Yesterday, MTVMultiplayer spoke to World of Warcraft designer Jeff Kaplan about achievements in WoW. What was then revealed was Blizzard’s cross-title system called “Blizzard Account” which will track Achievements across all Blizzard games including Starcraft II and Diablo III. Blizzard Account isn’t necessarily ready yet, but the WoW team will use the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to test it out.
There’s more, though. Every Achievement earned will go towards a players “Blizzard Level,” which is essentially a scalable version of Xbox Live’s Gamerscore. The more points, the more levels and the more bragging rights to your buddies. Here’s what Kaplan had to say about the system:
Your ‘WoW’ score would be just one factor that will go into your Blizzard Level. And rather than call it a ’score,’ we just wanted it to be like you’re leveling up on Blizzard games… You’ll have this Blizzard identity, and you’ll be able to see things like ‘Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW.’ That sort of thing.
For some reason, I really need Achievements to validate my gaming experience anymore. I have no idea why these point systems have my psyche in an iron grip, but they do. Thank the gods that the PlayStation 3 finally got Trophies, or else I would feel soulless while playing
PixelJunk Eden. Are any of you excited about the notion of Blizzard's cross-game Achievement system? Or are you too cool for points?
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
15 comments | showing # 1 to 15
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
9:10 PM on 08.01.2008
| 
Remember were video games didn't need a crutch like "Achievements" to get people to play their games?
Also, zell is right. Should've stuck with the first pic.
@SunTzu - I know it, man, but they've got me by the proverbial balls.
No, actually. I know a ton of people who never finished every sidequest in various Zelda games or only got through the old Mario games using warps. Many people who play games aren't completionists, and having somewhat more tangible rewards for completing a game can bring them more enjoyment out of it.
...but those god damned antlion grubs... 331/333...
Also, I can't wait for Diablo and yay for achievements, although my Blizzard Level will be pretty low because I have never played WOW, nor do I want to, and I'm not a big fan of the RTS genre. Diablo III!
I remember replaying Max Payne 1 countless times on every difficulty with the sole purpose of making every shot a headshot. I didn't need a fictional, useless, cumulative score to do it.
Each of the MegaMan X games (save 5, 6, 7) brought me back countless times until I'd get hit less than twice per level - and each of the dozens of times I beat them, I collected every subtank and heart.
Honestly, I think most of my own self-imposed challenges are more interesting than actual pre-determined kinds.
This won't bother me, though, as long as it has no bearing on my character's attributes/abilities/aesthetics in any manner.
Unless these achievements have something beyond some stupid social commentary it does not interest me in the least.
I have no problem with achievements - as long as they dont affect the game im playing in any way other than "oh, i got an achievement for doing that, how nice".
Ironically my favourite game at the moment, Team Fortress 2, fails that rule, since you need them to get unlocks... and theyve almost perfectly balanced it such that its fairly easy to farm them, but it takes just long enough to be annoying... i really hope no-one else starts doing that.
If you EVER need to "farm" an achievement or create an "achievement map" or compromise a multiplayer game because you HAD to heal a heavy who was killing people solely by punching, YOU'VE FUCKING FAILED.
I don't care that the game is "just fine" playing without them, that the game is "properly balanced" for players that don't want to spend time or behave differently to earn them, LOCKING ENTIRE SEGMENTS OF YOUR PLAYERBASE OUT FOR ARBITRARY REASONS is one of the dumbest things you can do in game development.