How are people so good at trophy hunting/video games in general? Have they gotten good gradually or were they just born good?

[j10527805323]

 

I’m curious what peoples’ take on this is because there are so many avid hunters who have been doing this for 10+ years and earned all these amazing platinums and bragging rights. Trophy hunting is something I wish I was good at, but admittedly, I shot myself in the foot with it. Before getting a PlayStation, I was primarily playing PC. Unfortunately, I was never particularly good at video games, especially ones that are meant to be challenging like Necrodancer or Dark Souls, and no matter what I did, I felt that the game in its raw form did not entertain me. I would often use cheats or mods because it was singleplayer, and I was enjoying the game to the fullest by cheating rather than the satisfaction of overcoming the struggle.

 

Then, I had a sudden surge of interest in trophy hunting several months ago and becoming this trophy hunter that can show off a bunch of platinums, when I previously didn’t care for them. I switched to PlayStation, knowing that Steam achievements were a total joke, and wanting to chase my new interest. However, having cheated in the past, I didn’t improve and got burned with having to play games the proper way. I tried to suck it up and deal with it, to little avail. Now that I have this interest in trophies but without the ability to earn a collection of nice platinums, I kick myself for it. I wish I could press a button to magically become a top trophy hunter, but fantasy buttons don’t exist in the real world. I’m envious of those who are older than me and have been doing this since 2008/2009 when trophies were first introduced so they had the most time to earn all the stuff they got.

 

About the born good part, what makes me say that is, I think a lot of skills in life just seem to be you’re either born good or you’re not, but I could be being ignorant and naive. For example, I have a knack for statistics and finance as far back as I can remember, and I was a top student in high school. Also, I am attending my first year of Columbia University, where plenty of stellar and qualified applicants get rejected every year. I appreciate that I have the extremely rare opportunity of being accepted into one of the world’s most prestigious universities, but my academic successes bring me nowhere near as much joy as I think I would get from being a top trophy hunter. I just do statistics and finance because I have an easy time with it and it will land me a job later down the line. It seems that others I have tried to help with these subjects can’t just power through it if they aren’t born good.

 

Having all the disadvantages to not being good at trophy hunting, as in not starting early and not being good, feels like a chip in my shoulder. But maybe I shouldn’t be complaining, and it could be that many people who read this would gladly trade away their gaming ability for attending Columbia.

 

It could also just be me going through a rough phase in my life and not knowing what I want to do. I’m only 18, and people who I’ve talked to currently in their 30s or 40s that are currently very successful said their early 20s were the hardest years of their lives and that they were confused idiots about their life during that time, like I am now. Since I see people here that are in their late 20s or early 30s, maybe they can relate.

[HuntingFever]

It takes time, skill, practice and buckets of patience to get good at anything, though having some natural skill, helps a fair bit.

[Sirpickle311]

Go back and play some of your favourite games on the hardest difficulty. It will be brutal at first but eventually you will get much better as you will realise your experience can be transferred to multiple games. The best example of this has always been that your first souls game will always be the hardest out of the series.

[Helyx]

As a kid, I was particularly good at side-scrolling platformers, racing and fighting games. Now, I'm absolute trash at all three.

[Juzota]

I have few ultra rare platinums but I don't consider myself very good trophy hunter or gamer at all. I have played games for over 30 years so I guess I have some experience that helps, but I don't know. It's more about willing to put the effort on trophies than actual skills.

[DrBloodmoney]

Some folks are true beasts at gaming for sure…

 

…but others just have the patience and the endurance to get smacked around by a game over and over and keep coming back for more.

 

That’s the camp I fall in - bad at games, good at patience?

 

Like Rocky says:

“It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”

[Infected Elite]

disposable income = more games = more trophies. 

 

i work less than I used to and make more now too so I do have more spare time. But yeah, as for what i choose to plat, depends how I feel. Also i buy many games I never intend to play too so had i played all those as well who knows. 

 

I'm just a gamer. I dont care what i accomplish.

