Article by Matt Helgeson - Senior Editor, Game Informer

My Gamerscore is 1,650, and I've Never Felt Better

"A few months ago, my original Xbox 360 bit the dust, finally succumbing to the dreaded red ring of death. I decided to upgrade to the supposedly better-engineered Elite model. While I was unboxing the new system, I did something the most 360 gamers would find unthinkable. Instead of importing my old Gamertag and Xbox Live account, I got a new 12-month subscription card, booted up the system, and started over from scratch. In a moment, all my gaming from the last few years was gone, along with my Gamerscore and all of my achievements.

My motivation for starting fresh was growing dissatisfaction with the endless race to collect achievement points. Achievements have never done much for me, other than occasionally spoil a crucial plot point of a game when I've looked into the list of unaccomplished challenges. I've never been a completist. Once I've finished the game's main storyline I rarely, if ever, tackle the remaining challenges to unlock alternate costumes or collectibles. A dizzying number of amazing games are released each year -- more than anyone can play. I'd rather move on to the next adventure.

More importantly, I don't care to measure myself against other gamers. It's a meaningless metric. The leaderboards tout Live users with Gamerscores exceeding 650,000. Compared to that, what does it matter if you have 50,000 or even 200,000 points? More importantly, I expect that many gamers garner those megascores by cheating or farming terrible games that are over generous with achievements. So, congratulations? I don't believe someone is a better gamer than someone else just because of some number. Anyone who plays games is a gamer -- be that game Oblivious or Farmville.

Games are entertainment, and I don't need to have my free time graded against others. I had a great time playing Red Dead Redmption; I don't feel bad because I didn't shoot some arbitrary number of rabbits or unlock a fancy suit for John Marston. I got what I needed out of the experience - fun. Once it's over, I'm out. Nobody awards me points for watching the DVD extra features or the director's commentary track on a movie I rented, so why should my gaming choices be any different?

As life becomes busier by the day [life happens], chasing achievements seems like a poor investment of time -- especially to prop up a numerical score that would never be impressive anyway. The more life online becomes an endless competition - how many Facebook friends do you have? How many Twitter followers? What's your Gamerscore? -- the more inclined I am to withdraw I'd rather just play the games I want to play for as long as they hold my interest.

I'm not against achievements. Millions of gamers love them, and I'm all for anything that makes people's gaming experience more fun. But for me, the time spent trying to chase them doesn't usually add to my game enjoyment or a game. Getting 100 points for completing a boss battle that I was going to finish regardless isn't really an "Achievement" so much as a meaningless pat on the head. If the goal is interesting or enjoyable, chances are I'm going to want to tackle it. If not, no amount of padding to my Gamerscore is enough to make it worthwhile.

If developers want me to complete their extra challenges, make them an interesting, integral part of the experience. I was draw to the hidden "The Truth" glyphs and the assassin's tomb challenges in Assassin's Creed II. Finding them was a joy, because every bit of enigmatic video footage found drew me deeper into the complex web of intrigue Ubisoft Montreal created between the Templars and Assassins. Each tomb I found delivered fun, fast platforming to the already excellent mix of open-world exploration and combat. They were a welcome change of pace and something I looked forward to finding. I don't care how many points I got for completing them -- or if I got any points at all.

To me, gaming is about becoming engrossed in a virtual world and an epic adventure. The little bubbles that pop up onscreen and inform me I've been awarded points only serve to break that illusion. A high Gamerscore doesn't make me a gamer. If I want competition, I can go online and test my skills against others, or better yet, play with friends in any number of amazing co-op games. So go ahead and make fun of my Gamerscore. I'm done with it."

-Article by Matt Helgeson - Senior Editor, Game Informer

I read this article in GI this month, and I have to say it really hit home. This sums up exactly how I feel about gamerscore and achievements in general. I've been known to go out of my way for the occasional pick up and cheevo, but in general I tend to let them go. I play through and pick up those sparkly whatevers if I see them, but I don't look for them outright. The only achievements I'm concerned with are story related. I really don't care if it gives me points or even avatar items. I'd rather get something out of the game for it. I've always felt this way, and, though I know some people do like achievements, achievements seem like a waste of development resources.

I have a stack of games that I haven't even played yet let alone began to think of tackling the endless achievements. Are those points and popups of "Achievement Unlocked" or "New Trophy!" really worth the time wasted just looking for random items or picking flowers?

On 9/17/10, it will be THREE YEARS of playing my Xbox every day. LoL

Achievements.

I can take 'em or leave 'em.

