Are Achievements A Good Thing For Video Games? | Slightly Civil War

[@but_in_space_though2919]

Congratulations! Your Fact Jack evolved into Semantics Jack!

[@darthskele]

How was this comment made a week ago...

[@kile1885]

i like achievements to look at the percentage of players that got through certain parts of the game like killing a super hard optional boss or something, but i couldn't care less about getting all of them

[@RpiesSPIES]

And then you notice that only 32% of people that played the game even cleared the first mission/area

[@thundersheild926]

@@RpiesSPIES That's why, to get an accurate view of what an achievement percentage means, you should divide all achievements by whatever the first major but still not to difficult achievement is, like beating false knight in hollow knight.

[@caseyhall2320]

Same here. When they're separate from the game, and only represent cool things you did, achievements are at their best imo.

[@Pravaification]

Multiplayer achievements are the worst. They encourage people to actively sabotage their team's chances of winning just so they can have a virtual merit badge.

[@lowcostfish]

I find it weird that so many people see acheivements in this way and actively hunt for them. I see them as something documenting my gameplay, rather than a goal. I'm not going to play TF2 any differently due to achievements but it's nice to find out that I just killed someone in the air, on the ground and in the water in a single life, and it was the first time I've done so. Or in an RPG, they can let you know that you've taken a rare path in the story. I do wonder whether its in games with weaker gameplay that players more often feel the need to hunt achievements in order to get the satisfaction that the game should aready be providing. using acheivements as inspiration on how to play, with the secondary result of eventually completing that achievement, it serving as a marker that you've successfully changed how you play or gained a new skill, makes more sense than actual achievement hunting.

[@LOLquendoTV]

There is an achievement in Shogun 2 : Total War for becoming the 1 ranked player of all time on the multiplayer. I dont know If I should hate or weirdly respect the fact they made the game pretty much impossible to 100% all achievements

[@BlueRadium]

Can confirm/have done this. Gotta get 6 kills in a round with the most obscure useless kill method possible somehow. Wish they wouldn't there for multiplayer.

[@Critical-N]

@@lowcostfish I like hunting achievements so i can see everything the game has to offer, however i don't understand people doing it in multiplayer

[@Kris-wo4pj]

And then the server gets shut down the next yr and ya cant get the achievement anymore cuz ya decided to get the game at a discount. So if youre an achievement hunter that game is now worthless.

[@vargsvansify]

I read "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink last summer and found the study of external and internal motivation interesting. According the studies cited, applied to video games, it would go something like this: You sit around and play a video game because it is fun. You like doing it. The motivation is internal. The video game then gives you achievements for playing the game. An external motivator. What generally happens is then that this external motivatior overrides your internal motivation. That means that if the external motivator is suddenly removed, you no longer have any motivation to play the game. I personally love that the Nintendo Switch does not have an achievement system, since I easily fall into the trap of doing something just because there is an achievement for it, even if I don't particularly enjoy doing that specific thing. I also want to say I might have misued the English terminology for these concepts. English is not my first language and I didn't read the book in English.

[@shiknobi2055]

get yourself someone who will look at you the way Jack looks at Fact Jack

[@LetMattEntertainYou]

I’m a huge Achievement/Trophy hunter and I wish they didn’t exist.

[@yobogoya4367]

Same. I'm even a member of a trophy hunting facebook group. Both the trophies and the group are pushing me to make gaming selections based solely on trophies and I've realized that I'm saying "I hate this game but I must persevere" a lot more often than I'm saying "this game is great, I want to go for 100%"

[@jamesverner9132]

? That's confusing.

[@l01230123]

That sounds kinda like addiction 🤷‍♂️

[@Zeburaman2005]

Same here, though I wish they were associated to actual in-game extra content. Too often, they seem to be padding on average games. You also get a feeling you aren't done with the game yet, like Yahtzee said, and that might lead you to attempt some pointless tasks that would ruin your overall enjoyment of the game.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

Idk, in a few games it just gives me a little ding when I see "only 2.3% of players have this achievment." Or I am 48/50 for somethint and spend an hour to get that notice.

