Stop saying achievements are optional

#0 - March 16, 2009, 7:15 p.m.

Everything in this game is optional. Achievements are no more optional than anything else is. It is possible to level all the way to 80 without ever doing a quest; quests are not mandatory for anything (except new DKs to get friendly to your faction).

Battlegrounds are optional. Arenas are optional. Quests are optional. Professions are optional. None of these are required for progression. Just like achievements, they are all there to provide entertainment, challenge, distraction, and most importantly a big time sink.

If you want to level up, you have to kill things that give experience. If you want the best PvE gear, you have to do dungeons and raids. If you want the best PvP gear, you have to do arenas. But, to have fun and enjoy the game, there is nothing that you are required to do other than log in.

With all non-raid quests completed, achievements are effectively the replacement for quests. I play BGs often but won't do arenas because they are such a joke. I run dungeons and occasionaly get into raids when my real-life time constraints permit. I really enjoy working on achievements, and find them no more or less optional than anything else in this game.

So, when people complain about the RNG in certain achievements or changing the rewards of certain achievements, responding that "achievements are optional" is not a valid argument. If you don't want to try for the achievement, that's fine, but don't use this argument when someone is trying to get an achievement fixed to make it possible to complete and get the title/reward. They are not trying to get an effortless achievement; they are trying to get it fixed to it can be done.

Specifically, things such as "be mine" where a lot of people failed solely because the RNG didn't give them the right items no matter how much effort they put in. Also, things such as the glory raider drakes where a lot of people were working on other things because the time limit was only announced a short time ago. Leave the achievement rewards alone, and come up with something new for the new achievements in the patch. (Personally, I doubt I would ever be getting those drakes, at least not till I reach level 100 a couple expansions from now, but there are a lot of people that were trying and just can't get there in the limited time that is now available.)

Bornakk

#13 - March 16, 2009, 10:22 p.m.

Achievements are optional. (el oh el?)

Q u o t e:

hard != broken
difficult != broken
physically not possible = broken

Correct. Not everybody will get everything in the game. The game will continue to evolve and move forward, we will fix things as they come, we will make further design decisions that are not liked by everybody, but overall we do what we think is best for the game as a whole.

Bornakk

#23 - March 16, 2009, 11:11 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Did you really just laugh directly into the face of a customer who broke no rules and legitimately expressed his opinion?

I honestly have no idea how you came to that conclusion. If you have an issue with a CM, email it to wowcmfeedback@blizzard.com and don't post it.

Q u o t e:
So, as long as someone goes through Ulduar, never does any hard modes, and gets all geared up, they will be ready for the next dungeon after Ulduar when it comes out?

I think that's pretty much the main concern :)

While I can't predict the future, the answer should be "yes". It should take you longer, but you should be able to progress through the normal modes.

Bornakk

#33 - March 16, 2009, 11:38 p.m.

Q u o t e:
I am sorry but does "el o el" mean something other than laughter? Was this term not placed directly after telling the first poster that you hold the complete optional view as him? How should I understand it?

I realize it's hard for some people to keep a sense of humor about a game, but when you see a topic that says "stop saying achievements are optional" the first thing that jumps to my mind is saying "achievements are optional". There was nothing personal in the comment either which you were assuming for no apparent reason. After that I agreed with part of post from another player that was on the topic. I apologize for the confusion in this matter.

Also, please read my previous post on CM feedback, further discussions on it will lead to action on the account.