Suggestion: Achievements.

[FateWeaver]

I think it is a bit weird that Don't Starve still doesn't have any achievements for you to earn for Don't Starve, Reign of Giants, and now also Shipwrecked. Maybe this could be added soonish? Would certainly give players things to aim for in their runs, and ease the sting of death as you probably earned an achievement or two in that last last run you did.

[Ryla]

I'm a big fan of achievements in games. Help keeps it fun and gives you more reasons to try silly or challenging things you might not otherwise.

[DreamApart]

Achievements is a good idea, but I'm not sure.

 

Since the visual effect of achievements popping up could possibly ruin the atmosphere of the loneliness, confusion and horror, which could make it probably not fit well with the theme of the main game or RoG.

This probably won't affect experienced player very much, but could be bad for new players. (I can't say for sure.)

 

[FateWeaver]

I'm not sure I should pro for it. This could be good and bad.

The achievement system could not fit well with the theme of the main game or RoG.

Since achievements popping up could possibly ruin the atmosphere of the loneliness, confusion and horror.

Weird, I don't think I would feel less alone if an achievement popped up, but that is me though.

 

[DreamApart]

Weird, I don't think I would feel less alone if an achievement popped up, but that is me though.

I won't differ for you maybe, but for new players it could feel like a spoiler.

I'm not sure about it, because I can't go back to be a new player anymore.

Just we should be aware of it, and therefore possibly make the achievement unlockable if necessary.

[DreamApart]

Weird, I don't think I would feel less alone if an achievement popped up, but that is me though.

Hey, I got an idea. The achievements should only pop up after you save and exit to the main menu.

That should be fine and won't make the popping up look like a guided tour.

[Devon Aster]

This question was brought up very early on in Don't Starve's development and there was an interesting article written by Jamie Cheng about their experiences with rewards in the game.  The original article, hosted on Penny Arcade Report, has been taken down, but you can find copies on other sites around the net.  Search up PAR: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic rewards in Klei’s latest game: Don’t Starve if your curious about their take on it and why they decided against quest/achievements.

 

Basically, they found it harmed gameplay and pushed players into playing in a way opposite to what they were trying to achieve.  The PS4 verion does have achievements, but they were basically forced on Klei as a requirement.  Klei decided to deal with the issue by making the achievements effectively jokes.

[DreamApart]

making the achievements effectively jokes

 

I'm playing on PC, but I'd like to have some joking or trivial achvs.

 

e.g.

• build a campfire
• survived Charlie's bite
• fall off a frozen pond surface when it's melting
• slay a dragonfly
• kill 10 spiders in a row but looted no monster meat
• die from building an effigy
• spoil a powdercake in icebox

All hidden before actually achieved.

[HeatherKan]

....there's a mod for that. I think it's a great idea for a mod, but not really a good idea to include vanilla.

[Devon Aster]

 

I'm playing on PC, but I'd like to have some joking or trivial achvs.

 

e.g.

• build a campfire
• survived Charlie's bite
• fall off a frozen pond surface when it's melting
• slay a dragonfly
• kill 10 spiders in a row but looted no monster meat
• die from building an effigy
• spoil a powdercake in icebox

All hidden before actually achieved.

 

 

A couple of those I wouldn't call joking or trivial, though you apparently have a better sense of humor than some PS4 players    When the console edition first came out, some achievement hunters were... let's say... slightly miffed at the pointless trophies.  You got one for each character unlocked, one for building the Accomploshrine (which required something like 10 gold and 6 gears), and one for cranking the Accomploshrine 725 times within one game.

 

The problem with hidden achievements is that they don't remain hidden for long.  They might not show anywhere in game, but there will certainly be a list of them made available somewhere on the net within a short span of time.

