As someone who has vociferously stated on numerous occasions how writing cheevos is my favorite part of this escapade, it stings a tad to see that for a simple majority they are a non-issue. However, the balm for that is that literally no one (so far, at least) is bothered by them, and a fair amount do enjoy them. I imagine how much they mean to you depends largely on whether you favor the game or story side more of interactive fiction.
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Gaining achievements so far, at least in non-Steam version at least, doesn’t give you cool looking little images. I can’t like me acheevos if you can’t put them collated like a gallery.
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That’s a fair point.
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To be fair, I don’t care for achievements in any kind of games. The only game I actually strived to get all trophies was Bloodborne.
I think achievements are meta-gaming and they make the player much more aware of their role as a player. Trying to get all achievements or as much as you can is a goal only the player can have, not the character. So, there’s some breaking of immersion. That’s somewhat subjective, though. I think it would be funny if the character broke the “fourth wall” and remarked on the achievements. 
And like @Szaal said, outside of Steam, achievements aren’t that much of a fun thing.
But considering the poll, currently, shows that 44% like achievements at least a little, I wouldn’t be too disheartened. That’s way more than Bartle’s estimate.
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I am eagerly following the achievements thread cause I am now wondering If putting them in my (hopefully!) hosted game. Thank you everybody for sharing your thoughts on the subject.
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I would like to clarify my vote.
Achievements don’t matter to me because their inclusion or exclusion don’t affect whether I purchase a game or not, I’m more interested in the narrative. I’ve never a completionist and the only games that I have 100% completion on are those whose achievements are entirely narrative-based. As someone said earlier, I appreciate when achievements can offer you a rough idea of what branches may be available to the story. A Study in Steampunk is a good example of this (and is the only game that I know off the top of my head that I’ve completed in full).
Lastly, I’m also a huge fan of puns and wordplay, so I always get tickled pink when these cleverly named achievement appear after my choice.
Again, they’re neither a deal breaker nor do they factor into my purchase, but that doesn’t mean that achievements can’t catch my eye for narrative or punny reasons.
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I favor the story side more, but I love achievements and am disappointed when a game doesn’t have them. It doesn’t affect my overall enjoyment so much as just being a bummer, but still, I am an achievement hunter. For one thing, it soothes my completionist soul even though I know I still haven’t read every single word possible just because I have all the achievements. And for another thing, it can often serve as its own narrative tool, like what @rose-court said, if the titles/descriptions have some thought put into them rather than simply describing what happened. If I’m checking out a game I liked the sound of and the achievements pique my interest, I’m definitely sold.
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I’m always glad to find a game that doesn’t have achievements. Or at least has as few of them as possible. If I see 100+ achievements in a list I immediately feel tired and… a bit miffed, even.
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As a player I don’t mind one way or another about achievements, but I love creating them 
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It seems for some reason that me too. And for some other mysterious reason I try to be funny with them.
What about breaking the fourth wall with the achievements? do you find it annoying? or you don’t mind at all? Not breaking the fourth wall in any other part of the game, only through achievements, maybe as a quote straight from the author to the reader.
Achievements breaking the fourth wall…
- Are fine
- Are fine as long as they are funny
- No thanks, 4th wall shouldn’t be broken, ever.
- Other (expand below)
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voters
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I don’t really care much about achievements, I mean I think it’s neat to see them pop up on screen but i can do without, so when it comes to breaking the fourth wall they don’t really bother me much, at worst they’re kinda usless, at best they make me chuckle so yeah ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I have no strong feelings one way or the other
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I don’t care for the 4th wall in general. So if the author goes and brust the bubble that’s just aggravating and pointing out something I don’t care for. Also, ‘Funny’ is subjective. What the author think is funny, could be Not funny.
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I would like to say I’m not into achievements, but past few months I have found myself seeking them out in Steam while playing a game.
Achievement (or cheevo) is fine, but funny cheevo or its naming is veeery fine.
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@AChubbyBlackCat I’ve written, just not any CoG/HoG titles, yet. I know consecutive and non-consecutive writers. Also, I think I’ve read enough that I can tell what approach a writer took. I do both because I believe if you just do either you’re limited to the upside-downside of each.
