Post by kevinfelixlee on Apr 27, 2011 3:56:12 GMT -5
Don¡¯t get me wrong, I feel really cool whenever that little notification pops up in the corner of my screen to tell me I just smashed 5 whole sets of chattering teeth. I didn¡¯t know why I did it, or even that I was doing it, but there I sit, like a puppy who just figured out that he¡¯ll be praised whenever he swings his paw at the bald, flat-faced figure before him. I know everybody who¡¯s ever played the game runescape accounts before has done it. Hell, I did it by accident. But it feels good. Just imagine how good it¡¯ll feel when I unlock every last achievement, even the really tough ones that nobody gets. There have to be some that nobody¡¯s done, right? I mean, nobody I know, anyway. Right?
Wrong. I feel empty. I feel like, in the time it took to knock that arrow down with my knife, I should have learned to play the piano, or speak French, or even play a video game I haven¡¯t long since lost interest in.
Far be it for me to criticize somebody for taking pride in their gamer score. Nobody ever changed the world by playing football, but nobody rips on the star varsity quarterback for wasting his time with a meaningless game. Granted, his meaningless runescape power leveling game has the collateral benefit of getting him in shape and developing his leadership skills, but from what I understand, there are collateral benefits to gaming as well.
My point is, some people feel great about inflating their gamer scores, and more power to them. For me, the achievement system is a big let-down. It¡¯s hard enough to stand out from the rest of the world at school and at work, I¡¯m not interested in fighting a third front. There are just too many gamers rs power leveling out there for me to care if I can beat some guy on the other side of the globe who plays for 8 hours a day. What I do care about, however, is being rewarded for my efforts.
Time and dedication is currency in gaming. Designers get this, most games revolve around the concept. You work hard, you unlock secrets, you get swag. So why don¡¯t Sony and Microsoft get this? They could give us anything, worthless junk buy runescape money we¡¯d never use anyway because it¡¯d strip games of any semblance of a challenge. They could make the points count for so little only the most hard core gamers would ever earn enough funbucks to buy any add-on content. But whatever it got us, even a new Wallpaper, it¡¯d be more than just a number that shows us we aren¡¯t number one.