Achievements (GFWL and/or WP7/8)
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Any chance of a release that will have some type of achievements? I don't know how hard and/or expensive it is to get a game to be a Game for Windows Live, but I'd gladly pay double for a BG1 copy that gives me an excuse to play it again for achievements. I mention Windows Phone 7/8 as that would be another route that also would make it portable (but I think that version is limited to 200 GS, which is an insulting amount for a game with this much content).
I like RPGs, and am a sucker for both achievements and nostalgia; BG1 with achievements would get me on all fronts.
Just to be clear, I know alot of people hate GFWL, I don't want it to be mandatory, I want it to be optional (or a seperate version, which may be necessary anyway if you have to charge extra to cover licensing and/or production fees to make it a GFWL).
I like RPGs, and am a sucker for both achievements and nostalgia; BG1 with achievements would get me on all fronts.
Just to be clear, I know alot of people hate GFWL, I don't want it to be mandatory, I want it to be optional (or a seperate version, which may be necessary anyway if you have to charge extra to cover licensing and/or production fees to make it a GFWL).
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Achievements and non-traditional expansion "DLC's" ruin gaming. Game too hard? spend 10$ and get this awesome game you will never replace at the very start of the game!!!!!
Most people refuse to even play old hard games now because they don't have patience or they are too hard.
Achievements offer just that: ways to have some extra challenge and i think, they are a good way to add replay value.
What would change if there were some "finish the game in solo mode" or "finish the game without using magical items" or "save up 30k gold" or whatever achievements added?
I can't see that hurting the game in any way. It just adds some self-imposing challenge-propositions to the game (for those that don't challenge themselves this way already).
Seeing as how I asked if achievements could be a separate, entirely optional, and possibly completely different release: getting on here to complain about my request makes you look like a jerk whose only purpose in life is to tell everyone how they're doing it wrong when they don't enjoy something exactly the way you do.
I've already beaten the original BGs about 5-7 times each, so it's not anything all that new to me. I've played plenty of old and/or hard games, but I am also an achievement chaser. I'll get around to replaying it again at some point. Achievements would simply accelerate that time table from "within the next 3 years" to "within the next 3 weeks."
I'll agree with you on the DLC thing; I hate it when companies seem to actually hold back on the game just so they can release DLC and get more money out of you. But bitching about something extra that does not in any way impact your regular gaming experience, thereby making your only purpose to be raining on other people's fun? That just makes you look like a petty douche.
And btw Zanath: I may be an achievements whore; but I only go for it on games I actually care about. i.e. I have 1k/1k on Vesperia (200+ hours) but I haven't touched Avatar (takes about 5 minutes). I like having something extra to do on a game I already like, and I think that is how most people are, otherwise every person on XBL would have 1k/1k on Avatar: The Burning Earth.
In fact, if anything, the achievement whores are the most likely audience to be ignored, as they are only going to be renting the easy achievement games. Seriously, when is the last time you heard someone say "oh dude, this new game is going to let me get 1k GS in like 5 minutes, I've gotta go spend $60 on it." Never, it's more likely "I'm going to rent the easy one, then spend my $60 on a copy of a good/deep game (like BG1) that I can take my time playing"
Challenges:
The Reaper - Complete game with no party deaths
Immortal - Complete game with no PC deaths
6'4" - Complete the game with no save file
I'm too Hardcore for my shirt - Complete the challenges above in one play through
One is the loneliest number - Complete game with only PC
Sticky Situation - Divide a green slime 6x before you kill it/them
Achivments:
Level 4 - Die to spider venom
The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything. -Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
As for the rest of you; if you don't like achievements, that is fine, but it will also have ZERO IMPACT on your own gaming experience, so stop bitching about it. This is not a poll or a place to start an argument about how people who enjoy their games differently than you are all wrong.
I loved this game and would consider it an honor to have it (and BG2, and PST) all up on my Live Account at 1,000/1,000, even if I have to sink hundreds of hours into it to do so.
What I am partially looking for; however, is some type of response as to how difficult/costly/likely it would be to implement (via GFWL or whatever). This is the part where I'm looking for a response from a developer, and not a random player that is whining about something that does not affect him/her.
anyway, achievements are one of the stupidest gaming inventions of the 21th century (especially the ones you get for simply PLAYING THE GAME, this is beyond retarded).
unlockables for completing challenges, but no point- and rewardless achievement crap!
As for the awarding of achievements, you'd have to insert the commands into source code and/or script files (which the company would basically need the access/rights to in order to make the changes they've already made so far).
The commands are likely fairly simple, as you could get them in Fallout 3's PC version with a single console command. I figure something along the lines of inserting this into the script/function that runs when you beat the last boss (in pseudo-code):
if difficulty is greater than or equal to insane, and achievementX has not yet been obtained, award achievementX
Would award an achievement if you beat the last boss on difficulty "Insane." Some type of commands are likely already built into the GFWL API since achievements seem to be mandatory in that system (If any of you saw my earlier example, I changed it from C++ to pseudo-code as a syntax specific example is largely irrelevant in this context).
Unnecessary code examples aside: I'd expect the worst/hardest part about getting a game on Steam or GFWL likely comes from the red-tape, paperwork, and/or licensing fees. Though I've seen games that support both, so I can't imagine it must be too terrible a task, but that could depend on the size of the company doing it, and if they have prior history with either/both service(s), and how many games they are putting on it/them.
don't know whether it was already asked, cannot browse 72 pages of search results effectively, but what about Achievement badges?
