Achievement Porn
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Achievement Porn
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Re: Achievement Porn
#2I don't agree with the author on one point, not all achievement in a game are "fake". Well, that actually depends on your perception of the definition of what is fake. In my opinion, if you actually solve a problem, a puzzle or a quiz in a game that amounts up to a "real" achievement.
Re: Achievement Porn
#3I don't agree with the author on one point, not all achievement in a game are "fake". Well, that actually depends on your perception of the definition of what is fake. In my opinion, if you actually solve a problem, a puzzle or a quiz in a game that amounts up to a "real" achievement.
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Re: Achievement Porn
#4this is a wonderful article. anytime there is some sort of measure of achievement you have to be careful that it isn't easier to bend the measure than to actually achieve. the comparison to school is great and can be seen in even sharper relief in Japan and Korea's "Cram Schools" the existence of which is predicated on hacking the school system.
Re: Achievement Porn
#5I got a 360 recently to play an arcade scrolling shooter port. Microsoft requires game publishers to have a certain minimum number of those popup achievements in the game before they approve it for production. Cynically, the publisher (a medium-sized Japanese company) created achievements for it like "Cleared level 1" "Shot an enemy" "Cleared level 2" "Died" "Defeated a boss" "Touched a power-up" "Score was a multiple of 200" "Watched the credits" stuff like that. There are also achievements for picking certain items in the options menus, not touching the controller for a certain amount of time during gameplay, starting the game (yeah, just starting the game), scrolling the selection cursor off the screen, etc. Awesome.
Re: Achievement Porn
#6I don't agree with the author on one point, not all achievement in a game are "fake". Well, that actually depends on your perception of the definition of what is fake. In my opinion, if you actually solve a problem, a puzzle or a quiz in a game that amounts up to a "real" achievement.
Please explain what you mean by "real achievement". At a minimum, I would think that it must include making people's lives better, directly or indirectly. By that metric, solving a puzzle - e.g. sudoko - is fake, as the puzzle could be solved much more efficiently e.g. by a computer program, and the human effort put into solving it could be much more productive - and "real" - elsewhere.
Re: Achievement Porn
#7That's why I literally love capitalism.
The market does not give a heck about your little silly titles. You might be a God of the Universe, but if you cannot bring a profit, you're out.
Re: Achievement Porn
#8I don't agree with the author on one point, not all achievement in a game are "fake". Well, that actually depends on your perception of the definition of what is fake. In my opinion, if you actually solve a problem, a puzzle or a quiz in a game that amounts up to a "real" achievement.
Please explain what you mean by "real achievement". At a minimum, I would think that it must include making people's lives better, directly or indirectly. By that metric, solving a puzzle - e.g. sudoko - is fake, as the puzzle could be solved much more efficiently e.g. by a computer program, and the human effort put into solving it could be much more productive - and "real" - elsewhere.
That's a good question. Does building muscle mass by lifting weights count as a real achievment? Being fit makes that person's life better (and possibly others, since wellness travels along social networks). Repeated problem solving is cognitive exercise, so perhaps it can also be "real". The trick would be to be honest about the benefits of said exercise. Imagine someone who only worked their biceps, but deluded themselves into thinking their achievement were greater.
Re: Achievement Porn
#9I have always thought that achievement is when one accomplishes his/her goal, be it $1B worth startup or a level-up in a game.
Though, I think the author is talking about useful achievements. This gets a bit tricky: it's all about how you see the world. In my opinion, I would make a useful achievement when I influence people to take some action. This could be: subscribing to my webapp or even making people follow me on twitter, if that was my goal. The key word here for me is - influence. Nevertheless, achievement is all about reaching your goal. At least that's how I see it.
Re: Achievement Porn
#10This gem is from the posters resume page:
So this guy dies and goes to Heaven, and when he gets to Heaven, he’s trying to explain to God how he spent his life.
Wait, wait, God says. Let me get this straight I gave you a body able to swim oceans and climb mountains
Yeah, the guys says.
and you sat in a cubicle?
Right.
I gave you creativity, and you made widgets?
Yes, the guy says.
The one thing I withheld from you, the only thing you could never get more of, time, you traded away for?
Money, the guy says.