Project Lore

Lay off my score..

I have been meaning to discuss my stance on Achievements for awhile, and Bastosa has driven me to finally act. A few of my other posts have some morsels of thought on World of Warcraft's Achievement system, while I do find myself going for them from time to time, I feel that it isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. Just a heads up before you read on, I know many of you out there are passionate about Achievements, your score and your rank in your guild or realm, so just remember that this is my opinion. On the flip side, I am happy to hear your thoughts on the topic as well.

My main issue with the system is not that it is a blatant rip-off of Xbox Live, but that it was designed with the sole purpose of keeping us sucked in. For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, making an entire system dedicated to keeping people logged in just irks me. But damn if Blizzard doesn't make it difficult to hate the implementation. As I have progressed through Wrath I have found myself checking on my exploring and questing Achievements here and there, while hating myself for doing so. I tell myself that I am just checking it to gauge how close I am to being done with the zone, but I know that isn't the only reason.

The system is growing on me because of its humor, depth, and the fact that I love statistics. For me, the single greatest accomplishment for the Achievement system is not its extension of the game, but that it hasn't ruined my experience. Yea, a few Battlegrounds have been clogged up because of the Warsong Gulch's Achievement, but it is not nearly as bad as all the stubborn people going for Said the Spider to the Fly in Gears of War 2 or Akimbo Assassin in Left 4 Dead on expert.  It can be done on any difficulty people!

While I may hate it less, I do not see myself re-running content just to brag to my friends that I did Deadmines at level 80.  Perhaps binding certain Achievements to a level range would make more sense.  Then again, I did love The Goonies...

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If you haven’t been over to the Armory lately, you should definitely check it out. Blizzard has just done a major update which displays all of our achievements and game statistics along side the typical gear and reputation information. Reviews have been a bit mixed on this. I, for one, think it's great, but there are those that would argue there is now a bit too much information available to anyone interested enough to look it up. For me the armory has always been an invaluable tool when deciding if it is worth my time to go along on that PUG heroic. You can check out the groups gear and see if they are up to the task. It can also be very useful when filling out raid slots. I remember a few slow raiding nights where we almost took a few people in quest greens into The Eye because they claimed to be “geared.” A quick Armory can usually let you know really quickly what you are dealing with. Now the new Armory goes a bit beyond that; not only can you check out a persons gear, you can check to see if they have cleared that heroic before, or any heroic, or if they have ever earned an emblem of heroism. You can even see if what raids they’ve done, how much gold they’ve earned, and how much their biggest heal has been for. It’s all amazing really. I’ve heard arguments though. Is it really good to have the amount of gold you have earned out there? Doesn’t this make you a target for gold farmers, or beggers in Stormwind? While I personally like it, and don’t feel like I have much to hide. It still begs the questions. How much available information is too much? What do you think? Are you digging the new armory, or wanting your privacy back?

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