Starting a 100% Profile for a Gaming Blog - Looking for Advice / Suggestions

[GraveFoxVII]

Hey there! I've been on PSNProfiles for awhile now--mostly as a lurker with the occasional trophy question--and I am starting a bit of a project for myself and wanted to some advice / feedback on it from the trophy hunting community.

 

To make a long story as short as I can, gaming is my passion and I started up a gaming blog last year mostly as a venue to get my thoughts out there on the various games I've been playing. To accompany the blog I started a gaming meme page along laughs that has developed a decent following but due to working a full time job and going to college, my activity on the blog fell to the wayside. I was just too tired to play the games and also have time to write thoroughly about them. Luckily, I am going to be starting a new job soon with a better work / life balance so I'll be able to spend more time on writing and chipping away at my backlog. 

 

I started to reevaluate what direction I wanted the blog to be about beyond just the board topic of gaming--something with an ultimate goal in mind--and decided to integrate my love of trophy hunting into the mix. To accomplish this I am starting a fresh, 100% PSN profile work my way through my PS4 library and up the trophy ladder again while indulging in my insanity of re-earning many of my platinums.

 

Since I have never done a project like this before and I want to do it right, I wanted to establish some guidelines to follow for this 100% profile. For example, I want to avoid competitive multiplayer focused games and trophy lists due to their potential RNG and time to complete (excluding co-op focus like Monster Hunter World) or avoiding easy / cheap platinum farming games like 'My Name is Mayo'. Things along those lines to keep in mind as I pick titles to 100% and to write reviews for about the overall gaming experience and summarizing the actual enjoyment I derived from 100% the title. I also want these guidelines to act as a selection criteria to also post on the blog to make it clear to potential readers what my process is. However, this is purely a passion project for me, so I am not really worried about marketability of the blog but focusing more on making this an enjoyable, mostly smooth (we all know trophy hunting can be rough) experience for myself.

 

So I turn to my fellow trophy hunters for advice and suggestions on how to tackle my 100% project. What do you guys think? Any advice, suggestions, or related criticism are welcome.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by GraveFoxVII

[GT__Jedi]

Well, all I can suggest for your 100% profile:  only play games you've already played before that you KNOW you can get 100% without a trophy glitch.

[GraveFoxVII]

5 minutes ago, WaffleJedi said:

Well, all I can suggest for your 100% profile:  only play games you've already played before that you KNOW you can get 100% without a trophy glitch.

 

Agreed, I have taken this into consideration as I remember some migraines I've had. For me, I guess that means doing some research on games I haven't done before I start them. I will be redoing a fair amount of the games I have done in the past so I am working on a list of them I know I had glitch-related problems to and seeing if there are sure-fire workarounds. 

 

Thanks for the pointer!

Edited August 16, 2019 by GraveFoxVII

[GT__Jedi]

1 minute ago, GraveFoxVII said:

 

Agreed. I have taken this into consideration. For me, I guess that means doing some research on games before I start them. I will be redoing a fair amount of the games I have done in the past so I am working on a list of them I know I had glitch-related problems to and seeing if there are sure-fire workarounds. 

Well, good luck on your venture and I hope you get that 100%!

[exsentry]

If your goal is to attempt 100% profile, then I would only really play games that you enjoy or think that you would enjoy. Avoiding games because they are considered difficult or playing games because they are considered easy will sap your motivation. Nothing is worse than drudging for 100% on a game that you loathe. Also, try to avoid new games as much as possible as your never know what BS DLC is added (e.g., Battlefield Hardline)...but even then you are sacrificing the fun of playing a new game, playing MP that has populated servers or even taking advantage of exploits that may be patched early.

 

If your goal is 100% or bust, then don't. The trophy hunting gods can be cruel and you'll never know what wrench will be thrown into your plan to screw things up. To me, just not worth the hassle.

Edited August 16, 2019 by rotoninja

[GraveFoxVII]

29 minutes ago, rotoninja said:

If your goal is to attempt 100% profile, then I would only really play games that you enjoy or think that you would enjoy. Avoiding games because they are considered difficult or playing games because they are considered easy will sap your motivation. Nothing is worse than drudging for 100% on a game that you loathe. Also, try to avoid new games as much as possible as your never know what BS DLC is added (e.g., Battlefield Hardline)...but even then you are sacrificing the fun of playing a new game, playing MP that has populated servers or even taking advantage of exploits that may be patched early.