[orian34]

A couple of those I wouldn't call joking or trivial, though you apparently have a better sense of humor than some PS4 players    When the console edition first came out, some achievement hunters were... let's say... slightly miffed at the pointless trophies.  You got one for each character unlocked, one for building the Accomploshrine (which required something like 10 gold and 6 gears), and one for cranking the Accomploshrine 725 times within one game.

 

The problem with hidden achievements is that they don't remain hidden for long.  They might not show anywhere in game, but there will certainly be a list of them made available somewhere on the net within a short span of time.

What? But cranking the accomploshrine 725 times in one game is awesome!

I don't know why you're saying that...

[FateWeaver]

Hey, I got an idea. The achievements should only pop up after you save and exit to the main menu.

That should be fine and won't make the popping up look like a guided tour.

Yeah, that could work.

 

[FateWeaver]

This question was brought up very early on in Don't Starve's development and there was an interesting article written by Jamie Cheng about their experiences with rewards in the game.  The original article, hosted on Penny Arcade Report, has been taken down, but you can find copies on other sites around the net.  Search up PAR: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic rewards in Klei’s latest game: Don’t Starve if your curious about their take on it and why they decided against quest/achievements.

 

Basically, they found it harmed gameplay and pushed players into playing in a way opposite to what they were trying to achieve.  The PS4 verion does have achievements, but they were basically forced on Klei as a requirement.  Klei decided to deal with the issue by making the achievements effectively jokes.

Shame, I wonder if they still have this stance on it or if they might have warmed up a bit to it now with Don't Starve Together being a thing.

Would have been funny with some joke achievements on PC to.

[Devon Aster]

What? But cranking the accomploshrine 725 times in one game is awesome!

I don't know why you're saying that...

 

I didn't say it was or wasn't awesome.  I only said that some PS4 players weren't so impressed

 

 

Shame, I wonder if they still have this stance on it or if they might have warmed up a bit to it now with Don't Starve Together being a thing.

Would have been funny with some joke achievements on PC to.

 

Not really sure.  I don't think the quesion of achievements has come up in a while in General Discussion.  I haven't peeked into the Suggestion forum in a long time, though, so maybe it has there.  If they add in joke ones to PC, I'm afraid they might get hit with the same complaints as they did with the console version.  Some players apparently were actually offended by the jokey/mocking nature of the achievements.  A few even declared they wouldn't play the game because of it, or that the game wasn't worth playing since it didn't have good trophies

 

The PS4 achievements kind of amused me when it came out what they were, since Klei was so obviously thumbing their nose at the requirement.  But achievements don't particularly appeal to or compell me.  If there were some joke ones for silly fun added, however, I might do them for the amusement factor.

[DreamApart]

....there's a mod for that. I think it's a great idea for a mod, but not really a good idea to include vanilla.

Sadly it really matters whether it is official.

If the achievements are not official, it feels like lying to yourself.

[NotStarvnMarvn]

 

This probably won't affect experienced player very much, but could be bad for new players. (I can't say for sure.)

Well depending the achievements you get when you get them you won't be 'new'.

[FateWeaver]

I didn't say it was or wasn't awesome.  I only said that some PS4 players weren't so impressed

 

 

 

Not really sure.  I don't think the quesion of achievements has come up in a while in General Discussion.  I haven't peeked into the Suggestion forum in a long time, though, so maybe it has there.  If they add in joke ones to PC, I'm afraid they might get hit with the same complaints as they did with the console version.  Some players apparently were actually offended by the jokey/mocking nature of the achievements.  A few even declared they wouldn't play the game because of it, or that the game wasn't worth playing since it didn't have good trophies

 

The PS4 achievements kind of amused me when it came out what they were, since Klei was so obviously thumbing their nose at the requirement.  But achievements don't particularly appeal to or compell me.  If there were some joke ones for silly fun added, however, I might do them for the amusement factor.

Sad how some people can't take a joke, of course if they were impossible to do or something they might have a point, but I still think reacting that harshly would be uncalled for anyway.

[imsomony]

The original article, hosted on Penny Arcade Report, has been taken down, but you can find copies on other sites around the net.

