Achievements

[The NZA]

true, yahve's got a point, but...does that mean nobody looks at leaderboards? i love filtering through to see who on my list is beating me at Pac-Man CE or something.

[Keth]

Trophies/achievements do enhance the game i think. My first priority with a game is beating, then like logan said just going through and looking for strays. Easy ones usually, I don't even have any plats :p it would be cool if we could trade in those points for something. like say 100 achievement points or 5 gold trophies or whatever can get you some kind of avatar. or a specific achievement in a game will unlock themes and whatnot. bragging rights are all well and good, but I like the feeling I have achieved something. that's the point right?

[Thelogan]

Trophies/achievements do enhance the game i think. My first priority with a game is beating, then like logan said just going through and looking for strays. Easy ones usually, I don't even have any plats :p it would be cool if we could trade in those points for something. like say 100 achievement points or 5 gold trophies or whatever can get you some kind of avatar. or a specific achievement in a game will unlock themes and whatnot. bragging rights are all well and good, but I like the feeling I have achieved something. that's the point right?

 

360 has finally been moving in this direction lately. It started with Gamerpics (I believe those are what the PS3 calls avatars), some give you themes, several achievements in Red Dead Redemption snagged me some western wear for my avatar. Panch's avatar was rockin' an Earthworm Jim outfit, I assumed he got it from doing something in game.

[Jables]

Achievements are that ruffling of the hair that we were so long denied when as kids we'd accomplish some cool shit, turn to our folks(or in my case a bottle of prozac with some blonde hair caught in the lid) for approval, and they'd cry that we weren't studying to be doctors or playing football or somesuch.

 

I'm like Panch in that, there was a time that playing something sans-achievements felt like I was being robbed of something vital, but that's now on the downturn. I have a Wii that I still don't play because, it has no fucking games. And for my PS3 I've gotta stop purchasing and watching Blu-rays long enough to get into something like Uncharted 2(and more importantly LBP). Mostly I play 360 because that's where most of my friends are, and folks like Mal, Newt & DoJ simply don't matter.

[The NZA]

 

cold as ice.

 

@ the Wii - Super Mario Galaxy 2 is really good if you're into platformers. i gotta give Silent Hill one more go, but are you gonna play the new Metroid next month? its Team Ninja, could be cool. also, New Super Mario Bros is excellent if you're looking to hate your roomates.

 

i admit, this new thing of achievements/trophies unlocking content/avatar & theme stuff is pretty cool too.

[Maldron]

Man, I don't know whether I should respond to JZA's cold, cold insult in the achievements post or in the Hondo Clique post.

[Newtype]

Don't really care for them.

[Jables]

Don't really care for them.

 

Well DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHH.

 

NZA- With the dry spot this last couple of weeks I contemplated going back and finishing the few quality Wii titles I still haven't like Paper Mario & HotD Overkill, just never got to it. Arnah played new Super Mario Bros to death and would likely bleed from the ears if I offered to play with her. Regarding Galaxy 2, I don't do 3D platformers. Never have, never will. And it's possibly this that stops me from getting more into games like Uncharted 2. Dr Steve tells me I've cut myself off from about 15 years of seminal gaming but I care not.

[The NZA]

I don't do 3D platformers.

 

[Jables]

I shouldn't have actually said never will, because sometime soon when I'm not stressed out the arse I'ma create a poll of all the important games I haven't played on this basis, including any Zelda since Link to the Past, Mario 64, and lots of others to figure out an order for my gaming bucket list.

[The NZA]

Top 5 platinum'd games (PS3)

 

Assassin’s Creed II

Modern Warfare 2

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

God of War 3

Resident Evil 5

inFamous

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

God of War (GoW HD Collection)

Borderlands

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (The Sly Collection)

 

mal/co - what's the hardest one of that lot? Borderlands looked time-consuming, don't know about the others. I got most of AC2 in one playthrough, collect-a-thon stuff usually gets left behind, same with Infamous.

[Thelogan]

I can really only speak for the multiplat games.

AC2 is actually really easy to plat. The feather collecting is the hardest thing, and in this day and age of youtube that sort of thing isn' so much difficult as a little tedious.

Borderlands really doesn't have much in the way of difficult achievements, just some weird ones. If you do co-op, it all goes really quick.

CoD MW2 has some tricky spec ops achievements. It's probably that one.

[The NZA]

MW 1 had that mile high club one that was tricky, right? any on that level?

[Thelogan]

God, no. I don't think so. Probably all the stars in spec-ops. Probably need a good co-op buddy for that one.

[The NZA]

heads up, Logan, Space & co!

 

 

Rumor: XBLA achievement cap going 200 GS -> 400 GS

 

 

A few years back we received a scoop from an industry vet about the unpublished achievement policy of retail games. That scoop proved prophetic and the rules he outlined have stayed true thus far, though it was recently revealed that the new cap would be raised to 2000, a mark we'll first see with Gears of War 3's Forces of Nature DLC later this month. Our friend (who still wishes to remain anonymous) is back with a new scoop on an upcoming change to the Xbox Live Arcade achievement policy! Microsoft is upping the ante quite a bit. First, let's discuss the evolution of these rules to date.

 

OLD RULES

Base: 200 Gamerscore / Max of 20 Achievements

DLC: Up to 50 Gamerscore + 5 Achievements per Quarter (3 Max)

Total: Up to 350 Gamerscore / 35 Achievements

 

The very first set of achievement rules for XBLA stood the longest: 200 Gamerscore and 12 Achievements. That was the only option for years. As Downloadable Content became more and more prevalent, we had an increase of 50 Gamerscore and up to 5 new achievements available. Then they made allowances for up to three DLC additions, garnering a new cap of 350 Gamerscore. Later, alongside the release of the Windows Phone platform, the base game could have up to 20 achievements instead of only 12, while the DLC rules remained the same. Starting soon, the policy is set to change once again.

