Trophies discussion

Pickpocket

That_Guy wrote: »

Opted for Battlefield 4/Hardline bundle for €8.99 last night. Good bargain but by all accounts, Hardline is absolute garbage.

Might be a few easy trophies nonetheless.

Would you honestly sit through a game you didn't like just for a few extra trophies on your profile. I find that utterly bizarre, although I'm fairly biased because I think trophies and achievements are one of the the worst ideas the industry has ever had.

That_Guy

Pickpocket wrote: »

Would you honestly sit through a game you didn't like just for a few extra trophies on your profile. I find that utterly bizarre, although I'm fairly biased because I think trophies and achievements are one of the the worst ideas the industry has ever had.

Well, no. The amount of games I've started, hated and didn't finish exceeds the games I've completed by a long distance.

Same could happen with Hardline but at that price for 2 games, I figure I'll give it a go.

I like trophies/achievements sure but they're not the reason I play games. Even if it was, would you really lose out on sleep over it?

van_beano

Pickpocket wrote: »

Would you honestly sit through a game you didn't like just for a few extra trophies on your profile. I find that utterly bizarre, although I'm fairly biased because I think trophies and achievements are one of the the worst ideas the industry has ever had.

I'd be on the opposite side, I think the trophies/achievements idea was good. By achieving a Platinum in a game then there's a good chance that you've gone out of your way to experience everything (at least once) that that game has to offer from side missions to beating the game under a certain time etc. It adds an extra bit of something to a game for a person who wishes to pursue these trophies like finally achieving a requisite lap time by a millisecond in Need for Speed or beating Spec Ops on FUBAR difficulty.

Or maybe I'm just a bit anal about not getting the Platinum or 100% in a game.

Pickpocket

That_Guy wrote: »

Even if it was, would you really lose out on sleep over it?

It was an honest question to what I consider a rather unusual statement. No need to be bitchy.

Edit: In fact, I shouldn't be acting bitchy. I was genuinely interested. I certainly wasn't trying to nitpick.

Pickpocket

van_beano wrote: »

I'd be on the opposite side, I think the trophies/achievements idea was good. By achieving a Platinum in a game then there's a good chance that you've gone out of your way to experience everything (at least once) that that game has to offer from side missions to beating the game under a certain time etc. It adds an extra bit of something to a game for a person who wishes to pursue these trophies like finally achieving a requisite lap time by a millisecond in Need for Speed or beating Spec Ops on FUBAR difficulty.

Or maybe I'm just a bit anal about not getting the Platinum or 100% in a game.

I guess I don't really have a problem with achievements that call for certain things to be done. For example, 'get 100 head-shots with this weapon', etc. They can be a test of skill and add longevity to the game. They're not for me but I can certainly see the attraction.

I'm more specifically thinking of the random achievements that pop up because you simply done something, perhaps involuntarily, during the course of the game. For example, scoring your first goal in FIFA. Pointless, irritating and patronising.

In relation to earning a Platinum. Are all games very specific about what needs to be done to achieve it? I'm thinking of something I read about Dark Souls 3. This could be incorrect, but apparently if you beat the game three times you get a Platinum irrespective of what you've achieved or done along the way.

Now beating DS3 is no joke, but in my own playthrough I summoned for about 40% of the bosses and only followed one quest through through to completion. In theory I could do that twice more and earn a Platinum, and while it would be increasingly difficult to beat the game each time and amount to a significant effort, I still wouldn't have been to every corner of the game, completed all the quests or beaten all the bosses on my own. I wouldn't deserve a Platinum in the way that someone who absolutely smashed the game inside out would.

Is that true for any other games? If so, does it not undermine the whole idea of a Platinum?

Anyway, I can't help be cynical about the whole thing. It always struck me as a way for publishers to get people playing the games for longer thus keeping the games out of the pre-owned section.

I heard that achievements started with the Xbox 360. If that's true I wouldn't be one bit surprised given Microsoft's other attempts to kill the pre-owned industry.

van_beano

Platinum's can only be earned once you get all the other trophies such as 100 killshots or beat the game under certain difficulty.etc. The Platinum is generally the final trophy you get. There's generally between 30 to 60 trophies before the Platinum. Beating Dark Souls will get you one trophy, you don't get repeating trophies. Some games require multiple playthroughs to get Platinum, "DMC - Devil May Cry" took 5 playthroughs on each difficulty, some trophies can be very challenging. Once I get Platinum or 100% (as some shorter games don't have a Platinum ie Gone Home), I close the game, save my save file to the cloud and delete the game, never to be played again.

