Why is trophy hunting/achievement hunting still niche and not mainstream?

[GMZ]

Despite that they are still niche after all these years, some developers still make some trophies extremely hard/grind and that turns off a lot of people but in the same time i do admit trophies on ps4 became easier but still some aren't. and after that hard work you did barely or no one would care and that's sad.

[Rally-Vincent---]

1 hour ago, Arcesius said:

I've been told once on this site that I'm not a trophy hunter because, and I quote:

 

 

While I disagree with the quoted definition (for the leaderboard part), there is one element of truth in it. I would say that a trophy hunter collects trophies. He has to go through games to collect his stuff. If the trophies are not your main focus, I'd call you a gamer (who also likes to get trophies) rather than a trophy hunter. It's not the number of trophies in a period of time that decides this, it's the intention of the player. Even someone with way less trophies can be a trophy hunter in my opinion, if that is his main focus.

 

 

[xh117]

1 hour ago, Arcesius said:

I've been told once on this site that I'm not a trophy hunter because, and I quote:

 

 

If that is your definition of trophy hunting, then it is not and will never be mainstream because I'm pretty sure that most players will agree that it is a huge waste of money and time (no offense, just my personal opinion). 

 

Now, if you allow for a broader definition, then while still not mainstream, I think there are more trophy hunters than only the people on this page. Most just don't go out of their way to get all trophies / achievements in every single game they play, but they might in games they've truly enjoyed. I know people in real life that are this way, but even well-known twitch streamers will get all achievements in certain games they play. You also very often find comments on trophy-unrelated youtube videos of people talking about the plat of the game in question. 

 

However, trophy hunting is not necessarily very entertaining to watch, so it's difficult to sell. It doesn't generate a huge audience, so it ain't lucrative for individuals or companies either (unless you are selling trophies on Ebay... seriously, people use those services...), so it will never become truly mainstream. 

 

 

That's the definition of a trophy whore. If a majority of the games you plat come from games you enjoy then you're a trophy hunter imo.

[dannyswfc9]

6 hours ago, Quink666 said:

Unlike trophy hunters who would suck a dick for bronze trophy casuals only trophy hunt when it's a game worth it.

Got to be at least a silver trophy

Edited May 3, 2020 by dannyswfc9

[tuddeee]

4 hours ago, Caesar Clown said:

To do something extra, people often require motivation of some sort. It just means your average person doesn't get any form of motivation from earning trophies. For more people to get into it, you'd really need prizes of some kind.

This is actually very intresting topic, because there is a lot of people who easily like to "invest" their time to one game example Call Of Duty to grind out some crazy mastery camos but say that trophy hunting is time waste. And no offense for them I am also grinded those camos

[SnowxSakura]

The friends I have that casually game think it's a complete waste of time going for trophies, when they could just use that time to play other games  I definitely agree with that

[tjoe1bkhjtqxm]

Because there are still people in the world that when you say them in Party chat:
"When I achieve the platinum in a game, I drop it immediately moving to something else"

or

"I play only for trophies and I skip all cutscenes, even in AAA games like God Of War and Death Stranding"

or

"Because it's an addiction that generates carving, challenge and fun"

 

People answer like "Ewwww how can you say that?"

And maybe they make tons of Instagram and Facebook posts hoping to receive 10-15 likes (if they're lucky)

[MoBBurnz]

I approach trophy collection pretty differently in any game & in two phases: I usually play for fun the first time around - I try to immerse myself in the storyline (if it's compelling or not), the graphics, the general feel of the game, the action etc. In my first play-through, I really don't care much for trophies. In subsequent replays (the second phase) I play for achievements. I never used to do that - collect trophies I mean - but doing so opened my eyes to many reasons to collect them. And here are my reasons:

 

• it's a way of getting extended value for money;
•  you get to explore every facet of a game. Believe it or not, some of these trophies are extremely challenging and put you through the wringer, giving you a chance to explore what developers experimented with to enhance the experience of the game and it's a very rewarding feeling (similar to completing a game) when you get the trophy. If you were to play the main campaign only, you wouldn't even know about them,
•  you get to spend a longer time playing a game, which (for money purposes) can be a saver - somewhat. It tends to beat rifling through more than 10 games in a month and next month, you hardly remember what exactly the games you finished were all about.
• It gives me a time limit when to stop playing a game and move on, i.e. once I've hit 100% completion. However, to be fair, some games I enjoyed them so much I still replay them even after my 100% completion.

