mqstout: That
might be more arguable if achievements were off by default and one were to have to opt in to them. But that's not how it works.
I am not aware about the default state of achievements in Galaxy but even if it WOULD be an opt out thing, it is ONE SINGLE click to deactivate them EVERYWHERE. So complaining about something you can turn off is still factual ridiculous.
mqstout: Achievements ruin play experiences all the time, from immersion breaking, to spoilers and similar. They rather often reduce the joy and discovery while playing games.
You are still confusing your opinion with actual facts. I have played every game that has achievements with activated achievements. Not ONCE was I spoiled by them or had the feeling that my immersion was broken ... or even the joy of discovering. In fact: additional exploration is encouraged by achievements for those who like them. Without them you often don't even know if you have explored everything there is. Several achievements are popping the moment you have "finished" this task.
mqstout: They're also sometimes used by developers as a crutch so they don't have to spend effort to design something better (e.g., "an achievement will point the player in XYZ direction" rather than
the game itself doing that.).
I could say the same about graphics. Good graphics don't replace good gameplay or story. Lazy devs will be lazy devs - that's not the fault of achievements being one option to be a lazy developer.
mqstout: And they hurt people who chase them.
Online communities are greatly hurt by "prove you are allowed to talk about this game, share your achievements showing you've platted it" mentality. Which is sadly not uncommon.
Well, funny then how I never experienced this once in my life. Guess the problem here lies again in the communities you are talking about and not in the achievements.
mqstout: People engage longer with titles they should have stopped for one reason or another in the hunt to complete all of the achievements. Often to the their own detriment.
Say what? So now it is a bad thing if you get more playtime for the same money?
mqstout: Games with multiplayer achievements have sessions wrecked by people achievement hunting online. And they're usually asking for degenerate activities, too.
Can't say much here since I dislike multiplayer in general - but I still doubt that this happens very often.
mqstout: And, before you discount people who are compelled to go for all the achievements, don't be an asshole.
It's as system explicitly designed* [originally -- and persists] to exploit people into "engaging" with a title longer/in different ways, so that they're not going to competitors titles or keep with a title until the next update or patch lures them back in.
I fail to see what you even want to say here. I could not care less for what reason achievements were originally designed. I don't care for what reasons a game was originally designed. As long as I enjoy something without hurting others it's fine by me.
mqstout: One case study of many: The people whose whole play experience of Stardew Valley is ruined by the Fector's Challenge achievement. It completely fucks up the game for them. Their experience on GOG, where they'd never be introduced to the concept of "I must complete and perfect this mini-game that completely clashes with the overall game".
Another: Blue Dragon's "get classes to max level" achievements. You'll have literally everything else in the game done long, long, long before these. Uncountable games have those like this.
You are talking about a problem some people might have. It has nothing to do with the existence of achievements at all. You could as well say that woithout knifes people would not get hurt but still there are people that cut themselves for other reasons why others simply use knifes to cut things.
mqstout: I have gone into greater detail in previous posts; they should be findable by search. But I know you're not interested in engaging in a good faith discussion.
That's just another perfectly unproven assumption.
mqstout: Would gaming be better if the idea of achievements had never been dreamed up? Yes. No one would be missing anything of value, and plenty of people who do have problems created by them would have that problem solved.
Again: I don't see any problem at all.
mqstout: ^ "It's optional" is never an excuse for anything. See also: "it's optional!" for "microtransactions-are-OK" arguers.
Yes it is. If we are talking about TRULY optional we are talking about having a CHOICE and we are also talking about not being intolerant and egoistical which you are if you don't let those enjoy certain things just because you personally dislike them. And the comparision with microtransactions imo is pretty ridiculous.
Seb3.7: In-game achievements is still the best thing ever added to games.
I would not agree here. For those who hate clients but enjoy achievements it is better than nothing. For those who enjoy achievements and don't have a problem with clients they would probably miss having the optioon of showing others how they do. It is even worse for those who dislike achievements in general since in most cases you are unable to turn them off in the game - especially if they come with ingame popups (which is quite rare).