Skerries

Clear Hearts

van_beano wrote: »

I'd be on the opposite side, I think the trophies/achievements idea was good. By achieving a Platinum in a game then there's a good chance that you've gone out of your way to experience everything (at least once) that that game has to offer from side missions to beating the game under a certain time etc. It adds an extra bit of something to a game for a person who wishes to pursue these trophies like finally achieving a requisite lap time by a millisecond in Need for Speed or beating Spec Ops on FUBAR difficulty.

Or maybe I'm just a bit anal about not getting the Platinum or 100% in a game.

I go for platinum games I really enjoy, I feel I get way more out of the game, rather than just completing the game

Clear Hearts

Hadlee Quaint Sushi wrote: »

I don't play for trophies at all. But if I play a game and found it very enjoyable, I'd say to myself "it deserves a platinum", so I'd then go trophy hunting and experience everything the game has to offer.

I am on the brink of completely giving up on trophies though, I spent around 200hrs on the witcher 3, 100 of which I probably wouldn't have done if I wasn't going for the platinum (I still completely enjoyed every second) but it looks like I won't be getting one trophy because of a bug. I emailed the developers who are legends, hopefully they'll help me out.

Is it the stupid card trophy, Ive put a similar amount of time into the Witcher

ItsHoggie

Hadlee Quaint Sushi wrote: »

Yes it is that exact trophy and that only! Very annoying, I followed all the guides for the trophy yet and I am 3 cards away from getting it but nobody will play me anymore or award me with a card if I beat them. I've travelled to every single merchant/trader/smith/innkeeper in the game in search for the last 3. One of the 3 should be bought in an innkeep but it is not there for some reason.

I'm sure some of the cards were missable, so if you lost or went to far in the story the opportunity to get them would be gone.

johnny_ultimate

Mod note: have broken this off into a separate thread given it didn't really belong in the bargains thread. Feel free to use it for any trophies related discussion, queries etc... in the future

johnny_ultimate

van_beano wrote: »

By achieving a Platinum in a game then there's a good chance that you've gone out of your way to experience everything (at least once) that that game has to offer from side missions to beating the game under a certain time etc.

This is not only where I have an issue with trophies, but in fact certain trends in contemporary game design. The thing is, with a handful of exceptions, a significant portion of the '100%' content a game has to offer is filler. Mindless, unnecessary filler that ultimately serves little purpose than to distract the player and waste their time. Side missions are a particularly good example: open world games often contain incredible amounts of truly worthless content that just repeats itself. There are some exceptions, sure - some of the more substantial side quests in The Witcher 3, for example. But there's so much bloat inherent in contemporary AAA game design that I don't feel any obligation whatsoever to experience it all, and in some cases think it's straight-up disrespectful of the developer / publisher to try and encourage players to play through so much empty content. Most Ubisoft games are particularly bad offenders in this regard. I am a big believer in a school of game design where the only content is the content that legitimately advances the depth of the mechanics, story etc (<3 The Witness), and very few trophy sets IMO achieve that.

Trophies to have their place, I must stress, when they're well designed. Indeed, in rare cases they can enhance the experience. Perhaps to point you towards some worthwhile secrets (Uncharted 4's hidden trophies hide a few pleasant little surprises) or to legitimately test your skills (I hold Bayonetta up as an example of a game where the achievement / trophy set encourages experimentation. Resogun ditto). I also find the completion percentages a fascinating global survey of the way people play games, especially in something like Dark Souls :pac:

But yeah, trophies that get you do the same thing over and over without fundamentally revealing any new nuances or depth to the game are IMO a symptom of a more prevalent trend where some games have a worrying lack of respect for our time as players.

Kobe248

I think the repetition trophies are so frickin annoying

Trophies that come from doing side quests Ive no problem with infact I welcome them

Trophies from playing on the hardest difficulty as well have a place in gaming

TheZPPanda

Before trophies ever existed I would always try to 100% and see everything a game has to offer. Obtaining trophies for doing extra stuff gives me a sense of progression which I enjoy.

I've never understood the argument "I wouldn't do all that for a virtual trophy" considering we all play video games which at their core equate to manipulating virtual images on a screen with a series of inputs.