 

Here ya go.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards.pdf

[PhelsarusBeel]

Personally i could not care less about achivements because they add literally nothing valuable to my game experience. Like why should i care that i got a virtual feel good badge for doing a mundane ingame task that i have to do anyway when playing the game.

 

Don't Starve also isn't really made for achivements at least not in the traditional way since your achivements are more ingame related like actually surviving a specific season or killing a dangerous enemy and your reward for those are unique items that help you to survive even longer.

 

Achivements would really only be tied to abitrary stuff like "get X amount of item Y" or "slay X creature Y" and lastly "Craft item X" what really isn't to impressive in the grand sheme of things.

 

And i also like to say that i'm kore then glad that Don't Starve doesnt ride the achivement craze and rather focuses on you doing well.

 

And a last serious question what would achivements add in terms of enjoyment in the game? Cause really there is none and in fact there is hardly anything rewarding about Steam/XBL/PSN Achivements because all it does is make a number go bigger with notihng else behind it. Makes me semi sick of the current generations because it feels like a lot of games are tailord towards achivement hunters and that's where most of your enjoyment is supposed to come from. But i should stop ranting because that's not what this topic is about but let those words go through your head next time you suggest that a game needs/should have achivements.

[jacklul]

Why do you need them so bad, instead of focusing on surviving people will play just for achievements. Considering you have access to console and dev commands player would just cheat most of them.

[Devon Aster]

@imsomony , Thanks for that!  I was a little wary of linking to sites unknown to me.  Maybe Klei could host the article here, now that it isn't on Penny Arcade any longer.
 
@FateWeaver , @Mr.P , Hence my face-palming. The idea that a game absolutely required achievements to be worth playing left me gobsmacked.  Achievements, if included, should be icing on the cake, not the meat of the game.  And if it is the meat of the game... well, I'm not sure what to make of that unless the game is specifically about hunting achievements!
 
What's funny to me, as well, is that Don't Starve isn't the only game to have made jokes about them.  I wonder how many people whined about the ones in The Stanely Parable?  It literally has an Unachievable achievement.  From what I gather, the game-maker has changed the method for which to gain it at least a few times, once the old method got leaked.  And a couple others are really only feasibly obtained by messing with your computer's clock.

 

@jacklul , that's exactly what happened when Klei tried out goals early on.  Test players would play to the goals given, to the exclusion of all else.  Then, when they ran out of goals, they simply stopped playing instead of going on to explore and use what they'd learned.

[daduhweewah]

DS was forced to put trophies in for the PS versions of DS. They didn't want to. Idk why people want trophies or achievements for games, it is silly.

 

Maybe they can put in a participation trophy. The PS versions had a structure you could make I forget what it was called but all it did was shoot a firework if you stood and activated it 75 times. Was kind of a knock on PS for making them do trophies. 

 

I am really surprised to see that people pay attention to trophies/achievements when they play games. To each his own though.

[Billythesquig]

Why do you need them so bad, instead of focusing on surviving people will play just for achievements. Considering you have access to console and dev commands player would just cheat most of them.

 

for tha same reason people get trophies or climb mountains or brag that their goofy idea was liked by designers of a cool game, because you earned it and even if it seems stupid or minor or insignificant to other people, in your heart it's yours

 

[FateWeaver]

DS was forced to put trophies in for the PS versions of DS. They didn't want to. Idk why people want trophies or achievements for games, it is silly.

 

Maybe they can put in a participation trophy. The PS versions had a structure you could make I forget what it was called but all it did was shoot a firework if you stood and activated it 75 times. Was kind of a knock on PS for making them do trophies. 

 

I am really surprised to see that people pay attention to trophies/achievements when they play games. To each his own though.

