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The Fastest Achievers List, Is There a Point?


AJ_Radio

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3 hours ago, Trope Hore said:

there could be a point, but there isn't, because PSNP only tracks fastest completions instead of fastest plats, which defeats the whole purpose :lol:  only an idiot would pursue a "fastest completion" for a game that's likely to get DLC and thus have their record be erased & in vain :facepalm:

 

Pretty much this, there should be additional column "Faster achiever" in Platinum Club for those who don't care about DLC.

 

"Faster achiever" in 100% club still isn't perfect because unless there's possibility of tracking cumulative time spent in game like on Steam.

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Speedrunning a game 99% of the time takes more skill, a lot more time and game knowledge then not speedrunning. Most of the work that goes into a speedrun you don't see when watching the final product. It takes days of practice and having very good knowledge of how a game works and good RNG to get a good time. Speedruns are rarely done on a first playthrough and if they are it's usually not a World Record time. Every speedrun is different with some games being harder to run than others.

 

The fastest achievers list is a terrible speedrunleader board. You only have one chance at getting a good time per account. You would have to practice on alternate accounts and hope RNG doesn't screw you out of a world record time. It's few strengths that it's not a speedrun category on most speedrun websites I believe, it is hidden away so you don't see it unless you look for it and it can identify cheaters.

 

In my opinion, the fastest achievers list is fine. It does the function it is meant to do well enough and you can compete in it at any point. Recent achievers isn't a competition category and first achievers has a lot of outside issues that hold it back. Fastest achievers has a few problems holding it back too but it's the only list that can change in a meaningful way. 

 

5 hours ago, freddie1989 said:

Pretty sad existence to be honest. At least enjoy what you are playing. You certainly wont be doing that by blasting through as fast as possible.

Most speedrunners speedrun a game because they enjoy it. They have already done every other challenge in the game so they're doing theier own.

 

5 hours ago, FawltyPowers said:

It's just a shame that auto-popped lists on certain games trivialises this feature.

That is very true.

 

17 minutes ago, KaKrackle said:

@Spaz I couldn’t be arsed to read your post as usual. But I just wanted to say that thats a lovely hat your wearing in your photo. 

That lovely shade of purple really brings out your eyes.

 

48 minutes ago, Cassylvania said:

Speedrunning is pretty great. I have no interest in doing it myself, but it's sometimes fun to watch stuff like AGDQ, just to see what's possible with enough time, skill, and luck. Especially the older retro games, like Super Mario Bros. and Zelda.

I personally enjoy watching watching speedruns. It's really cool to see how fast a game can be played. My two favorite speedruns to watch are Final Fantasy 9 Any% and GTA V Classic%. I've thought of speedruning Hyperdimension Neptunia and Valkyria Chronicles 4 but I'm a trophy hunter that doesn't have the time to learn those games. I will speedrun Final Fantasy 9 one day because a trophy in that game requires one.

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6 hours ago, Spaz said:

Grinding out a game just to get trophies quicker, or playing nonstop for 24 hours, 48 hours or however long somebody plays until they get to that top rank in a specific game. 

[...]

Being #1 on the Fastest Achievers List just means you did your own research ahead of time and basically played nonstop for however long it took. I have seen a number of games that take upwards of 40 - 50 hours to finish according to the trophy guide, and while they're generally not always accurate, someone comes along and speed runs through a game because they like the thrill of it, or because it gives them a sense of satisfaction they can't get just by beating the game normally.

 

Not all speedrunners are actually trying to get on the Fastest Achievers board. I have somewhere around ten Top 10 placements, and I only went into one of those games with a goal of fastest completion (on a game that was a remaster with no new content and a very similar trophy list). All but that intended speedrun were first-time plays that made use of guides for some things (my gaming style is to check guides for missables but play blind otherwise). Most of those games were also played "normally" (took lunch breaks, slept, went to work, etc), though I will admit that some were binged.

Seeing that I've achieved a Fastest spot gives me a sense of accomplishment. I'm really big into statistics and metrics... qualitative things are important (was the game enjoyable? did I have fun playing it? did I learn something?), but quantitative metrics give me something to measure my skill against.

I've also watched speedrunners at various cons, and it's super fun to watch these folks. Often I learn a lot about the game's mechanics by watching them do their runs.

 

I will agree that it's unhealthy if you're regularly neglecting your sleep, nutrition, work, family, other relationships, etc because all you're doing is speedrunning or prepping for the speedrun. Then again, any hobby that is taken to the extreme can be unhealthy... competitive eating, ultra marathoning, underground cage fighting....