[@Darkfyreofthezenith]

The issue with talking about achievements is that they're so arbitrary. Some are really lazy and easy to get like the "achievement for finishing each level ones" and others are lazy and a pain in the ass like "kill 50 humans with crossbow headshots" in TW3. And then there are others that are pretty good. Like David and Golyat. I got that one while trying to get the annoying crossbow headshot one, and watching a boss health bar deplete out of nowhere was bloody hilarious. Achievements can be fun, but there needs to be a lot of thought put into them to make them worth having in a game

[@seanw1783]

Gears 5 and Tactics have some horrible grind achievements. They are only there to keep a pool of players pumping crazy hours into the game for months

[@judjudson4399]

The thing is, with cool moments like what i gather David and Golyat to be, it's almost BETTER for them not to be achievements. It feels cooler sometimes to not just get told "that was a cool alternate kill you did there, sir. Here's a trophy!" but instead, to see the actual impact of the alternate kill in a satisfying/rewarding way.

[@ZombieBarioth]

They aren't that arbitrary, the devs can actually see how many players got each achievement, which allows them to track what the community is doing. Like what percentage of players made it past the first boss, or which mini games they play. I do agree it can be a lazy way of adding content, or at least lead to content being misconstrued as something the community enjoys. Its a chicken and egg situation though. Easter egg hunts are a meme at this point, but why do you think devs keep putting them in? Because people still do them.

[@judjudson4399]

@@ZombieBarioth Tracked metrics don't have to be achievements.

[@caseyhall2320]

Like completing Halo 2 Legendary and any Halo LASO.

[@michaelwallace9461]

Actually agree with one of Jacks early point about memories. It kind of inspires remembering your time in a game - especially when you've hasd to delete it from your hard drive

[@NO.10162]

So like, a scrapbook approach?

[@JDLaney-zk4wb]

I feel like in a lot of ways, achievements and trophies replaced actual in-game rewards, like unlockable characters or costumes or special items. I know it’s not the case for every game, but it seems like those things are now usually monetized, while games just give out trophies as in game rewards.

[@Zeburaman2005]

Pretty much sums up my thoughts. I would add that sometimes they can also spoil hidden content. Imagine playing Symphony of the Night and getting a trophy/achievement hinting at multiple endings, instead of just stumbling on the upside-down castle on your own. I think it is part of a larger issue where nowadays there are both concerns and expectations that every last bit of a game's content _HAS_ to be experienced for it to be deemed worthwile, leaving no room for personal wonder and discovery.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

Its' why I like Little Nightmares II, you can find extra headgear just to wear throughout the whole game. All you have to do is find them, not that hard either. Also they have some interesting trophies/achievements based on wearing certain hats in specific situations.

[@elcheshireilustracion9396]

I've always thought that achievements are a very artificial way to extend a game playtime. And a very dumb way to make people feel good. Definitely not all of them, but a good chunk no doubt.

[@RakastanPorkkanakakkua]

To me always felt like extra content. But Half-Life 2 in particular showed me that achievements can also be actual challenges and improve the experience, going through Ravenholm and using only the gravity-gun was a lot of fun, going through the sandtraps without ever touching the sand was a lot of fun.

[@cloudy772]

@@RakastanPorkkanakakkua Yeah challenge achievements are the best achievements

[@ImCurrentlyNaked]

@@RakastanPorkkanakakkua Absolutely! Spelunky is probably my favourite game of all time, and a good chunk of the reason for that was the challenges given to me by the achievements after mastering the game. Speed running and and beating it while collecting no gold, I wouldn't have done these things without the game having turned them into some sort of goal. It really wrings out some extra playability within a game. That said, they're a lot of achievements that feel silly, like just beating the first level or jumping so many times etc. In the end, it's just a part of the game that some game designers are excellent at, and others not so much.

[@shadowcat9672]

I find achievement hunting can ruin my gaming experience. Especially when I spend hours on one achievement that I just can’t get, it makes me start to hate playing the actual game. It’s especially annoying when it’s a multiplayer achievement because I only play single player.

