What is the point of a gamerscore?

[chalmers]

I've been playing games for a long time. I have a 360 now so I try and keep up with the 360 threads on here as well as other places. More and more often I'm seeing people mentioning how they're trying to up their gamer score or something else to do with achievements etc. I understand the achievements that actually unlock something interesting in the game, extra character, item, etc. But I don't understand what this score is for. I also don't understand why these points can't be used for something...buying something...who knows. But just an abitrary number? I don't get it. Heck I read one guy who said something to the effect of hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game by himself so he could get a 4 player achievement. What, again, is the point of that? Am I missing something?

 

[Zensal]

My buddies and I regularly compete for the highest gamerscore. We're not religious about it, and we usually don't do anything crazy like that. I guess it's just something else to compete about.

Also, if there is a particularity hard achievement, I always get some personal pride and bragging rights when I achieve it before any of my friends.

 

[oznerol]

What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

 

[Industrial]

don't forget it helps with your e-penis

but really, it's like what he said about, what's the point of getting a high score in a single game? Also it provides a little motivation for players to try to get all the hidden items, see all the statues, do another play through...etc. So it helps keep people playing a game longer, thereby giving a perceived greater value for what they paid for a game.

personally, I could care less what my gamerscore/trophies is.

 

[chalmers]

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

 

[RedRooster]

I like the sound it makes.
Damn I hate when friends come online in the middle of a game, gets my hopes up.

 

[chalmers]

I'd be more inclined to understand if you could use those points to buy something, such as MS points..or at least something. Kind of use them like at one of those Chuck E Cheese type places. That would inspire people to buy more games I would think.

 

[DivideBYZero]

<-------- See my post count? Yeah, it means I'm better than you.

 

[gorcorps]

It mainly gives replay value to games that may otherwise not have much.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

why to the bolded part?

why is comparing gamerscores between games so much different than comparing high scores on mario brothers?

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

stupid pointless thread. If you enjoy getting achievements then it is for you, if not then it is not for you.

/thread

 

[chalmers]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

why to the bolded part?

why is comparing gamerscores between games so much different than comparing high scores on mario brothers?

I explained why I feel that way a few posts up.
Watching end credits on Guitar Hero to get 10 'gamer points' has nothing to do with your ability in the game. I don't see how anyone could take comparing gamer scores seriously.

 

[chalmers]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
stupid pointless thread. If you enjoy getting achievements then it is for you, if not then it is not for you.

/thread

Thanks for summing everything up into a nice little package. I appreciate your contributions to my thread. The use of pretend HTML code at the end was a nice surprise. Very original too.

Again, my thanks.

 

[viivo]

I'm not quite sure why you're getting so emotional over it. As you said, it's just a number and most achievements are anything but. So then what?

 

[chalmers]

Originally posted by: viivo
I'm not quite sure why you're getting so emotional over it. As you said, it's just a number and most achievements are anything but. So then what?

I'm not sure myself where you got that I'm getting emotional about it. I reread all my posts and I don't see it. I asked a question and responded to people who have responded to me.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

why to the bolded part?

why is comparing gamerscores between games so much different than comparing high scores on mario brothers?

I explained why I feel that way a few posts up.
Watching end credits on Guitar Hero to get 10 'gamer points' has nothing to do with your ability in the game. I don't see how anyone could take comparing gamer scores seriously.

It means you finished the game, right?

I don't compare my gamerscore to anyone, because a higher gamerscore could just mean one of us owns more games. But I do try to unlock difficult achievements for the satisfaction of having done it. You're focusing on the easy achievements, but most games have some harder achievements as well.

 

[mugs]

meh

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
stupid pointless thread. If you enjoy getting achievements then it is for you, if not then it is not for you.

/thread

Thanks for summing everything up into a nice little package. I appreciate your contributions to my thread. The use of pretend HTML code at the end was a nice surprise. Very original too.

Again, my thanks.

You are welcome because it is really as simple as that. You either care or you don't. No big deal either way.

 

[Industrial]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
<-------- See my post count? Yeah, it means I'm better than you.

LOL.

But there's a darkside to all that.
Yeah, the high post count/gamerscore can also be an embarrassment to your mild or non-gamer friends. "Gee, you must play a lot of game (and have no life or in person social inclinations, hmm...do I really want to hang out with you?) good for you Joey"

A high post count within a short period of time also shows how lucky you are to be able to sit at work and be on the forums most of the day. Of course every forum will have a post whore (not directed at anyone), who can put up 100-200 posts in a day. Mostly just "+1" replies and short answers. Queasy on the other hand is a different legit animal all together.

like I said, e-penis. Hmmm... with this post, I'll have 177 posts! OMG, why is it so small...eerrr, I mean, why is my post count so low!!! :laugh:

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Some achievements have some merit or meaning, most do not. If you just focus on the stupid ones that people go out of their way to achieve by non-usual means, then I can see why you don't understand them.

You see people getting stupid achievements by hooking up 4 controllers for that sole purpose, I see getting the 500 orb achievement in Crackdown and being able to prove that I found them all. Now THAT is an achievement worthy of comparing with friends.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: peritusONE
You see people getting stupid achievements by hooking up 4 controllers for that sole purpose, I see getting the 500 orb achievement in Crackdown and being able to prove that I found them all. Now THAT is an achievement worthy of comparing with friends.

You know, that just reminded me of something I HATE about the achievement system - there is no capability to tell you how much progress you've made toward an achievement. Some achievement descriptions are vague, so you don't know if what you're doing is getting you closer to unlocking the achievement.

For instance if there is an achievement for killing 1000 bad guys, it should say you've killed 345/1000. Of course it wouldn't be applicable to all achievements, so it would have to be optional for developers to implement it. I'm actually surprised that MS hasn't added that functionality yet, I've seen it in some games that have their own built-in trophy system.

Oh I just thought of a vague achievement that this sort of thing would have been helpful with - I think it was called "Milk Run" in BF 1943 - you have to fly a plane for 10 minutes, but it wasn't clear if that was 10 minute straight or 10 minutes total. Turns out it was 10 minutes total, which is fortunate because there's no way I'd be able to stay in a plane for 10 minutes without getting shot down.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

why to the bolded part?

why is comparing gamerscores between games so much different than comparing high scores on mario brothers?

I explained why I feel that way a few posts up.
Watching end credits on Guitar Hero to get 10 'gamer points' has nothing to do with your ability in the game. I don't see how anyone could take comparing gamer scores seriously.

umm, no you did not explain that at all.

 

[Baked]

OP must have a small penis.

 

[chalmers]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: chalmers

Originally posted by: oznerol
What's the point of getting a high score in a game? It's the same thing.

It's fun to compare your score to other people, see what achievements they got compared to what you got, and whatnot.

Sorry I don't see it as the same thing. Hooking up 4 controllers and playing a game meant for 4 people just to get some stupid meaningless point is a little different than the fastest time in Forza, or a high score on Mario Brothers.

Or...having the highest score on a particularly difficult song on Guitar Hero..that's impressive. Getting some silly point value because you watched the end credits? Sorry not the same.

why to the bolded part?

why is comparing gamerscores between games so much different than comparing high scores on mario brothers?

I explained why I feel that way a few posts up.
Watching end credits on Guitar Hero to get 10 'gamer points' has nothing to do with your ability in the game. I don't see how anyone could take comparing gamer scores seriously.

umm, no you did not explain that at all.

Probably would be best to read other threads then.

 

[Rage187]

My 31,000 GS = e-peen