[ViviGray]

So I actually share this same sentiment in terms of trophy hunting...Or at least I did when I first got into the community myself. For me personally I've been on and off with trophy hunting and the community around it thanks to irl events but I always end up coming back. Saying you're "good" at trophy hunting doesn't really mean one specific thing because there are many "sub-genres" to trophy hunting I'd say. A few of them that I've seen are:

Number Hunting/Leaderboard climbing: Basically this is just going for any platinum no matter the rarity. People who go for this style of trophy hunting usually go for what are called "EZPZ" platinums which mean they are extremely common and easy to get. I have a couple ezpz's myself but I don't go out of my way to get games that have them.

Rarity Hunting: This is a style of trophy hunting where people go for the hardest challenges in order to have the most bragging rights. People who go for rarity hunting don't have as many trophies as the Leaderboard Climbing peeps but they take a lot more time and effort to get them. Their trophy cabinet is probably full of Ultra Rare platinums or might still be in progress.

For Fun Hunting: This one is where a lot of people lie. They just do it for fun! They're not worried about rarity or numbers, they just platinum the games that they really enjoy and fill their collection with those. People who just get trophies for fun are generally people who like low-stress hobbies

Completionists: People who get the platinum for as many games as they own no matter what. Easy or hard, they get it. Completionists usually make a whole separate account to test out games to see if they want to platinum it before attempting to do it on their Main/Trophy hunting account. Completionists are pretty hardcore honestly!


So being "good" at trophy hunting is completely subjective to you! I will say that trophy hunting is less a practice of skill but rather a practice of dedication and patience. If you are patient enough and have enough drive to keep moving forward, you can get literally any platinum (and skill also comes with practice so honestly it covers everything) as long as you don't give up. Me personally, I'm a mix of a Rarity Hunter and For Fun...I'm just getting started myself honestly. It's hard but don't bother comparing yourself to other people in the beginning. You can look at other people's trophy lists all you want but all that really matters is your own collection! Use other people as inspiration and congratulate them on their accomplishments, but the way you get "good" at trophy hunting is just by having fun and improving your collection the way you want it. 

Hope this helped!

[Beyondthegrave07]

The true skill is to play smarter not harder. I think some people are just born as savvy gamers and catch on to how to play certain games or genres better.

 

I'm a much smarter gamer now then I was 6-7 years ago and I have the proof on my profile with several games I came back and platted after I  initially failed the first time around like DMC or Hotline Miami. 

 

Experiencing different types of games with different types of trophies does help you tackle other games in the future with similar trophies. However, if you want to close this gap in experience, go for harder plats and watch others plat these games. It sounds ridiculous, but you can take very similar approaches to Titan mode on GoW 3, Hard mode on FF7R, and DMD on DMC. It'll make more sense below,  just bear with me 

 

The true key to being a good trophy hunter imo is recognizing what the game and trophy is asking you to do, looking at the tools the game gives you to complete said trophy, and recognizing what is strong or useful to achieve it and what isn't.

 

However, maybe the most important part in all of this is having the passion for the game. If there's no passion, recognizing all of this is much more difficult. It's the reason why I can plat Catherine easily, but struggle with Star Wars Force Unleashed or find Disgaea 5 to be super enjoyable,  but find Assassin's Creed 2 to be a slog.

 

Just my 2 cents. Sorry, was a bit more ranty than I thought.

[HuntingFever]

1 hour ago, Helyx said:

As a kid, I was particularly good at side-scrolling platformers, racing and fighting games. Now, I'm absolute trash at all three.

Same here. I used to enjoy and be really good at platformers, racing games and point-and-click adventures but now I suck at all of them and find all 3 genres to be thoroughly irritating .

[Whitelightnin683]

Surprised no one has mentioned the use of guides and whether this strictly voids the skill aspect of obtaining trophies. I guess it doesn't really help for more difficult games that demand more player skill with inputting on a controller/game mechanics, but certainly trivializes finding secrets or hidden collectibles. 

[zizimonster]

In the Internet Age where information is just one click away, what you need regarding trophy hunting is perseverance. You can plat anything if you have that.

[bosstristan]

That's the beauty of good game design, you can become good at a game by trying, trying and trying.

