Account wide achievements and me: overland edition

FantasticFreddie · February 2022

I enjoy collecting skyshards. It's a relaxing and fun activity for me, and one of the things I enjoy doing are the overland achievements. Just the easy ones-- Delve bosses, public dungeon group events, etc.
It's always a satisfying little pop to see the achievement pop up.
I never really thought about it before.

When the account wide achievements were announced, I, like everyone else, was focused on the BIG stuff. Titles from trifectas, Grand Overlord, stuff like that. The impact on the vet trial scene, which will include the dissolution of my own long-time team. All of that is all relevant, but how meaningful was it to me? Well, I'll miss my raid team, but realistically, I'm not good enough or in demand enough to be getting Godslayer on every toon anyways.

However, this week I went to Blackwood for my skyshard hunt, and had a grand old time, and while I was there, I got an achievement for killing a world boss-- Wart-Wacker.
It was fun. It was funny.
The group commented on it, we had a giggle.
And it occurred to me I will never get that achievement again.
And then I realized I am done getting ANY overland achievements like that. I've done every zone in the game at least once, scattered across 18 toons. I've killed all the world bosses, done every delve, cleared every public dungeon in the game at least one time.

And THAT SUCKS. I don't want to never have that silly moment of seeing the achievement pop up ever again. I don't want to look at a new toons achievements and see she has done everything. I want to get those little pop-ups. I want to note them with my friends.

I really think that this needs to be rethought. It kills the replay value on so much more than just the trials and dungeons.

Tandor · February 2022

Make sure you repost this on the PTS forum official feedback thread, if you have not already done so. That is the one ZOS have confirmed they are watching closely.

Mushroomancer · February 2022

I myself am quite excited for account-wide achievements, and even moreso for titles, since as a healer main I don't get to try out a lot of different classes and are mostly stuck on warden and templar, so being able to get some trial titles on my other chars is gonna be neat.

However I can see how a lot of people have been complaining about this change ruining replayability. Personally I think the best way to work around that would be to have both an account-wide and character-specific achievement list. So rewards (titles, dyes, skins, etc.) are given to you as soon as you achieve something the first time, but you don't get "robbed" of the excitement of redoing that activity on other characters, and at the same time you get to build up to those incredibly tedious achievements like the monster trophy ones with your whole character roster.

As a side note, when it comes to trial groups, I think the "replayability killing" effect of this change is being overblown to extreme proportions. Quite frankly, if the only thing that keeps people hooked on trials and dungeons is the extrinsic motivation of achievements, and they derive no other enjoyment from those activities (aside from the short-term dopamine rush of getting a hard achievement done), account-wide achievements are just making them realize that they are not enjoying the game for what it is, and probably haven't been enjoying it for a while now, and that's ok. It's like having a job you don't like, you are just going through the motions because at the end of it you are gonna have a reward, but what you are doing in and of itself is either meaningless to you or actually boring you to tears.

At the end of the day, I think account-wide achievements need to be refined a bit before they hit live. If people want to leave the game over it, it's completely understandable, just maybe they shouldn't blame the change itself, but the game for being very repetitive and having very few or underwhelming rewards for most activities. The change is just hitting them hard with the realization.

ShawnLaRock · February 2022

Currently trying to get as many Precursors and Music Boxes before they possibly become extinct.

S.

Mushroomancer · February 2022

ShawnLaRock wrote: »

Currently trying to get as many Precursors and Music Boxes before they possibly become extinct.

S.

I've been reading that the Precursor shouldn't be affected by this for some reason. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though.

BahometZ · February 2022

ShawnLaRock wrote: »

Currently trying to get as many Precursors and Music Boxes before they possibly become extinct.

S.

Can you confirm the music box can be collected on different characters?

And like the above, I'm certain the box is achievement specific, whereas the precursor is quest specific.

tomofhyrule · February 2022

Mushroomancer wrote: »

ShawnLaRock wrote: »

Currently trying to get as many Precursors and Music Boxes before they possibly become extinct.

S.

I've been reading that the Precursor shouldn't be affected by this for some reason. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though.

The precursor can evidently still be obtained multiple times. The first quest is to get the integral, and then as soon as you get back the quest jumps straight to completion and you can get another.

The 'Skalsap to Remember' quest is only granted on getting the Bard College achievement, so that and its music box are locked out.

There's no quest for the Summerset one or the WSkyrim Mammoth Cheese one, but the fun little effects are now gone forever. Also I assume this means you will no longer get to see the Vvardenfell map getting built in the Library of Vivec. I'm not sure yet on what becomes of the House of Orsimer Glories since there are a handful of retrieval quests there.

FantasticFreddie · February 2022

Mushroomancer wrote: »

I myself am quite excited for account-wide achievements, and even moreso for titles, since as a healer main I don't get to try out a lot of different classes and are mostly stuck on warden and templar, so being able to get some trial titles on my other chars is gonna be neat.

