I like having nice, well balanced takes on things, sometimes getting lost in nuance in ways that muddle my point. But anyone who follows me knows that some days I just to give in. I just have to be a hater. Anyone who follows me knows I have a deep seated hatred of Achievements. Not so much the vague concept of little extrinsic goals, which have been in gaming for decades. No, what I hate is the institution of Achievements. That these are a standardized thing that must exist, on the s...

Sharing because Kayin’s talk about achievements made me think about why do I even accept them in games at all so I disabled them in Steam (the only way to do this is by disabling the whole overlay =_=) and found that I don’t miss them at all.

What’s you opinion on RetroAchievements, and achievements in general?

  • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    21 hours ago

    I work on PCSX2 in a small capacity. They’re not my cup of tea, and I feel like they actively hamper a first or second or possibly even third playthrough. However, I’ve had some modest enjoyment adding them to games I beat 50 times over in the PS2’s heyday just to have a better sense of permanence, to see if I’m good enough for the harder-ish challenges of dedicated fans, and to (ideally) see cute puns/references in the achievement names.

    I think achievements are actively bad for a first playthrough and only, in that capacity, serve to turn games into a checklist simulator that cynically exploits dopamine pathways. But I also won’t nag the people who do use them for first playthroughs, even though I think they’d holistically enjoy them more without.

    On the whole, RetroAchievements clearly breathe new life into games for a ton of people, and I’ve got no problem with that.

    Also, the people who develop the RA infrastructure are really cool from what I’ve heard and seen.