Editor's Note: I've honestly never understood the appeal of achievements. With so many people seemingly addicted to them, this vision of the future terrifies me. - Jay
About a month ago I decided to start taking the steps, instead of the elevator, to reach my third story office every morning and today -- when I reached the top -- my phone dinged. I checked the message as I sat down in my cozy office chair and read "Life Achievement Unlocked - Stair A Habit - 400 Points." I clicked on the message to check the info, and it explained that I earned the achievement for taking the stairs to my office 30 days in a row.
That evening on the drive home, I received another ding, and I checked it while cruising down I-70. It read: "Life Achievement Unlocked - Cautious Driver - 100 Points." This time, the details explained that I drove at or under the speed limit for 10 miles straight.
At home I received an email explaining all the opportunities I missed to earn more "Life Achievements." I lost 50 points by not waiting until the car was stopped to check my message on the drive home. The message also said I was placed on my Family, Local, and Nationwide leaderboards, and it gave me a rundown of the "Achievements" that other people in my network earned. My wife was barely beating me, little Jeffrey earned 100 points for getting an A on his math test, and little Stephanie earned 150 points for practicing her dance routine after school.
At this point I am used to my wife having a higher score than me. It doesn't really bother me because, if I can get my entire family up to a collective 10,000 points this month, we will get a discount on our insurance plan.
Obviously, this is not my life, but it could be according to Shoe's recent post: The Future of Everything.
I think the goal of this system is obvious. The healthier and more responsible I live my life, the more "Life Achievements" I earn. By comparing scores with my family and neighbors I am encouraged to keep up and not falter. However, this goodie-little-two-shoes version is a utopia. The reality, I believe, will be much more depressing.
Instead of the Government or insurance companies successfully pushing citizens to a better life, we are more likely to deal with corporations playing on the obsessive whims of our species to squeeze every cent out of our pockets for things we don't need.
Your credit card company will give you "Achievements" for purchasing the entire matching set of Louis Vuitton products for your wife and for collecting all the different Miley Cyrus Memorial Pepsi Cans. You'll be stuck deciding between two cars you don't like because they will get you more points. You wouldn't care, but you know that your neighbor and in-laws are all waiting to compare their "Achievements" with yours. If you get the Mercedes, maybe you will finally pass that asshat from work who keep taunting you about not even having 10,000 points yet.
You relent and buy the Mercedes and you do pass him, but not even for 24 hours. He immediately goes out and buys a go-kart for his kids. It is "Keeping Up With the Joneses" for the 21st century.
Now, you are stuck with this poor life choice and you aren't even as worried about that as you are about figuring out the next best way to "Achieve" more than him.
That is the irony; in the pursuit of "Achievements" you will have achieved nothing. The word "achievement" will lose all meaning. You could be doing truly great work, but it won't matter. Actual achievements won't be tracked in this consumerist hell. You could invent the choke-free hot dog or bridge the gap between macro and micro physics, but if you aren't spending money you won't get points for any of that. Inevitably, the man or woman with the most money in the game will have the most achievements.
Contemporary video gaming achievements already suffer from this. The Gamerscore is a reflection of the number of games you've played more than anything else and that is exactly the way Microsoft, Sony, and the publishers want it. This would be less of an accusation if this meta-gaming was any fun, but it isn't. It is a burden.
I have little doubt that someone will try the "Life Achievement" system in the very near future. I also have little doubt that it will find some measure of success. I simply dread the possibility of it becoming as integral to life as Achievement Points and Trophies have become to gaming. As of right now we are only missing the point of gaming -- I don't want to miss the point of life as well.
That almost seems elitist, though. One of the achievements I'm proudest of in life is that only twice have I managed to let a massive burger beat me. Once was because of too many appetizers, and my waitress humiliated me in front of our group. The second was the Windows 7 Whopper in Japan, which I don't think was meant to be eaten to begin with.
It's a point of pride for me, and you might find it sad, just looking on the surface and deciding that being able to inject beef is nothing to be proud of. But for me, it is. It's a matter of pride, and it represents my stubborn nature and unwillingness to give up when I'm faced with something I really want. It represents who I am as a person. Just because you don't agree that it's a worthwhile achievement -- or on par with something more "substantial" -- that doesn't make it any less an achievement.