I am absolutely against titles being account wide. EVERYTHING ELSE is account wide. The mounts. The unlockable dyes. Body markings. Skins. Once you learn a motif all your toons can use it as a style even.
The titles are pretty much the ONLY thing per toon, and just let us have it.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

As a side note, when it comes to trial groups, I think the "replayability killing" effect of this change is being overblown to extreme proportions. Quite frankly, if the only thing that keeps people hooked on trials and dungeons is the extrinsic motivation of achievements, and they derive no other enjoyment from those activities (aside from the short-term dopamine rush of getting a hard achievement done), account-wide achievements are just making them realize that they are not enjoying the game for what it is, and probably haven't been enjoying it for a while now, and that's ok. It's like having a job you don't like, you are just going through the motions because at the end of it you are gonna have a reward, but what you are doing in and of itself is either meaningless to you or actually boring you to tears.

Look if you don't get it you don't get it, and it is just that simple. But for a lot of people, earning the title per toon is part of the draw. It's not just the achievements, although that is certainly part of it, but the title too. Earning a very difficult title on multiple toons IS it's own goal, and if you don't understand how that is being taken away, I don't know how to explain it to you.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

If people want to leave the game over it, it's completely understandable, just maybe they shouldn't blame the change itself, but the game for being very repetitive and having very few or underwhelming rewards for most activities. The change is just hitting them hard with the realization.

Gross simplification. I enjoy doing overland on my toons, but I also enjoy getting the achievements. Will I leave the game over it? Probably not, but there are some people who will, and that is why this change is so stupid tbh.
No one is going to buy eso because of this change. But people WILL quit.

Mushroomancer · February 2022

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Mushroomancer wrote: »

I myself am quite excited for account-wide achievements, and even moreso for titles, since as a healer main I don't get to try out a lot of different classes and are mostly stuck on warden and templar, so being able to get some trial titles on my other chars is gonna be neat.

I am absolutely against titles being account wide. EVERYTHING ELSE is account wide. The mounts. The unlockable dyes. Body markings. Skins. Once you learn a motif all your toons can use it as a style even.
The titles are pretty much the ONLY thing per toon, and just let us have it.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

As a side note, when it comes to trial groups, I think the "replayability killing" effect of this change is being overblown to extreme proportions. Quite frankly, if the only thing that keeps people hooked on trials and dungeons is the extrinsic motivation of achievements, and they derive no other enjoyment from those activities (aside from the short-term dopamine rush of getting a hard achievement done), account-wide achievements are just making them realize that they are not enjoying the game for what it is, and probably haven't been enjoying it for a while now, and that's ok. It's like having a job you don't like, you are just going through the motions because at the end of it you are gonna have a reward, but what you are doing in and of itself is either meaningless to you or actually boring you to tears.

Look if you don't get it you don't get it, and it is just that simple. But for a lot of people, earning the title per toon is part of the draw. It's not just the achievements, although that is certainly part of it, but the title too. Earning a very difficult title on multiple toons IS it's own goal, and if you don't understand how that is being taken away, I don't know how to explain it to you.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

If people want to leave the game over it, it's completely understandable, just maybe they shouldn't blame the change itself, but the game for being very repetitive and having very few or underwhelming rewards for most activities. The change is just hitting them hard with the realization.

Gross simplification. I enjoy doing overland on my toons, but I also enjoy getting the achievements. Will I leave the game over it? Probably not, but there are some people who will, and that is why this change is so stupid tbh.
No one is going to buy eso because of this change. But people WILL quit.

Ah, I see, this is one of those "you have a different opinion, therefore you don't get it" type of responses.

To that, all I can say is that I DO get it. And all you did with your response was basically saying "I and a lot of people are only here for the reward", which is exactly what I was saying. So I do get it, it seems that you are the one that doesn't understand the fact that the problem isn't not seeing a little boxed image with text popping up whenever you do something or not getting a line of text beside your character's name only if you do a specific and arbitrary task on that character alone. The real problem is that the rewards as they are now, are basically worthless, so you are sitting here clinging on a string of text that shows your friends how cool you are. If there were more and better rewards for replaying content, no one would be batting an eye at this change.
Again, you are free to play for the reward alone, and I understand the sense of achievement, as well as how people feel like this change is gonna take that away from them.
I'm not saying that playing for achievements and titles is wrong, or deserving of punishment by taking away your dopamine doses, all I'm saying is that this change itself is not what's killing endgame and replayability, it's just highlighting the issues with it.

Also, I really love how you *** all over my response, and how it's apparently a "gross simplification", yet you gloss over the only part that really matters, where I give my suggestion on how we can have "the best of both worlds", and that part alone invalidates your argument of "I enjoy doing overland, but I also enjoy getting the achievements", man your hands must be hurting from all that cherry-picking.

Also, really didn't expect you to foam at the mouth over "everything in the game" being account-wide. I get the feeling you are one of those people who wishes we had to earn everything on every single character, just to squeeze a bit of satisfaction juice out of a game that has very little to give. ESO is a game, not a career path.