 

Of course, this is not the same experience of any trophy collector - just mine - and I assume some people have their own motivations. I've seen players who also tend to really suck the joy out of the experience - they play the game simply for the trophies, not the experience (which is a waste of time): for example, before they even begin, they already have a manual on what trophy is available on the first level and are reading the manual as they're playing. I don't get this and it takes the fun out of things.

 

I read a very bizarre interview by Hakoom (who is number 1 in the world with platinum trophies and has been surrounded by a lot of controversy around cheating claims) that platinum trophies - for him anyway - prove that you're  "a man". What about women who game??  I don't really buy into the braggadocio, I just collect trophies for my own fun and to expand my experience of the game. Hakoom's profile is also strange, I genuinely do wonder if he has any fun at all because some of the platinum trophies are stacked, i.e. he plays one game more than once, e.g. 7 times, to stack 7 platinum trophies simply to keep his Guinness World Record. I can't do that. It would feel like a waste. Once I finish a game - I move on.

Edited May 3, 2020 by God-Ire

[ladynadiad]

My view is that it's because the sort of gaming that is mainstream is casual gaming.  By casual gaming I mean they play games at times and it's mostly something they do when they have nothing else to do.  Most people barely have the time to actually beat longer games, much less get the platinums/100% if it requires more than finishing the story.  Gaming also is so saturated now that most people have backlogs they will never finish.

 

I know most of my friends who game take forever to finish a game because they at best play a few hours at a time and don't play much.  The average trophy hunter is going to be more of a hardcore gamer who spends more time gaming than the average gamer does.

 

7 minutes ago, God-Ire said:

I read a very bizarre interview by Hakoom (who is number 1 in the world with platinum trophies and has been surrounded by a lot of controversy around cheating claims) that platinum trophies - for him anyway - prove that you're  "a man". What about women who game??

 

There are actually more gamers than you would think that either ignore the fact that women do also play games or don't believe that women can be serious gamers.  It's especially common of younger gamers  Personally I find the viewpoint laughable and tend to tell people like that that I've been gaming for longer than they've been alive most likely (I'm female, 41 and have been gaming since I was 6).  I also think some of it comes from the fact that female gamers are far less likely to say they are female and in MP games often won't use voice chat because of how they are treated by male gamers.

[LoveInHell]

I just don’t think people want to invest their time in this. (?) I often hear trophy hunting is pointless but I find it fun and satisfying/rewarding. The people I know who play games, they just enjoy gaming in a way where the game ends, they go onto the next game cause they don’t want to waste their time on one game. I think a lot of people find trophy hunting boring, maybe also because they’re not really getting anything from it but trophy hunters think differently. I think its just people with different interests tbh. I only know one trophy hunter online and I know none in real, I got one guy into trophy hunting but he doesn’t take it that serious, he thinks its cool and wants to show off but then ends up finding it too boring.

 

Also I want to mention a certain mentality about gaming. Personally, and I think a lot of people on this site, think a game is only truly finished when you get it platinum or 100%. Lots of gamers don’t think that: when the game’s story is over, thats the end of that.

Edited May 3, 2020 by LoveInHell

[shakie19]

It might surprise you but gaming was a thing before trophies and achievements. Gaming is gaming. Enjoyment of games should and always will come first. Trophies/achievements are awesome and all but you can't dress mutton as lamb, they don't make an awful game better. They just add re-playability. 

 

I don't think any incentive can make them more mainstream. You have completionists like us on this site and you have the non completionists like the ones that don't use this site. That will never change. People have work, families and a somewhat social life and use gaming as an escape.

 

The amount of trophy hunters will increase with the release of PS5, no doubt about that. 

 

 

[LoveInHell]

1 hour ago, tuddeee said:

This is actually very intresting topic, because there is a lot of people who easily like to "invest" their time to one game example Call Of Duty to grind out some crazy mastery camos but say that trophy hunting is time waste. And no offense for them I am also grinded those camos

Ha! I recently was in a discussion and a friend of mine didn’t see the point I was going for trophies. I can’t waste my time on this guy anymore cause I’m fed up with his narrow mind but my other friend stood up for me and said “You go for in game camos and challenges on CoD, thats the same thing.” where then I added “And those ingame rewards don’t even last forever cause you go to a different CoD every year anyway.” Ha, gotcha! ?

