Define “Achievement”
August 28th, 2006 |I have a bit of a hard time with achievements. The problem is not really with the system itself, or the concept of achievements, but with those that abuse it.
I’m all for going for achievements. I think they’re fun, and a nice addition to the Xbox Live community. I also have no problem with a little “trickery” and creativeness when trying to get these achievements. Perhaps there’s one that’s pretty hard to get, but there’s also a nice way around it. Rewards for cleverness are fine by me.
What I have a problem with is straight-up achievement boosting. Let’s say I’m playing Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, and I want the 10 kills with a sniper rifle achievement. Now, I can do this two ways:
- I can be sneaky, and smart. I can navigate my way around the map carefully and take out enemies one by one with a sniper rifle. I can understand that this isn’t easy, that I’ll probably need to try a few times and that I may break a controller or two in frustration after someone shoots me in the back 9 kills in.
- OR I can get a buddy or two to play with me. I can have them stand in front of me and I can shoot them without even looking through my scope. I’m done in no time.
Option 2 is certainly much easier, much less hassle and will get me my Expert Sniper: Online achievement and the 25 gamerscore just as Option 1 will.
However, with option 2, I have not achieved anything. I have no achievement. Sure, I have something called an “Achievement”, but it wasn’t earned legitimately. I’ve forefeit all bragging rights — in fact, if I brag about my Gamerscore after using Option 2, I’m a liar, and a loser.
My gamerscore reflects this sentiment. It’s not high, and I’m not good at getting Battlefield 2 achievements. Oh well. If you have a legitimately higher gamerscore, congrats. I applaud your skill. If you have more achievements than me because you cheated, I don’t really care. Your vanity and possible cowardice do not impress me.
It’s hard to trust anyone’s gamerscore, unless it’s really low. That’s a shame.
#1 Xbox Living: Blog Archive : Quick, easy Gamerscore without boosting
October 20th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
[...] their requirements (at least, their intended requirements). I’ve expressed before that I’m not a fan of boosting, and I’m not going to help you do it. Boosting makes your Gamerscore meaningless and makes [...]
#2 Anonymous
November 5th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
You typed a spiel about what an achievement is and yet offer no definition. I’ll post it for you: achievement; a result gained by effort. When you unlock an achievement do you think it matters what the “intended requirements” are? All you’re doing here is trying to argue semantics. Take this example for instance. In the game Lego Star Wars, there are achievements for beating levels without dying. You can go about trying your best to manage OR you could buy a “ghost character” that is immune to getting damage and cannot be seen by enemies to do this 10 easier. Regardless of which method you choose you will be putting effort into getting the achievement. Here’s another example; in Halo 3 there is an achievement called Mongoose Mowdown. You have to run over someone in a vehicle. You can either try to get the achievement over the course of the many matches you play OR you could forfeit your kills and simply try for the achievement. Again does it matter what your so called “intended requirements” are?
Lastly here’s my last scenario. There are games out that are quite old and the multiplayer isn’t as active. Do you wait around for ages for a match to start so you can get your “legitimate” achievement OR do you use your brain cells to make friends on forums that also want achievements to play with to get get them without wasting time. I’m sure I could toss out a few more scenarios but that would be pointless, because you seem to follow some unwritten rule about “legitimate achievements” and their “intended requirements”.
#3 Colin Temple
November 5th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
What I’m really saying (or said two years ago) is that what’s the point of playing an old shooter with no active gameplay online and just trying to get friends together to get the achievement? What’s the point?
Is it to say “look how high my Gamerscore is”? If so, you’re bragging about something kind of pointless — it’s not an indication of your skill as a player.
The spirit of achievements is to demonstrate the games you’ve played and the things you’ve accomplished. Anyone can line their friends up to get shot by a Spartan laser or run down by a mongoose. What I’m saying is that bragging about achievements that you earned through things like that is a little pointless.
My definition was based on the definition of the word achievement — rather than the Xbox Achievement. The rule may be unwritten, but honestly — do you not see the difference between shooting your friend who’s lined up TO BE SHOT or actually being good at a game?
#4 Anonymous
November 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“What I’m really saying (or said two years ago) is that what’s the point of playing an old shooter with no active gameplay online and just trying to get friends together to get the achievement? What’s the point?”
The point is that people would still have the game. There are games that people are only hearing of now because they aren’t marketed as well or receive poor reviews. I picked up a game called The Darkness a few months ago even though the game was released years ago and the online community is vitually dead. I don’t have the online achievements for it but that doesn’t mean that I won’t play the game for fun and get the single player achievements. The reason for this isn’t because I want to inflate my ego but because I want to get see that 1000. It goes without saying that I will probably boost for the online achievements since there is no other alternative. What you should be arguing is that developers need to forget about making a game last longer by adding online achievements. That will solve the boosting problem because everyone will have to get achievements in the single player campaign for games.
“Is it to say “look how high my Gamerscore is”? If so, you’re bragging about something kind of pointless — it’s not an indication of your skill as a player.”
I can go out right now and rent Avatar and get 1000 points in less than five minutes. How would that indicate what my skill level is? I don’t know about everyone else but I try to get the 1000 achievements in games and 200 in arcade games because I’m perfectionist. Not to flaunt my e-pen|s at other people. Are you really going to sit around all day and try to get 100 kills in ranked matches with every weapon in a game (GoW) or save yourself the time and wasted energy by taking a shortcut. What difference does is make when “you” know you can get them and would rather take a faster alternative.
“The spirit of achievements is to demonstrate the games you’ve played and the things you’ve accomplished. Anyone can line their friends up to get shot by a Spartan laser or run down by a mongoose. What I’m saying is that bragging about achievements that you earned through things like that is a little pointless.”
Spirit of achievements? Please tell me you’re not serious. That sounds just as ridiculous as “intended requirements.” What is pointless is bragging in the first place. If you have a higher gamerscore, will you rub it in my face? I can’t speak for everyone but I know why I want to get the 1000 gamerpoints when playing a game. Just like I’m sure you have your reasons if you’re trying to get achievements.
“My definition was based on the definition of the word achievement — rather than the Xbox Achievement. The rule may be unwritten, but honestly — do you not see the difference between shooting your friend who’s lined up TO BE SHOT or actually being good at a game?”
The definition I provided is of the word. The day developers start giving descriptions like “Shoot 50 people in the head that are not stationary targets over the course of normal gameplay in deathmatch”, it remains an unwritten rule. There is a difference in how much easier it is to get the achievement since you’re still putting effort into getting the achievement like the definition states.