Edited by eigen-space
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I see 2 problems with "speedrunning" a trophy list:

 

Problem 1: It counts total time between 1st and last trophy, not just gameplay time.

Someone with only 2-3 hours a day to play could be very quick about getting a platinum during their gameplay, but still be far down the leaderboard. This penalizes the player for doing things outside their game, like sleep, work, school, etc. This encourages players to sacrifice those things in their life for a better leaderboard position.

 

Problem 2: Trophies can only be earned once.

Speedrunning a game effectively comes from detailed knowledge of how things work, boss kill strategies, where to pick up a necessary item, what is required to unlock what, etc. And that detailed knowledge comes from many repeat playthroughs for practice. But on a player's 1st playthrough, trophies are already starting to be earned, and the clock is already ticking. You can't learn the game as you go, you have to execute on prior knowledge and practice. But how can you get that practice without earning trophies in the process? You would need to practice on another account, and even then, you only get 1 execution attempt on your main account.

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Personally I always thought it would be great to have your name in the top 5, 10 or even 50 Fastest to Platinum list and have even tried a couple of times to make it happen but there are people out there that are lucky enough to get advanced copies of games which makes it quite challenging especially for AAA games.

 

I still think it's a valid category.

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7 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

I actually like the fastest achiever list, not really because I care about it, but rather I use it as a rough way to gauge the time required for a platinum on many games. Sometimes I find the guides ETA is way off and I always check the fastest achievers column to see how it matches up.

This is what I came in here to say. Especially for games that get less attention an don't have a guide, the fastest completion is a good way to at least get an estimate of how long it'll take.

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On 6/20/2019 at 7:02 AM, Sir_Bee said:

 

You answered your own question ... Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean others can't or shouldn't.  If you want to talk big picture, the fastest achievers leaderboard is no more or less pointless than any trophy earned in a game for any task.  None of it really means anything or has any value, it is all about what we put to it.  You already said that you enjoy getting trophies, so why is it such a stretch to believe someone else may like getting those same trophies quickly?

 

Here's the problem.

 

You're trending a fine line here because there becomes a point where we get too 'touchy feely'. This is not the first time I have seen this, people have just as much right to talk shit about Ratalaika Games as they did two months ago when topics were cropping up left and right.

 

I love trophies. That's why I'm here and that's probably why you're here. That's probably why everybody else is here on these forums, because why else would they stick around?

 

But.... and this is a big but, when somebody makes an unpopular opinion, or an opposing opinion on a certain aspect of trophy hunting, suddenly they are cast out?

 

That is bullshit. I'm sorry but that is bullshit.

 

I will argue that trophies and achievements in general have always been a bit elitist. Somebody said it best when he put trophies in that category.

 

Me personally, I couldn't care less about the leaderboards, as I made that point a few months ago when everybody got so heated about it moderators were forced to lock my topic.

 

Play what you want to play. This is really just us overreacting over an aspect of trophy hunting that some people like, while a good number of us probably don't care at all. I said my opinion on it.

 

I'll just stretch your point here and say anything we do for entertainment purposes doesn't mean much, it's what we put to it as well. Most of my real life friends couldn't care less about trophies and that's perfectly fine, they do what they enjoy themselves.

 

What you're trying to say is if I don't like something, others shouldn't. That is not what I'm trying to put across.

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i think its kinda cool but the people who get advanced copies for guides sometimes get the spots before others. i also realize i look at my name when its in the top 50, but i never look at anyone elses lol. so its somewhat pointless. also i was 7th to complete days gone on survival mode, then i rechecked it a few days later and i kept going lower and lower i think im 11th or 12th. im guessing people synced later then me maybe. unless they cheated. if im playing a game and the trophy update comes out for it and im online then i'll try to go for it just for my own challenge. the only other time its cool is when its a game that less then 50 people completed and is old. then i kind of like seeing the others who did it

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On 6/21/2019 at 9:38 PM, Spaz said:

 

Here's the problem.

 

You're trending a fine line here because there becomes a point where we get too 'touchy feely'. This is not the first time I have seen this, people have just as much right to talk shit about Ratalaika Games as they did two months ago when topics were cropping up left and right.

 

I love trophies. That's why I'm here and that's probably why you're here. That's probably why everybody else is here on these forums, because why else would they stick around?

 

But.... and this is a big but, when somebody makes an unpopular opinion, or an opposing opinion on a certain aspect of trophy hunting, suddenly they are cast out?

 

That is bullshit. I'm sorry but that is bullshit.

