Why do some people care for achievements?

IMO most of the achievements are usually crap "rewarding" you for playing the game, or grinding stuff 'till your eyes bleed.

The only achievements I like in-game are those which require some actual effort. You know, to *achieve* something, not to do something over and over or wait until RNG gods bless you. That or some achievements which give you something - like some vanity stuff (mounts, pets,...) in World of Warcraft, or unlocking some wargear in Dawn of War2: Retribution - Last Stand mode.

 

I don't personally go after all Achievements for a game, because, to paraphrase what klaymen said, that makes your eyes bleed.
But I don't mind picking up some achievements.
They're not a big deal for me though.

Although, I am not that far away from a Platinum Trophy in Trinity Universe..

 

A lot of Team Fortress 2's achievements are grindy. But a lot of them are "teach you how to play" achievements: if you work on getting the achievements, you'll learn how to better play that class.

 

Sorry I didn't read all the prior posts as I'm short on time atm, so I'm sure this mimicks several mentioned ideas, but I wanted to get my overall take anyway:

I love achievements in simple terms because I am a completionist, but I don't have the time or creativity to come up with bizarre ways to play the game. Many games have idiotic ones or boring ones that do nothing but mark your progress, but many also have really cool ones that encourage me to do something I never would have otherwise. Goals in a game that go above and beyond "beat it on difficulty X" are very very welcome. But that's only 1 piece.

Some games are really tough, and you want a way to not only say "hey bud, I beat that game!" but have a record of when and how as well. Some games are so good at encouraging replay that you want to tell people what neat things you've found or done, without having to take screenshots/movies or constantly repeat a story to people. I can go to a friend's profile and say "oh neat, they managed to do THAT!"

But the biggest reason for me is that many games are fiercely competitive already (World of Warcraft is the first that comes to mind where it's not purely head to head play already), and achievements encourage and record that competition. I take great pride in the date stamp on my Rusted Proto Drake achievement and the fact that I've gotten 50 exalted reputations, for example. In Serious Sam: The First Encounter, I managed to get the achieve for clearing Metropolis on Serious without reloading once - something that I never would have even considered trying otherwise. It was extremely difficult and I felt very accomplished pulling it off. Portal's achievements for time/steps/portals are also really cool ways of increasing the number of puzzles in a game without needing to create more content.

And finally, I love game memories. Usually these come in the form of screenshots and simply remembering, but achievements are also a way to re-live a game. Especially a game like WoW that is very long and very complex. In fact, I just did that today.

The one thing I absolutely hate is when acheivement rewards have a direct impact on gameplay. It's acceptable, if annoying, in a solo game, but an absolute no-no in multiplayer settings. (I have the same philosophy on micro-transactions.)

 

Sorry. What do you mean by "Micro-Transactions"? I think this is the first time I have heard the term.

(If it is something to do with WoW then that explains my lack of knowledge. I never sunk to the depravity required to consider that a RPG worth playing. Or even a RPG at all for that matter.)

Check this out to get the backstory on my hatred of what I call pseudo-RPGs. (Like WoW.)
http://geekmontage.com/texts/modern-games-verses-real-games/

 

No need to rant about the state of current games I feel similarly in many respects. However, I would hazard to say you are preventing yourself from enjoying many games out of idealism. Don't be offended, I've made the same mistake with many aspects of life. Often never trying something out of stubbornness and idealism and pre-conceived notions of precisely what it needs to be for me to like it.

Give me a great text adventure game and I'll rave about it to my friends. Give me a great hack and slash "RPG" with no story and a lacking talent system and i'll rave about that too if the gameplay makes up for it. It's kind of like suspension of disbelief in a movie. Enjoy it for what it is, not what you feel every game should be; otherwise you'll find a bare handful of games you enjoy, and never move beyond them. While I personally don't like nethack (I got spoiled by the friendly interface of Angband and could never understand Nethack's controls), I think you got spoiled by playing an amazing RPG before many good or great, but not amazing, games.

As to your actual question, a micro-transaction is a purchase (usually in the range of $.50 to $5) of an item or service that is part of a game, not the game itself. An example would be purchasing currency in many free-to-play phone games or a vanity mount in an MMO. This concept is very popular in Korea and is gaining influence in the US.

Also a final thought: Marketing departments will ALWAYS promote action, explosions, shinnies, and pretty visuals rather than anything related to the actual game. Never consider whether something is worth playing strictly based on an ad.

 

Yeah. I do have a pretty hostile attitude towards some things I honestly know all but nothing about. WoW is an easy victim in this way. I can mock it all day and night and part of what I say will be true and correct. Then there is the cold, hard reality that I have never played it, nor even seen it with my eyes. That would shut me up if I had a 'lick of sense.

But I do not have any sense. So WoW sucks! (Kidding this time.)

Nethack was and still is an awesome game. It still to this day inspires new games and gameplay mechanics. Perhaps WoW will be that way too in time. You simply cannot have that many people play a game without there being something good about it besides shinnies.

I have a premonition: The most popular game in the next hundred years will be a text based Inverse Pokemon game set in WoW. Pokemon will trade and fight their pet Humans for bits of string and *REDACTED*...

Lol.

 

You are scarily spot on with your foresights there, Omninegro, your visions will be realized perhaps sooner than you think, too! Though I doubt they'll go Ascii graphics, the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion for WoW will actually add a pet battle minigame that's said to be veeery Pokemon'esque.

Edit: I played WoW up until close to a year ago, reading about that coming expansion I can only thank goodness I got burned out on it when I did. I don't think I would have taken too kindly to pokemons all up in my face if I was still playing it, heh. But enough sidetrack'age from me, carry on. o/

 

Hahaha, that is too funny that you would say Pokemon in WoW. I also stopped playing a at year or more ago. I'm still intrigued by the game and the lore and will jump back in from time to time, but it has fallen from grace.

Anyway, I'm glad you understand your viewpoint, even if you choose not to hold back. Did we at least answer your question on why achievements can be a good thing?

 

Pretty much.

I still do not fully get it, but I recognize the stated reasons of others, even if I do not fully comprehend them.

I will have to head over to the modding section of the forums and suggest a "More Shinnies!!!" mod. Lol. (Not really.)

WoW and Pokemon are things I feel ill equipped to begin to understand. Who knows, I may yet pull my head from my ass and figure it all out. But then the universe might explode for that transgression.

 

Eh, what's one more proposed apocalypse?