[@4dragons632]

"We call those people winners, Yahtzee" I love that. I don't know who I agree with, but I love that line.

[@rufusconnolly8489]

"It throws off the whole balance of the exp-" AD BREAK Interesting..

[@sol1spartan584]

Jack: Hit me. Yatzee: Proceeds to hit Jack with a large rock.

[@retrogaming3098]

I remember the ratchet and clank ps2 had skill points which when completed got skins ... goldeneye n64 of course unlocked big head mode by doing time limits etc... that was good enough . I have one plat assassins creed 2 and those feathers were only collected because I felt bad about ezio’s mother.

[@doslover]

"The only thing that mattered in Super Mario World was saving the princess" -- Except for those of us that have to 100% something and get all exits to get the little star on the title screen. FWIW I think it's dumb to have achievements like "Shoot yourself in the foot 367 times" but it's nice to have the one that says "Beat ultra-super-mega-crazy-stupid-hard mode with 100% of the adjectives" on the wall.

[@SteveJoneshorror]

Agreed - Yahtzee's argument fell apart here. Super Mario World specifically had the hidden exit mechanic to encourage exploration/level replay, and the *96 was an achievement badge

[@thepuzzlemaster64]

Would you consider Mega Man 10's "don't get hit for the entire game" achievement good or bad?

[@doslover]

I think difficult (nigh unachievable) achievements are another topic entirely. Just my opinion but if they're ridiculously hard like that one, they're just going to frustrate anyone who cares about achievements and isn't a god-tier gamer, though if it's something reasonably achievable with some skill and dedication (like beat hard mode or similar) would be a better one. On the other end of the spectrum there are the stupidly easy ones like the ones in some of the garbage games on Steam (Play for 1 minute, play for 5 minutes, etc.) that shouldn't provide any sense of accomplishment. I guess smack-dab in the middle would be the lazy ones, like "Beat level 1," "Beat level 2," "Beat level 3," etc. I guess in short I don't mind having record of beating a game, getting all collectibles, 100%'ing a game, collecting all the chaos emeralds or something but I'm personally not going to spend months of my life training to earn a pointless, ridiculously-difficult achievement and I can see how people who live for getting platinum trophies or whatever would be dissuaded by an achievement like that.

[@NO.10162]

@@SteveJoneshorror but shouldn't a game encourage you to keep playing by just being engaging without having to flag a useless prize?

[@SteveJoneshorror]

@@NO.10162 personally, I'm not bothered about accruing achievement flags. I like Super Mario World because I find it engaging, and because it included multiple ways to explore the levels. My main point was that Yahtzee shouldn't have raised that game as an example because it uses an achievement mechanic, so it undermines the point he was trying to make

[@TheBardorp]

The only game(s) I've played where achievements are worth it is Mass Effect where you get in game perks for them.

[@martinoviedo6594]

What? I platinum the 3 games and never noticed jaja

[@seanw1783]

I hated the achievements in Mass Effect 1 where it basically disincentives you from bringing different squaddies (the achievements were to play almost the whole game with each companion, so you had to do 3 full playthroughs)

[@rivercruz9695]

I love hearing Jack make Yahtzee laugh. So precious

[@TheRealHungrySavage]

Yhatzee: "Achievements are bad, incidentally play The Consuming shadows with achievements such as "find all diary pages, get all endings and complete pistol whipper challenge." Stanley Parable is an example I like to reference when it comes to using achievements for fun such as click on door 430 five times.

[@didnt_ask_for_handle]

I like achievements for open ended or rpg games where you need multiple playtroughs to reach all milestones. Achievements gave a good tracker of what I have and have not experienced since the game itself only really keeps track of an individual playtrough

[@dhinkakmed]

Portal 2 did it right with the "This is the part where he kills you" chapter If memory serves it starts with glados saying "Well this is the part where he kills us" Then Weatley on a monitor "Hello, this is the part where I kill you" Then big text on the screen saying "Chapter XX, The part where he kills you" Then with all the perfect comical timing in the universe, the xbox360 achievement pops up with just the words "That part"

[@King-ci8sk]

I love it when he pronounces Jack's full name

[@giantfightingroboto]

Reminds me of that Silent Hill 2 video when you get an achievement near the end, during the most pivotal moment of the game and it just totally ruins the mood

[@scottneil1187]

Then turn off the notification.

