Geek Syndicate Issue 8 | Page 63

Image © Antony McGarry-Thickitt, 2013

Geek Syndicate

Some wear their achievements with pride - like Mr. Editor here ...

The number of people who
rush for achievements and
churn through games just to
make a little number get bigger are going to find much in
life disappointing or depressing, possibly missing out on
the other enjoyable aspects
of what they are doing in the
process. Ironically, this will

probably push them further
into the cycle. I am not saying
that it isn’t possible for someone to have a healthy relationship with achievements, but
do it on your own terms, for
your own reasons, and more
importantly, for your own

Casey Douglass
Editors Note: Many thanks
to DeviantArtist Emillister
for making available theachievement template used as a
basis for the one I’ve used in
this article.

Image © Antony McGarry-Thickitt, 2013

I can’t help feeling that
achievements are some anonymous third party’s measure of a player’s success at
something. If you created an
achievement yourself and
reached it, fair play to you. If
you are striving for another
person’s definition of fun or
novelty, that’s not so good.
According to so much of the
self-help literature that does
the rounds, gauging and comparing your own life to others
is a major cause of low mood,
depression and inadequacy.
The world of gaming achievements may pale in comparison
to other measures of success
in the wider world, but I have
seen the issue cause more than
its fair share of “nerd rage” in
my time, whether via friends,
forums or in game chat.

enjoyment. Maybe in future
generations,
achievement
systems will evolve into something that can be user defined
and shared among friends.
Until that time, for myself at
least, they are simply a shallow attempt to recapture the
challenges of a previous generation of gamers.

In Guild Wars 2, Achievements generate in-game rewards. Thumbs Up!

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