Trophies: The Unquenchable Work of Play
by Kozfear, HSM guest contributor
I’m not a terribly competitive person.
When I play Scrabble, I don’t even like keeping score; I just think it’s fun to make words (yeah, that’s how nerdy I am). If anything, I compete against myself, always trying to best my best, to hone my skills and craft and excel for personal gain — but not at another’s expense.
So, in-game trophies, and the people who so desperately seek them out, have baffled me for quite some time. I know individuals who purchase and play games solely for the gain of a few trophies. I mean, I understand the concept of earning something for your efforts, but what ever could possess someone to haul out the cash and hours of time for ANYTHING with the name “Hannah Montana” on it?
“Well, it has trophies, so…”
Yeah, so…so WHAT?
The main echo of disconcertion stems from a distinct feeling that playing a game driven only by the need to “possess” a tiny, binary stamp of represented achievement makes gaming sound…incredibly NOT fun — more akin to hard labor than any kind of escapist entertainment or thrilling ride to hone a virtual set of skills or pursuit of a game’s resolution or weapon upgrades or anything else one comes across whilst playing a game that makes a game worth playing.
To summarize, I just didn’t freakin’ get it.
But then something strange happened. I purchased and dove headlong into playing inFamous and found I not only enjoyed the hell out of it, but was actually good at it. I normally suck at almost every game I touch, which doesn’t deter me from playing (you get used to self-afflicted indignation), yet still — it was thrilling to encounter a game I’d been not only longing for but found a particular level of passionate accomplishment I’ve seldom encountered.
I hadn’t even been paying attention to the trophies until a friend on PSN noted I had 75% completion of inFamous‘s long list of badges, and I let it happen. Suddenly and without warning, I became a trophy collector.
After all, I was only missing five of them to attain Platinum, a goal I’d never considered before nor assigned any value. I was only three stunts, two blast shards, and a few other moves away from CONQUERING this game — from leaping out of my chair in sheer and utter victory over Sucker Punch and Empire City and my own consistent, reliable self-abasement in the gaming world. I set to work.
The thing is, with inFamous anyway, nearly all of the trophies stem from items and/or actions that are of value to the game itself — that either increase your powers, your skill, your knowledge, and your overall ability to play the game and kick its freakin’ butt. When I first started playing Killzone 2 (note: I am and have remained a dead Recruit in that game since its release), the first hint of trophy I encountered instructed me to locate a set of Helghast emblems to shoot on walls throughout the level. There was no other reason or reward for shooting these down, but I could just imagine the elation in cries of, “OHHH hellz yeah–here’s an easy one!” But what was the point?
I’m still taut on the fence between deeming trophies utterly worthless symbols of virtual hauteur or as marks on a path to give one goals and direction within a game to enhance the overall experience. Those whom I know that strive for trophies in a for-the-sake-of-itself manic neurosis still continue to baffle me, as do gamers who refuse to speak with — let alone play with — others lacking at least one platinum.
But I believe, perhaps, I’ve learned something of a point in striving towards excellence for my own benefit. I’ve found the enjoyment of pursuit, not the starvation of swollen, overcompensating-for-something-else arrogance. I earned my inFamous platinum not long after setting my goal, but it didn’t dull my enjoyment; I continued to play that sunnovabee for many following weeks, and anticipate my second platinum with the sequel. Possibly. Maybe.
My epic gaming suckage continues unabated, but everyone has to have a talent, right?
March 3rd, 2011 by kozfear | 10 comments
koz is a writer, photographer, and wayward college professor from the San Francisco Bay Area. A certified bookaholic, she nurtures intense passions for literature, philosophy, history, poetry, linguistics, and reference books. Among her other obsessions are felines, cephalopods, typewriters, scrabble, skeeball, cinema, music, minutia, irony, metaphor, curiosity, idiosyncrasy, artisans, Italia, communication, and conversation.
She also plays video games.
great article i myself like collect trophies but have no platinum im level 8 on trophies but i im mostly on home ^^ LOL again article
After reading your article about your experience as a gamer, I was able to relate to you as a gamer myself. Being the 2009 noobish PS3 owner that I was, I only enjoyed games for what they did….well entertain of course. I have always been a gamer since the age of 3 (not kidding) growing up in the 90’s where console gaming was continuously and rapidly evolving, I found my life to revolve around gaming. Every month just waiting to get that new game that would keep me hooked on until the next one, or every year for that new console to come out. Shortly after PlayStation was released I was hooked then came the PlayStation 2 and it was like the deity of all gaming systems. Then life happened (being a Advanced Placement student, applying to college or what not) it eventually caught up to me, and it took me a while to get the PS3. My reason for getting it: well, it was the best system out, plus all my other friends had it and I as a gamer could not stand it any longer so I purchased my very own PS3. At first I didn’t really care for trophies, err…I mean they were cool but not something I would invest my time in. A few titles later my gamer level began to slowly increase from 1 to 2 to 3 and so on and so forth and before I knew it, it became a habit to actually earn the trophies within a game. Now looking back I have figured out what made me become obsessed with trophies in the first place (yep I said it I am obsessed, currently a level 11 gamer with close to 800 trophies) with each new game that I purchase I try to reach for that platinum just like you did for inFAMOUS. What my experience has taught me is that gaming for gaming is fun, but what makes it even better is when I try to obtain those shiny metal cups that show off my prowess on my PSN ID and to the rest of my friend’s list. It makes my experience more rewarding knowing that I am an accomplished gamer and of course who doesn’t like showing off what they have achieved (whether people care or not).
