Achievement (computer game)

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In computer games, a virtual award (or trophy or badge ) that the player receives for achieving a goal or performing a certain action is referred to as an achievement ( German : "achievement / achieved / fulfillment / success") . There is no uniform term for this in German; instead, different providers of computer games use different terms. The best known are Success , Achievement, and Trophy .

functionality

When they are received, achievements usually appear as a pop-up with a text message or a picture at the bottom or top of the screen and can be managed via a separate menu. They are intended to motivate the player to achieve certain goals in a game and thus increase the long-term motivation of the game. In contrast to quests and other in-game tasks, collecting achievements does not have a direct impact on the game and usually does not offer the player any advantages in the game. In rare cases, however, cosmetic items can be unlocked. Achievements can also require previously unlocked achievements in order to be unlocked.

Today, the achievements are mostly managed externally in clients such as Steam , Uplay or Origin . This is done by Xbox Live on Xbox consoles and PlayStation Network on PlayStation consoles . Often the player level in one of these player accounts increases by collecting a large number of achievements. With Xbox Live, for example, this happens in the form of the so-called gamers score . Each achievement is assigned a certain number of Gamerscore points. The players can collect these Gamerscore points on their user account by activating achievements.

Reasons for Earning Achievements

Reasons for collecting and introducing achievements in computer games include:

  • the desire to challenge and experiment with the game
  • the setting of goals as an extension to the actual missions in the game
  • the desire for recognition, success and a high score
  • getting feedback and an overview of the progress in the game
  • the claim to completeness when collecting
  • measuring and competing with other players
  • the motivation for the player to discover secrets in the game world and to do secondary tasks
  • Increase in long-term motivation through a variety of goals

Types of Achievements

Achievements can u. a. in the following categories:

  • Achievements for reaching a level , a stage or completing a stage or a series of quests
  • Achievements for collecting certain items or achievements
  • Achievements for exploring the game world
  • Achievements for a special game behavior, e.g. B. stunts in racing games, a special combo or a striking shot from a long distance
  • humorous, satirical, absurd and ironic achievements, e.g. B. for an original losing or dying in the game or pressing a button over a thousand times

history

The idea of ​​game success goes back to highscore tables , game manuals for achieving certain results in games and unlockable levels in the 1980s. The first achievements for Activision on the Atari 2600 , Intellivision , ColecoVision , Atari 5200 and Commodore 64 were delivered by patch until the end of 1983. The game E-Motion on the Amiga from 1990 was one of the first games that already contained achievements as a game component. Games and game engines later introduced their own achievement system and in some cases offered a programming interface for developers.

This process was facilitated by online services and client software in the 2000s. Microsoft introduced Gamerscore for the Xbox 360 in 2005 and expanded the range to Games for Windows in 2007 . In the same year, an achievement system was introduced in the PC client Steam . In 2008, Sony introduced a trophy system for the PlayStation 3 over the PlayStation Network . This system was later carried over to the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita . Game Center on iOS and Google Play Games for Android were also successful in the mobile market in October 2011 . For Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 , Xbox Live support was introduced on October 21, 2010. Amazon Kindle introduced the GameCircle service on July 11, 2012. Most computer game clients now support achievements. On the Steam distribution platform, around half of the more than 70,000 games now support achievements in the game.

German names on individual platforms

There are different terms for achievement in computer games in German-speaking countries. Below is an overview of names on known platforms:

platform term
Steam Achievement
GOG success
Uplay Success / challenge
Origin Success and trophy
PlayStation Network trophy
Xbox Live success
Google Play Games success
Game Center Achievement

criticism

Achievements are criticized for stretching games excessively through repetitive and actually meaningless activities, and achieving all of them is almost impossible with many games. In some cases, they can also encourage addictive behavior . The actual reward is usually only the success itself. Games that offer a high number of achievements for little or no tasks in a short period of time and thus falsify statistics and rewards of the game services and represent a kind of spam are also criticized .