Edited May 3, 2020 by LoveInHell

[Good_Sir_Matt_II]

I only buy 4-5 games a year so troppy hunting is my way of getting my moneys worth, especially if i like the game I'll definitely get the plat 

[Neputyunu]

Because the majority of people are stupid and only do thing when a growing mass is doing it. Then, they are defending it, because they would like it and it would be normal... But before things are growing in popularity they are hating on it and tell you "Nobody ever heard about that crap". Everyone knows these self-proclaimed "normal people", who are basically a weathercock in the wind and change their "opinions" when a growing mass is changing theirs. TikTok for example. Everyone hates it, but the installation base is growing. Everyone in Austria hates the Greens but for whatever reason they are these days in the Austrian government. Everyone is hating EA and Ubisoft, but people keep buying their games. <shrugs> Guess we did not hit the critical mass in neither of these yet...

 

And as I discovered yesterday, we even have here, on a website about trophies, people who see trophies just as a dick enlargement. Cool story, bro. It is none of my business, but maybe you are here in the wrong forums...

Edited May 3, 2020 by Neputyunu

[LetThemEatCakeDX]

There's definitely an unfortunate stigma regarding achievement/trophy hunting. Mostly because of dissonant values in what people find enjoyable. For most players, simply playing the game is enough. But for the rest of us, we want something more. Also because achievement systems lead to comparing stats and generally people don't like to be told what to do by a video game or have their console tell them that their friends/randos are "better." 

 

Nowadays, the most common things I hear vary between missing the point fundamentally and just plain insults. Most hunters don't go out of their way to talk about it outside of achievement/trophy hunting circles, but there are toxic normies out there who'll say things like "I don't care how many trophies someone has but they're always bragging about it" or worse things like "trophies are for losers who need a game to tell them that they did something good" and "lol u have no life." But these sentiments are so detached from reality that they're better off ignored. My favorite is "I'll just get the trophies the game gives to me" as if that's any different than just playing the game with trophy notifications turned off. They don't care about overachieving and that's fine, but some players tend to get really defensive about it when the topic's brought up.

 

Trophy hunting is niche because the concept of putting in extra effort or actively seeking challenge is foreign to the average mainstream gamer. I don't think this will change because they have enough fun doing their own thing. Difficulty and time investment induce stress, so why would anyone willingly seek those things out? We all have different, valid answers to this question: the simple sense of accomplishment, the compulsive need to complete checklists, satisfy ego, etc. But that's also the beauty of it. We're not obligated to tell other people how to enjoy their games and neither is the average mainstream gamer.

 

Fun is subjective. And our way requires more work than simply picking up the game and just playing. That alone makes it less attractive than the norm.

[AJ_Radio]

15 minutes ago, dxmcake0 said:

There's definitely an unfortunate stigma regarding achievement/trophy hunting. Mostly because of dissonant values in what people find enjoyable. For most players, simply playing the game is enough. But for the rest of us, we want something more. Also because achievement systems lead to comparing stats and generally people don't like to be told what to do by a video game or have their console tell them that their friends/randos are "better." 

 

Nowadays, the most common things I hear vary between missing the point fundamentally and just plain insults. Most hunters don't go out of their way to talk about it outside of achievement/trophy hunting circles, but there are toxic normies out there who'll say things like "I don't care how many trophies someone has but they're always bragging about it" or worse things like "trophies are for losers who need a game to tell them that they did something good" and "lol u have no life." But these sentiments are so detached from reality that they're better off ignored. My favorite is "I'll just get the trophies the game gives to me" as if that's any different than just playing the game with trophy notifications turned off. They don't care about overachieving and that's fine, but some players tend to get really defensive about it when the topic's brought up.

 

Trophy hunting is niche because the concept of putting in extra effort or actively seeking challenge is foreign to the average mainstream gamer. I don't think this will change because they have enough fun doing their own thing. Difficulty and time investment induce stress, so why would anyone willingly seek those things out? We all have different, valid answers to this question: the simple sense of accomplishment, the compulsive need to complete checklists, satisfy ego, etc. But that's also the beauty of it. We're not obligated to tell other people how to enjoy their games and neither is the average mainstream gamer.

