Winning is not required

[blu187eyes]

I previously posted regarding trophies awarded for doing badly, such as ones awarded for dying a certain number of times, for example. This generated some interesting responses, so I was wondering what people thought about trophies which offer no internal incentive for wining. This is a slightly different topic, as such trophies don’t award poor performance, rather they are indifferent to performance. Let’s present some examples:

FIFA 21 – ‘Play 10 Co-Op games with online friends in FUT Squad Battles or FUT Division Rivals’

MK11 – ‘Play 50 Kasual Versus matches’

Personally, I would prefer it if trophies of this nature challenged the player to achieve a set number of wins, as opposed to just competing. For instance, changing the MK one to ‘Win 50 Kasual Versus matches’, instead of ‘Play 50 Kasual Versus matches’.

What do people think?

[DaivRules]

5 minutes ago, blu187eyes said:

Personally, I would prefer it if trophies of this nature challenged the player to achieve a set number of wins, as opposed to just competing. For instance, changing the MK one to ‘Win 50 Kasual Versus matches’, instead of ‘Play 50 Kasual Versus matches’.

What do people think?

 

Meh, for this crowd Wins versus Plays is mostly just a matter of longer boosting sessions so what I assume your motivation in preferring to challenge the player to get batter at the game just goes out the window.

 

I refer to this category of trophies as engagement boosting: When a developer aims to get a player to play a particular aspect of a game, but not master it.

 

These are generally good for directing players to all aspects of a game, but become tedious when wins are required or the number is too high before a player feels like they're endlessly grinding just to hit a number.

 

 

[Glorious Fury]

It doesn't phase me much, but I do prefer having something that forces you to play online with some challenges such as win a certain amount thrown in rather than just play. Guess it depends on what genre it is for me and how difficult the challenges are. 

 

With Fifa in particular though, I'd love something far more challenging with regards to online with trophies. I'd love something to do with Weekend League rather than the just qualify trophy they have in place. Weekend league matches up opponents based on W/L, so you'll play somebody around your level meaning it won't be too difficult!

Edited June 9, 2021 by GloriousFury9414

[Bloodytears1666]

There is a game, called GT Sport, where you need to get wins to get a trophy in real time competitive online racing. From a brief look this might doesn't sound insane, but if you good enough, but not enough to top dogs, you still stuck to win from top dogs with top gear, which is kinda could never happen. Basically game more force you to get worse and take wins, instead of taking Olympic gold.

 

I'm not against those trophies, but they way too hardcore, even to my hardcore likings.

[Maverick6146]

1 hour ago, DaivRules said:

 

Meh, for this crowd Wins versus Plays is mostly just a matter of longer boosting sessions

 

Exactly this. I think one of the main reasons I play for trophies is that there's no need to master a game to get the platnium.

[AihaLoveleaf]

Developers are welcome to require multiplayer wins in their trophy list. I'm also welcome to avoid the game as a result.

[DrBloodmoney]

I have no issue with some trophies for wins - but it should be on a ratio with other trophies for matches played.

i.e.

1 trophy for “win 10 games”

and

1 for “play 50 matches”

 

If it’s one or the other, it has to be for plays.

 

“Win 50 matches” - half the games end with no result, as players disconnect when they feel they have no hope of success

 

”Play 50 Matches” - every game actually gets to the end

Edited June 9, 2021 by DrBloodmoney

[AgentSmiz]

Generally, I prefer the "Play 50 games" over the "Win 50 game" style of trophies but it all depends on the game or how high the target is. Tend to find the "play" ones are less frustrating to get as I can just enjoy the game whereas "win" tends to bring out the salty side of me.

However, I get that not every trophy list is catered to me and my playstyle - nor should it be. If a game is fun, I don't tend to care about if I can't get a particular trophy. Case in point is currently Beat Saber. Am I ever going to be good enough to get the platinum? No. That would require reflexes I never had at the best of times and certainly not with age and alcohol factored in.

