thoughthead

A discussion has started on the International Game Developers Association forums that poses the question about whether Achievements add to the gaming experience or detract from it. The Core Argument is that Achievements and gamerscore change the way people approach games; changing even artful plot driven games into a just another high-score grind-fest.

I’ve fleshed out my opinions on the Achievement system a number of times. The fact that I display my Gamercard in the upper right corner of every page on thoughthead further exemplifies the importance I place on the Meta Game that is the Achievement System. So I wont bore you reiterating those points again.

I’d like to encourage you to read through the entire thread over on IGDA. It’s only four pages long but they seem to cover all of the important talking points on both sides of the argument. While I saw some new insights into how people feel about the benefits and downfalls of the system my original feelings remain largely unchanged.

One thing I will say about the Achievement system. The rules are relatively lax and allow developers to do pretty much anything they want with them short of opting out. Whether Achievements add to the gaming experience or take away from it is completely and without a doubt, in my mind, a reflexion of the creativity of the development staff. Whether achievements cause gamers to neglect portions of your game or experience new aspects of your game, whether they cause the game to be dumped after an hour or replayed for months, whether gamers find new and exciting experiences through the challenge of achievements or simply cringe at the through of grinding through some mundane task for points is really up to the developers behind it and how much effort and creativity they put into the achievement system. Just like any other aspect of a game, graphics, physics, AI, UI, control mechanics, etc. Achievements are just another aspect that can really truly add to the game, or get neglected and take away from it.
In the end gamers can choose to not share their achievements and gamerscore with the rest of the world, and they can chose to disable the notifications if they’re not interested in participating with this system Which says to me that if a gamer feels they detract from the gaming experience they can opt out completely. This option that gamers have, says to me, that achievements can only ever be a positive thing; because if a gamer doesn’t want them, they don’t have to have them. And isn’t leaving the choice up to the gamers themselves the best choice to have?