 

Fun is subjective. And our way requires more work than simply picking up the game and just playing. That alone makes it less attractive than the norm.

 

Honestly I can do just like millions of other people do. But that's just boring to me. I like to give myself something to strive for and trophies is that itch for me.

 

I want to be one of the select few who can say I did fucking Mein Leben in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and got a platinum trophy for my efforts. Rather than be one of the countless millions who mindlessly play Call of Duty or Fortnite online multiplayer, or be one of those bandwagon, PewDiePie/JackSepticEye type jackasses who jump from one game to the next, in short time.

 

Participation trophies is what the average mainstream gamer only really gets.

 

I've played more games that had no trophy/achievement system than games with trophies/achievements. Plenty of old games from the 1980s thru the 2000s with no achievements whatsoever, hell some with no modern support. But I still try and strive to beat at least most of the games I play. The average mainstream gamer doesn't do that.

 

Most people can't beat Devil May Cry on the hardest difficulty. I'm willing to bet most couldn't get past the Starcraft single player campaigns on the PC back in the day. Too much effort for them.

[Juzota]

Oh I see, insulting people who doesn't care about trophies is the right way to make trophies more popular thing among gamers. Gotcha!

[JohnCenaSong-]

I doubt it'll ever be mainstream. Statistically most gamers don't even FINISH most the games they play let alone go that extra mile to obtain specific trophies in them.

 

I will say however it's becoming less of a small niche these days. Whether that be thanks to Sony acknowledging trophies more directly or the various more mainstream YouTube channels covering topics regarding trophies more often or maybe it's none of the above and it's just something completely random.

 

I remember back in the day there was always a huge divide between the attitudes towards gamerscore and trophies. XBox achievements were always acceptable in the more mainstream crowd, most would still ignore them etc. but if you told your friends you were going for an achievement it'd be like 'okay cool' and maybe even 'would you like some help?'. Trophies on the other hand though, despite being the same type of system, seemed to have more of a stigma attached to them and if you told your friends they'd just call you a trophy whore or something.

 

You can see so much evidence of this online on forums and YouTube comments in XBox communities versus PlayStation ones, I'm not sure how it happened but I'm sure we've all seen it. 

 

These days, particularly the last few years I have seen more interest in the trophy scene (not necessarily people who actively hunt/whore the way people on this site do, but people who may go that extea step to finish their AAA plat and then post to their social media).

 

It'll never be mainstream but maybe it'll get even less niche as time goes on, who knows how the PS5 will support it, maybe it'll be the resurgence the system needs to pull it closer to mainstream attention. 

[tuddeee]

2 hours ago, Spaz said:

 

Honestly I can do just like millions of other people do. But that's just boring to me. I like to give myself something to strive for and trophies is that itch for me.

 

I want to be one of the select few who can say I did fucking Mein Leben in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and got a platinum trophy for my efforts. Rather than be one of the countless millions who mindlessly play Call of Duty or Fortnite online multiplayer, or be one of those bandwagon, PewDiePie/JackSepticEye type jackasses who jump from one game to the next, in short time.

 

Participation trophies is what the average mainstream gamer only really gets.

 

I've played more games that had no trophy/achievement system than games with trophies/achievements. Plenty of old games from the 1980s thru the 2000s with no achievements whatsoever, hell some with no modern support. But I still try and strive to beat at least most of the games I play. The average mainstream gamer doesn't do that.

 

Most people can't beat Devil May Cry on the hardest difficulty. I'm willing to bet most couldn't get past the Starcraft single player campaigns on the PC back in the day. Too much effort for them.

But remember Spaz that for some people the gaming might be an social experience, I really enjoy playing mindlessly COD multiplayer with my friends sometimes and chatting and joking around especially now when I cant see them irl.

[AJ_Radio]

1 hour ago, Juzota said:

Oh I see, insulting people who doesn't care about trophies is the right way to make trophies more popular thing among gamers. Gotcha!

 

Most people wouldn't care either way, and that's fine. It's their decision.

 

I just find it boring to be one of countless millions who just casually plays through a game and barely finishes any of it before moving on to the next game. And for those who don't give a damn about trophies but are here posting stuff like "trophies aren't that worthwhile", what are you doing here in the first place?

 

Actually I think it's better the trophy hunting community is niche rather than mainstream.