I don't even know why I'm sitting here trying to defend my argument when you clearly misunderstood even the basic concept of my reply. At the end of the day, you are free to do what you want, and I implore you to go scream at ZOS to make things better, because I really hope they do make things better.

P.S.: I would really appreciate it if you could give a response that didn't amount to "you don't get it dum-dum", but I have a hunch that's not gonna happen because you clearly made this thread just to get people that think exactly like you to help you cope.

FantasticFreddie · February 2022

Mushroomancer wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Mushroomancer wrote: »

I myself am quite excited for account-wide achievements, and even moreso for titles, since as a healer main I don't get to try out a lot of different classes and are mostly stuck on warden and templar, so being able to get some trial titles on my other chars is gonna be neat.

I am absolutely against titles being account wide. EVERYTHING ELSE is account wide. The mounts. The unlockable dyes. Body markings. Skins. Once you learn a motif all your toons can use it as a style even.
The titles are pretty much the ONLY thing per toon, and just let us have it.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

As a side note, when it comes to trial groups, I think the "replayability killing" effect of this change is being overblown to extreme proportions. Quite frankly, if the only thing that keeps people hooked on trials and dungeons is the extrinsic motivation of achievements, and they derive no other enjoyment from those activities (aside from the short-term dopamine rush of getting a hard achievement done), account-wide achievements are just making them realize that they are not enjoying the game for what it is, and probably haven't been enjoying it for a while now, and that's ok. It's like having a job you don't like, you are just going through the motions because at the end of it you are gonna have a reward, but what you are doing in and of itself is either meaningless to you or actually boring you to tears.

Look if you don't get it you don't get it, and it is just that simple. But for a lot of people, earning the title per toon is part of the draw. It's not just the achievements, although that is certainly part of it, but the title too. Earning a very difficult title on multiple toons IS it's own goal, and if you don't understand how that is being taken away, I don't know how to explain it to you.

Mushroomancer wrote: »

If people want to leave the game over it, it's completely understandable, just maybe they shouldn't blame the change itself, but the game for being very repetitive and having very few or underwhelming rewards for most activities. The change is just hitting them hard with the realization.

Gross simplification. I enjoy doing overland on my toons, but I also enjoy getting the achievements. Will I leave the game over it? Probably not, but there are some people who will, and that is why this change is so stupid tbh.
No one is going to buy eso because of this change. But people WILL quit.

Ah, I see, this is one of those "you have a different opinion, therefore you don't get it" type of responses.

To that, all I can say is that I DO get it. And all you did with your response was basically saying "I and a lot of people are only here for the reward", which is exactly what I was saying. So I do get it, it seems that you are the one that doesn't understand the fact that the problem isn't not seeing a little boxed image with text popping up whenever you do something or not getting a line of text beside your character's name only if you do a specific and arbitrary task on that character alone. The real problem is that the rewards as they are now, are basically worthless, so you are sitting here clinging on a string of text that shows your friends how cool you are. If there were more and better rewards for replaying content, no one would be batting an eye at this change.
Again, you are free to play for the reward alone, and I understand the sense of achievement, as well as how people feel like this change is gonna take that away from them.
I'm not saying that playing for achievements and titles is wrong, or deserving of punishment by taking away your dopamine doses, all I'm saying is that this change itself is not what's killing endgame and replayability, it's just highlighting the issues with it.

Also, I really love how you *** all over my response, and how it's apparently a "gross simplification", yet you gloss over the only part that really matters, where I give my suggestion on how we can have "the best of both worlds", and that part alone invalidates your argument of "I enjoy doing overland, but I also enjoy getting the achievements", man your hands must be hurting from all that cherry-picking.

Also, really didn't expect you to foam at the mouth over "everything in the game" being account-wide. I get the feeling you are one of those people who wishes we had to earn everything on every single character, just to squeeze a bit of satisfaction juice out of a game that has very little to give. ESO is a game, not a career path.

I don't even know why I'm sitting here trying to defend my argument when you clearly misunderstood even the basic concept of my reply. At the end of the day, you are free to do what you want, and I implore you to go scream at ZOS to make things better, because I really hope they do make things better.

P.S.: I would really appreciate it if you could give a response that didn't amount to "you don't get it dum-dum", but I have a hunch that's not gonna happen because you clearly made this thread just to get people that think exactly like you to help you cope.

I've boiled it down to "you just don't really get it" because you don't seem to grasp that unlocking the same achievemens and titles on multiple characters is extremelyrewarding for some people.
You keep saying that the rewards are "basically worthless" .
Well, not to me, and not to anyone else who enjoys getting those achievements. If they are worthless to you, by definition, you don't understand their worth to me.

Psiion · February 2022

Greetings all,

As there are already threads open on this subject, we are closing this thread down as a duplicate to consolidate feedback. If you would like to leave feedback on the upcoming Account Wide Achievements, please feel free to do so on the official PTS Feedback thread on the subject here.

However, please keep note that Baiting and Flaming are both inappropriate on the ESO Forum's and against the Forum's Community Rules. Everyone participating on the Forums should keep the Forum's Community Rules in mind.