[@SirSicCrusader]

I think that's the first time I have heard Jack make Yahtzee laugh... wholesome

[@Stefun8D]

Fact jack is my spirit animal.

[@malachichampion]

"We call those people winners, yahtzee!"

[@diegowushu]

Fact Jack is my favourite anime protagonist. He even dresses like Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon.

[@jessicastrike5640]

On one hand they are damn satisfying to get On the other hand I spent many many hours of my life collecting every single one of those stupid feathers for Ezio’s mother just for an achievement

[@Lankythepyro]

One thing I appreciate about achievements is they can hint you towards unexplored elements of a game. If I could turn off achievement prompts on my first playthrough I might, but the achievements are a good indicator of how much of the content within the game you've experienced. Once I've finished a game is when I start looking to the achievement list to see what rocks I haven't turned over. Some are arbitrary and I'm likely to ignore them, sometimes I see there are alternate endings, sometimes there are achievements for fun stuff I didn't think about trying.

[@kilroy987]

A random achievement popping up makes me feel like a 'did something' or experimented with something that the devs thought of, but I don't go back and try to get all the achievements. I play a game for the narrative it takes me through, and I like the little things that might make me feel more connected to the devs and the community. But for me it's all about the game and its narrative and the experience that gives me. Once the game is done, most of the time, I'm done. Just like going to see a movie - I'm there for the movie, but I like the popcorn and the soda, and everyone else cheering or laughing or reacting to the film. Once the film is done, I spent my money, and I go home.

[@Ming1975]

I felt achievements in games these days are more like a collection hunt at best. But mostly it's just easy bench marks that a gamer normally does while playing anyway.

[@JaggedFel621]

I did 100% achievements for Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, but had to use skills/playstyles that I don't like to finish out the set (I got pretty close naturally, figured "why not" to complete the set). Heck, even Challenges in the recent Hitman trilogy can be more about screwing off then actually playing the game as intended, e.g. "Kill several people (mostly innocent civilians) by poisoning" or similar, vs "Assassinate your target in this humorous way" which I think is perfectly fine.

[@graefx]

"Well that was pointless" kinda right. Yahtzee missed a perfect retort with the scrap booking comparison. Scrapbooking is purely intrinsic, its your own desire and choices to collect whatever is impactful to you, theres no arbitrating body telling you what things to specifically scrapbook about a given activity. Achievements are extrinsic because something besides yourself is telling you what to do

[@joshchu]

achievements are the most annoying thing in the new hitmans since the game need to constantly reminds me all these specific activities I haven't done, now I've lost all my interest to do any of them.

[@AlexOlinkiewicz]

For a few years between my high school years and before I felt comfortable enough to go to college, I was not in the best place and really was isolated. So to help me get through those ruff times I rented games from Gamefly and Trophy Hunted. Currently, I have no-joke collected 337 Platinum Trophies. Thankfully during and after college I now work in Developing games and now don't have time to waste on Trophy Hunting, I still trophy Hunt from time to time, but mostly with games I like now and is more of a rarity.

[@davidharriss3792]

Jack: "Violence solves everything." Me: That's the most true thing I've heard Jack say in any Slightly Civil War. Not that the aftermath of violent solutions is good. It is almost always bad. But it can be used to (badly) solve any problem. I am gladdened to hear others acknowledge this truth.

[@Kaunte]

Problem: Should I go to bed or keep watching KZbin until 3 am? What is your violent solution?

[@a.monach7602]

@@Kaunte You want to watch videos that late? Knock yourself out. No, really.