You and I can walk. A person recovering from spinal cord injury strives for one step. Just because we see walking as trivial, does it de-value that step? I'm sure your reply will point out that taking this step and eating beef aren't even in the same ballpark, but again, that's your personal perception of what constitutes true achievement. Most people would think that being a professional game writer is a waste of time, and that your writing on various outlets isn't much of an achievement. It is for you, though. I think that speaks to the relative nature of achievements.
It is elitist. I don't think it is wrong to feel excitement for being able to finish your burger, but pride?
I think you are trying to argue that there can't be an objective list of achievements, because everyone is different and has the right to decide what achievements are for them. I already said I agree with that, but I'll continue to say that if their accomplishment is something as trivial as finishing dinner, then it should be valued as less than an accomplishment that required years of hard work -- or even a night of hard work.
Are you honestly going to walk up to a table and lay your "professional game writing" achievements next to a doctor, astronaut, or a paraplegic who walked again when the doctor said he wouldn't? If you are would do that with the belief that your achievement is just as worth as theirs, then that is my problem.
Life is relative. Whether you are homeless, paralyzed, or the President you have difficulties. All these people need to set goals for themselves and all the goals may be equally as difficult for each one to obtain, but that doesn't make them equally valuable. I won't sit back and belittle someone for achieving something that was truly difficult for them and if you overcome something that is impossible for you then great, but we have to admit that elitists exist and it isn't just a bad word.
Again, I think that a world filled with achievements dictated by some corporate overlord will just continue to devalue real accomplishments. I want the elite to continue being elite and getting recognized and praised for it.
Honestly? I wouldn't walk up to a doctor and lay my game writing on the table. Not because I don't think I measure up, or my achievement isn't worth as much as theirs. Their opinions don't matter to me, and I don't feel the need to prove myself to them, just because a good percentage of society might decide that this doctor is "worth more" than me because he managed to climb higher on some imaginary hierarchy of life achievements. I don't believe in an objective scale, because when we get to that point, we're already ranking people based on what they can do, not who they are.
Fair enough. That is totally a personal thing that I cannot possibly have any bearing on.
It may be unfair to rank people on what they can do, but it is reality. It isn't like there is no room for someone not as naturally adept to do something amazing, or even relatively great. The story of a paraplegic overcoming obstacles to walk again is emotional and powerful, because it is about working impossibly hard to accomplish something. Hard work can be valued just as high as the accomplishment itself, but I do give the advantage to the accomplishment.
Fair enough. It's a little disappointing, because people like me will never make it as far as naturally-gifted people, but as long as we're making a distinction between achievement and accomplishment, then I can go with that.
I'm in the same boat as you, brother.
Either way, I enjoyed going back and forth with you.
"Achievement Unlocked - Arrrrguin' - 100 Points
Successfully argue about the true meaning of an achievement."
Damn guys. You're already beating me buy 100 points.
Haha, damn it, Josh.
Friendly debate. Jeff and I get heated about issues all the time. It's never an argument.
Hey, let's fight about that!
Yeah, screw you! It is an argument!
For real, though. It is why Mike is my friend. I like to debate and I know he is always up for it.
Argument and debate are the same in my opinion. I thought about saying debate but it wouldn't have worked with my achievement title.
Oh yeah, I know what you mean. For me argument just implies anger and a letting go of reasoned thought and debate means that I'm not at all angry with the other person, I'm letting their ideas push against mine to make them better.
Isn't American society already like this and leading to enormous problems? We compete with each other over money and material items - whose car is more expensive, whose house is bigger, which family has more vacation houses, etc. - which led to the unchecked greed that got us in the economic mess we're in currently.
We compete with each other over physical fitness and beauty, which leads to body dysmorphism and things like anorexia, bulimia, exercise addiction, and steroid use, just to name a few.
Even children compete with each other to prove intellectual or social superiority, which leads to bullying and things like kids burning themselves out with extracurricular activities and excessive studying while competing for spots at Ivy League colleges.
We're already living in an Achievement-driven world, it's just that nobody has thought to give out points for it yet.
As far as Achievements in the world of gaming go, I'm with Michael - Achievements are in the eye of the beholder. For the most part, I don't really care about them in a competitive context, I just let them occasionally drive me to do something in a game that I wouldn't have done otherwise, like play shooters at higher difficulties (something I never used to do, but do all the time now because I discovered, via achievement chasing, that higher difficulties are where shooters really shine).
Without competition, nobody would attempt to do anything worthwhile.
Ask not what Achievements (TM) can do for you - ask what your Achievements can do for the world!