 

I will argue that trophies and achievements in general have always been a bit elitist. Somebody said it best when he put trophies in that category.

 

Me personally, I couldn't care less about the leaderboards, as I made that point a few months ago when everybody got so heated about it moderators were forced to lock my topic.

 

Play what you want to play. This is really just us overreacting over an aspect of trophy hunting that some people like, while a good number of us probably don't care at all. I said my opinion on it.

 

I'll just stretch your point here and say anything we do for entertainment purposes doesn't mean much, it's what we put to it as well. Most of my real life friends couldn't care less about trophies and that's perfectly fine, they do what they enjoy themselves.

 

What you're trying to say is if I don't like something, others shouldn't. That is not what I'm trying to put across.

Man, not again... what an overreaction. "Cast out?" you gotta stop with your victim mentality. Not everyone who disagrees with you is out to get you, nor is it the end of the world when one of your controversial threads get locked.

 

Why do you even create these controversial opinion threads in the first place knowing that people will disagree with you? Isn't it to foster discussion and get people to think outside their comfort zone, or is it something else? I'll let you answer this one since I have no way of reading your mind.

 

And understand that there will always be people who dislike you no matter what you do, just as much as people who are there to support you like some did in that thread you mentioned. But I guess you don't focus on the positives, perhaps unsurprisingly so.

 

Just stop feeling sorry for yourself and let your words back you up instead of clinging on to "everyone who disagree with me hates me" nonsense.

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On 6/21/2019 at 11:09 PM, HellcoreFire said:

 

Sometimes I forget there are kids on this site. Don't worry, you'll get experience one day.

 

Interesting retort without any actual information.  Happily married for 3 years, and when I showed Mrs Bee this exchange of ideas she laughed and had the same reaction I did.  Thank you for giving me something to smile about though, that was nice of you :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/23/2019 at 4:59 AM, jaehyun1009 said:

Man, not again... what an overreaction. "Cast out?" you gotta stop with your victim mentality. Not everyone who disagrees with you is out to get you, nor is it the end of the world when one of your controversial threads get locked.

 

As I said earlier, there is a fine line. 

 

The problem is social media fosters hate, given today’s paranoid, out of touch society where people are too overly sensitive about anything. That’s where we are right now, and one reason why I no longer visit Facebook and Twitter. 

 

What more do you expect? Anything I say, somebody out there isn’t going to like me. Doesn’t matter, just don’t think I’m on here to please everybody because I’m not stupid enough to believe that. 

 

On 6/23/2019 at 4:59 AM, jaehyun1009 said:

Why do you even create these controversial opinion threads in the first place knowing that people will disagree with you? Isn't it to foster discussion and get people to think outside their comfort zone, or is it something else? I'll let you answer this one since I have no way of reading your mind.

 

Because I like to voice my opinion and point out something, regardless how biased, self centered or entitled it may seem. 

 

There are millions of people out there making the kinds of posts I make everyday and they get scrutinized for doing so. Sometimes for no apparent reason. 

 

On 6/23/2019 at 4:59 AM, jaehyun1009 said:

And understand that there will always be people who dislike you no matter what you do, just as much as people who are there to support you like some did in that thread you mentioned. But I guess you don't focus on the positives, perhaps unsurprisingly so.

 

Just stop feeling sorry for yourself and let your words back you up instead of clinging on to "everyone who disagree with me hates me" nonsense.

 

This is just brash criticism really. Not much better than the stuff I write. 

 

My issue is a few people automatically assumed I’m an asshole for judging the leaderboards. Yes I am “clinging on to that” because a good number of trophy hunters don’t look at trophies in the same fashion. But there was no need for brash criticism like that. Because if I were to change to try to satisfy anybody then I wouldn’t have near the views and followers I have. 

 

People didn’t like others for judging Ratalalika Games for the trophy lists. Okay. Just as many people couldn’t care less about the trophy lists. A few of us judged their trophy lists like it was God in the Holy Bible. My argument here is, trophies have always been elitist. 

 

I’m not as sensitive truthfully as some other people are when it comes to reacting just how many people are against what I say. I can have 9000 downvotes as opposed to 1000 upvotes on a YouTube rant video I make regarding Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5. Doesn’t mean I’m a bad person or anything, it’s just that the opposing majority are against my argument. Unless you delve in the world of politics, which is not something that really should be discussed freely given today’s climate. 

 

I will often quote an opposing viewpoint and make my own argument, as you already know. But a lot of people don’t feel comfortable doing that. 

 

This is all I can say.

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