Nice article Koz. I agree with your assessment of trophy hunting. I don’t really care if I get them either. I am fairly good at games, have finished many of them in my time, but trophies are something that came along way after I began gaming. I play for the fun of it, not what I can get on a virtual scoreboard. My satisfaction is derived from how well the game is put together and beating the game itself. That is why I have finished games like Final Fantasy 13 without even trying to go back and platinum it. Once it is done, I won’t go back til I get bored with whatever else I am playing and want to start the game over for a second play through.
On the other hand I don’t see anything wrong if people get a sense of accomplishment by getting platinum trophies in a game. Whatever floats your boat I say. If that is what you want go for it and I have several friends who do this. If you want to do a follow up on this I have a friend who is supremely good at getting platinum’s, his star level on his name plate on the XMB is 21 and he has many platinum’s to show for it. Good read.
What does it say about the power of arbitrary rewards (and our human need for validation) that simply by adding trophies to games, and attaching the trophy count (and numeric rank) to our profiles, Sony has created a whole new elite and a corresponding underclass?
In gaming, I’m casual to the point of being negligent. I don’t expect my rank (4) to advance any time soon, and I have yet to earn my first Gold, let alone a Plat. And I find this occasionally bothers me, especially when I contemplate the double-digit ranks of many of my PSN friends. (“How the heck did they get to rank 18? OMFG!”)
I would like to think that my status on Home is based on other things, such as my articles in HSM, the Homelings wiki, and projects such as the Homeling Art Shows. That’s what eats up the time I could have spent gaming. I have my priorities, and I think they are the right ones for me. I’m all about words, not expert thumb-twitches.
So why should it bother me that everyone can see that I totally suck as a gamer? I think there’s another article in there, if one of us cares to write it.
I thought your article was great Koz. I’m a 51 year old gamer, that really just plays for my own personal enjoyment. Your opening paragraph captured my philosophy in regards to gaming; but beyond gaming, you really spoke to what I believe to be one of the key ingredients to finding satisfaction in life.
“If anything, I compete against myself, always trying to best my best, to hone my skills and craft and excel for personal gain — but not at another’s expense.”
That is a jewel of wisdom.
I must admit, I don’t really understand the trophy craze. But it may stem from *why* I play video games.
A game, to me, should be recreation. One of the best gaming experiences I ever had was when I used a GameShark to max-out my FFVIII crew and turned off all random encounters. All of a sudden, I could focus on the immersive story and visuals and soundtrack, rather than dealing with the pesky distraction of fighting every fourth step.
This doesn’t mean that I’m not competitive — but, as Kozfear points out, it’s competition against myself, not others. I push myself to do better.
In this regard, it’s much how I approach golf. I’m actually a halfway decent golfer — just have a knack for it, for whatever reason. But I don’t understand these guys who go full-tilt with buying the best golf gear and then have a Tourette’s fit when they slice a ball into the water hazard. For god’s sake, it’s just a game. If I have a bad round, it’s not because someone else beat me — it’s because the course beat me. Time for pizza.
If trophy collecting in some way adds to the gaming experience for others, that’s fantastic. I don’t begrudge that at all. I understand the desire to max-out a gaming experience — to turn a game into your personal bunch of asterisks.
The two things about trophies that concern me:
1. Easy trophies should not be a substitute for quality. A game needs to stand on its own merits. Valkyria Chronicles is one of the best PS3 games I’ve ever played, but it has no trophies. So what?
2. Immature people may use trophies as a tool for class division. As Kozfear pointed out, there are evidently people who refuse to talk to any gamer who doesn’t have a platinum trophy in his collection? That’s just silly. If you measure a person’s worth based on their trophies, I would contend that perhaps you really do need to put the controller down for a little bit and get some perspective.
That said, there are always the extremists at either end. I suspect the vast majority of the bell curve falls somewhere in-between.
Look at it this way, though: if trophies and such disappeared tomorrow, would you stop buying video games? Of course not.
A more interesting question, perhaps: if trophies and such disappeared tomorrow, would you regret some of the games you *have* purchased?
I, personally, will never purchase a title just because it has “easy” trophies to add to my collection. I don’t need that social validation from other like-minded gamers. Trophies are sprinkles on top of the icing on top of the cake, as far as I’m concerned. I do recognize, however, that trophies are, to some, much more important. I’d like to hear *why* they’re important from those people.
You may get your wish, Norse, as I’ve a few friends I wish to interview and who do pride themselves on their trophy achievements, and push each other to greater heights.
These aren’t jobless basement dwellers either, but adults with mortgages and full time jobs; some are even balancing furthering their education on top of their careers. So it’ll be interesting to see their rationales.
That’d be fantastic! I’d love to hear from the pro-trophy crowd and get their perspective on the subject.
I always though it was a hoarding thing. Some people just like to collect. The bigger the collection the better. I too play games for the entertainment value. This is an entertainment system after all.
Am level six and have no platinum trophies. If someone is going to discriminate based on that criteria, it’s better we do not meet
Will likely be stuck at level six for a looooong time. What PS3 gaming time that is not spent doing Homeling things, usually consists of simply “playing” a game. It’s a nice change to just be able to relax while tearing up Liberty City.