 

That's only if the game has good game design though, which is not always the case.

 

I guess when you've been playing video games for ages, you kinda get used to it too.

 

Also, guides help a lot.

Edited November 13, 2022 by bosstristan

[AJ_Radio]

You're only 18 years old, therefore some of the commentary here may pass over your head.

 

I started gaming back in 1992. I'm now in my mid 30s with decades of gaming experience. Some people may say they don't have the natural talent, but for something like Dark Souls, you need to put forth the motivation and courage to stick through it.

 

Those two things are to me, far more important than knowing how skilled or talented you are at video games. Trophy hunting for the most part does not require you to be an e-Sports competitive style player where you're competing against extremely talented individuals who have put hundreds and thousands of hours into a game. What trophy hunting does encourage you to do for the most part is explore and do things that you'd otherwise completely miss if you just played games casually.

 

I don't do achievement hunting on Steam, because I hate their achievement system so I basically just play games on there for fun. Trophy hunting on PlayStation I take a step further in contrast. I like to get the most out of my money from games I play and trophy hunting has helped me feel that I got my money's worth out of them.

 

Trophy rarity doesn't equate to difficulty though. This is something I tend to argue with a lot of people. There are plenty of ultra rare games that are fairly easy with a guide, you just have to know what those games are. Dark Souls automatically tosses out the argument that trophy rarity is equal to difficulty, because it is a tough game that a lot of people just happen to stick through and finish.

 

In your shoes, I would not worry about other peoples accomplishments. Just focus on what you want to play and what you want to improve in regards to your gaming skills. The trophies and the platinum will come naturally.

[Silver-I-Chariot]

Being "good" at trophy hunting doesn't have anything to do with skill, it's all about patience and perseverance. I'd say my gaming skills are below average but I've still managed to get some rare or difficult plats because I sat through it. Also, you can't compare necrodancer and dark souls in terms of difficulty. The first is the most difficult achievable platinum, the second is a platinum my grandma could get.

 

Skill only matters in competitive multiplayer games - fighters, shooters and such. That's where age is actually important, as a 18 years old you can train yourself and become good. If you are in your 30 however it's too late. That's why pros at e-sport retire in their mid 20s, I believe average retirement age is 25. they can't keep up with younger people no matter how hard they try.

[MatThaRiPP3R84]

it's about mindset, if you go into it thinking your shit you will be, if you go into it thinking I need to get better then your going to push yourself.

 

if your doing racing sims, you start with slow cars, gradually moving assists down as you progress up the cars all whilst learning the tracks.. To get better at shooters start with games like dead island or skyrim where you don't need accuracy, push your sensitivity further and further out of your comfort zone till you master it, then slowly push into shooters more and more untill your aiming is perfect, use hand cannons rifles and pistols to build accuracy. Push into the bits you suck most at, do it for the fun of it till it's fluent for you. 

 

hidden mechanics and rng are the worst, since sometimes you don't know what your up against till after your will to continue has been destroyed, and you come back to it later. And high stress games like wolfenstein 2's mein leben, outlast 2's insanity runs generally just take a fair amount of practice... pushing yourself straight into it trains you to keep your nerves, you have to practice and find a balance between hitting skill walls, and progressing. 

[Lava_Yuki]

No one is born with it only, skills in general are a mixture of inert talent you are born with as well as practice and hard work. You can be born with a talent but not utilise it at all.

 

You don't need to be good at games to be a trophy hunter, you could easily amass hundreds of super easy platinums, like going into the store and buying every single visual novel game that exists, play across regions and get hundreds of plats that way. Or you could go for a select few difficult/time consuming/skill based trophies, where your platinum number would be less but the quality of each platinum would be high. 

 

I do a mix of both, I have many time consuming and a few challenging plats, like from FF and Tales, JRPGs in general and also some easy plats from otome games and VNs, which are the genres that I most enjoy. I don't see myself as "good" though, considering I don't have many plats and I see other profiles with hundreds of plats, which I will never achieve. I just don't have the time, and I take ages like many weeks if not months to finish just one game. 

[Kefka1986]

21 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

You're only 18 years old, therefore some of the commentary here may pass over your head.

