Hi Russel, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. Can you tell us a bit about your gaming background?
I have been a gamer since the Commodore 64 days but really got into gaming with my brother when the SNES came on the scene. I transitioned to the PS1 when that came out, developing a Final Fantasy addiction, but dropped out of playing games for a bit when the PS2 launched. I had a PS3 from 2009 but had been using it as a blu-ray player only as I got it free with a mobile phone deal at the time. I only got 3 trophies in 2009 and just 1 trophy in all of 2010!! I admittedly got a bit hooked on Facebook games in 2010 through to 2011 but after an incident with a hacker asking me to pay $1000 dollars to get my Facebook account back I looked to the black object under my TV and from February 2011 haven't looked back, then adding the PS Vita and PS4 to my console collection.
How did you start this trophy streak challenge?
I was in a trophy hunting competition on www.playstationtrophies.org and was just going for the most amount of trophies in a 2 month period and at the end I realised I had got at least a trophy a day during that time. I had been using PSNProfiles.com and TrueTrophies.com to track my trophies and realised there was a streak leaderboard on TrueTrophies.com. At that point something in my head clicked, an idea was formed and here we are a year later.
I remember us talking in January, on Day 152 I think, you wanted to make it passed Day 800 now the target is Day 1000. Why the extra 200 days?
On TrueTrophies.com there is a way of setting goals for yourself and I think I went in looking to set an original goal of a year but the site wouldn't let me do it, or I couldn't work it out, so I originally
We chat with Russel Guppy, the man on a mission to earn one or more trophies a day for a thousand days.
trophies each day for one thousands days.
Mission Possible?
RusselGuppy is a man on a mission. That mission is to earn a least one PSN trophy every day for 1000 days. At the time of writing he has just hit Day 365 of this epic streak! I caught up with Russel to see how it was all going.
had a 400 day goal which is now nearing completion. I then set a further goal of 800 but realised that would take me just short of three years so went all in and set a goal for the 1000 which by my reckoning will take me to October 2017 or thereabouts. Plus 1000 is a much nicer rounded number than 800.
You are currently in 82nd place on the TrueTrophies Trophy Streak Leaderboard do you know which gamers above you are still on active streaks?
I look occasionally and there are at least 30 people still on active streaks, the top of the leaderboard used to be 1500 days but if you don't update regularly or aren't a registered user, the site removes your details so the top of the board is now 888. I am guessing that the 1500 days person can get back on top if they update.
Is your goal to reach the target day or to top the leaderboard?
I am taking each day as it comes, I am aiming to reach the 1000 day goal and if that takes me to the top of the leaderboard, so be it. If not ask me again in year or two.
How easy is it to earn a trophy everyday?
It is both easier and harder than it sounds. It is easier due to the amount of choice available such as the free games on PS Plus and game rental services such as boomerangrentals.co.uk. As long as you don't mind a truly terrible completion rate (mine is around 30-40%) a trophy is never that far away. You also can't be too bothered about your gaming reputation with regards to the games you play -- a trophy is a trophy, whether it's from The Witcher 3 or the Poo Yoos!!!
It is harder from a number of points. I am married with 2 kids and have a full time job so from a purely motivational stand point there are times where I have just wanted to watch some TV or a movie and be passively entertained rather than to actively have to do something. Also from a pure enjoyment of gaming perspective there are times where for example I really wanted to play The Witcher 3 but know the next trophy is at least 3-4 hours away so can't play that before getting my trophy for the day.
Have you had any streak ending near misses?
There haven't been any real 11:30 PM and not got a trophy near misses but there have been a few days that could have been an issue had I not pre-planned. Birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas spring to mind. I often stay up late and get a trophy just past midnight or get up early and get a quick trophy that I might have set up from the day before and then forget about it for the rest of the day. One story springs to mind, in that my son still believes in Santa partly due to my trophy hunting ways. I was playing just past midnight on Christmas Eve last year and I was doing an easy Singstar trophy and he came down the next day saying he had heard Santa Claus singing as he left his presents.
When you reach Day 1000 do you think you will want to carry on the streak?
It has become a way of life and my wife and children have accepted it and even join in. We have always gamed together anyway. As long as gaming itself doesn't become boring, as long as Sony keeps the trophy servers going and as long as TrueTrophies.com keep the streak leaderboard going I will probably keep going as well. Ask me again at the 2 year mark and see how things are progressing!!
You can track Russel's progress at www.truetrophies.com/russelguppy and you can follow @russelguppy on Twitter.
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