Microsoft Xbox360 introduced “Achievement System” to the console gaming world. Each game played has a total of 1000 possible achievement points to collect.
It no longer became just a matter of completing a game from start to finish it allowed more objectives than just getting to the end of the game.
Gamers explore the game to new depths, search the world for secrets and behave and play the game in out of the ordinary ways.
eg. A game called Battlefield Bad company 2 awards players with a "Dentist Achievement" which is 15 'gamerpoints' or 'Gs' if a player uses an engineering repair tool (usually used to repair vehicles in a multiplayer match) to get a headshot kill.
In the above screenshot a player is rewarded 5G for racing a lap without hitting a wall or barrier.
An online alias called a 'Gamertag' with customisable avatars is displayed with achieved 'Gamerscores' to show off and compare to friends online.
Success and sales generated by this caused Sony to implement a similar "Trophy System” to their Playstation 3. Console games that were released on both consoles would see more purchases on the Xbox360 due to players feeling they were getting more for their money, having extra achievements to obtain.
World of Warcraft
An online virtual world and massively multiplayer online roleplaying game called 'World of Warcraft' decided to add another layer in the form of achievements to their virtual world to keep subscribers playing and engaged.
This helped make the game more than just collecting gear and reaching a maximum level cap. Players would get bored waiting around for new content to be created and added to the game, but now with the newly added achievement system, they could explore, complete tasks and objectives and score points.
Currently 1054 achievements to complete split into different categories such as exploration, player vs. player, feats of strength, questing and professions etc. Scores can be compared competitively amongst other players.
A player is awarded 25 points for exploring the "Outland" continent in the game world.
Similar to Microsoft's system of comparing high scores but players can also be rewarded with in-game items such as this rideable black bear mount.
This is an example how achievements cause players to play the game in out of the ordinary ways. Players are awarded a 'feat of strength' type achievement of 10 points for launching themselves off a cliff and managing to survive a drop of more than 65 yards.
Foursquare
Four square is an application used on mobile phones that tracks users GPS locations. Users login wherever they are and actively post where they currently are located and what type of building or place they are visiting.
Motivation comes from allowing users make friends aware of locations in their environment giving them a new way to express themselves, show friends how active you are, compare lifestyles and movements through environments and find your friends locations.
Businesses can reward users with “coupon awards” in the form of badges. This reward promotes users to visit locations continuously.
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