 

I started gaming back in 1992. I'm now in my mid 30s with decades of gaming experience. Some people may say they don't have the natural talent, but for something like Dark Souls, you need to put forth the motivation and courage to stick through it.

 

Those two things are to me, far more important than knowing how skilled or talented you are at video games. Trophy hunting for the most part does not require you to be an e-Sports competitive style player where you're competing against extremely talented individuals who have put hundreds and thousands of hours into a game. What trophy hunting does encourage you to do for the most part is explore and do things that you'd otherwise completely miss if you just played games casually.

 

I don't do achievement hunting on Steam, because I hate their achievement system so I basically just play games on there for fun. Trophy hunting on PlayStation I take a step further in contrast. I like to get the most out of my money from games I play and trophy hunting has helped me feel that I got my money's worth out of them.

 

Trophy rarity doesn't equate to difficulty though. This is something I tend to argue with a lot of people. There are plenty of ultra rare games that are fairly easy with a guide, you just have to know what those games are. Dark Souls automatically tosses out the argument that trophy rarity is equal to difficulty, because it is a tough game that a lot of people just happen to stick through and finish.

 

In your shoes, I would not worry about other peoples accomplishments. Just focus on what you want to play and what you want to improve in regards to your gaming skills. The trophies and the platinum will come naturally.

 

I was going to write a long post, but I'll just subscribe everything said by AJ_Radio here (even the age! ?) 

 

Believe me, just keep playing things that keep you motivated and you will improve game by game, while having fun!  The feeling of finally beating that boss, that level, that anything, noting how much you have become better and better, is an amazing feeling and it's something at hand's reach for everyone.

[Winds-of-Neptune]

On 11/12/2022 at 4:48 PM, Whitelightnin683 said:

Surprised no one has mentioned the use of guides and whether this strictly voids the skill aspect of obtaining trophies. I guess it doesn't really help for more difficult games that demand more player skill with inputting on a controller/game mechanics, but certainly trivializes finding secrets or hidden collectibles. 

Following some of the complicated guides is a skill as well.  Some games would be impossible to plat without the internet/guides.  I am almost 50, had a Pong in 1980 so I've been into games throughout my life.  I dont even bother with games that have your nerves on edge anymore.  I used to be able to handle hours of beat downs for a trophy/plat./100%  but now it isn't really worth the time when you realize just how short life is.  In the end we are fighting against ourselves in this quest for pixelated greatness.  It is somewhat like a gambling addiction.  Always chasing your losses and never satisfied with what you have.  Like they always say, it is not the destination that really matter but the joys and sorrows you experience along the way.  ?️??️

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by Winds-of-Neptune
Up the IRONS!

[AJ_Radio]

3 hours ago, Winds-of-Neptune said:

Following some of the complicated guides is a skill as well.  Some games would be impossible to plat without the internet/guides.  I am almost 50, had a Pong in 1980 so I've been into games throughout my life.  I dont even bother with games that have your nerves on edge anymore.  I used to be able to handle hours of beat downs for a trophy/plat./100%  but now it isn't really worth the time when you realize just how short life is.  In the end we are fighting against ourselves in this quest for pixelated greatness.  It is somewhat like a gambling addiction.  Always chasing your losses and never satisfied with what you have.  Like they always say, it is not the destination that really matter but the joys and sorrows you experience along the way.  

I would agree with this, yet you older guys had hard as fucking hell arcade games. Which was the point, because arcades were a great source of income back in the 80’s. 
 

Then there was the NES and SNES library, plenty of shit to be had there. No continues, limited lives, game mechanics were downright broken. Terminator on the NES comes to mind. Absolute shit game which I’m glad AVGN covered. 
 

Sure there were gems back then like Batman: The Video Game, Strider, Contra III: Alien Wars and all that. Games today are far, far more easier. 
 

You also had to contend with printed strategy guides, where the information was sometimes wrong.

 

I listen to MetalJesusRocks who is around your age group and he likes to reminisce a lot about the older days. Has a massive gaming collection. But some of those games are crap, and even with a guide in hand they’re next to impossible to beat, like the aforementioned Terminator. 
 

