How I learned to stop worrying and love Achievements (again)

When I first bought my Xbox 360 in the summer of 2007, I wasn't all that interested in the Achievements that could be unlocked  from playing games and 'achieving' a certain preset target.  It hadn't been something that I'd paid much attention to prior to my purchase and, as I was unable to hook up to Xbox Live until early 2009 (*waves fist at BT's inadequate broadband provision*), comparisons with XBLA friends was not an issue either.  Consequently, the achievement 'hauls' of the first few  games that I played through to completion - Crackdown 2, Bioshock, Battle for Middle Earth 2 - were quite paltry in comparison to games that I played later on.  I did not bother to check what Achievements those games had and paid little attention to those that I had achieved.

This attitude continued until at least my first 360 bought the farm, around Easter 2008.  After Microsoft replaced my 360, crafted, like the last, with a heat sink carved from the purest Belgian chocolate (destined to last for nearly two years - way to go MS), I began to pay more attention to the Achievements (or 'cheevos') available in games.  This slow process picked up after BT finally deigned to provide barely-adequate broadband to my street ('customers, welcome to the late 20th Century with our 'up to 2MB' broadband', I think their sales literature went) at the beginning of 2009.  Although, I didn't - and still don't -  play much online, I became more aware that there was a large community, with each member having a gamerscore totalling their Achievements and, with a certain school-playground-competitiveness, took to consciously trying to build my gamerscore (as I believe I've mentioned in earlier posts).

Whereas initially I'd played games as and how  I wanted, taking the Achievements as and when they appeared, over time this shifted to encompass looking through the list of Achievements and changing the way I played solely in order to unlock them.

My attitude began to shift with the brilliant Assassin's Creed  II, which I received for Christmas last year.  It is quite free and easy with its Achievements and, in the latter stages of the 43 hours that Raptr says I'd spent on the game, I began to realise that I could, for the first time, 'max' out a game - get all of the 1000 points available (I had around 900).  I had a look at the 'missing' Achievements and one that stuck out for me was for collecting every feather found in the game (Renaissance Italy was, apparently, strewn with white feathers left in inaccessible places).  Collecting all of the feathers would have been an extremely boring and repetitive process.  I play games for fun; I go to work for 'extremely boring'.  I saw no reason why I should 'work' for Microsoft, Ubisoft or my gamerscore in my free time.

This attitudinal change continued over the subsequent months and  reached a head with the sublime Red Dead Redemption.  Rockstar games are very frugal with their distribution of Achievements - I was a third of the way through GTAIV before I gave up in frustration at the lack of checkpoints, yet had under 100 gamerpoints - which I don't have a problem with (they really are Achievements).  RDR was no different and, having put over 20 hours into the game, I still had under 200 points-worth of Achievements from it.  I had a look at those that I didn't have and considered actively seeking them out, or in changing the way I was playing the game - favouring a certain weapon, or only aiming for headshots for example  - and I checked myself.  I was really enjoying the game - one of the best this year and easily my favourite Rockstar game - and I didn't want to deliberately play it in a less enjoyable way, simply to boost a featureless number attached to my gamercard. At the time of writing I have 415 gamerpoints from RDR (in 39 hours of gameplay), all of which were obtained 'enjoyably'.  I'd like to think (and this is certainly my intention) that I will try to avoid 'working' (rather than 'playing') to build my gamerscore in future games too.

The only exceptions to this new policy  are Avatar Awards - items for your Xbox Live avatar, won in game.  I think I will still actively seek these out, probably as they provide a tangible (albeit virtual) reward for in-game success, rather than simply adding to an impersonal score - I feel I actually am being rewarded for achieving something.

I've by no means become  anti Achievements over the last few months  - when one pops up, I always check to see what I got it for and I still compare those that I've received to those that friends have received on the  Raptr site. Last night (technically early this morning)  I unlocked 5 Achievements at once (a record for me) on Red Dead Redemption multiplayer and that was enjoyable (but I was only expecting one, or possibly two, as I hadn't checked the list beforehand).  I'm still attracted to the idea of Achievements generally - I'd sooner that they were there than not -  but I will no longer undertake laborious in-game task for the sole purpose of unlocking an Achievement.

Unless it unlocks a funny hat for my Avatar...