 

NEW RULES

Base: 400 Gamerscore / Max of 30 Achievements

DLC: Up to 100 Gamerscore + 8 Achievements per Quarter (4 Max)

Total: Up to 800 Gamerscore / 62 Achievements

 

The new rules as seen above are a gigantic step up. Doubling the base requirement of the Gamerscore itself, greatly increasing the number of available achievements and allowing for more DLC additions gives companies much more room to work with. These new rules give more opportunities for better progression of achievements through story and multiplayer, as well as allowing for more unique and fun achievements that we often see in retail games, but can be rare for an arcade. It also can lengthen the development cycle for a single game, allowing a company to offer up to a full year of DLC additions that can increase the game's Gamerscore.

 

I personally think the main factor that went into this decision for Microsoft may have been the growing number of "achievement whores" and the mentality that can sometimes pervade our species. There is a widespread trend of both "no achievements, no buy" in DLC and the avoidance of games all together if they do not offer a great enough (and easy/short enough) reward for your overall Gamerscore (aka e-peen). While the price of arcade games has steadily risen in the past few years, I believe this is only to coincide with the increased size and quality of the releases.

 

I won't bother to get into the debate of paying for game content versus paying for Gamerscore. It's painfully obvious which is true. But that's also the state of mind many gamers adhere to (especially in our community), and I can commiserate when there are so many quality games to play. Gamerscore is often one more (or less) reason to invest time and money into a game, especially in the case of DLC for something that you've already completed. Perhaps Microsoft has seen this debate and wanted to do something to please that other half? They certainly changed the landscape of gaming with this system, so it only makes sense that they continue to shape it according to the growth of their faithful.

 

According to our source, companies that release a game between April 1st and May 31st have an option of which policy they would like to use. The first two games to fall in this window (Diabolical Pitch and The Splatters) are still on the old system, so we'll see who takes advantage first! As of June 1st it will be required for all releases.

 

So what do you think? Does offering more Gamerscore change your mind about the increasing price of an arcade game? Do you even bother with arcade games due to their low Gamerscore values? If not, will you reconsider with this new policy?

[Visitant]

I think I still prefer the Trophy system which is why I'm becoming more of a PS3 user.

[The NZA]

well...what've you found different between them?

for me, i guess its (slightly?) more subtle, but the syncing is kinda lame and only worth it to plague my family's facebooks. i did like how they kept them non-obtrusive in Heavy Rain, but i don't think ive seen that done since.

[Thelogan]

It makes sense. Originally, they had a 50mb cap to make the memory card viable (LOL). A 200 point cap made sense, they were essentially on the level of cell phone games.

 

Castlevania" SOtN gave them a good reason to break that rule, and since then I'm not even sure if there is a size cap. You get some games that are on the same level as a retail experience now that are well over a gig.

 

My head has really been in a different place these days when it comes to achievements. Back in the day it was a race to hit 100K. And after they banned the hackers, I was the 21st person to do so (represent!).

 

I used a pretty simple time investment vs. number formula. I would plow through a game, snagging the easy ones as I go, then rather than spend extra time on those hard ones I'd just move on to the next game. You can see weeks where I played 3 or 4 games, snagging maybe 400-600 GS each. Now, I could spend that week really polishing off that first game for an extra 400 points, or I could grab a fresh one and spend a day or two beating it for roughly the same payoff (mileage varies,of course). Most of those years were spent simply beating a game and quickly moving on.

 

These days my score isn't shit. I took a break and did some other things. My boosting buddy never stopped, and now he's at almost 400k. That's about where I would be (assuming, we were neck and neck the whole time).

 

Since the dashboard actually tells you how many games you've "plat"ed now, my focus is more on completion than score accumulation. It's a more Maldronian way of doing things, which I assume was fostered in him by PS3's way of weighting the value of different trophies instead of giving you a numerical score. I don't accumulate nearly as much score, but I like being able to look at, say, Overlord 2 and think "I am DONE with that game. there is nothing left to do. Time to trade it in."

 

It's not always the case, I have all the cheeves in Skyrim, but there are still things to do. That's what I call "a keeper".

 

Geez, I turned this into a blog. Thanks for reading.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Thelogan

[The NZA]

thanks for sharing! it really is an amazing score though man.

 

and yeah, i still rock a memory card for when i was gonna move my account elsewhere, i think it was last year someone finally told me the slims don't give a fuck about it. sadness!

[Thelogan]

That's because the slims do it better: they support pretty much any USB flash drive. Much cheaper and bigger.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Thelogan

[Thelogan]

Microsoft to offer free points or other rewards for achievement points

 

 

So yeah, about goddamn time. I suspect this will probably work like the Nintendo Rewards system, where there will be a site you can go to cash them in for knick knacks and occasional cool shit.

Either way, I'M BANKIN' MOTHAFUCKA!

 

Props to Bindy for the news. Yeah, I'm catching up.

[The NZA]

damn, that got talked about forever, i was starting to think it'd never happen.

 

the rewards i saw for loyalty stuff so far were mostly avatar lanyards and such, hopefully there's something cool like MS points or XBLA titles going here (did you know they started offering that stuff for bing hits?). any idea if they'll retroactively account for your beanpile there, or only use it towards new ones unlocked after the program starts? i guess details are kinda thin so far.

[Visitant]

Props to Bindy for the news. Yeah, I'm catching up.

 

You don't have to thank me, your undying love and affection is more than enough.

 

also thank YOU for tuning in.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Bindusara