Get tired of collectibles/unlockables?

Does anybody feel shafted out of what a game has to offer sometimes? I can appreciate what game designers are trying to do by stuffing their games full of content that requires a lot of time investment, but I'll be honest: I don't HAVE the time to invest to get to the point where everything becomes available in the games I buy, and hence end up feeling like I'm being cheated out of cool content. And even if I did end up putting the time in, by the requirements some of these games go by (looking at you, GeoW3), I'll be bored of the game by the time I achieve these "perks". Many times time isn't the only thing that's needed. Skill is. Again I'll be honest....I'm not a very good gamer. I regularly kill myself in CoD with my own grenades. I suck-ass at competition. Should I be penalized because of this?

When I purchase a game, I want what's included. I don't want to have to feel like I'm working for something that should be there in the first place, and I don't want to feel left out because I don't have X hours a day to dedicate to killing 100 enemies the equivalent of one football field length away with the Boomshot in GeoW3 so I can simply play in big head mode. It feels like a cheap way to increase the longevity of the product. I'm not saying there shouldn't be incentive/rewards in games, but some have recently gone too overboard (GeoW3, Batman AC are two examples).

As much as I enjoy Batman AC and consider it a superior game to AA in mostly every way, AA has it beaten in this respect. AA's puzzles were not too numerous, the linear nature of progression allowed for many to be accomplished along the way, and for the most part they were easier. ACs riddles, while more clever, are far too abundant, and the city construct introduces frustration trying to get to all of them. And as one of my favorite things about AA was perusing the unlockable artwork and 3D models after completion, it frustrates me to see AC require so much more to do the same. So I'm not against unlockables and do think they provide incentive, but the line is being crossed from added bonus to extreme hassle.

All these rewards and unlockables are made even worse by the fact that all of my effort is for nothing when my save file goes. See ya! Seriously? Make them DLC bonuses, bring back cheat codes, I don't know. Just don't make these rewards and enhanced game modes contingent upon my ability to put the ridiculous amount of time requirementin to be able to unlock them. I'm not able to play GeoW3 with all these cool modes like somebody else is because I don't have the time to play as much as he does. Yet we both payed $59. How is this fair?

yes, you should be penalized for being bad at competition in a competitive game :P

as for collectibles, i find that a lot of it has to do with the game world. like the film reels in la noire werent very fun to collect. team bondi made LA great to drive around in. you fly by a bunch of landmarks in a cheap touristy way, listen to radio programs that enriched the environment by getting at a lot of the subjects youd see in the cases, and the roads themselves even had their own character with potholes all over. however, the detail wasnt there on foot and thats how you would find most film reels.

its one thing to provide an immediate incentive to explore a good world and its another to add a time sink.

I personally like unlockables and collectables.

Collectables make FPS campaigns a lot more interesting IMO.

I certainly don't go for every unlockable like I used to, I just don't have as much time these days. However, I don't blame the developers for packing more content into their games. I know other people out there will probably have the time to do everything a game has to offer, and that's fine with me. As long as I'm satisfied playing the game, that's all that matters to me.

I certainly don't go for every unlockable like I used to, I just don't have as much time these days. However, I don't blame the developers for packing more content into their games. I know other people out there will probably have the time to do everything a game has to offer, and that's fine with me. As long as I'm satisfied playing the game, that's all that matters to me.

Vari3ty

I don't have problems with them packing content in either, but it becomes a problem when they make it necessary to pour in countless hours to get it. Like GeoW3 has all these great modifiers and perks that I so want to use in Horde, but I have to fulfill all this different criteria (some having ridiculous requirements) to be able to get them. It's not fun. I want all these cool modes; I do not want to have to dedicate a large portion of my life to be able to get them. I feel like I'm seeing half of what a game has to offer. Devs are going overboard. Cliffy B. even mentioned in a recent interview in GI (I believe) that some were set really high and they ended up adjusting them in a patch.

its one thing to provide an immediate incentive to explore a good world and its another to add a time sink.

LoG-Sacrament

You nailed it there. I loved AA's collectibles because each was a unique discovery that shed light on the game universe or unlocked a specific model. On the other hand, GeoW3's MP modifiers are a total time sink. It's work, and there's nothing achieved except having to put in more and more tedious hours to complete it.

I admit, I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of collectible/unlockable content in games. Sometimes it frustrates me that, yeah, if I want to get everything then I'm going to have to invest time and effort into earning it, and that's time I could spend playing another game. And on a few occasions I've just abandoned games because the pursuit of all that hidden/unlockable content made playing the game no fun.

