The impact of trophies and achievements in video games

Is trophy and achievement hunting changing the way people play and enjoy games?  It certainly has changed the way that I experience titles.

 I've had a PS3 since August of 2008.  Although I have used it extensively, it took me over three years to obtain the coveted platinum trophy for any game I played.  I earned my first platinum in Dead Space two weeks ago and ever since then I have been on a platinum-hunting kick.  With the exception of Shadow of the Colossus (which you can read my thoughts on here...), every title that I played on my console for the past month was played for the sole purpose of acquiring a platinum. My most recent platinum came from Dragon Age II. While I loved the original (Dragon Age: Origins was my second platinum), I only "liked" DA II.  However, I only had six trophies remaining before the coveted Platinum: Supplier, Master Craftsman, Rival,  Arcane Defender, Archeologist and The Ultimate Reward (platinum), so I decided I'd go for it.  Unfortunately, to obtain these trophies, I had to play the game in its entirety...again. I had previously completed the game two other times and, through some uncanny misfortune, had failed to trigger these remaining four.

So I began my endeavor and set my will to power through this game as quickly as possible.  I was playing as a mage and I kept every mage-hating companion possible as I went about my dickish, mage-loving ways.  I also followed three guides: one for Archeologist, one for Supplier, and one for Master Craftsman.

The first to unlock was Arcane Defender in the middle of Act II.  Five more to go.  At about the 28 hour mark, during the middle of Act III, I finally obtained the last Enigma of Kirkwall.  Two down, four to go.

Next came the Supplier trophy.  After thanking God for allowing a key, quest-giving character to return in Act III, I went in search of my final ingredient.  Upon finding it, I immediately ran to my potion-crafting bench and made one of everything.  No dice.  I gave it another try.  Still, nothing.  I checked my guide and found that I had crafted every potion listed... except the one listed in the comments section.  Apparently my guide was incomplete and one reader was kind enough to list it in the comments section.  To my dismay: I learned that the recipe for this missing potion could only be found in Act II... which was approximately five hours back from where I was.

To get here, I had powered through every battle, skipped every cutscene, and quickly chosen every asshole remark the game would give me to get through the conversations.  Now I was pissed.  Why in the hell did Bioware do this?!  Doesn't the whole "only available in one section which can't be obtained later" defeat the purpose of an open-world RPG?  Still, I steeled myself and loaded a prior save.  I found the recipe, one more ingredient, and then ran to my crafting bench.  Success!  Four down, two to go!

My last necessary trophy really baffled me.  I needed to gain the rivalry of one of my companions.  As I stated earlier, I had already played through the game twice before. My first playthrough as a kindly, mage-supporter.  My second playthrough, I played as a hard-lining, sword-swinging Templar-backer. This third playthrough, I played the renegade, d-bag mage who cared only for herself.  Through all three playthroughs, not once did I gain a rivalry... how?  Even now, in the final act, I was looking at my party and plotting who was closest to rivalry.  I wasn't seeing anything promising.  I then started my fourth character (and playthrough) with "Rivalry Hawke."  Rivalry would be an utterly miserable person towards her brother (Carver Hawke is the biggest complainer of the entire game) until he bestowed the last trophy upon her.

Eventually, after four more hours, Carver hated me enough to become my rival.  The platinum trophy was finally mine.  This trophy hunt came at great cost, however.  Over the course of this quest, my opinion on DA II shifted from "like" to "loathe."  The entire last two playthroughs (trophy run and "Rivalry Hawke") were unenjoyable, miserable trudges through a game I once enjoyed.  The minute that final trophy popped, I immediately quit to the XMB and ejected the disk.  There was nothing left for me there.

That's the thing: although trophies and achievements provide a sense of accomplishment to gamers, they can also drive people to do things that they wouldn't normally do.  Take for example, the massive number of gamers who have played Hannah Montana: The Movie simply to get the easiest platinum trophy on the PS3.  Though, rather than a testament to skill, I classify this as a testament to willpower... I certainly can't bring myself to play this game only for its platinum.

Which brings me to my next point: they can totally warp a gamer's perception of the media's purpose.  I play games for pleasure.  Over time it becomes more than that, but the base reason and the driving force for my gaming is the fun factor.  The day that I cease to enjoy gaming is the day that I will move-on to another hobby.  Trophy-hunting in DA II really made me stop and consider what I was doing and my reasoning for it.  I wasn't earning these trophies for fun, I was earning them because I felt that I really couldn't prove my gaming pedigree with a fat "goose egg" in my platinum trophy counter.

All-in-all, whether trophies and achievements are beneficial or detrimental to a gamer really depends on the person with the controller in their hand.  I believe that the majority of gamers, myself included, simply think of these unlockables as icing on the succulent cake that is gaming.  Now that they are here, we don't want it any other way.  Should it force a gamer outside of their comfort zone purely for the sake of bragging rights?  Certainly not.  Should gamers avoid games that released prior to trophy support?  That would be insane.  If we didn't play games based on a lack of trophies, we'd be missing awesome titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and Lair... well, maybe not Lair. 

It's interesting to me how we can sometimes lose sight of gaming for fun and instead game for glory.  I think that, in the future, I will try to remember just why it is that I game and allow myself to put the controller down when it starts to feel less fun and more like a job.  This post, however, has gone on long enough, I need to get back to earning that platinum for Mass Effect 2 before ME 3 releases....