Have achievement points ruined your enjoyment of games?

[ItsThere]

Now don't get me wrong, I love my 360 to bits. Fantastic platform with a wide range of games most of which I like.
They all have the common feature of achievement points. They tie all games together to our central gamertags.
At first and with the advent of the ntsc-uk gamerpoints league I loved the idea of 'rpg-ing' my gamertag. Its like showing off your skills to everyone else. Great stuff and it keeps you playing like nothing else.

But thats the problem. Now I own all the three platforms again I have noticed that I feel I like I should be playing the 360.
The first symptom of this is wanting to play through through crap games just to get the points on offer? I almost rented TMNT just for those easy 1000 points - I resisted but how long can I hold on for?
The second symptom is that I buy games that I love for my other systems (VF5, RR7 and Okami at the moment) and don't put the time I would have put into them had I not had the gamerscore to worry about. I spend many more hours on games that I would cast aside long before just to eek out those extra points.
I am aware that this is a great feature that designers can use to ensure that gamers get the most out of all aspects of their baby but I just get the feeling that it is spoiling the purity of my enjoyment.

Take DMC4 for example. I really want to play this on PS3 as it was initially intended but I will not deny the fact that I want the points for it as well on 360. So do I buy it on PS3 for a 'pure' gaming experience or wait for the 360 to produce a nearly identical version of the game (not sure about the contoller for what its worth).

Sorry for the ramble but it just seems that I have become addicted to achievement points - I feel that they prevent me spending the time I should do on great great games just because they don't fall on the 360. In a brilliant cous by Microsoft they have made me want to only play multi platform games on their platform. The problem is that I also want to play crap games on their system rahter than great games on others.

As a gamer what initially was a fantastic idea has now tainted my perspective - I am ruining my enjoyment unless I can snap out of this. Purity of experience was why I started playing in the first place. I never played in the old days to boost my personal score, I played because I loved it. Therefore I am resigned my 'gamerwhoring' ideals and spending time on the exclusives and great games I may have missed because I was playing Lego Star Wars II or Full Auto instead of God Hand or MGS3.

[jimmbob]

I don't notice them to be honest, they're fun but a little pointless, like post counts really.
I do like the comedy ones, like you get in Dead Rising for instance. I got one the other day for falling 20 feet or something, great fun. As for the "Play for 1000 hours without sleep, food or piddling!" I don't really go for them.

[Charlie]

You need to get a grip, man.

If you enjoy going for a game's achievements, go for them, if it's becoming a chore don't bother. Gaming's about having fun.

[peeveen]

I love getting achievements, but ...

The first symptom of this is wanting to play through through crap games just to get the points on offer? I almost rented TMNT just for those easy 1000 points - I resisted but how long can I hold on for?

... see, I don't get this. Why anyone would want to play a crap game purely for points is beyond me. I enjoy comparing my score with others on a game-by-game basis, but the actual overall gamerscore doesn't really interest me, as it is easily boosted by playing crappy childrens games, tedious American sports games, etc, so is now rather meaningless.

So, no, it hasn't ruined my enjoyment of games, it only makes me want to play games to the finish. In my PS2/XBox1 days, I would find that I had played most of my games about 40-80% of the way through, and kinda lost interest in them somewhere along the line. Not so with the 360 ... I like to squeeze every last point out of them before I move on to the next.

[Geoff D]

If you enjoy going for a game's achievements, go for them, if it's becoming a chore don't bother. Gaming's about having fun.

Agreed with this - you can define your own fun, & if achievement grabbing is it, then there's no problem.

I wouldn't play any games solely for achievements though - that said, I'll be having to sit through TMNT with my nephew at the weekend

[JamesS]

I like the achievements themselves, but I find the actual points thing a bit bemusing. I really don't get why people care about them. Isn't the number of points you have more or less just an indication of how many games you've bought?

I think achievements, though, can really improve some games by offering a bit of structure that wouldn't otherwise exist. Oblivion is an obvious example of this.

[Charlie]

Isn't it possible to 'gain' gamerpoints by signing into other people's accounts? I've had a few messages on Xbox Live from folk saying they'd give me 2000 gamerpoints or whatever if I unlocked a certain achievement already unlocked on my account for them on their account.

[Nijo]

You need to get a grip, man.

If you enjoy going for a game's achievements, go for them, if it's becoming a chore don't bother. Gaming's about having fun.