However, to their credit, I think game designers include an almost obscene amount of collectible/unlockable content - and make it a challenge to earn - in an effort to give consumers/players as much bang for their buck as possible.

At this very moment, I have at least a half dozen recently purchased games still shrinkwrapped. And that's on top of the handful of games I'm playing through, off and on, in an effort to beat right now. It's kinda sick to be complaining that there's too much content in these games or that I don't have enough time to play them for hours upon hours, going back through them again and again to collect or unlock everything because I'm drowning in excess. I'm spoiled. I have more games than I have time to play. And that's kind of like someone whining that they have more money than they can spend in an economy where a ridiculous number of people are unemployed, losing their homes, and struggling to get by. When I think about it from someone else's perspective - from that kid who is lucky if he gets a new game for his birthday and another for Christmas, and that's it - I feel pretty stupid complaining about game designers packing content into their games, encouraging players to keep playing, to have that little something extra to achieve even after they've beaten the game. Because, really, I think that's who all that content is mostly for.

When I was a kid, I was that kid. I got a game for my birthday, maybe two for Christmas, and then whatever I could afford by scraping and saving whatever money I could. So, I was lucky if I got 5 games a year. I had to learn to be happy playing the same game, over and over, for a couple months, or the same handful of games over a year. And back then, there wasn't anything like the content in games now. Most games had only three difficulties - and "Easy" was worthless, because there's no way I wanted to beat a game I just plunked down 50 bucks or better to buy in a single session - and no real sense of achievement or a reward system beyond beating the game (and NES era games had some pretty craptacular endings, which weren't much of a reward). Back then, you learned to make your own goals, like beating the game without continuing, or beating it under X hours, or beat it using only the beginning weapons. And what did you get for it? Most of the time: nothing. No trophy. No secret levels or unlocked costumes or gallery of design art. Not even a different ending. You just walked away with a sense of gamer pride and bragging rights.

So, while killing 200 pigeons in GTAIV seems like an insufferable waste of time when I have a stack of games waiting to be played, I could definitely see the appeal/value if GTAIV was the only game I had to play for 5-6 months while waiting for Christmas to come around. Now, even if I have to walk away from a game leaving stuff incompleted, undiscovered, uncollected or still locked, I'm glad that content is there, and that it's not a cakewalk where just anyone can earn it, for those gamers who need that stuff to give their limited selection of games that extra value and extended lifespan, and for every old school gamer who ever made up their own challenges purely for the sake of self-satisfaction. I may not have time to collect/unlock every little thing a game has to offer, but I can still enjoy my experience with the game and accept that other players will get even more enjoyment and value out of it.

yes, you should be penalized for being bad at competition in a competitive game :P

as for collectibles, i find that a lot of it has to do with the game world. like the film reels in la noire werent very fun to collect. team bondi made LA great to drive around in. you fly by a bunch of landmarks in a cheap touristy way, listen to radio programs that enriched the environment by getting at a lot of the subjects youd see in the cases, and the roads themselves even had their own character with potholes all over. however, the detail wasnt there on foot and thats how you would find most film reels.

its one thing to provide an immediate incentive to explore a good world and its another to add a time sink.

LoG-Sacrament

I HATED getting the film reels for L.A. Noire. But it was the first game I ever decided to platinum. :> I haven't even collected the shields for the DLC pack. Once I got my plat, I said eff it, and moved on.

After that, it had me hating collectables.

I admit, I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of collectible/unlockable content in games. Sometimes it frustrates me that, yeah, if I want to get everything then I'm going to have to invest time and effort into earning it, and that's time I could spend playing another game. And on a few occasions I've just abandoned games because the pursuit of all that hidden/unlockable content made playing the game no fun.

However, to their credit, I think game designers include an almost obscene amount of collectible/unlockable content - and make it a challenge to earn - in an effort to give consumers/players as much bang for their buck as possible.

At this very moment, I have at least a half dozen recently purchased games still shrinkwrapped. And that's on top of the handful of games I'm playing through, off and on, in an effort to beat right now. It's kinda sick to be complaining that there's too much content in these games or that I don't have enough time to play them for hours upon hours, going back through them again and again to collect or unlock everything because I'm drowning in excess. I'm spoiled. I have more games than I have time to play. And that's kind of like someone whining that they have more money than they can spend in an economy where a ridiculous number of people are unemployed, losing their homes, and struggling to get by. When I think about it from someone else's perspective - from that kid who is lucky if he gets a new game for his birthday and another for Christmas, and that's it - I feel pretty stupid complaining about game designers packing content into their games, encouraging players to keep playing, to have that little something extra to achieve even after they've beaten the game. Because, really, I think that's who all that content is mostly for.

