Sometimes, I Hate Achievements. There, I Said It.

I usually love achievements. They are like a virtual pat on the back complete with adorable sound effects. But sometimes, the achievements seem less like goals and more like punishment. Here are a few that make me roll my eyes.

If I'm not playing a racing game, you can take your time trails and shove it. Making already complex puzzle games or RPGs into a test of speed is annoying. Playing games like that are nice due to the fact that they are based on the thought process and strategy. Rushing through makes my heart race and sucks all the fun out for me. Alas, I am close to being alone on this. There are many out there that would disagree using examples like speed chess or those guys who can do the Rubik Cube really fast. But making me beat the clock in something like Final Fantasy is just uncalled for.

When playing multiplayer games, my level of entertainment is directly reliant on which game type I am playing. So if I have to spend hours or even days trying to bust open an achievo on Lone Wolf, I'm not going to do it. That goes for a lot of Halo 3 achievements. Telling me that I have to be on a specific map with a specific weapon and only on one game type is frustrating. What you end up with is a lobby full of grumpy people that are only there for the points. They should open these up to other game types or at least more maps.

"Hey there, did you have fun playing this incredibly long game ? Well if you want all the points, you better go to the bathroom and grab another beverage because you have to do it all over again". Forcing me to play a single player game more than once is just rude. There are games that can completely change when you play through as a good or bad guy. And if people don't have the motivation of an achievement, they might never see the hard, creative work that went into the other side. But if there are no major changes or you only get to keep your upgrades, then the second go around is clearly a waste of time. Its just plain boring.

A controversial one is achievements that come attached to DLC. I actually like achievos with DLC, but its easy to see why they are unfair. Many people go through the effort of flipping a game because they love to be 100% done. Just as they have finished celebrating the victory, DLC comes out and drops the percentage back to less than complete. In order to show their work, they have to fork out up to twelve dollars for one single piece of DLC just to keep their rank intact. Its not right. But still, if I put in work that you didn't, it should be reflected. And sometimes, I might not even buy DLC unless it has achievements attached to it. This one is definitely a double edge sword.

The last achievement up for discussion is brought on by greedy developers and publishers. There are some amazing solo games out there. As discussed last time, Bioshock and AC2 were hella awesome. But when most people have finished playing, the games are traded in which slows and eventually stops new sales. But if there is a multiplayer tossed in, players are more likely to hold onto their games for longer and even pay for things like new maps. Unfortunately, rock solid games like Bioshock and Assassin's Creed don't translate well into multiplayer. So now gamers have to suffer through some poorly thought out online play just to keep their percentages in tact. To me this is unforgivable.

With all this being said, I realize that achievements aren't there because they are easy. They are meant to reflect challenges and goals that will show a players skill and dedication. But if Mass Effect comes out with multiplayer, I'm gonna cut a bitch.