 

30 minutes ago, JohnCenaSong- said:

I remember back in the day there was always a huge divide between the attitudes towards gamerscore and trophies. XBox achievements were always acceptable in the more mainstream crowd, most would still ignore them etc. but if you told your friends you were going for an achievement it'd be like 'okay cool' and maybe even 'would you like some help?'. Trophies on the other hand though, despite being the same type of system, seemed to have more of a stigma attached to them and if you told your friends they'd just call you a trophy whore or something.

 

You have to remember that the PlayStation 3 had a terrible start. The Xbox 360 had the edge for the first half of that console generation. Titles like Halo 3 and Gears of War attracted a lot of people. Microsoft basically introduced the Xbox Achievements. Sony didn't have trophies until the summer of 2008. Xbox Achievements predated trophies by three years.

 

That could be a good reason why Xbox Achievements were more acceptable in the mainstream crowd. It wasn't until Uncharted 2 and God of War III hit the shelves when Sony really started to make headway with their PlayStation 3.

 

33 minutes ago, JohnCenaSong- said:

These days, particularly the last few years I have seen more interest in the trophy scene (not necessarily people who actively hunt/whore the way people on this site do, but people who may go that extea step to finish their AAA plat and then post to their social media).

 

There's a few reasons for this. More people play online, more people use social media, more gamers are playing now than ever before.

 

Back in 2008 - 2009 you had a very small handful of people who cared about completing games for platinum trophies. Even the Xbox 360 only had a few people who really cared about 100 percenting their games.

 

Video games are easier now than they were 10 - 12 years ago, and the trophy/achievement lists are also much easier as well. That also attracts more people to go after trophies. Because let's be honest here, when was the last time you saw a game that resembled Battlefield: Bad Company 1's list, or Far Cry 2's list?

 

It will never be mainstream, because a lot of games still require too much effort and dedication for most people to bother. Those who turn trophy notifications off are purely playing games to have fun and casually enjoy them with friends. I like to have a reminder that I'm getting a little something for playing a game, even if most people just think of trophies as nothing more than virtual bling. By their sole value, they basically are virtual bling.

 

22 minutes ago, tuddeee said:

But remember Spaz that for some people the gaming might be an social experience, I really enjoy playing mindlessly COD multiplayer with my friends sometimes and chatting and joking around especially now when I cant see them irl.

 

Those people generally play online only games. They were fun for a while, but I've gotten fed up with a lot of them. Too many griefers and sore losers playing online now. Can't stand too many of them.

[Jelly Soup]

Video games are consumable products and, like any other consumable product, people generally consume what they want of it and move on. Or as the meme goes "Don't ask questions, just consume product, and then get excited for next product."

 

Trophies/achievements aren't really of interest to someone who's just playing the latest AAA game before moving on to the next one. Noting what others have pointed out, more and more people are becoming interested in completion for a wide variety of reasons. I find having an active, supportive community of like-minded folks really helps propel interest. A lot of active hunting communities have grown on Discord over the last several years and it's helped make even single-player games a fairly social experience. Live streaming does this as well, with it being easier and easier to do every year.

[Galactic Hyper Balls]

Only time will tell guardian, For these trophies are perks, some hunt and some play, or some play to hunt.

 

When Ps5 comes out then we will know the way of trophies, in the future

[AJ_Radio]

22 hours ago, Cassylvania said:

Too many people play games casually for it to ever become mainstream. It's always been like that, though. Pokemon pushed the whole "Gotta catch 'em all!" thing back in the 90's, but I was the only person I know who actually did that. And for every hardcore competitive Pokemon player today, there are a hundred more who only know Pikachu from Pokemon GO.

 

Personally, I wish trophies in general were more approachable. I think too many developers put trophies in their games that no one outside of a trophy hunter would even consider or try. Stuff like beating Kingdom Come: Deliverance without killing anyone or speedrunning a game that isn't intended to be rushed. What's the point? I want to see more trophy lists that reflect the nature of the game. If the morality of killing people is a major part of the story or if you're already required to beat each level in a certain amount of time, then it makes sense to have a reward for those things in the game, but sometimes it feels trophies are just there because the developers couldn't be arsed to think.

 

Pokemon was a phenomenon. A lot of kids I used to know had a bunch of Pokemon cards, not many mind you but they knew a lot more than just Pikachu. The anime television show attracted a lot of fans, myself included. Gameboy and Gameboy Color made a fortune off those Pokemon games. Kind of strange you were the only person who actually did that.

