Sound-Off: TF2 getting burned by achievements

Posted Jun 26th 2008 5:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Culture, Action, FPS, Multiplayer, Opinion, Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 stands out as one of the best competitive shooting games around. From its cartoon-inspired graphics to the weapon variety and class balances, TF2 is the go-to game for a high-action and a lively time. However, all the fun comes to a screeching halt when Valve releases a new class update, complete with some extremely difficult achievements that go toward unlocking special weapons. Two class updates were released so far to date, the most recent being for the Pyro class. Both releases gave rise to a flood of players rushing to unlock all the weapons and a huge number of achievement grinding servers to help expedite the task. As a result, almost all the fun is drained from Team Fortress 2 for a while following a class update.

Big Download hosts a guide that helps players earn their achievements through both normal gameplay and artificially set-up circumstances, but we don't pretend to ignore some of the horror stories the mechanizations of achievement grinding brings.

Does the process of earning achievements and getting new, powerful weapons ruining the long-term Team Fortress 2 experience? Are less hardcore players left out for not having the time or patience to grind for achievements? Sound-off after the jump.

How Achievements Improve Games

Achievements vary up gameplay by offering a broader number of goals. In shooters, they allow for more strategy and challenge by encouraging players to practice selective targeting or use weapons that they wouldn't normally pull out, like the fire ax. Achievements reward players with badges to show-off and can, like in the case of Team Fortress 2, unlock special gear and bonuses to help further stand out as an elite player.

How Achievements Ruin Games

The downside to achievements, especially those that unlock special items, is that everybody wants them immediately. So, when new achievements and unlockable weapons for a class like the Pyro, weeks go by when almost everyone plays the Pyro, sapping all liveliness and fun from the game. Worse yet, achievement grinding servers go up, complete with custom maps specifically designed to quickly, efficiently and mechanically let players rack up achievement, undermining the whole concept of what achievements were meant for in the first place. Players' statistics are thrown completely out of proportion, making them meaningless for those that win them legitimately. Grinding servers essentially manufacture achievements by rewarding players that would rather dedicate themselves to repeating the same mundane tasks for hours on end than have the patience to earn them through regular gaming.

Achievement grinding machines eventually becomes a self-perpetuating necessity. Those with the time to grind for unlockable weapons gain a strong advantage over those that still use the standard ones. Therefore, some feel compelled to go through the pains of logging onto an achievement grinding server to level the playing field. This ongoing arms race causes the game to circle back to one of the first problems: once the special weapons are obtained, players are likely to stick to playing with their updated classes, further causing the decline of class variety in matches.

The Bottom Line

Challenging players to play outside the standard format isn't necessarily a bad thing, nor are unlockable weapons as rewards. Giving players extra goals can go a long way toward varying up gameplay. However, more thought needs to be put into these achievements. Some of the Team Fortress 2 achievements are so situational and difficult that many might feel that an achievement grinding server is an absolute necessity. Furthermore, although some already exist (particularly with the Medic), more achievements need to be geared toward encouraging team play. Valve should also release class updates either two at a time or all at once so that players don't all rush to play a single class at one time.
Although there's no way to completely eliminate the grinding server phenomenon, steps can be taken to help encourage players to earn their achievements through normal gameplay instead of making them feel like they need to get them any way they can.

Sound-Off: What do you think about achievements and unlockable content? How do you think Team Fortress 2 can keep things lively and fun when class updates release?

Get all the Team Fortress 2 HD Trailers on Big Download!

Tags: achievements, featured, team-fortress-2, valve

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

People who gripe about this stuff can take their ball and go home. Things are already almost back to normal after the pyro update and it's only been a week. I think each transition will be easier, especially when people avoid classes they never play. I've earned only a handful of the medic achievements and that was only through switching when we didn't have a medic.Posted at 10:07PM on Jun 26th 2008 by the_boo

For many people those achievements remain a significant motivator for continuing to play, and Valve provides those players with what they want. I am very much a casual TF2 player and the achievements mean nothing to me, but it would be wrong of me to object to them. Everyone has their own means of gaining enjoyment from their passtimes, and TF2 continues to offer me something I enjoy doing regardless of whether there are new achievements or not.Posted at 1:09AM on Jun 27th 2008 by paralipsis

