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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: The reason for the seasonal achievements
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Nov 15th 2010 at 8:00AM
That said, I'm still deciding whether or not I'll actually take the time to do them. After all, none of the Pilgrim's Bounty achievements are needed for What a Long, Strange Trip. I mean, an extra turkey pet is sort of cool, but otherwise, there's not really much of a profit to them. Also, some of the achievements seem downright annoying. Turkey Lurkey? Do I really need to run around looking for all these dumb rogues? Why so arbitrary? And what about the Turkinator? Do I really need to run around a newbie zone like a chicken with my head cut off trying to target critters more quickly than the other 100 people doing it? What does that accomplish?
Then I think about some of the other holidays. It's not like I haven't had to run around Dalaran looking for random class and race combinations before, and it's not like I haven't run around the newbie zones doing silly, inconsequential stuff before either. So why is Pilgrim's Bounty bringing out the achievement cynic in me? I like to think I've been doing achievements because they're interesting and fun, but what if they've been about the carrot and stick all along? Now that there's no reward I'm really interested in, am I finally seeing achievements for what they are, or am I just being a grinch a month early?
What do you think? Do you do achievements for fun, or are you pretty sure you'd leave them alone if they weren't rewarding you with shiny stuff?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Demeternoth Nov 15th 2010 8:28AM
I do it for the *whooosh* noise and the purdy gold lights. That's it. I'm not competitive at all. honest.
Phoenix13uk Nov 15th 2010 8:17AM
I personally enjoy most of the holidays on wow, but as you said the Turkinator is a pain, spent too long on that quest on my 80's in the end I thought "Stuff It"!!!!!!
swelt Nov 15th 2010 9:30AM
/target wild turkey
/cleartarget [dead]
/stopmacro [dead]
/run SetRaidTarget("target", 8)
Tap this macro while in a party to 'skull' the (probably) nearest living turkey. Might also want to eat http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43001
Ronin Nov 15th 2010 12:05PM
""Stuff It"
I see wut you did thar!
Josin Nov 15th 2010 8:17AM
I hope whoever came up with the idea for The Turkinator gets hit by a bus.
Angus Nov 15th 2010 8:26AM
With a frost shock symbol on it?
:)
Josin Nov 15th 2010 8:39AM
With a big Butterball logo on the side.
Noyou Nov 15th 2010 10:24AM
You okay josin? I noticed a fair amount of hostility in your posts today. /hug
Josin Nov 15th 2010 10:44AM
Meh. Overtime at work, and didn't sleep well. I'm a grump today.
Ronin Nov 15th 2010 12:08PM
I agree. Even on my Hunters, a class that was meant for this if any was, it took forever to get it. Can't tell you how many times I was one to five turkeys away, only to have the buff run out as I tried to find the next turkey.
Ozmodius Nov 15th 2010 8:18AM
The seasonal achievements and events help to break up the pattern of dungeon, raid, pvp, dungeon, raid, pvp, dungeon, raid, pvp... that leveled characters can get into.
razion Nov 15th 2010 8:19AM
I do them because they're there--it's something to do. I know that if I don't do them while they're available, I can't go back and do them when I feel like it. They're always a refreshing pace from the norm--whatever the norm may be.
But most of all I do achievements to feel like all the stuff I've done in the game has accomplished something. It's like I have a sort of game resume that says "I got my money and time's worth AND I CAN PROVE IT". I like being able to look at that achievement page and have fond memories of all the things I've done--it's like a gigantic photo album without pictures.
Achievements are also silly--they have baked-in references which are always good for a smirk.
frag971 Nov 15th 2010 8:20AM
I only do them once for the sake of doing it, experiencing it, read the lore and story about it and then, unless there is some sort of meaningful reward, i would never do them again.
Kinka Nov 15th 2010 8:24AM
Carrots on sticks definitely help, but even the holidays I've finished I still participate in quite happily. Despite having Barney the Proto-Drake for some time now, you'll still find me annually in full Brewfest-garb with stein in hand out in the beer garden /dancing.
I'll be enjoying the tables and cooking up goodies to enjoy. As for the turkey hunt, don't go out in the first few days. Trust me, after about three days there will be more than enough turkeys that you shouldn't be pulling your hair out. I never understand why people insist on doing those sorts of activities on the first day.
Telwar Nov 15th 2010 10:52AM
Unfortunately, the reason I had to do Turkinator ASAP last year was because I had two days in which to do it, as I was headed home that Tuesday and wouldn't be back in time to finish. I suspect a lot of people were in a similar situation.
I got it done at about 4 am, or about two hours before my flight home.
Sleutel Nov 15th 2010 8:23AM
I do them all, because I'm a completist. And for the nerd points (getting so close to 9k...). I think you've forgotten how frustrating some of the other achievements are that *are* required for the meta: this time, you can just skip the harder stuff because it doesn't get you a shiny. Which is fine--but don't kid yourself that you're doing every other thing you need for Long Strange Trip because they're all *really, really fun*.
Angus Nov 15th 2010 8:36AM
I recall going into AV and giggling on the toon who's exalted with the Frostwolves. All these people that have never stepped foot in there trying to get to a tower with their orphan out, all the vets getting Really REALLY angry with them and some of us just enjoying the hilarity of killing 10 alliance toons in a tower because none of them would stop trying to cap the flag and fight back effectively.
I actually had an alliance toon /beg, /point at the guy capping the flag and step back so I could hit him since he had tried to take advantage of the 1 person fighting to cap the flag.
My god that was a ton of honor. And at the same time, my main is a tankadin, and I almost never PVP with her. It was a little frustrating, but at least I knew where to go and what to do.
tldr: School of Hard Knocks sucks.
Starwarswoot Nov 15th 2010 8:24AM
after i hit 11k points 5 months ago, i quit wow, it took me that long to see wtf i was doing.
All that time i spent, gone 4ever, hunting useless achievs noone cares about but me.
Now i have a kickass toon with all the mounts and pets u can think off, just standing in sw for 5 months doing nothing, and i dont miss her, and when i log in once in a while, i quickly log off again, god this was useless.
Hope star wars mmo brings me more fun in other ways.
razion Nov 15th 2010 9:02AM
You can get up to 11k achievement points? Just earlier last year we had an announcement of someone doing "every achievement" and it was around nine thousand two hundred and fifty achievement points.
On another note, I have trouble believing you would go through all the trouble of getting all those points if it wasn't fun for you--torturing yourself to do something you don't like doesn't make a WHOLE lot of sense. By this notion, my gut is telling me that if there were more achievements to get, you would still be going after them!
Something tells me you'll be back for Cataclysm... and all the juicy achievements that come with it. (Have I been trolled? I don't care.)
Rob Nov 15th 2010 10:04AM
Dude any game is like this. No matter what. Every game is 100% useless if you think of it that way. Or you could just say that it's a great and cheap entertainment.