 

If your goal is 100% or bust, then don't. The trophy hunting gods can be cruel and you'll never know what wrench will be thrown your plan to screw things up. To me, just not worth the hassle.

 

Good points. To better my wording, I don't want to attempt a 100% profile but I want one. I don't mind harder games so I won't avoid them actively but I will have to keep difficultly in mind. I'll also be writing reviews for the games I complete as well and I don't think it would be fair to avoid games just because they are hard. I'd also like to inform potential players too, you know? I think it would be fair, if I come across a game that is just inherently broken or glitched that makes the game impossible to 100%, I make a visible note of it on the blog and hide it from the profile stating why it is not on the listing. But ONLY reason I'd do that is if the game is GLITCHED without a fix or impossible to 100% due to servers being shut down etc. Might even be a good idea to keep a page on the blog specifically listing glitched games and why they cannot be completed. These would all have to be things I take into mind when selecting games to play, obviously.

 

A major concern I have is the latest trend of surprise post game DLC trophies (looking at you Days Gone) but I am hoping to avoid the worst of those by avoiding multiplayer games that seem to do it more frequently like Battlefield as you mentioned. I do have a primary profile I can always play those multiplayer games I have no intention of 100% on if I want to partake in them while they are active. 

 

Thanks for your thoughts, it actually got me considering things I hadn't thought about, particularly about sapping motivation.

Edited August 16, 2019 by GraveFoxVII

[Helyx]

My suggestion would be to stop worrying about percentages or difficulties and just have fun playing games.

[GraveFoxVII]

2 minutes ago, dj_helyx said:

My suggestion would be to stop worrying about percentages or difficulties and just have fun playing games.

 

For me, I largely consider these two things--fun and competition percentages / difficulties--to be one and the same. Such is the curse of a trophy hunter! ?

[eigen-space]

Keep your old profile and play a couple hours of a new game on that profile to make sure you like it before starting it on your 100% profile.

Also, watch people stream the games or look at gameplay videos rather than just trailers or reading reviews.

I also think keeping to games that have guides indicating less than 20-30 hours is a good indicator that it's a manageable game.

[GraveFoxVII]

13 minutes ago, eigen-space said:

Keep your old profile and play a couple hours of a new game on that profile to make sure you like it before starting it on your 100% profile.

Also, watch people stream the games or look at gameplay videos rather than just trailers or reading reviews.

I also think keeping to games that have guides indicating less than 20-30 hours is a good indicator that it's a manageable game.

 

 

I really like the idea of demoing it on my main profile first and then deciding if I want to tackle it. Good call!

[TheYuriG]

1 hour ago, GraveFoxVII said:

So I turn to my fellow trophy hunters for advice and suggestions on how to tackle my 100% project. What do you guys think? Any advice, suggestions, or related criticism are welcome.

My first advice would to not do this to yourself. The life of a completinist is a constant struggle and I do not wish this to anyone.

 

Should you ignore the first advice, here are more: You can use the blank account trick to make sure you plat 100% of your offline games. For online-included games, boost the trophies first before you do everything else. Don't play games that you are not absolutely sure you can complete. Don't play games near release or games that are still getting updates. Build friendships with likeminded people so you can trade experiences with your hard and long journey. Support is very important.

[GraveFoxVII]

16 minutes ago, TheYuriG said:

My first advice would to not do this to yourself. The life of a completinist is a constant struggle and I do not wish this to anyone.

 

 

Advice promptly ignored. ?

 

Otherwise, points taken. I do need to start building some more connections regarding other trophy hunters. I've used the Gaming Sessions tools a few times but I might be using it much more in the near future to tackle this.

[TheYuriG]

1 minute ago, GraveFoxVII said:

Advice promptly ignored. 