[@davidharriss3792]

@@Kaunte If your bed is on fire then you cannot sleep in it. If your local internet hub explodes then you cannot watch KZbin. If you are violently killed then your dilemma is over. You probably won't be happy with the results but the problem is solved.

[@Wizard_Level_1]

Achievements are fine as challenges, I think. It can give you a reason to get more out of your game. I don't like achievements for doing the things that you must do to progress the game. Like, achievement for passing tutorial, and then getting one for each chapter, or getting one for unlocking a new gun that was going to happen in the story no matter what. Achievements as interesting challenges is good. As a mundane checklist that tracks your progress through the game? No thanks.

[@BreakingBlake1]

Achievement hunting has been a massive part of my enjoyment of gaming over the last 14 years or so.

[@RakastanPorkkanakakkua]

Unless it is multiplayer. Fuck multiplayer achievements.

[@BreakingBlake1]

@@RakastanPorkkanakakkua Agreed

[@breakinggreens]

*Me and my 230 Platinum trophies:* Nah hate those things

[@prodsegi]

Weird flex but ok.

[@breakinggreens]

@@prodsegi It's the only flex I got, that and being surprisingly bendy.

[@TheSleepiestPlurals]

I think one point that wasn't mentioned is that achievements are proof of what you have accomplished in the game, and you can show them off to people for bragging rights

[@Mythyc]

People brag about achievements?

[@TheSleepiestPlurals]

@@Mythyc I mean, yeah, don't people make achievement hunter videos and streams?

[@NotHPotter]

Given that I would contend the major motivation on the devs' side for achievements is to encourage players to fully explore the worlds the devs created, gonna have to side with Jack on this one. They're innocuous enough that if you don't care for them, then you can ignore them.

[@pienoaji]

everybody gangsta till Fact Jack pull up

[@Jelly_Skelly]

I feel like they should have reached out to the Completionist for this one.

[@robinyodathelilacbunny7419]

I got really into gaming for mental health reasons and achievements kinda ruined it for me. Like right now I am playing Sims 4 to specifically get the Alphabet achievement.

[@scottneil1187]

Got the platinum trophy in just over two hours.

[@luigivercotti6410]

Yeah, pretty much the only value out of achievements is either 1) The description is funny, or 2) There's some meta fuckery going about

[@jafaral-z1090]

fable anniversary is filled with little inside jokes like that and i love it

[@geertl.7624]

@@drunkenhobo8020 (this is that part)

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

​@@drunkenhobo8020 Undertale's platinum trophy name: "Don't you have anything better to do?"

[@woolfieMcP]

Video games are the only ones that validate and appreciate the hard work

[@brettfitzgerald6280]

The best aspect of achievements in video games are the options. You can choose to try to obtain achievements in games you are fond of and disregard the others, you can try for the achievements in every game you play if you're a completionist, and you can ignore them almost entirely if it's not something you care about. I personally get great satisfaction in getting all the achievements in my favorite games but they're by no means all games have to offer, more so additional content you can choose to experience.

[@mervynlan7727]

I just like it when I’m enjoying a game, and the sound of the Xbox achievements just fills the day and give me the feeling of accomplishment.

[@Jagerbomber]

Did EA forget the Pride part?

[@joost0133]

I heard Yahtzee crack up twice, so if if he doesn't seem to be bothered by factjack, he's definitely affected by funnyjack.

[@magicfoxsocks]

I want to agree with Jack, but I've played games I don't care about and played games I didn't like far longer than I needed to just to get that Platinum or 100%. I really miss back when I played games the way I wanted to and never thought about how I didn't find everything or beat the game with every character.

[@windofhorus666]

Yay my suggestion came through! thanks guys great video!

[@DEATHrocket777]

I have trophy notifications turned off. PSN always makes them fucking huge, and half the time they end up covering part of the UI, usually the mini map. In fact, the only notifications I keep on are for whenever people join or leave a party. I don't know what achievements I've earned until I look, if I look, and usually after I've beaten the game at least once. Definitely siding with Yahtzee's statement about the whole thing being arbitrary bullshit, especially after the rework to the trophy system. The new scoring makes no sense, and it's not like you could redeem those points for anything either, it's all just bragging rights. Big whoop.