When I was a kid, I was thatkid. I got a game for my birthday, maybe two for Christmas, and then whatever I could afford by scraping and saving whatever money I could. So, I was lucky if I got 5 games a year. I had to learn to be happy playing the same game, over and over, for a couple months, or the same handful of games over a year. And back then, there wasn't anything like the content in games now. Most games had only three difficulties - and "Easy" was worthless, because there's no way I wanted to beat a game I just plunked down 50 bucks or better to buy in a single session - and no real sense of achievement or a reward system beyond beating the game (and NES era games had some pretty craptacular endings, which weren't much of a reward). Back then, you learned to make your own goals, like beating the game without continuing, or beating it under X hours, or beat it using only the beginning weapons. And what did you get for it? Most of the time: nothing. No trophy. No secret levels or unlocked costumes or gallery of design art. Not even a different ending. You just walked away with a sense of gamer pride and bragging rights.

So, while killing 200 pigeons in GTAIV seems like an insufferable waste of time when I have a stack of games waiting to be played, I could definitely see the appeal/value if GTAIV was the only game I had to play for 5-6 months while waiting for Christmas to come around. Now, even if I have to walk away from a game leaving stuff incompleted, undiscovered, uncollected or still locked, I'm glad that content is there, and that it's not a cakewalk where just anyone can earn it, for those gamers who need that stuff to give their limited selection of games that extra value and extended lifespan, and for every old school gamer who ever made up their own challenges purely for the sake of self-satisfaction. I may not have time to collect/unlock every little thing a game has to offer, but I can still enjoy my experience with the game and accept that other players will get even more enjoyment and value out of it.

thedarklinglord

Great post, and you make some valid points.

The analogy you provide about someone whining about having too much money to spend when there's people out there struggling to make ends meet in this economy would be more valid if gaming were a necessity, which it's not. It is a luxury. That's not to say your point's invalid, but you can't compare the two on equal grounds.

I'm not meaning to come off as spoiled, I just would like to be able to enjoy what I've paid for and see all it has to offer without having to play 3+ hours a day to do so. Don't mistake me, I have NO trouble with developers packing their games with a lot of extra content and hence adding substantial value to their product, what I do have trouble with however is how difficult they are making it to attain it. It's not necessarily what (or how much) is there, but the hoops we are being asked to jump through to get it. Effort should be required as if none was it wouldn't be worth getting. But Christ, go and look in GeoW3's MP achievements to be able to unlock modifiers. Some are outright absurd. Adding value to a product is all well and good, until it gets to the point that you need to dedicate a large portion of your day for it. The line is being crossed from "fun" to "work".

It's like if you bought a Porsche. When you first start driving it, you only get 3/4ths the HP and sloppy handling. The more you drive, the better it gets. But you have to drive it hours and hours everyday or you'll never see what it's fully capable of. Yet you still dropped $85K on it from the get-go. Shouldn't that bang be there from the very start? It's not about value. It's about being able to use that value.

It's like if you bought a Porsche. When you first start driving it, you only get 3/4ths the HP and sloppy handling. The more you drive, the better it gets. But you have to drive it hours and hours everyday or you'll never see what it's fully capable of. Yet you still dropped $85K on it from the get-go. Shouldn't that bang be there from the very start? It's not about value. It's about being able to use that value.MirkoS77

Being a perfectionist in gaming = recipe for anxiety, stress and burnout

Realize that there are more gaming hours produced than you can humanly enjoy.

Be very very picky.

Keep 2-3 games max, don't buy until you decide that you are "finished" with them.

Ads and sales intice us to buy games we really do not have time for, resulting in the dreaded "backlog" which results in stress, anxiety, wanting to push forward and "finish" games.

What I do is basically I keep : 1 shooter, 1 driving game, 1 RPG/Misc

I don't buy more until I finish with one.

So a game like Gears would be my online/shooter game. I would play it whenever I feel like it until I decided that I was "finished" with it.

If I don't feel like playing it, I would go to my driving game, or "other/misc" game which is usually an RPG.

