NOTE: I’m going to use 360 terminologies in this article, because that is what I play.  It will undoubtedly apply to the PS3’s Trophy system as well, though.

Not too long ago kids would gather in the school cafeteria and talk about the latest game they had played.  They discussed strategies.  They bragged about how far they gotten without dying.  They called ‘BS’ when somebody claimed to have made a complete run on release day.  Games were played because they were fun.

Then Microsoft introduced Achievements and the whole thing went to hell in a hand basket.

There is no way I can go on the interwebz and even hint that the Achievement system may have problems without getting flamed, so I’ll go ahead and slip on my Nomex underwear while you follow the cut.

Years ago I played games for fun.  All my friends played games for fun.  All their friends played games for fun.  It was all we had in games.  If a game wasn’t fun what point was there to playing it?

Now, if you look around the Internet you will find several sites dedicated solely to the accumulation of Achievements and GamerScore.  Within these sites resides a new breed of gamer, the “Achievement Whore”.  Everybody has run across this little fellow.  He’s the one who plays constantly, chasing the next increase to his ePenis through GamerScore.  His entire self-worth as a gamer is tied up in a random number that nobody else cares about.  His GamerCard is full of games that offer easy 1000’s, but are usually not worthy of playing past the completion of the GamerScore acquisition.

I am familiar with this type of gamer, because for several weeks I was this gamer.  In late 2007 I started actively trying to increase my GamerScore.  Not a bad thing, in and of itself.  I realized I had crossed the line, however, as I sealed Avatar back up in the GameFly envelope.  Avatar is not really a good game, but has the singular distinction of being able to get the full 1000 points in less than 5 minutes (INCLUDING the intro cut scene).  I had crossed the line to become a gamer that played only for points, not for the game, and I wasn’t alone.  I know there are many people with this game on their cards.

Wait . . . what?  Are we so eager to pad our numbers that we are willing to play games we wouldn’t have thought twice about if they didn’t have Achievements?  Is this the message we want to send to developers and publishers?  Do we really want to reward them by buying and playing games with minimal entertainment value just because they pad our GamerScore easily?  Doing so means we will likely see an increase in these games filling the shelves.  Unfortunately, Avatar isn’t the only game out there guilty of this.  It’s just the most infamous.

Publishers know when a game is weak; they have been doing this long enough that they can tell if a game is likely to be a commercial success because it is good or because it simply has a good license.  Allowing them to pass off generic, poorly designed, poorly programmed games on us simply because they have easy points ensures that they will continue to do so.

This isn’t a problem with the Achievement system, but is really more of a problem with a certain type of player.  If you don’t mind half-assed games with a weak reward system, then by all means be that player.  If, however, you care about your games and want to reward quality, think about the real reason you may be going for those points.   Just remember when you are chasing those points that publishers are watching and taking notes on what you are willing to do to get them.  Don’t tell the publishers we will accept tripe in exchange for points.

Achievements are great, and there is nothing wrong with easy to obtain Achievements as long as the game is fun to play, and gives us a reason to play long enough to get our money’s worth as well.  We should think of Achievements as additional value for a game, as something that enhances the game play experience, not replaces it.