Well we are all different and we think differently, some people value their achievements in games and would like to be recognised by the game for doing them, especially when you do extremely difficult things, I personally only care about the really hard ones, I don't really care about doing all game's achievements, I just care about doing the ones that only a few % of people have done. I am also a collection hoarder of video games and movies in real life so in-game achievements kind of strike a spark I am familiar with.

 

Personally i could not care less about achivements because they add literally nothing valuable to my game experience. Like why should i care that i got a virtual feel good badge for doing a mundane ingame task that i have to do anyway when playing the game.

 

Don't Starve also isn't really made for achivements at least not in the traditional way since your achivements are more ingame related like actually surviving a specific season or killing a dangerous enemy and your reward for those are unique items that help you to survive even longer.

 

Achivements would really only be tied to abitrary stuff like "get X amount of item Y" or "slay X creature Y" and lastly "Craft item X" what really isn't to impressive in the grand sheme of things.

 

And i also like to say that i'm kore then glad that Don't Starve doesnt ride the achivement craze and rather focuses on you doing well.

 

And a last serious question what would achivements add in terms of enjoyment in the game? Cause really there is none and in fact there is hardly anything rewarding about Steam/XBL/PSN Achivements because all it does is make a number go bigger with notihng else behind it. Makes me semi sick of the current generations because it feels like a lot of games are tailord towards achivement hunters and that's where most of your enjoyment is supposed to come from. But i should stop ranting because that's not what this topic is about but let those words go through your head next time you suggest that a game needs/should have achivements.

Well if you don't care about achievements in general then why would it be so bad for you if the game got them for those of us who do care about them? You could still ignore that particular feature and be perfectly happy about your playtime. And playing well and earning achievements go hand in hand in games that have them, so I don't understand you when you say that you would rather the game focuses on you playing well as you would have to play well to even earn the achievements. I agree that simple achievements that you will hit anyway and quite quickly are not very rewarding, but they still make for little goal posts, bigger ones that reward you for playing extremely well and for doing difficult things off the beaten path are much much more rewarding, and they are a fun thing to show off and compete with friends over. I am proud of several hard to get achievements I earned in tough as nails games like Volgaar the Viking and Teleglitch, in Teleglitch I completed the whole game in one life, not that many that has done that, in fact only 1.4%, it is not just about making a number get bigger, it is about doing difficult things and getting recognition for it, but I guess that must be hard to understand for you if you do not feel anything at all for achievements you have earned.

 

Why do you need them so bad, instead of focusing on surviving people will play just for achievements. Considering you have access to console and dev commands player would just cheat most of them.

It's not that I need them badly or anything like that, it would just be a nice thing to have, icing on the cake as Devon Aster said, sometimes when a run ends badly I kinda wish I could have something to show for all that time spent, earning an achievement kinda makes me feel better about it, and they are little goal posts to work towards.

[PhelsarusBeel]

*snip*

 

I think my personal problem here is that i grew up with games that didn't have achivements so i never really cared for them nor did i ever feel like bragging with them because i did a very hard task.

 

And i say it again a lot of times i personally fell like achivements actually distract from the important parts of the game and that's having fun or even just the journey through the game.

 

And i don't dislike the idea completly but what i personally hate is when people demand achievements to a game that never really needed them to beginn with. With Don't Starve it's even worse because this topic has been discussed to death and Klei has said it over and over again why they won't do it and whenever i see another topic i get more and more annoyed each time the topic pops up because i feel like people just don't do any research (remember one of the Forumrules is to use the darn searchfeature).

 

All in all i would have nothing against them if it wasn't for the current trend of every game needing achivements what completly distracs from the actual act of playing games like Don't Starve because suddenly there is some sort of goal and instead of focusing on your playstyle you rather want to work towards a mundane taks like "Surviving X amount of days" or kill "Z amount of creature Y" because an arbitrary bragging rights rewards tells you to do so. Also that's what i still feel achievements are Bragging rights because not many people will care about stuff like that or even know if it's impressive (like i don't care about that Teleglitch thing because i never played the game).