Pickpocket

TheZPPanda wrote: »

I've never understood the argument "I wouldn't do all that for a virtual trophy" considering we all play video games which at their core equate to manipulating virtual images on a screen with a series of inputs.

Can you elaborate on that? I don't really understand what you mean.

Plus I've never heard anyone use the term 'virtual trophy'.

Sephiroth_dude

I love "trophy hunting" as I like to call, got really into two years ago,I love looking at the trophy lists of new games and seeing how hard they it will be to get the plat.

Penn

Generally if a game I've finished all the main stuff on but still enjoy playing starts to get a bit boring, I'll check out the trophy list and see what's left to do, and use going for those trophies as a reason to keep playing the game.

I've 7 Platinums I think. One or two are from some of the Telltale games which just gives you a platinum for finishing the main story anyway. One from Lego Marvel Superheroes (because my nephew wanted me to unlock all the characters). The first two Batman ones (was pretty much bedridden a few years ago for 2 weeks so used the challenge rooms and riddler trophies to keep myself occupied) and Assassin's Creed 2. Was one trophy off the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Plat too but it basically required organised boosting online in multiplayer so didn't bother. And Infamous: Second Son, because I really enjoyed playing the game so used the trophies for longevity.

Going for trophies, especially ones for games you enjoy playing can definitely add to the experience as some of them require you to go outside your comfort zone and do things in a different way. However some trophies can f*ck off, particularly multiplayer ones where, considering the time some other people who you'll likely be up against put into games, means you'll likely never get it or will hate the game by the time you do.

uprooted tradition

To me, trophies do no harm so they may as well be there as not.

On balance I like them but I do find it kind of bewildering when you get a trophy for no other achievement that turning on the game, but mostly when I see "You won a trophy" I find that I have to go to the screen to find out what I got it for.

Where they can really mean something to me is when I have finished a game I really like, don't have anything else to play afterwards so i keep on going looking for them. Some of them can be kind of fun and some of them can feel like genuine achievements and in games like, for instance Uncharted 4, they can be a good way of really exploring the world of the game.

They are not the difference between liking a game and not but they can enhance the experience of a game that you do enjoy.

Creamy Goodness

I don't mind them but I'll never go out of my way to achieve them. there's far worse things in gaming (cough, DLC, cough) than to be worried about people who buy games to get trophies or play to achieve all trophies.

wandatowell

I not pushed by trophies. I finish a game, then have a quick look at the trophies. If a few look easy I'll try get them.

It's extends my gaming experience by a few hours.

Occasionally there'll be a game that I love that I'll try platinum (The witcher 3) but they are few and far between.

Kobe248

wandatowell wrote: »

I not pushed by trophies. I finish a game, then have a quick look at the trophies. If a few look easy I'll try get them.

It's extends my gaming experience by a few hours.

Occasionally there'll be a game that I love that I'll try platinum (The witcher 3) but they are few and far between.

This is it

Trophies add a few extra hours

Get a little bit more value out of games

EoinHef

Never bothered with trophies or platinums,ive found most require mind numbing repetition or extremely boring tasks.

Someone on the general games forum said he wouldnt buy a PS4 even though he wanted one as if he bought the Sony console he would not be able to bring his gaming score with him from Xbox....crazy for some virtual trophies IMO.

Each to their own and fair enough if you like getting them but some people take it too far,also IMO.

Varik

Got platinum on Destiny there during the weekend, first one in over a year.

Don't have much time for it and barely finish games now.

Kash

I always liked to 100% my favourite games before trophies - but only if they don't require multiple play-throughs. I hate playing back through a game at a harder difficulty. I also don't like the 'kill 500 people with weapon x, weapon y, weapon z' etc. etc. as it gets so dull.

The ones which show some skill, or you get for exploring everywhere/trying everything - then yes, i'll go for plat and get a few more hours out of the game.

I also love the inane trophies (Home-Run in Fallout 4, or I'm a Little Teapot in Lego Superheroes etc.)

Penn

Kash wrote: »

I always liked to 100% my favourite games before trophies - but only if they don't require multiple play-throughs.

Yeah, used to love fully completing a game and unlocking everything just because you could do it without stupid requirements like multiplayer trophies or "Beat this boss using only this type of move in less than 20 seconds" type of trophies.

irish_stevo815

I always have great intentions to get all trophies but always just lose interest. Especially with stupid trophies related to online and DLC . The only platinum I ever got was Lego Avengers but now my trophy collection for it is only at like 80% because of the DLC that was released.