. But apparently according to some, we can't enjoy it and it must be removed.

Not the first article lately. Afte the huge cross-play issue, now "journalists" will ride the "do we need trophies/achievements" wave. They sure do try to make a big deal out of it as this is probalby the 3rd (if not more) article about the topic recently.

rainslacker1777d ago (Edited 1777d ago )

I love my switch, but some games I don't play as long as I might because there isn't extra incentive to really play. OTOH, I get through more of my backlog on Switch beause I'm not playing the games longer than I might otherwise.:)

Nintendo said they think it takes away from the game, but they never really explained why. I think they're fun to go after in games I enjoy, and I ignore them in games I don't.

CBaoth1776d ago (Edited 1776d ago )

Rain
I just platinumed DQ11. Took me close to 250 hours. If I played this on the Switch there's no way I would've spent that time grinding all the chars to lvl 99 for in-game accolades. No time spent on horse racing or casino gambling post-game. I even grinded seeds of skill for all 8 heroes (that should've been a gold trophy lol) so I completely agree trophies extend a game's length. I've never understood Nintendo being stubborn about their inclusion. They're fun for us, they're a good source of data for devs & pubs, the notifications can be disabled from popping up, etc..I don't see a downside. Is it an issue of pride not wanting to copy an industry standard?

rainslacker1776d ago

Same here. Although, I dunno if I could make it that far in a game that had that much of a grind. I gotta be having fun, so it really depends on the game. I can push myself for an achievement though.:)

slasaru011776d ago

It's not just a record, it's HISTORY

DJStotty1776d ago

definately adds more value, i myself do not feel like a game is "finished" until all achievements are gained lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1776d ago
KwietStorm_BLM1777d ago

Are we really doing this halfway through 2019?

Espangerish1777d ago

What’s the harm in having them. Those that like them are happy and those who don’t can turn the pop ups off in settings and forget they exist.

Iberius1777d ago

This. I see no reason not to have them. At this point I think I would find it super weird if I didn't see trophies pop up occasionally.

Also it's nice to go after platinum trophies for games I really enjoy.

FreeFallFrenzy1777d ago

I'm now a part of the latter crowd. I was a huge fan of the trophy system when they first implemented it because trophies were integrated in with Playstation Home with virutal rewards. They quickly did away with that, unfortunately. Not that I was a fan of PS Home by any means, but it was a good starting place that I was hoping Sony would let evolve into something greater: perk rewards toward avatars, themes, or discounts off games/DLC from publishers that you earned trophies with. Sadly never came to be...but, hunting for Platinums in games I really enjoy is still entertaining

FalconofLucis981777d ago

Yes, they add an extra layer of replayability.

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70°

Easy Achievements / Trophy Games: Week of April 29th - May 5th

These are the easy Achievement/Trophy Games for the week of April 29th - May 5th, 2024

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gamersocialclub.ca
90°

Are Achievements Bad For Video Games

Paul Hang: Every gamer knows how iconic that little sound effect is when you get an achievement. However, there are those that aren’t fans of it.

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gaminginstincts.com
SullysCigar476d ago

Seems like a bit of a non-issue to me. If you're not interested in achievements or trophies, either ignore them or just turn off the notification. At that point, they effectively cease to exist for you, but at the same time others can continue to enjoy them.

lodossrage476d ago

Yeah I never understood this argument either. It's not as if trophies and achievements are mandatory for a person to enjoy a game. If you want to be a hunter, great. If not, that's great too.

isarai476d ago

They killed cheat codes because devs don't want you to earn them too easily. Also some devs use a simple trophy/achievement as a reward rather than an actual satisfying in-game reward for collectible, which is just lame.

LeeFender476d ago (Edited 476d ago )

There are plenty of games that give you plenty of ingame rewards. What are you talking about? Look at Final Fantasy XV, or any of the AC games for 100% stuff in the games. They give you armor or other rewards.

jambola475d ago

and games like tony hawk remaster or uncharted prove that's on the developers, not the achievements

blackblades476d ago

Yeah and we had this talk in ps3/360 and ps4/one era

Orchard476d ago

Nope.

If anything, it feels really bare now when you play on a platform without achievements (Switch) or with less focus on achievements (Steam).

Knightofelemia475d ago

Trophy and achievements are fun to unlock. Games that pop trophies and achievements just by making a burger jump is stupid. Games that rely on online to unlock trophies and achievements I stay away from. Games that have the next to near impossible trophies and achievements are a pain in the ass. Honestly if the game is fun I don't mind unlocking the trophies or achievements for it. I had fun getting the platinum trophy for Days Gone and Horizon also enjoyed getting the platinum for RE7 and RE8. Honestly I don't care either way I enjoy not getting trophies or achievements on my Switch, half the time in some games a trophy pops I don't care. I will only care if the game turns out to be fun and I am having a great time playing the game.

