Do the achievements spoil the games?

Last week, an article by Cassie Gotto appeared on the pages of Venture Beat, “Have achievements and trophies changed the way we play games?“, which criticizes the widespread distribution of awards in modern games. 

Cassie believes that “before the achievements and trophies, we played because we just liked to do it.” In some ancient Might & Magic or Spyro, the player was not given a label “for the third killing of a boar”. Today, many users often play just for them.

Are you ready to earn maximum achievements just for the sake of the achievements themselves?”Just passing the game is not enough now.

We have to find every treasure, open every drawer,” Cassie is indignant. – “Why are we doing this? Is it because we love to play so much or because we want to show off our achievements in front of friends?“. 

“Recognize that once you earn some trophy, which you spent several weeks or even months to achieve, you immediately share information about it,” Cassie adds.

Receiving rewards in the game, she believes, users get an imaginary sense of success. As it seems to her that those who are not happy in life and earn all these awards. The only plus from the trophies Cassie sees is that users who have little money want an excuse for the money spent. Exploring the game 100% with getting all the rewards – this feeling gives. 

The conclusion of the article is simple: remember the reasons why you are playing. And these reasons are not achievements, but the pleasure of the game. 

The article seemed very controversial to us, at least because the main component of the game (in a broad sense) is a competitive moment (although the philosopher Johan Huizinga, the author of Homo Ludens or “The Man Playing”, will hardly agree with this), access to which was opened by social networks. But we’re wondering what you think of Cassie Gotto’s findings. Do the achievements really spoil the games?