Achievements as gamification

Outside of computer games, achievements are also used as part of gamification and in education . Through the reward system, the students should learn the content better through operant conditioning ( flow ) and the motivation to learn should be strengthened .

Web links

literature

  • Christian Nibler: Achievement & Exploration: Dramaturgy of Crossing Borders in Computer Games, 2015, ISBN 978-3864880797
  • Lucas Blair: The Use of Video Game Achievements to Enhance Player Performance, Self-efficacy, and Motivation, University of Central Florida , 2011
  • Barbara Smith, Chad Yancey: Video Game Achievements and Unlockables, Prima Games, 2007

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Tracking Achievements in Your Game on Xbox One and Windows 10. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Step-by-Step: Achievements (Steamworks documentation). In: Steamworks Documentation. Valve , accessed July 3, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b What are trophies? Retrieved on July 3, 2019 (German).
  4. ↑ a b Why Do Achievements, Trophies, and Badges Work? In: The Psychology of Video Games. July 4, 2016, Retrieved July 3, 2019 (American English).
  5. ^ "Hamari, J., & Eranti, V. (2011). Framework for Designing and Evaluating Game Achievements. Proceedings of Digra 2011 Conference: Think Design Play, Hilversum, Netherlands, September 14-17, 2011" (PDF). Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Xbox Live Arcade - More gamerscore for arcade games. In: insidegames.ch. January 18, 2013, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Xbox Live Gamerscore Leaderboards. In: xboxgamertag.com. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Track Achievements in Your Game on Xbox One and Windows 10. At: support.xbox.com. Microsoft , accessed July 3, 2019 .
  9. ↑ a b Björn Balg: Achievements - What motivates the point hunters? In: Eurogamer.de. November 2, 2015, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  10. ^ Kyle Hilliard: Activision Badges - The Original Gaming Achievement. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Good Deal Games - Classic Videogame Games ARTICLE - Activision Patches (Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision). Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Collector's Corner - Activision Patches Atari 2600. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  13. ↑ E-Motion - Cheat codes & cheats - Lemon Amiga. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  14. ^ Steam Achievements (Concept). Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  15. ^ Brian Ashcraft: List of First PS3 Trophy Supported Games. Retrieved July 3, 2019 (American English).
  16. ↑ Track achievements, XP, & leaderboards - Google Play Help. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  17. ^ Matt Brian: Amazon Launches GameCircle for Kindle Fire to Rival Apple's Game Center. July 11, 2012, Retrieved July 3, 2019 (American English).
  18. Jump up ↑ Play with Steam Achievements. Retrieved April 20, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Number of Steam games. Retrieved April 20, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Steam achievements for all Steam titles - 4Players.de. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Steam: Achievements Explained | TippCenter. In: Computer Bild . Axel Springer SE , March 26, 2019, accessed on July 3, 2019 .
  22. ↑ GOG Galaxy Introduced: The Benefits of Steam Without the Disadvantages of Steam? - Golem.de. Retrieved on July 3, 2019 (German).
  23. ↑ UPLAY Achievements and Rewards. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Origin: New update shows in-game successes and introduces Origin points. May 10, 2013, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Track Achievements, XP, and Leaderboards - Google Play Help. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Game Center App: What happened to it? November 21, 2018, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Steam - Achievement spam games are becoming a problem. June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Adi Robertson: NSA analysts earned 'skilz' points by training for XKeyscore surveillance, says new report. August 12, 2013, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Torsten Reiners, Lincoln C. Wood: Gamification in Education and Business . Springer, 2014, ISBN 978-3-319-10208-5 ( google.de [accessed July 3, 2019]).
  30. ^ Karl M. Kapp: The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook: Ideas into Practice . John Wiley & Sons, 2013, ISBN 978-1-118-67724-7 ( google.de [accessed July 3, 2019]).