[@___Nightbreeze]

The only trophies I truly like are usually story/quest-based ones that show certain branches I might be able to return to later, so long as the branches matter. For instance, certain quest paths in Fallout games, or various ending paths in Dark Souls or Sekiro. If the "branch" is "Press button X or Y", then I don't care as much. But for larger separations, I like achievements existing so I can find out easily, so I can experience multiple parts of the game.

[@bigbadsaud3667]

In stalker achievement have some effect was quite worth it like in anomaly there a geologist achievement which increase artifact spawn, and in pripyat the "a friend of stalkers" reduce item price they sell to the lowest possible. My point is that if achievement have some positive effect such as this then maybe it will be worth the time...

[@professoroat1310]

I was going to comment, Fact Jack strikes again! But then I realized, Fact Jack strikes back!

[@elishalacourse]

Mario World adds a Star to the status of your save file, iff you find every exit to every level (just beating the level is not sufficient to get the star)

[@jamesverner9132]

Achievement hunting can offer hints as to what you could do in game.

[@seokkyunhong8812]

I just hate the 50% done achievement. It's meaningless, needless spoiler

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

I hate the ones that want you to do a specific action that you would never do that much throughout the whole game.

[@Wildcard-Jack-47]

@@AlmightyPolarBear yea like killing 3 people while on fire (looking at you ac Valhalla)

[@feckert7301]

It depends on the achievement I feel like. Achievements I like: - ones for completing an optional/secret objective - ones for performing an interesting or complicated skill Achievements I don't like: -multiplayer -missable -requires multiple playthroughs -requires hours/days of grinding (example:kill 1000 rats) Achievements that depend on implementation: -Collection based achievments since these can turn from rewarding to being a grindy/miserable time depending on implementation.

[@mutalord]

Achievments are extra challenges to the base game, they are not needed, but i grants something that the player CHOOSES to do

[@Dr.Death8520]

I like achievements that require effort, that are something you can show off. An achievement for beating a tutorial is worthless. An achievement for beating a secret/optional boss is something to be proud of

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

An achievement/trophy for beating the game without saving, or on the hardest difficulty setting are also worth it.

[@RadishDoctor]

I agree with Yatzee. I mostly have used my achievement lists as roadmaps, but even that's just poor game design (it enables the devs to be lazy and the player to be lazy).

[@PaladinGear15]

(Before watching the video) In my personal opinion, 3000% YES! Achievements extend play time, encourage other play styles, give completionists more to do in fun ways. Besides, humans beings are reward driven creatures, we seek it out and relish it when we get it. Well actually I think all creatures are reward driven creatures, that's why dog trainers carry bite size treats xD

[@fishpop]

Trophies can hamper my enjoyment of a game if i'm incapable of getting them all. Like there's a game you really like but several trophies are for a horde mode nobody played that often. Now the servers have been shut down so those trophies are lost to you forever. Specific example: the Transformers games by High Moon Studios with their Escalation Mode. There were trophies for finishing each map but i could never get that far, even with help.

[@MoogleMecha]

Honestly, I live for Fact Jack.

[@paranoid97_]

I think achievements are a fun side thing, something for the completionists to obsess over. *Because* they exist separate room the game they don't directly affect game progression or the reward cycle Yahtzee mentions.

[@muhammadfaizmohdnasiruddin9854]

Only if the achievements themselves reward the player with an advantageous item, like for instance you got all 99 stars and so you are rewarded a pair of flaming boots that does fire damage everytime you jump on enemies. The rewards gets better and better the harder the achievements are.

[@norbertcsorba4639]

Achievements (and the list itself) are good for players (especially me) how miss like 60% of the game after finishing it. How remembers old GTA games where the side content (not collectibles) are literary hidden

[@landotucker]

10:11 That's the the first time I've heard yahtzee laugh, even slightly

[@williamcollings7214]

I got the video in my suggestions but it's not listed on the videos page of the channel, how interesting.