I could tell you a few dozen stories of people who went for completion and ended up broken and moved away from trophy hunting. The life of a completionist is very hard, controlling the impulse of playing random games at any moment is difficult and the reward is ultimately subjective. Some people find it worth it, but most don't. I only gave the previous advice because I rather be among casuals who don't care about stats, rather than highly stressed out people who can't stop thinking about the games they have pending while also not having the willpower to complete those games which would solve the pending games issue.

 

But then again, if you wish to join us in this hard journey, I wish you nothing but the best of luck and the willpower to never give up in the face of adversity.

[GraveFoxVII]

3 minutes ago, TheYuriG said:

I could tell you a few dozen stories of people who went for completion and ended up broken and moved away from trophy hunting. The life of a completionist is very hard, controlling the impulse of playing random games at any moment is difficult and the reward is ultimately subjective. Some people find it worth it, but most don't. I only gave the previous advice because I rather be among casuals who don't care about stats, rather than highly stressed out people who can't stop thinking about the games they have pending while also not having the willpower to complete those games which would solve the pending games issue.

 

But then again, if you wish to join us in this hard journey, I wish you nothing but the best of luck and the willpower to never give up in the face of adversity.

 

My line was just joking back at you for your response. I meant no disrespect, I fully understand that what I am attempting to do here is going be really rough and could very well break me. I am largely playing games from a completionist mindset already--one of the first things I consider with my games is how likely I will be able to get the platinum--so I don't think this will be a HUGE leap of logic for me, I just need to be MUCH more careful at selecting what to play. As @eigen-space suggested, I think I will play the game on my personal, primary account here to demo it first and see if I want to gun for a platinum or not and go from there. 

 

I appreciate your candid view on being a completionist but I am willing to at least give this dive into further insanity a try.

[TheYuriG]

1 minute ago, GraveFoxVII said:

 

My line was just joking back at you for your response. I meant no disrespect, I fully understand that what I am attempting to do here is going be really rough and could very well break me. I am largely playing games from a completionist mindset already--one of the first things I consider with my games is how likely I will be able to get the platinum--so I don't think this will be a HUGE leap of logic for me, I just need to be MUCH more careful at selecting what to play. As @eigen-space suggested, I think I will play the game on my personal, primary account here to demo it first and see if I want to gun for a platinum or not and go from there. 

 

I appreciate your candid view on being a completionist but I am willing to at least give this dive into further insanity a try.

Ok, good to know you are ready for what it takes. I've been playing as a full completionist for the last 2 or 3 years, I think, and every 6 or so months, I reserve myself a week or two to play some random online game just for fun and not think about trophies. Just always remember that completion is fun to chase, but balance is necessary. Don't overdo it and step away for a while if you feel you are going to get burnt out. Always remember that the experience needs to be worth having. Best of luck to you.

[Arcesius]

I somewhat do what you are aiming at myself. I don't have a blog, but I have a trophy checklist on this forum for which I write somewhat lengthy reviews of the games I complete. It's more for myself than anything else, really, but I enjoy doing it. 

 

As a completionist myself, I can only agree with the comments above stating that you should play games you are genuinely interested in playing, regardless of length and difficulty. You see plenty of 100% profiles on this page that are only filled with walking sims and such types of games, and you just know that those profiles are kinda "fake" in the sense that the players behind them surely play other games on secondary profiles just to maintain that completion. I'm not bothered by it, don't get me wrong, it just isn't what I want to see in my own profile. 

 

So, if as you say you are passionate about gaming, then the number one goal for you should be having fun doing what you're doing. But start this project being aware of the fact that you might find that one game that you are just not able to complete... I started Crypt because I really like the game, but also knowing that that would very likely prevent me from getting 100% ever again. 

[GraveFoxVII]

11 minutes ago, Arcesius said:

So, if as you say you are passionate about gaming, then the number one goal for you should be having fun doing what you're doing. But start this project being aware of the fact that you might find that one game that you are just not able to complete... I started Crypt because I really like the game, but also knowing that that would very likely prevent me from getting 100% ever again. 

 

Very fair point. I'm sure I will run into a problem like this at some point during this journey. I'll have to really make sure my demoing period on my primary account will thorough in this regard.