To me, the strength of consecutive writing is story flow and cathartic rhythm. This is the only way you can write a mystery because of the need to seed clues. And, I believe, it allows you to maximize emotional impact (not by itself, of course). I was taught that certain structural beats have to occur at points relative to the length of the whole for maximum effect. As a younger writer, I rebelled against this. Writing screenplay is what brought me around. For instance, your equilibrium (the world before the events of the story) should be about 10%, ending at 10% with the inciting incident (the thing that happens that changes everything). If you spend less time on the equilibrium, we don’t know enough about the world and characters beforehand to understand the significance of their journey and its transformative effects. If you spend more time, you burden forward flow, reader attention, . . . Again, I had to write quite a bit before I came into full agreement. At 17% a central question is posed. At 30% the protag makes a deliberate decision from which they can’t go back (Act 1 Break). 30-45 they struggle and fail. 45-60 they start to succeed. 60 (Midpoint) they become proactive with regard to their goal, maybe even redefine it, clarifying need vs want. 60-75 they succeed, apparently victorious at 75 w false victory. However, by 90 (Act 2 Break) they’re as far from their goal as possible–the worst possible thing has happened. 90-100: catalyst, climax, resolution. Protag should do something they couldn’t have w/o their journey, succeed or fail at their goal, and be left w a new equilibrium. I could make an argument for each of these “beats.” If the protag doesn’t struggle at first, their later success is meaningless. If victory is one-stroke, stakes feel low. Etcetera. Some people use more, some less–but these are the ones I personally can’t live without. I plot these first and then fill in the scenes between. Then I do rewrites, one at a time, each focusing on a different aspect (so, sequential writing, non-sequentially?): pacing, distinct character voices, . . . I believe this kind of writing is non-consecutive but structured. I talked about the strengths, but not the weaknesses. (I left out the biggest 2 strengths, 1) this structure helps me finish–#1 problem for writers, imo 2) it saves me hundreds of hours of rewriting.) The main weaknesses, in my experience, come when you try to force things into mold and don’t let your characters take on life as they evolve. Character suffers for plot. Things feel less organic and pacing can be off, too slow here, or sped up there. I think you have to use your milestones as guidelines and be willing to move them a little bit. Sequential non-structured writing, for me, can feel organic but grow stale and 9x/10 the story will die in the second act. 30-90. Anyone can think of a concept, a beginning, and an end. I think you can tell a pro by their Act 2, how they bridge the two. Just my .02. Sorry if I’ve overspoken. Hope this helps.
@Gilbert_Gallo The only thing I’d add is that achievements, for me, have a special place in branching narrative. 1) I often glance at the end to get a hinting of what might have happened if I had played differently to determine if I want to replay. 2) I also look at my achievement points vs total achievement points to determine what fraction of the gameplay I’ve experienced. E.g. I experienced 30-ish% of this game. Me as me, replay value comes from PC build and thus approach to problems, romantic options, and endings.
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Readers: if given the choice in a supernatural or fantasy story, what species would you like your MC to be?
- Vampire
- Werewolf
- Wendigo
- Dragon
- Elf
- Orc
- Angel
- Demon
- Selkie
- Kitsune
- Nephilim
- Fae
- Siren
- Naga
- Gorgon
- Human
- Mage
- Other. Please respond!
0 voters
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I’m gonna say why, humans are always a bit out of place in supernatural stories and usually in a position of disadvantage, so I like it when my MC has to rely on his wits instead of powers in a world where not having them can be risky!
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No succubus? Seriously? I’m Sooo offended!! (cue to dramatic fake fainting and stuff :P)
And just one choice? Cheapskate 
Pretty much a lot of those choices have been made in stories (they are rare, what can I say? I love to play Anything but human). But I would love to see a story where the mc is a Naga (Or Gorgon) or a Succubus. (and that get out of the cliché a bit :P)
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Shoot. Did the poll not let you pick more than one? I thought I had it set to where you could select up to 5 options.
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seem it does lol guess I gotta clean my glasses 
sorry.
Poke but Succubus? Where is mah succubus?
Btw I’m just kidding around, but I should actually thank you. I think there is a story where you can play a Succubus and I didn’t have money to get it, and now that I remembered it…Teehee I’m gonna hunt it down and get it. Of course, I don’t remember what the story was called…so woe is meh, cause I’ll have to try all the demos on the website
Edit: If anyone is curious, I found it (Thank you Google): Dancing with Demons
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I mean… technically a succubus/incubus is a demon sooo~
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