[@RpiesSPIES]

Yahtzee, I feel achievements are more than just the pointless number shown on newer systems and pc clients. Older games had achievements on doing special things in certain ways and gave actual ingame rewards for it. Notably Goldeneye 007 with cheats and even Madden '06 where clearing many challenges would unlock joke teams and other stuff of the sort. They used to be great incentives but just devolved to bragging rights and watered down some games with oversaturated collectables that mean nothing.

[@come_on_munster]

The ad on this video for me is a casino 😂😂😂

[@videakias3000]

achievements in tf2 helped me practise and become a better player. achievements can be good if done right. I am not saying that all tf2's achievements are good,medic had some of the worst achievements,many of them depended either on my teamates or my enemies,also there were achievements that rewarded bad behaviour and playing with shitty weapons.

[@jaceti115111]

I feel like achievements built into the game have a point, like when they unlock extra skins or new characters e.g. into the breach

[@JustJulyo]

Damn I'll actually have to check the podcast for this one

[@OtherMomo]

the more 'extra bits' in a game, the less likely i am to re-play it. i aint got time for that kinda experience more than once per title

[@MegaKootz]

Achievements show us the same as everything else. When well intended and distributed sparingly they can be extremely rewarding. When employed greedily or lazily, as is the way for humans, it can become nearly an insult. This is life, some people make millions sitting and inheriting from relatives, some work for their lives to earn a million. In the end, Nothing matters but how you perceive it and your own beating heart.

[@kerbal666]

Ok, when you say achieved gold in Time Splitters you won a new skin or map so there your incentive. Now when you get a diamond achievement on Xbox for doing something you only get a % telling who else has gone this. So what?! Also, achievements are so inconsistent, in some games you get 5 points for pulling off a really hard move a few times, and then in another game, you get 20 points for finishing every flipping level! (one game gave you one for bloody pausing) It's like getting a participation trophy in a video game. Rubbish at best and bloody condescending at worst.

[@chadrydjord829]

Fact Jack knows he is in fact a very popular character

[@TamTroll]

I wouldn't say achievements are bad. They can be used to promote different playstyles or objectives you may not have tried on your first go around. defeating enemies with a certain hero you ignored, picking options you didn't take the first time, giving you a goal to strive towards. All things that can give you a completely different experience in the game and make it last even longer in your heart and library.

[@Darth_Billy]

My friend always says “100%-ing a game” when he really means platinuming a game. It’s so annoying because I don’t really care about the trophies and especially in games where you don’t actually have to do everything in a game for the platinum.

[@LAHFaust]

The Bethesda games are a fantastic example of games you can platinum without doing everything the game has to offer.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

@@LAHFaust Ain't no one got time to do everything in Elder Scrolls V or Fallout 4.

[@LAHFaust]

@@AlmightyPolarBear you'd be surprised by how few quests there actually are in those games besides the main story and guilds/houses.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

@@LAHFaust Then what else is there? The Platinum wants you to do various quests. Save money, get bounties, level up a skill high and more I think.

[@LAHFaust]

@@AlmightyPolarBear the side quests trophy only covers about a third of them. It also doesn't cover unmarked quests (like the missing person in Rorikstead).

[@PasCorrect]

Sometimes achievements make characters behave in ways that make no narrative sense. The main character in Red Dead Redemption 2 should, realistically, have a few outfits for different weather conditions. But if you make him collect every single item of clothing, you turn him into a serious fashionista with a gym-sized walk-in closet and motorized shoe carousel.

[@bird3713]

I 100% all the achievements in the Starcraft 2 single player campaigns. I have not felt the urge to do any achievement hunting whatsoever outside of this - I even only did the later campaigns because I did it with the first one.

[@CrushedParagon]

I think if done right achievements can be a good way to have players play their game in fun new ways they probably wouldn't have otherwise. However, most achievements seem to be given for doing tedious garbage for far too long to be fun.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory's Defeat 100'000 enemies. You can do all the other things and only be two-thirds to that. A real boring grinding in a fun rhythm game.