See

The TC's problem is not really with unlockables, it's with having a monster backlog and anxiety produced by that.

This monster backlog pushes him to "finish" and "I don't have time" mode.

The unlockables prevent him from feeling like he "finished."

Whereas if 3 games was the sum total of the back log (1 shooter, 1 driver, 1 rpg) you can comfortably keep playing all those games with no pressure to "hurry up and finish." A game like Gears you can play for months.

TL;DR : Buy fewer games, be picky, avoid sales/ads impulse buying, 3 game max backlog so you can play without pressure indefinitely

Right now, my shooter is L4D2, driving is Motorstorm, rpg is Oblivion

I buy maybe 4-5 games per year, used to buy more.

I find that when my purchases went down, my happiness went up, because there was no longer any pressure of backlog, I could just enjoy my games for months and finally be happy.

Batman: AA was the first game that got me into finding all the collectibles. First and last.

Every once in a while, I really get into a game, and I never want it to end. When a game is well constructed, and its missions and collection activities are fun, I am happy to put in the time to do/get everything (Bully, Okami, Ocarina, RE4).

Even some amazing games have too much content to be bothered with unlocking. Why track down all 60 poes in Twilight Princess? Do I need every armor set and weapon in Monster Hunter Tri? Do I really need to gather all the film reels in Godfather: Blackhand Ed.? Should I pull my hair out to get gold on Crazy Machine in Boom Blox: Bash Party?

Games these days have loads of content. Good games give you the content you need to handle the tasks at hand and the bonuses come as a way to spice up gameplay might otherwise get a little boring.

Online competitive multiplayer mucks this up a bit. I have played a lot of Goldeneye on the Wii, and I know how frustrating it is to begin not only disoriented, but completely outgunned. In that game in particular, it drives me batty that I have played 50 hours, and I am about as many hours away from unlocking Classic Conflict mode, in which I could play as and against cool Bond characters like Jaws or Oddjob. What is infuriating is that this game mode was available from the start for preoder purchasers.

Anyway, I feel silly when I 'work' a game for hours just to unlock some virtual skill, mode, or item that has always lived somewhere in the code of the game. I can overlook this foolishness when I am having a good time. I can't when 'leveling up' feels like a slog.

I have Batman AC and wanted to complete the Riddler quest but I needed all 400 riddles done. I might be wrong. I said screw it and youtubed it. Those trophies get old quick.

I am a completionist so sometimes collectibles in a game tick me off I just can't start a new game until I 100% the one I am playing.

Yeah thats another thing I hate collectibles that make you go after 300 plus and then you get no reward for it......

I just cannot be bothered in unlocking every unlockable in a game. I am just not a completist in games. Some people really are into this.

I don't have problems with them packing content in either, but it becomes a problem when they make it necessary to pour in countless hours to get it. Like GeoW3 has all these great modifiers and perks that I so want to use in Horde, but I have to fulfill all this different criteria (some having ridiculous requirements) to be able to get them. It's not fun. I want all these cool modes; I do not want to have to dedicate a large portion of my life to be able to get them. I feel like I'm seeing half of what a game has to offer. Devs are going overboard. Cliffy B. even mentioned in a recent interview in GI (I believe) that some were set really high and they ended up adjusting them in a patch.

MirkoS77

I think you're frustrated not with unlockables, but with the MP model for the MP portion of the game. I agree with you.

I enjoyed Crysis 2 but yet i hated every MP mode. I wanted to keep playing the game but the only mode i wanted to play was "Classic Mode" ( a barebones mode, no armor, no cloak,etc ). In order to play this mode you have to unlock it at level 28. To get to level 28 i would have to put in more than 30 hrs to achieve this.

I cant stand playing the other game modes, i definitely im not going to put 30 hrs into them just to unlock the one mode i want to play. Had Classic Mode been unlocked from the beginning i would have kept playing. If anything i find it a complete turn off from the game. Ill never go back to it. The developers had their chance to keep me a regular player but to make me play a certain way, or acheive a certain rank in order to play the mode i want is ridiculous. It would be nothing but a chore to do so.

I understand unlockables for Single player ( i like them in the SP ) especially when people are always complaining about replay value but its a real turn off when its done in MP. I find it repulsive. If you want me to play your game then let me play it with all its glory right out of the box. Dont make me waste my time & patience with nonsense like this. Ill have a heart attack before i get anywhere.

I think games like Assassins Creed went a little overboard with the collectibles.

There are some interesting debates in here.