Achievements / Trophies

What are your thoughts on Achievements (X360) or Trophies (PS3)? Do they enhance your enjoyment, or have a negative effect? Do they keep you playing a game when you would normally have stopped?

My personal experience is at first they prove enjoyable (the easier ones are nice to get), but then I get sucked in trying to achieve some of the harder ones, which ends up being no fun at all. A recent example is trying to get the 40x Stunt Run in Burnout Paradise - I eventually did it, but it was an exercise in frustration, not to mention a colossal waste of time!

My new plan is just to ignore them, and play a game as I would if they weren't there - but it's not easy! I think pursuing them can be quite addictive...

I like the 'Teebag a 1000 persons' achievements, the absurd ones which then 'enhance' your player name with a corresponding title, like 'Sackboy' :)
Or playing WoW for 8 hours straight without any clothes and then get the title 'Nudist'.

I think it should contribute to the fun-factor, not like achievement: 50 quest completed. Yeah, i know, thats the game. Achievement! you woke up, achievement! you ate dinner.

Yeah, good point. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune gives you a bronze trophy for finding one treasure... that's no achievement! There are 60 treasures in total, if you don't stumble across one of them then you shouldn't be playing games!

I like them - and have written them into the design document for my first iPhone game which I'm busy with just now. I am not calling them achievements but they act the same and will be stored the same way. The high score table will have them listed for each player - if I can figure it out! lol.

The idea that the player gets little 'pats on the back' occasionally is good and enhances the feel good factor. I think they should be used carefully though, and in my festive offering they'll be present but not obvious for most of the time.


IPete2.

Depends on the game. Some games suit them, some don't. Saints Row 2 does them really well, offering them for some obscure, offbeat and downright fun things. Splinter Cell offered them for finishing each level. Gee, I'd never have thought of doing that if there hadn't been achievements. I think developers are slowly learning how to use them well though.