[@freeze-frames]

I never like to bother with achievements, they just tend to break my emersion in a game.

[@thedavischanger]

It's been decades now, but I forget at exactly what point I gave up on onehundredpercenting Yoshi's Island. At some point the investment exceeds the reward and you just have to bail out. Like with Antihero last night, after Gashford beat me for the fourth time I realized that Antihero was no longer fun for me and there was no point in completing the game on Hard difficulty (Antihero is fun overall, just have the awareness to realize when you are wasting your time with something optional). Maybe now I can finish Styx: Master of Shadows. I don't need to complete every level getting all the collectibles as a fleet-footed, unseen pacifist.

[@DawnRansome]

I like achievements because sometimes when it explains how to get it, I might go "I didn't even know that was a feature in the game!" Those kind of achievements that highlight often missed or unexplored things in a game are the kind I like.

[@philzan3627]

In World Of Warcraft WOTLK, when achievements were introduced I can confidently say that it truly added another fun dimension to the game and even fun challenges. There were the arbitrary ones, and frankly nobody cares if you did 10 dungeons. But often times, you would get some manner of swag like a prefix or suffix title which was quite fun. So achievements can provide a nice and even refreshing take on a game.

[@yobogoya4367]

I agree to a point. WoW's system is great. Achievements that actually reward something rather than just saying you did something are awesome. But I think this subject is more about PlayStation and Xbox achievements that just give you a sound and a +1 to your achievement counter.

[@The_Murder_Party]

I think I agreed with jack, but never any of his actual points, that feels like cause for concern.

[@johnhein2539]

Yahtzee picks the harder (more wrong) stance, and then is usually smart enough to argue well for it.

[@LuciferSpiro1993]

Do this (and realise there is more to the game than you thought) achievements have a use, like the door clicking one in Stanley Parable. The achievement says click the door 5 times, but that just starts a hidden quest. Do random pointless thing a bunch of times (because we want to see how many people will do it) achievements are pointless, like that time I fed myself to a shark in GTA V because the achievement told me to...

[@kieranitefm1129]

I'm an achievement hunter, but even I think they can be unnecessary at times. I got one in minecraft today that was for cooking and eating a rabbit. Cooking, and eating, a rabbit. Ridiculous. But then there are are achievements, like say Xcom 2's complete the game by July 1st on Commander+ Difficulty, that I think are excellent because that achievement insensitives you to get better at a game you enjoy. To keep playing and grow your skill. But yes, some achievements are absolute rubbish. Some of them even ruin some moments (looking at you shadow of collosus)

[@napalmkitty6686]

Im doing dark souls on my 360 for the first time and like.. im enjoying the shit out of it and i just unlocked anor londo along with a achievement but... i didnt even care when it popped up i was just enjoying the natural game. Flipside though is that when i played postal 2 i couldnt help myself and got like at least 75% of it.

[@zhazan42]

what about the special world in super mario world snes where there wasn't a purpose to beating the extremely hard levels after already unlocking every colour of yoshi? It was an achievement to show your talent in beating the difficult levels.

[@Xfushion2]

I honestly don't care about archivements at all, if I get one it doesn't really matter and I don't even browse the game's achievement list. The only instance I even care about them is if there's is an in game reward for them like in an RPG getting an OP armor, weapon or something and even then I care because the game itself rewards me with it's own system not because a pop-up giving me an arbitrary number of points that at the end does not amount to anything.

[@SparrowwithaMachinegun]

Currently grinding for the "The Best of the Best of the Best" achivement in Sniper Elite 4 I completly agree, achievments are stupid.

[@Luos_83]

hey hey 1:45 - 2:00 epilepsy warning.

[@karsensine-garza1913]

Then there's the Seriously Achievements in the Gears of War franchise which all of them take over 200 or more hours to get.

[@danmack3173]

Oh you guys liked that Razbuten video too?

[@RemedyXer0]

Yahtzee: God of Shredding, Jack: King of Mental Gynastics xD

[@RoVirus]

I like when achievements give you a reward on a game though... Like recon on halo 3