Are Trophies/Achievements BAD for Gaming? - This Developer says They are TOXIC?!

Follow me on social media:

#PS4 #PS5 #playstation5

The Division developer Fredrik Thylander has expressed how he thinks “Achievements/Trophies have been bad for gaming.” Sharing his thoughts on Twitter, Thylander explained how these digital rewards “narrows games down… disrupts and diverts attention, and [eat] resources that could have made the game better.” Unpopular opinion : achievements/trophies have been bad for gaming. It narrows games down, it disrupts and diverts attention, and it eats resources that could have made the game better. Responding to a comment, Thylander expanded on his thoughts, saying:

“I just think games should have the reward mechanisms most suited for them, and the one-size-fits-all mandate from platform holders to make reward systems that benefit the platform makes games worse.”

Despite working on the Trophies and Achievements for Mirror’s Edge, Thylander doesn’t think the digital rewards are any good.

It’s common to see players complaining about Trophies centered around completing tasks within an online multiplayer, as they can become much trickier to accomplish over time. Trophies tied to difficulty settings have also become controversial, to the point where The Last of Us Part I’s Platinum dropped the difficult-based Trophy requirement.

However, in general, Trophies seem to be a key part of the PlayStation experience for many, with our Trophy lists regularly receiving attention from those planning their way through upcoming games.

[DreamcastGuy]

Thanks for watching and LIKING the video! <3 Do YOU like trophies?

[mathewhosier]

I hate trophies because it changed the way i played games and as a result i started enjoying games a lot less because of the majority of trophies are just mundane tasks that have nothing to do with completion

[Scuba_Bro]

I find them to be fun tasks to achieve personally… they can be creative and give you more to do after you’re done playing campaign. I’m pretty sure some people just don’t care if they get them or not.

[rule]

The only trophies I like are the ones for completing a game. The few platinum trophies I have are for games I REALLY enjoyed. Most games have too many achievements for mundane tasks.

[Lyanraw]

If a game is really great but getting all the trophies will make you hate the game they have failed at designing a good trophy list

[Mau]

Trophies are useless and meaningless. The sad part is that some people actually brag about them. They don't even mean you're a better player.

[Cottentailgaming]

The best part about trophies/achievements is how they're a permanent online record of your gaming erm...'career'. You can go back to any game and check your progress (i.e completed chapters 1-4) and relive the memories. It's also cool how the PS5 records a short video and an image to go along with the achievement. It's also nostalgic going to say, 2017 and seeing an Xbox 360 achievement.

[slavetothesystem]

Never really gone for achievements, I just play through the game and move on to something else.

[MortenJohnsenSolberg]

You’re addicted to the dopamine rush the trophies give you. It’s not nerdy, you’re just an addict.

[cherubinth]

Achievements are Gamification of games. They are disconnected and break immersion. I just ignore them, and if you can turn it off then I don't mind.

[anabang]

Trophies are a fun side activity.
I rarely go for a platinum, but I like to clean up easy or fun trophies while playing.

[Johnboy]

I find in games with choices and consequences for those choices that trophies are detrimental to the experience... You worry if you make the wrong choice you'll lock yourself out of a trophy. Which means you Google the outcomes and deprive yourself of going with you gut feeling.

[songohan]

I think trophies are fun but I don't think they should be forced in games by companies. I also played many games in the past where trophies and achievements were glitched and wouldn't happen anyway, so there's that.

[trippyskullz]

I hate how much value certain gamers care so much about them since they aren't useful in any way. Not even a store discount

[theblazingphoenix]

The only issue I have with Trophies/Achievements are when they are unreasonable Trophies/Achievements. In most cases it's online Trophies/Achievements like get first place on the leaderboard or complete this very difficult mission with a team of x number of people. Like for one, it can be hard to find enough people who good enough at the game to get this Trophies/Achievements with and who will have the time and patience to keep trying to get it until it is achieve.

Then you have cases where the online mode isn't available anymore and you can't even possible get those trophies anymore. It especially horrible when it ruin your ability to get the platinum trophy. Then there are a few annoying ones that ask you to get perfect rng along with a lot of time to get those. There is also the ones where there to many pointless collectibles that don't do anything or add anything to the games, but feel like it was shoe horn in (I'm talking about the ones with 100 or more small collectible to find that could also be difficult to find, but also doesn't give you a good reward for finding them all along with it not being fun to find.)

Like Trophies/Achievements can be fun to achieve, and can even give a fun challenge, along with giving more reason to stay in the world of the game, but if those Trophies/Achievements aren't fun and feel like a chore or don't give a sense of worth/accomplish than I don't see a point in having them in the game.

[shairaptor]

Achievements ruin the gaming experience for me, big time! I have only 7 steam games, and none of them are marked as "perfect". Why not? I've seen the credits screen. Mark them as "beaten and played through" please! Only super-mega-nerds would hunt for pointless achievements like "play the game thru as fast as you can" or "don't get killed once in the game". So unless you go through this torture, you count as a "loser gamer" from the dev's standpoint? Gosh... how I detest this 100%'ing games and achievement hunting, I can't put it to words!

[YouVSMeTV]

I like them, they're a fun little map of the games you enjoy and played. For me, it also sometimes activates a memory of when I did something fun, stupid or hard.

[metalgear]

I'd say trophies/ achievements can be good and bad. For some it shows how much you love a game that your willing to go above and beyond to get the platinum and sink in so many extra hours to achieve that. In some other cases though sometimes it feels like your forcing yourself to do go for certain trophies/ achievements instead of taking the time to actually enjoy your experience. For example I remember getting the spyro trilogy and immediately having the mindset of I'm going for the platinum and after forcing myself to 100% every level I eventually just got bored and stopped playing and haven't went back since.

[zachtyo]

I’m a casual gamer. It takes me over a month to beat most 40 hour games. For the most part I ignore the trophies. But I do enjoy getting one or two of the rarer trophies.

I did recently platinum GOW: Ragnarok and that sort’ve changed my mind on the subject a little. It was always cool to get a trophy with a low percentage of players unlocking, but it is fun to get a platinum.

I’m playing Ghost of Tsushima now and I’m going to try and make it my 3rd platinum trophy (well second really. It’s hard to count Astro’s playroom but I am just to make myself feel good).

I say leave them in, and I find it hard to imagine that it is that much extra work to link trophies to milestones in the game such as completing a chapter or walking a certain distance.

[Jeustful]

Trophies/achievements are a tool to drive up attachment rate. To make people play the games more. A reward mechanism.