* Bronze badges: Easy-to-reach ones i.e. some side-quests, main quest milestones.
* Silver badges: Harder to reach ones, like ones for a normal playthrough or romances.
* Gold badges: Intended for certain, possibly well known hard-to-achieve challenges.
What about some achievements that even can only be achieved in BG:EE but can be carried over to BG2:EE or what about achievement that can only be obtained by completing some things through the whole trilogy?
I think they are overrated and pointless. A gimmick. Isn't beating the game the achievement? We didn't need achievements back in the 80s and 90s, there was a thing called the game score, experience, level, or spendable character upgrade points. Are people going to play BG:EE with more intensity than before? What, exactly, would be the purpose aside from giving the player some sort of extended e-peen, or whatever they call it?
I do think the achievement thing is sort of an encouragement to play games that have them or whatnot (maybe it's also for bragging rights?). I just play games and don't really think about the trophy case, myself.
Trophies, more often than not, force a player to do a certain thing in order to obtain it; which would probably be fine if the player isn't a completionist (unfortunately, there are a lot more completionists than most people would like to think). Even if that thing goes against the player's play style.
If there was an achievement for using werebears in order to kill Drizzt, most
peopletrophy hunters would do that just for the sake of getting the trophy rather than actually wanting to do it. In essence, the game becomes more about wanting to collect trophies rather than actually enjoying the game.A typical example of how silly they are, or can be: in Grand Theft Auto IV, there is an achievement for flying under all the bridges. I discovered it by flying under one of the bridges, because I was exploring. I didn't even know there was an achievement for that. Another example, once the XBox One was revealed, there is a I guy I know who decided that he was going to get one, even with all the negativity. His answer, "because my Live Gamerscore means too much to me to just give it up."
It would be different if the 'trophy' actually unlocked something, rather than giving the player some '+rep' for their 'gamer score'. Unlock some in-game concept art, added bonuses, or areas if certain criteria are met, but leave these Steam and Live 'achievements' out of it.
/end rant
The idea of modern achievements being unlocked and stored/synchronised on a remote host/cloud, means you cannot simply download a save game and have all the achievements unlocked (people who try to hack a gamer score or achievements on most services will be banned form those respective services), as they only unlock once you actually activate the trigger for the reward.
It's perfect in theory.
As you say, though, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Most, if not all, achievements these days are rewarded for just doing stuff that you would do normally, either as part of the main game or as part of the exploration in-game. Saints Row: The Third example. Most of the rewards on that list are obtained from just playing the game normally with very little deviation, simply by completing the missions in order.
Problem is, these days people seem content with having a Steam level (Steam has levels now?! What is the world coming to... I knew it had a gamer score before, but now it actually has experience and levels), Live Gamerscore, or PSN Trophies (even to the detriment of common sense in some cases, it seems). The execution isn't going to change any time soon.
People seem to put a lot of weight on those respective scorecards... and I honestly have no idea why.
The badge crafting itself is actually more useful then any steam achievement, since it tends to give you special theme items associated with the game you created the badge for, which can then be either used or traded via the market for steam-cash to buy games or other cards with.
If you particularly fond of a game or grown attached to its characters, then you would enjoy official art for one or both of these things.
Plus we had a similar idea for Black Pits somewhere in these forums. Where beating it would unlock features introduced into the original BG game. Not that the OP was offering the idea as a 'pop-up: you earned 15p' achievement system. But it is a reward of sorts.
Apparently the Steam levels and EXP can allow coupons or special deals. I know of a few people who are actively buying and playing games that they wouldn't normally bother with, just so they can level up and get coupons for the games that they do want. Which is as ridiculous as it sounds, because the amount of money they are currently spending wouldn't equate to the savings they think they are going to make (they would be better off buying the game when it is on sale rather than buying 10 other games in the hope of getting a 50%-or 75%-off coupon on their desired game in the future). Oh, and people are going around begging for cards or telling me to vote on something so that I can give them my cards since I won't be using them.
I don't understand any of this modern gaming...
I think a level 1 client can have like 50 friend slots or so...and it goes up from there.
You simply earn so many by just playing the game, after which you become eligible to potentially receive booster packs which allow you to earn more, which can then be traded or sold on the market (it's an interesting system....I've actually bought 4 games purely through selling cards, skins, or emoticons, without spending any money on cards themselves).
As long as the games you play frequently have badges/cards associated with them, you don't have to do anything special...you'll just periodically get messages of items being added to your inventory. the only games I've really bothered collecting cards for has been Don't Starve and M&B:Warband, since I play them often enough to earn frequent card drops. Other games I play less often, I just sell whatever cards I earn. The emoticons and stuff though are completely uninteresting to me and I always sell those. (you can sometimes get several dollars for them, though typically .50 is much more common).
When you create or level up a badge, it gives a few fluff items to decorate your steam client with related to the game you made the badge of, as well as a RANDOM coupon for a game no one wants (99.9% of the time) that is only valid for a couple days and cannot be sold on the market (they can be traded however....though I've yet to receive anything worth a damn, so no one has been interested in trading).
The steam-achievements themselves, do absolutely nothing, and have no barring at all on the card/badge system.
yeah....I see no point in achievements either. They're entirely bragging rights rewards...nothing else. And even then, it's so easy to cheat the system, there's really no incentive to collect them.