Exactly. When I first got my 360 I thought it'd be cool to compare gamer points, but half-way through King Kong I got bored out of my mind chasing those 1000 and haven't looked back since.

[ItsThere]

You need to get a grip, man.

If you enjoy going for a game's achievements, go for them, if it's becoming a chore don't bother. Gaming's about having fun.

Yeah that is pretty much the point. Just have to remove the desire to whore games I don't enjoy. Recover the fun.

[VR46]

Isn't it possible to 'gain' gamerpoints by signing into other people's accounts? I've had a few messages on Xbox Live from folk saying they'd give me 2000 gamerpoints or whatever if I unlocked a certain achievement already unlocked on my account for them on their account.

Nah, not heard of that one.

I rent my fair share of whoring games, but games I don't enjoy, get sent straight back, as peeveen says, no amount of points is worth playing crap games for; eg: X-Men, Pimp My Ride, others I've forgotton
.
Other "kids" games such as Open Season and TMNT may be easy points but are also easy to play. And if want some easy gaming they'll do you fine.

MS brought in Achievement points to get you buying/playing as many 360 games as possible, so the scheme has been a big success.

After playing DC, PS3 games recently it does feel strange not having achievements included in a game, but they are soon forgotten.

[Number45]

I didn't think it bothered me (I was far from an achievements whore), but I'm playing through Oblivion again and the fact that I've been able to approach it completely differently suggests that it influenced me more than I thought it did.

When I played it on the 360 I found myself going through the quests and factions to advance my rank (And points), whereas I'm roleplaying more on this new character. I'm playing an Assassin (Custom), but I'm 'training' myself at the moment and won't get too involved in anything that might bring the law down upon me until I'm happy. I've ignored the main quest almost completely (Just dropped off the Amulet) and I'm making my way around the major cities (Walking everywhere) doing the Mages guild recommendations purely as a means to an end and seeing what I find on the way. And I have to say I'm enjoying it more because of it.

On the flipside, on games that are more linear I found the achievements to be a nice extra incentive to try and get more from the game. Tomb Raider Legend was a prime example of this - in the past I'd literally have played through the game once on the default difficulty and then would have relegated it back to the shelf. But after completing it once I played through again on higher difficulty as well as doing the time-trials and messing around in the mansion itself. Of course it's worth noting that I adored TRL.

I certainly wouldn't pick up a game I didn't enjoy (Or continue to play a game I didn't enjoy) because of the achievements, that's just sad.

But I guess the crux of it all is how the achievements are used in the game. I know a lot of people like the way it's done in Crackdown (Which I can't comment on), but I always thought it was a waste, for example, in Oblivion for not holding back a hundred or so points for completing the map - the game is built around exploration so a big incentive to explore would have been the perfect achievement, rather than just dragging you along the static quest lines.

[Kotatsu Neko]

My gripe with achievements and points is how their implementation differs so wildly between games. TMNT is a good recent example of this - a game which hands out big helpings of points for finishing every short and easy level. Finish the game, which isn't difficult as it's impossible to die, and you get 1000. It's pathetic, frankly.

Then you have games like Sonic 360, which are so awful you should get at least 5 points for suffering through a single level. Instead you have to complete and game to get any points at all.

Or Earth Defence Force which also doesn't give you a single point until the game is complete.

MS should be more involved in this, balance the system out, as right now points don't mean anywhere near as much as they should.

[Prophet Hero]

I'm pretty much with jimmie2k.

I'm not bothered about APs in general and never set out to earn them but it is quite fun to be rewarded with the more comic ones.

Saying that I did feel chuffed bagging some of the APs in Ridge Racer 6.

[Jei]

Since Day 1 of the 360 i've always foudn the achievement points as being a complete con.

I've friends at work who have gone out and bought King Kong JUST for the 1000 achievement points.....Like I always say, do you actually gain anything??

It's all a fancy gimmick, if I get them, I get them, If I don't, I really don't care.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Since Day 1 of the 360 i've always foudn the achievement points as being a complete con.

I've friends at work who have gone out and bought King Kong JUST for the 1000 achievement points.....Like I always say, do you actually gain anything??

It's all a fancy gimmick, if I get them, I get them, If I don't, I really don't care.

I disagree. I think they're an excellent idea, as they bring back the old competitive spirit of high score tables which have been lost in games for years now.

The problem is with their implementation in some games, as I said in my post above.