*twitch*

I could care less about the achievements-trophies-gamer score .. ect. ect.ect. I hate them but I think of them as my neighbors. Sure I know they are there, sometimes I see them, but if they went away I wouldn't notice.

i was gonna call you all noobs, but then I remembered what a certain persons score here is that already posted. That said, I enjoy my achievements, and try to get most, but i don't play games just for it, and skip some of the ones that just take to much time. I do like that it encourages me to get more out of my games, and I enjoy the little competition between friends. Makes some single player games have a multiplayer component.

"Anyone who plays games is a gamer -- be that game Oblivious or Farmville"

i was with him until he said that. then all i could think of was this http://static.vgcats.com/comics/images/090423.jpg

It's not exactly time wasted if you enjoy getting achievements. It's different for everybody though. I personally like getting achievements, although I won't let it ruin my gaming experience.

I used to care about them... but now I really don't think much about it.

I love achievements. They give you a sort of meta-game with rewards to strive for as you play. If I see an achievement as totally ridiculous, like something that would ruin the experience, I usually tend to avoid it, unless it's something that sounds like a fun challenge like The One Free Bullet (only fire your gun once) in Half Life 2: Episode One. I hate online achievements too. But I usually look at all of the achievements before I play a game and see what is obtainable, and just get the most I can. I have 21 games 100%'ed.

Although some achievements occasionally cause frustration (if it gets too annoying I'll just ignore that particular one (I haven't started Ninja Gaiden II yet, but I don't even want to think of the achievements for it's hardest difficulties)), I think they actually add more fun to the experience. In some cases they can even expand replayability and lead you to do things you otherwise might not have in the game.

I've been saying this for a long time. I know that some love them, but I just can't bring myself to care. So many achievements involve easter egg hunts too..."collect 100 feathers", "collect all the flags", "searched every nook and cranny in game", "found a billion tiny little thingies that must've been incredibly boring"...no, thanks. Every once in awhile, if I find one that says "Hopped 3 times" or something lame like that that takes a couple of seconds, sure, but otherwise, I'd rather not. I liked Oblivion's achievements, where it just marked off milestones in the game and gave you a sense of progression and accomplishment, not those that just give you some arbitrary thing to do that serves no purpose.

I do agree with Kitty about collectibles. They are the most horrible piece of **** game design element ever made and need to die a horrible fiery death. They're almost as bad as filler in anime.

SOME collectibles are alright if there aren't huge numbers of them, and if they actually give you some in-game reward, but for the most part, collectibles are evil little b astards.

Now, things like the glyphs in Assassin's Creed II actually give you a little bit of an interesting video at a time and give you a real reason to look for them, so they aren't too bad.

Now, things like the glyphs in Assassin's Creed II actually give you a little bit of an interesting video at a time and give you a real reason to look for them, so they aren't too bad.

Yeah, I liked the glyphs. I don't think that was just about the achievement though. Still not sure what it is about, but, to me, that's like an achievement for doing a part of the game, which I fully support.

Yeah, I liked the glyphs. I don't think that was just about the achievement though. Still not sure what it is about, but, to me, that's like an achievement for doing a part of the game, which I fully support.

If you haven't finished the full glyphs side quest thing, I highly suggest that you do. Not to give away any spoilers, but its a 'OH, holy shiite. That explains it." moment.

I'm not so much an achievement wh*re, as I am a completionist. When I start a game, I'm dead set on finishing it to it's ever-satisfying 1000 GS. I could care less about the total I have - if I play a game and haven't completed it, I feel like a failure. Although this has restricted me to playing only games with "achievable" achievements (forget Ninja Gaiden!), I am missing out on some great content however. Though I am overly proud of some achievements, such as 200/200 in Hexic, and 1000/1000 in Perfect Dark Zero (thank you Gamercide playdate!).

i was gonna call you all noobs, but then I remembered what a certain persons score here is that already posted. That said, I enjoy my achievements, and try to get most, but i don't play games just for it, and skip some of the ones that just take to much time. I do like that it encourages me to get more out of my games, and I enjoy the little competition between friends. Makes some single player games have a multiplayer component.

You're a noob Sed. LoL

*looks down at you from his pedestal*

I personally hate achievements, they are the reason cheat codes died.

I personally hate achievements, they are the reason cheat codes died.

This is another thing I hate. You're exactly right on that GG, and I wish it wasn't so. If I want to cheat it shouldn't be a reward for doing something in the game. I should just be able to do it if there is a cheat. Cheat codes after the game is beaten aren't really fun to me. If I want to cheat, then I normally want to do it before the game is over.