TheGreatGazoo30475d ago

No.

Some people are OCD or at lease OCD when it comes to video games. For them, sure I guess. Maybe don't have need to get every ? and see every marker on a map and just play the game. If you live the game, sure, look at the achievements after and see if there is anything you're close to and go for it.

jambola475d ago

I think it can be depending on the person
having a lot of pokemon is great, but if you're a person who has a need to collect everyone, it's a nightmare
same with side quests, collectibles etc
just like anything it has it's benefits and drawbacks

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270°

Mirror's Edge achievement designer: "Achievements have been bad for gaming"

Ubisoft Massive lead gameplay designer Fredrik Thylander, previously of DICE where he worked on Battlefield and Mirror's Edge, has spoken out about achievements and trophies, arguing that they "have been bad for gaming."

Machina488d ago (Edited 488d ago )

The achievements in Mirror's Edge opened my eyes to a whole other way of approaching the game. Since some of the toughest and most rewarding ones are basically whole levels turned into time trials with very strict time requirements, they force you to become much better at the game - in a way that difficulty levels just don't - and made me appreciate the mechanics that much more (especially the momentum-based running and platforming).

They actually made the game better for those like me who really enjoyed the game but wanted more of it, basically adding a new level of difficulty that took a long time to master/overcome. It added some extra longevity to a very short game.

He says "it eats resources that could have made the game better". I'm curious what he thinks the time he spent designing the achievements for the game would've been better spent on, because I expect bang for buck-wise achievements are a pretty efficient way of adding value to a game for the people who end up loving it.

shinoff2183488d ago (Edited 488d ago )

I kinda see his point but I also see your point.

I've been trying to remember what games over the years have had their own trophies inside the game before trophies and such were a thing and all I can think of is the star ocean series

Christopher488d ago

I think his point, though not elucidated upon because of Twitter limitations, is not that they can be bad but that they are used improperly to extend gameplay rather than reward actions.

Nebaku487d ago

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody on the GCN did.

In fact it actually built the game around it.

RpgSama487d ago (Edited 487d ago )

I am very OCD about playing games that I can platinum, in that sense I probably avoided playing games that I knew I would be unable to 100% complete.

I do think there are other people like me and also feel there should be an option for you to individually deactivate getting trophies on specific games, just so you play them and they do not go to your account.

-Foxtrot488d ago (Edited 488d ago )

I don't know. I used to think Achievements / Trophies were ruining games at first but then I saw the positive, if you totally love a game then they would offer you replay value by going after the last achievements to 100% the game. It made you explore every last bit of the game to achieve this and sometimes pushed you into areas or scenarios you probably might have missed.

It was a blast to get them on Oblivion / Skyrim, Fallout, Witcher, God of War, Elden Ring etc

Don't get me wrong, I do think there's achievements which are annoying, the ones where you need to find all collectibles which end up being missable AND are like trying to find a needle in a haystack are a kick to the balls, you know the majority of us are just going to use a guide to find them so what's the point.

Kind of a shame Nintendo haven't gotten a full system in place, they are so behind.

jambola487d ago

Nintendo seem to either be ahead of their time by years
or behind by 10 years
no in between

Rimeskeem487d ago

I enjoy having something to go for and feeling accomplished when doing something hard. I just hate it when achievements are based on things you can't really control. Like when something is for MP and the MP is just dead.

MadLad487d ago (Edited 487d ago )

I used to be a hardcore achievement hunter back in the day, but I couldn't care less nowadays. I just want to play games the way I actually want to play them, and don't care to waste my time just to get a little pop-up.

AzubuFrost487d ago

I envy you sir. I just gotta have every single achievement whenever I play a game. On my Steam profile I have an 83% completion rate out of 35 games, and my OCD is telling me to keep upping that percentage higher.

MadLad487d ago

Yeah. Back then, though I'm not sure what my actual completion rate was, I was mainly an Xbox player. I had close to 80k gamer score during the 360 days.

It just doesn't excite me anymore. I have less than 20% completion on my Steam account, though I have a pretty asinine amount of games there at the same time.
But I don't really bother with any of this anymore. If there's an interesting achievement I might aim for it just because I find it fun, but usually I just get that pop-up, say "cool" and continue with the game.

Outlawzz487d ago

Never been a fan of achievements. I just want to play the game however it may present itself to me, there's an overflow of achievements to seek in real life lol

Great for those that enjoy them though, much respect to the platinum hunters, it ain't easy lol

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