 

What they put in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is nothing new. Dead Space 2's Hardcore difficulty is something most casuals wouldn't even consider trying, let alone finishing as it requires good knowledge of the enemy encounters and the levels. That alone made the platinum a worthwhile journey for me, and it was some of the most fun I ever had while going for trophies.

 

Throwing in stuff like Mein Leben from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, completely understandable why so many people would bitch. It requires you to beat the entire game from start to finish without dying once. No saves, no checkpoints, no backups to USB/Cloud, nothing. You have to be good, but this practically borders on the completely stupid because something of this nature just isn't a lot of fun. If I ever go for this platinum, I would be outright lying if I said it didn't stress me, or frustrate me to the point where I wanted to put my PS4 Duelshock controller through a blender.

 

A good example of a good trophy list is the Assassins Creed games. Assassins Creed 2 has the perfect trophy list in my opinion. You beat the story, you find the collectibles, you do some random tasks, you complete the Assassin tombs, and you have your platinum. This game also has what I consider one of the most "accessible" lists. Nothing too hard in the slightest, but not easy to the point where you can rush through the entire thing in just a few short hours. Aside from the fact so many longtime fans adore and love this game, the trophies are worthwhile. Assassins Creed 2 being one of the easier games in the series to platinum doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

I have bitched and moaned a great deal in the recent past on Ratalaika Games. I'm sure some of their titles are fairly alright and most people here who have played some of them can probably agree with me on that. But whoever does the trophy lists has thrown the same copy and paste lists for practically all of them. That is why Ratalaika gets a bad reputation here. I want to beat the game from start to finish, not just hand me the platinum trophy when I've done maybe 20 percent of your content.

 

You will never see me bitch about any TellTale game or easy point and click games like Deponia. Why? Because you still HAD to beat the games to the end. That's the difference. Sure, they're piss easy, anybody here can attest to that. With a guide practically anybody can get those platinums for those point and clicks. But you still had to play from start to finish. Their trophy lists don't bother me at all.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Spaz

[Neputyunu]

On 3.5.2020 at 2:55 PM, Spaz said:

I'm willing to bet most couldn't get past the Starcraft single player campaigns on the PC

 

I dunno... In Starcraft1 you can basically win everything by creating a choke and putting range units around (behind) there, because the pathing was shit. For the Terrans (Hope that is what they are called in English... :P), marines are always a good option. ...Like, hell, marines are literally always a good option (Maybe not against Protoss colossi though...). Even in Starcraft2 mass marines and these healing airships nearly always save you the day. Playing against your bob friends in multiplayer who think maxing out carriers will do shit? Get your marines ready and focus fire these things down. And then listen to your Protoss friend in TeamSpeak: "You are cheating! Marines should not have any chances!".

 

Want a real challenge in Starcraft? Play Starcraft64. These controooooools... dammit...

[AJ_Radio]

32 minutes ago, Neputyunu said:

 

I dunno... In Starcraft1 you can basically win everything by creating a choke and putting range units around (behind) there, because the pathing was shit. For the Terrans (Hope that is what they are called in English... :P), marines are always a good option. ...Like, hell, marines are literally always a good option (Maybe not against Protoss colossi though...). Even in Starcraft2 mass marines and these healing airships nearly always save you the day. Playing against your bob friends in multiplayer who think maxing out carriers will do shit? Get your marines ready and focus fire these things down. And then listen to your Protoss friend in TeamSpeak: "You are cheating! Marines should not have any chances!".

 

Want a real challenge in Starcraft? Play Starcraft64. These controooooools... dammit...

 

It's been so many years since I played the original Starcraft I forgot about most of the missions.

 

I still think to this day, Starcraft had the best balance between the races. The Terrans were mobile but had a good enough arsenal to deal with the other two. The Zerg could produce most units very quickly, spamming units was basically their best asset. The Protoss in ways I consider to be the weakest of the three, they were very slow to build up. Their strength was their shields, which recharged, I don't remember if there was tech you can research that sped this up. The Zerg had regenerating health. For the Terrans, you needed a medic for biological units, and a worker unit for mechanical units.

 

Loved the campaign, the multiplayer, virtually everything about Starcraft was good. Blizzard just isn't the great company it used to be.