I’m glad we have indie games that not only retain the 80’s/90’s nostalgia, but are much more doable.

[Phlegeth]

Going to echo the sentiment of don't underestimate the power of being very, very really stubborn.  All the innate talent won't get you very far is you just give up at the first road block.  

[s68sc]

I was very bad at the start but now I can play on Hard almost every game and I say almost...

[Wild-Arms-R]

3 things to note here.

 

1.This hobby is very casual in nature.

So even getting some super difficult plats like Wolf 2 or Super Meat Boy really doesn't make you skilled at games nor does it make you good tbh.

In fact you really only get decent by the time you earn the plat in said game.

To actually become good at games it takes a lot more then just earning trophies.

 

2.Unless your speed running/routing games or playing competitively in shooters, fighting games or the most popular comp games on pc.

Your not that good at games again.

 

3.If you want to improve your gameplay then play more.

#common sense.

[CelestialRequiem]

Practice tenacity and patience. 

 

Learn how to be analytical as well. The only time it's justified with being frustrated by your performance is if a root-cause analysis yields zero/minimal controllable elements. 

[VoidVictorious]

On 11/12/2022 at 1:01 PM, j10527805323 said:

 

 

I’m curious what peoples’ take on this is because there are so many avid hunters who have been doing this for 10+ years and earned all these amazing platinums and bragging rights. Trophy hunting is something I wish I was good at, but admittedly, I shot myself in the foot with it. Before getting a PlayStation, I was primarily playing PC. Unfortunately, I was never particularly good at video games, especially ones that are meant to be challenging like Necrodancer or Dark Souls, and no matter what I did, I felt that the game in its raw form did not entertain me. I would often use cheats or mods because it was singleplayer, and I was enjoying the game to the fullest by cheating rather than the satisfaction of overcoming the struggle.

 

Then, I had a sudden surge of interest in trophy hunting several months ago and becoming this trophy hunter that can show off a bunch of platinums, when I previously didn’t care for them. I switched to PlayStation, knowing that Steam achievements were a total joke, and wanting to chase my new interest. However, having cheated in the past, I didn’t improve and got burned with having to play games the proper way. I tried to suck it up and deal with it, to little avail. Now that I have this interest in trophies but without the ability to earn a collection of nice platinums, I kick myself for it. I wish I could press a button to magically become a top trophy hunter, but fantasy buttons don’t exist in the real world. I’m envious of those who are older than me and have been doing this since 2008/2009 when trophies were first introduced so they had the most time to earn all the stuff they got.

 

About the born good part, what makes me say that is, I think a lot of skills in life just seem to be you’re either born good or you’re not, but I could be being ignorant and naive. For example, I have a knack for statistics and finance as far back as I can remember, and I was a top student in high school. Also, I am attending my first year of Columbia University, where plenty of stellar and qualified applicants get rejected every year. I appreciate that I have the extremely rare opportunity of being accepted into one of the world’s most prestigious universities, but my academic successes bring me nowhere near as much joy as I think I would get from being a top trophy hunter. I just do statistics and finance because I have an easy time with it and it will land me a job later down the line. It seems that others I have tried to help with these subjects can’t just power through it if they aren’t born good.

 

Having all the disadvantages to not being good at trophy hunting, as in not starting early and not being good, feels like a chip in my shoulder. But maybe I shouldn’t be complaining, and it could be that many people who read this would gladly trade away their gaming ability for attending Columbia.

 

It could also just be me going through a rough phase in my life and not knowing what I want to do. I’m only 18, and people who I’ve talked to currently in their 30s or 40s that are currently very successful said their early 20s were the hardest years of their lives and that they were confused idiots about their life during that time, like I am now. Since I see people here that are in their late 20s or early 30s, maybe they can relate.

I would recommend playing something that appeals to you either by its gameplay or story and just jump in and practice. Games are meant to be beaten. Take breaks when you get frustrated, reach out to the community, and eventually you should succeed. I would also decide whether you want to be a successful gamer or trophy hunter. I would almost always recommend loving games and enjoying trophies.