Gamerscore Whore… Are You One?
English_C6H6 over at 2Old2Play admits he’s a bit of an Xbox 360 gamerscore whore (that’s the first step: admitting you have a problem) and has posted an interesting little rant about what things Xbox can do to make the achievement system better. Here’s an abbreviated version of his suggestions:
1. Balancing. This is already happening. Look at achievement lists and compare current games such as GoW or R6:Vegas to initial games such as Burnout Revenge or King Kong.
2. Realistic online achievements. I understand why achievements are in ranked matches, but make it easier to play FAIR ranked matches with people I don't hate.
3. Don't break the mood. I love seeing that little icon, but sometimes it snaps me out of an immersive experience and reminds me that it's just a game. Be smart about when that pop-up happens. ...
4. Drop the Arcade Demos. … Once you try a game, if you don't buy it, you automatically leave 200 points unfulfilled. … I hated Joust for XBLA, even though I loved the original, why punish my already pitiful score with another sandbag?
As an achievement lover myself (I wouldn’t say I’m a “whore” though, as I have not racked up enough achievements for me to be considered debauched by them… yet), I agree with these ideas. Achievements should be a balance of rewarding the player for playing through the game normally mixed in with a few crazy ones for those who go the extra mile – not just one or the other. And multiplayer achievements should not be damn-near-impossible-to-get-unless-you're-a-middle- aged-dude-who-lives-in-mom’s-basement hard. I can’t even play a friendly game of UNO without being heckled by some smack-talkin’ schmuck with a Gears icon. Meanwhile, my own icon is the standard cute panda that clearly just wants to play nice with others. Why would anyone be mean to a panda?
X360: Gamer Score Whoring [2Old2Play]
Lazy Panda
Posted to Video Games on 27 January 2007
· Comments (5)
Other stuff like this: achievements, gamerscore, points, xbox 360, xbox live
Haha, no way! Tonight I watched a film called 'Shark Attack' on DVD which I rented from the local DVD shop, (a fairly good B-movie, made by a tiny studio but not really distributed too much) and the cover of it uses the exact same image you've used here for your panda-tastic shark attack scene.
I just came away from watching it as well, which adds to the amusement factor.
We get a fair few X-Box 360 players at work (probably because those are the only consoles we have there) and have heard snippets of discussion/bragging regarding these achievements, although I don't own an X-Box 360 myself, so I can't really say I am one of the aforementioned whores!
i dont own a 360, so im not too informed about the achievement points. but they sound like they're turning XBLA into an MMORPG. where all people care about is their character's experience and nothing else
I really don't care about my gamerscore. Really, it's only there as a nice side bonus to the gaming experience on the 360.
But, if it doesn't, like, unlock exclusive content in a game or something I couldn't care less.
"4. Drop the Arcade Demos. … Once you try a game, if you don't buy it, you automatically leave 200 points unfulfilled. … I hated Joust for XBLA, even though I loved the original, why punish my already pitiful score with another sandbag?"
I agree.
I've thought #4 many times. I've got a ton of demos cluttering up my games list.