 

On another note, I love your completion checklist format. You aren't kidding when you say you are doing something similar to me--yours is basically what I want to aspire mine to eventually be, but in a blog format. Definitely an inspiration for me now.

[SilkyJay86]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Don't do it.  There's no such thing as a cool gamer/chill person to play with that plays carefully and for perfection.  I've seen and met many.

 

 

[Ashley_Brant]

Interesting idea, although it can be hard to follow through with. In order to have and maintain a 100% profile it will restrict you immensely in what you can play since your main objective is so pure. I've read other people's posts on this thread and I think they are useful in your goal. Wish you the best and have fun with your 100% account!

[Lava_Yuki]

Before starting a game, read the trophy guides and beware of games that are above a 7/10 difficulty like FF8 and Crash Team racing which are 8/10, or take hundereds of hours (like Disgaea, Yakuza, MGS Survive etc), as these can be demotivating if your aiming for a 100% profile. Also, needing to put a lot of time and effort into one game makes blogging more difficult where it's more interesting to readers to have many different games.

 

Games like KH3, FF15, Spyro, Nier Automata etc. you can guarantee platinum trophies, they're fun games and they aren't exactly cheap/easy games like VNs. Persona 5 is also a low difficulty but does take quite a while, as is FF12. 

 

Good luck on your profile though! 

[DaivRules]

Find a partner (or a couple) and make this a team effort. Doing this solo is going to be a massive, massive undertaking and require a lot of commitment to continue long term. With someone else, you can make rotations and share that burden to keep content coming and not burning yourself out.

[ProfBambam55]

I tend to do the 100% thing and I love it...no idea why all this negative stigma associated with it...i wouldn't consider myself an overly skilled gamer but I do attribute a lot of my achievements to enjoying just about everything games have to offer...throughout my years as a member here I've learned that there are groups of gamers who are turned off by and even avoid games with things like multiplayer, collectibles, grinds, speedruns, difficulty challenges, etc. but I have no issues with any of them...the only things I find a bit frustrating are avoidable glitches and the lack of free time that I have for gaming...if you have a good idea of what games you like and love gaming you shouldn't have too much trouble attaining and maintaining 100% so I say "go for it"...what's the worst thing that can happen?...you fail and discover that it's not for you?...wouldn't you rather find that out sooner rather than later?...

 

side note: if you need a co-op partner along the way, look me up...would be more than happy to help with any game that I own...ex. a way out is short and sweet...i'm usually on starting at 21:00 est...i'll be playing wolfenstein youngblood (and have the deluxe edition) next if you'd like to try it out for free and without having to worry about trophies...i hope that whatever you decide, you enjoy the ride...all I got...

Edited August 26, 2019 by ProfBambam55

[Arcesius]

I've already answered here before, but it surprises me to read comments stating that you should avoid difficult or long games. You most definitely should not if you are otherwise interested in playing said games, or you won't like your profile as much, which consequently means that you won't care as much about it and could, at some point, lose the motivation to keep going for that 100%. 

 

Plus, in my experience those tough games that ask everything of you are the ones that are most fun writing about once you've conquered them. Writing a review about Hollow Knight or Trackmania Turbo was so much more satisfying than writing one about Detroit: Become Human, for example. 

 

By the way, did you already create that profile?

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Arcesius

[AJ_Radio]

My advice is to do your research before you decide to jump into a game if 100 percent completion is what you’re striving for. 

 

Definitely put a priority on online trophies, especially the trophies on older games on the PS3 and Vita. Read up on missables, and definitely look out for them if they’re story related. 

 

I’m over 95 percent in completion. I plan to get to around 97 percent, but not anymore than that. 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Spaz

[Bartolomeus]

I support it. This doesn't seem to be a sudden impulse, but something you've been thinking about for some time, and as others have written: what's the worst thing that can happen? If it really grinds you down, just take a break and play new games and games you've avoided on your main and then offer a different type on blog post than the usual that follows in the wake of a 100% completion of a game.

 

You've already got a lot of games, and you'll probably have a great time replaying a bunch of them on your new profile. Good luck. And what's the name of the new profile? Would be nice to check it out every now and again to see how you're doing.