I can at least comprehend the grinding servers. People want the new guns, and they want them now. I'm sure a chunk of them have the mentality that "I'm going to get all the achievements eventually anyway," which aids the situation. Maybe they're right. I still think its just massive laziness. I want the guns, too...just not enough to cheat for 'em. I'll EARN the things and feel ever-so-slightly more accomplished. Or "achieved," as it were.Posted at 1:44AM on Jun 27th 2008 by ClarkGable

Well Valve is most def addressing the problems with the chivos. THe medic no longer needs all 39 fo the ubersaw, just 22, same with pyro. They lowered the chivement requirements so that those plays who just grind em out can get the 22 n be happy n move on to regular game play where they may one day uber a demoman who kills 5 guys cappin the point. Also the difficulty of the medic chivos was the reliance on someone else to be a good. Kill 5 guys capping the point? ya easy for a top tier player, but thats stil a rare situation.
I agree that they need to release 2 classes at once (im so tired of 5 pyros per server since being attacked by that many isnt the norm), n Im hoping that they keep with the class/team/balance aspect that makes tf2 so enjoyable and release chivos for both an offensive class and defensive class, or better yet one class from each category (support being the one i left out).
i enjoy the chivos because it helps those who might not understand what tf2 is learn faster. really each chivo is a lil strat for how to handle/play that class. granted you can figure each classes weaknesses/strengths, but the chivos do help.

-dPosted at 8:23AM on Jun 27th 2008 by snu183

I think the achievements are a great idea. The casual players can just ignore them and it gives the hardcore players another level of playing. This way they don't get bored and they also can fine tune how they play.

It does create all the problems in the article though. I think the easiest way to solve the issue is to release new achievements for all the classes at once. Rather than release 35 for the Pyro, release 5 for each class. It would keep everyone from bum-rushing one class for a week or two straight.

This would also help the achievements to happen more through normal gameplay. If you only have 5 achievements for a class there is less motivation to go to a special grinding server.

But no matter how they handle them I'm just glad they're there. It does add to the game's experience, even if in the short-run it messes it around a little. I don't focus on them too much but it's always fun when I get one I wasn't even trying for.Posted at 10:28AM on Jun 27th 2008 by sorensilk

i am a pc gamer who happens to own a xbox 360. i have seen the pros and cons to the achievement system in a hundred games or so.

well, i have an idea..one that is used in only a few games.

what if ranked and player matches were separated by achievements?

ranked. you get statistics, achievements are locked.
player. unranked games, public rooms, where achievements are turned on...and anything goes.

achievements are not the problem. the problem lies in the association of achievements with competitive players.

competitive players are stat players. they are team players who desire to win, and to keep a good k/d ratio.
achievement kiddos throw statistics out of proportion because they play for other reasons not related to teamplay.

i think valve needs to add requirements for servers to be ranked or unranked. and to turn achievement settings off in ranked.

just a thought..Posted at 1:49PM on Jun 27th 2008 by DM

If you're good at being a soldier, play it. If you're good enough, and avoid coming around blind corners tightly, you can easily keep most pyros at bay with rockets. Throw a rocket or two more at them to finish the job.

This is the most fun I've had as a soldier since beta (when everyone still sucked at the game).

Oh, P.S. Make sure you get the medic achievement, the Infernal Medicine. It's easy with all the medics around.Posted at 9:49AM on Jul 1st 2008 by Veko

Actually, the achievements neither improve nor ruin the gameplay mechanics, per se. I'm with sorensilk - the achievements chiefly appeal to the hardcore segment. I'm somewhere between hardcore and casual, and have ignored the achievements, so far. Farms are downright depressing - eight pyros or medics standing around grinding. Meh.

If Valve constructively altered the gameplay, THEN we'd have something here. I, for one, would love to see new maps created especially with the new weapons in mind. Now, THAT would be potentially gamechanging.

Speaking of maps, the selection typically available on public server seems to have narrowed drastically. Posted at 1:04PM on Jul 1st 2008 by wuchmee

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