Azuarc's Lich King Journal 5
Entry 5: Achievements
I touched upon achievements briefly in my first entry. However, I've seen a lot of questions cropping up about achievements in various places. So many that I decided to put off my inscription campaign to answer a bit about the achievement system.
First of all, let's talk about what achievements actually are. Achievements are NOT something that actually improves your character, that is necessary to go about, or will enable/unlock anything. They are goals for you to pursue so you can say, "This is what I've done with my character. Have you?"
Essentially, they're for bragging rights and for a sense of accomplishment.
Xbox 360 games have the same system, garnering a maximum of 1000 points per game for various feats, and you have an overall "Gamerscore" on Xbox Live to compare yourself against other players. They accomplish nothing else at all. However, expect to hear your achievement points total called your gamerscore.
So what can you get for your achievement points, besides a badge of pride? According to Tigole: "You won't be able to spend achievement points. If you direct me to where you saw this posted, I can have it corrected. You can earn titles, tabards and pets currently through the system but you do not have to spend points to obtain them. They'll come to you in the mail."[1]
In this regard, you could argue that these are better than the Xbox Live achievements, because there is some compensation for your efforts besides just a number next to your name.
Moving on to the achievements themselves... There's an entire menu added to the bottom of the screen for achievements. (The default key is Y.) This is what your achievement screen will basically look like:
Note: Regarding the "recent achievements," Blizzard reset the achievements in the beta a couple days ago when they added some achievements, so the dates on some of the achievements will look a little funny.
But the important parts here are the "Achievements Earned: 134/563", the achievement points total above it, and the slew of categories down the left side to review the different categories. Let's suppose we click on General.
We've got a list of 6 achievements (plus more when you scroll down,) and the first 5 are complete. A short explanation of the achievement is given for each, as well as the number of points and the date completed on the right side. All the completed achievements are listed above the incomplete ones, so in addition to me not having reached level 80 yet, let's see what else there is.
This is a little more in the General list. I haven't been given credit for any of these. I have to admit, I find it rather impossible I wouldn't have looted 100 gold from mobs in four years. Just how much credit am I getting for that "Got My Money On My Mind" achievement? Is it even working? Let's click on it.
Apparently I'm only good for 18 gold and change. This brings up one very important point about achievements.
Achievements are actively being tracked now on live, even if they aren't showing. However, before the achievement system was created, the game did not monitor the things that are listed here, meaning there is no reason the game would have known how much you had done before this started. As a result, some things might not be completed that you have done, but if you're doing it now, you will receive credit for it.
However, there are some things Blizzard has been able to track. For instance, they know exactly which quests you've done, so they have a count on that.
Now, to put something into perspective, I'm going to look at the quest category a little more carefully. Notice in the picture above that there are sub-categories. I want to show you two shots from those sub-cats.
Notice the difference in the number of quests in each zone? Also, note that I, as someone who has written a guide for leveling by questing, haven't received credit for some of the Outlands zones like Zangarmarsh, which means you do need to do nearly all the quests in those zones. The point I'm making here is that there are way more quests to do in each Northrend zone that there was in Outland. (I did all the quests in Borean Tundra and still hadn't gained 2 levels, by the way, so leveling isn't exactly fast either.)
In another category, we have Exploration:
What? I haven't explored everything in Eastern Kingdoms or Kalimdor?
Son of a...! I'm missing the Eastern Kingdoms exploration just because I've never set foot in Silvermoon City itself. But the game knows everywhere I've been already.
Moving on to Dungeons and Raids, it can be seen that I do have credit for completing certain dungeons...
...but not all of them.
Those raid achievements really hurt. You might wonder why I have credit for Onyxia, but not Molten Core. Yes, I did kill Ragnaros. Here's the real reason, again from Tigole:
"We did a pass and checked quests associated with dungeon boss kills. In an upcoming Beta build, you'll see that you'll get some dungeon/raid achievements granted retroactively. Not all dungeons and raids have quests associated with them so some players will still have to re-do the content. For example, there are no quests that validate the boss kills in Slave Pens or Blood Furnace. Also, keep in mind that in cases such as Onyxia or Zul'jin, not every raid member got quest credit for the quest item drop. We figured it was better to try to reward credit wherever possible."[2]
English translation: I have credit for Onyxia because I did the Onyxia head quest. (Curiously, does this mean I didn't do the quest at the end of Blackfathoms, or finish In the Name of the Light for SM?)
Believe me, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of going back and killing Ragnaros, Nefarion, Hakkar, and Ossirian just to prove that I did it. (My guild never killed C'thun, so that's not a mistake.) I'm sure some people will be eager to do it for the sake of the achievement, and others will say, "heck no, I ain't going back into that red hellhole again." Which you are will depend on your gaming style, but achievements are infectious. The only thing keeping me from going back and mopping up the things I don't have is the knowledge that it will get wiped after beta and I'd have to do it again anyway.
By the way, certain achievements come with the optional of a new title:
I still say the cake is a lie. But if you do everything listed there, you'll complete Hail to the Chef and be able to take on the title of "Chef". What do you think of the sound of "Chef Azuarc"? No? Well, how bout these other titles that are currently available:
- Azuarc the Explorer: Complete all exploration achievements.
- Chef Azuarc: complete all cooking achievements.
- Salty Azuarc: complete all fishing achievements.
- Justicar Azuarc: Get exalted in each of the existing battlegrounds. (This title already exists.)
- Battlemaster Azuarc: Complete all the PvP achievements. (Good luck with that.)
- Arena Master Azuarc: Complete all the achievements for arena.
- Elder Azuarc: Find all the elders for the Lunar Festival.
- Azuarc the Hallowed: Finish all the Hallow's End achievements.
I wouldn't be surprised if there ends up being more available. In fact, the last category of achievements is all about titles. "Feats" are special accomplishments that are not considered achievements. (Unlisted until completed, worth no points, etc.) Many feats are things that are not possible to replicate, and pretty well sum up many of the other existing titles in the game, such as the old PvP honor rank system, or unlocking Ahn'Qiraj.
If you've been watching carefully, you've probably noticed there's a second tab on the achievement window at the bottom called "Statistics". This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like -- the game is keeping track of various things your character has done.
Remember, like achievements, all statistics are limited to after some point in time. Except for items they have a clear record on, like your honorable kills, they won't be completely accurate. However, at least now you'll be able to legitimately say how many times you've killed Baron Rivendare for his horse mount --
The achievement system is not 100% fully completed yet. A lot of the statistics are NYI (not yet implemented,) particularly for professions. However, if you want to see the complete list of current achievements, use the site dropdown menu for Game Info or visit http://www.wow-achievements.com for a competitive "wowjutsu" style achievement rating system.
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