Am I having fun slicing boxes to music? You bet your ass I am. If I get trophies doing it then excellent but if not, I'm ok with that.

[nestamar5]

Online wins just lead to boosting. I do prefer challenging trophies over ones that just require you to play the game, they're far more memorable and feel really good when you finally get them. I would prefer trophies in general to stick to single player though, even more so with skill based ones.

[ladynadiad]

If it's online, just playing is what I'd prefer.  Wins means twice as long of a boosting session if you can even get a boosting partner.  It sucks if you can't.  I know when I tried to finish up the online matches for Blazblue Calamity Trigger on Xbox 360 that I found there were quite a few players that played very cheaply to win every time.  This is especially frustrating in games that aeen't very active because a newer player is going to have a lot of trouble getting that achievement or trophy if they have bad luck with boosting partners.  So just having them play matches is better because it doesn't require any set skill, just the players hopefully having fun.

 

Now for offline games, I don't mind so much if it's win x number of matches.  You aren't needing to depend on luck of the draw with another player or someone actually showing to a boosting session.  Everyone has the same AI opponents to beat and with everyone having the same overall experience it's more fair to expect wins rather than just playing.

[NonsenseOblige]

I really don't like online trophies in general, I specially don't like those that demand you be really good at the game, worst of all being the very rare "be #1 in the rankings" trophy that some games have. I don't think they should be prohibited, a lot of people are very proud of their a billion wins at free for all or whatever and I admire people who actively go for trophies like these. That said, I like my trophies to be inclusive and for everyone to have a chance to get them, even if you're not great at them, perseverance is key, so I much rather 100 plays than 10 wins.

[ninjagirl657]

If we are talking fighting games, I don't mind if it's plays or wins, as it's a genre I enjoy. But I do think they have to be realistic and make it reasonable to the causal players. As sometimes it could take them a while to get there or they will lose interest, which could stop them from playing the series again. I really enjoyed my journey of getting 300 rank wins in Street fighter V, I had fun playing and played some really good matches. Where to others they would find that hard and give up. If it says play 1000 casual matches, for me that is normal to do in a fighting game, but to others that could deter them, like get 10 or 20 straight wins in a row.  I don't mind which genre it's from or if it's online or offline, so long as it's reasonable that requires you to try the game and certain modes is fine to do. 

[PalaceOfLove706]

Back in the day, my brother and I earned every last NBA Jam online match win. The competition was fierce and all matches were grinded out, with strategy and intensity. None of this boosting shit.

 

Then I became a trophy hunter and, well….yeah

[AJ_Radio]

Tekken is a good series to look into if you guys are wanting to try out the fighting genre. The trophies are accessible for the average player. Nothing ridiculous like what Capcom spews out for their trophy lists on Street Fighter. 
 

For you anime lovers, BlazBlue is pretty solid. Cross Tag Battle is regarded as the easiest in that series, but I wouldn’t attempt the other BlazBlue titles if you just want to have fun. 
 

For western fighting games, Mortal Kombat 11 might be worth looking into. I don’t know the game much, but people told me it’s drastically easier than previous entries.

[EqualityEarth]

I remember when I was going for the ranked match win trophy in Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist, I got matched with a random instead of my second console, but I didn’t mind. I had a starter deck and he had something more advanced, but I just played the best I could. I ended up clearing his monster field with a trap, drawing a Breaker the Magical Warrior to eliminate whatever face-down he had waiting for me, then got a direct attack for the win—

 

He disconnected. You literally only have to win 1 time online for the ranked mode  he could have just admitted he lost to me (though I think my victory with that starter deck was lucky) and waited the extra 2 seconds so the trophy I was about to earn would pop…it would be interesting if blocking someone on PSN would block online game modes from matching you with them. That would be way more efficient than the usual rep system/disconnect % that is more casually informative than at all consequential.

 

Hence boosting. I don’t how anyone deals with securing this online stuff on a regular basis with only 1 console.