User:Mattdanna/Achievement systems

An achievement system is a reward structure for user experience designs that create additional goals for users. The most common types of achievement systems are game achievements, as seen on XBox Live and World of Warcraft. More recently, achievement systems have been moving to the web environment in social networks.

Achievement systems are a relatively new phenomenon in the world of gaming and social computing.

History

Arcade games were the origination of achievements in video games, more specifically high scores in pinball machines. With the rise in popularity of pinball machines in the 1970s, players who achieved a high score were generally shown a congratulatory message and then could enter their initials into the game. High scores have a tendency to be inherently competitive, as players wish to reach self-actualization by beating other players--also known as one-upmanship. When playing pinball, not only was there a chance of displaying their initials in the game but sometimes players had a chance of getting a free game when achieving a high score. The first game to have a high score was Sea Wolf (1976), but Star Fire (1979) was the first to have personalized high scores.

High scores became an important feature in many games because of the rising popularity.

Philosophy

Achievement systems are secondary reward systems which have been implemented for digital games. Primary rewards in games are those necessary to complete the game successfully (health, food, water, etc.). Secondary rewards are those which derive their value from the primary reward (money, secondary tasks, etc.). Because of these rewards, developers can modify and potentially manipulate user behavior though self actualization. Achievements follow the psychological philosophy of reward, in which rewards are generally more effective than punishment for enforcing positive behavior.

Notable uses

Games

• Xbox 360
• World of Warcraft
• Steam Stats
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Network#Trophies

Websites

• Hunch
• Stack Overflow
• FourSquare

See also

• XBox Gamescore
• http://www.warpskip.com/post/407034005/achievements-foursquare-and-donald-norman
• http://kotaku.com/5422154/achievement-chore-she-plays-for-gamerscore-whether-its-fun-or-not
• http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4269/persuasive_games_checkins_check_.php
• http://news.filefront.com/online-achievements-ruin-games/
• http://www.eedar.com/images/expose/2008_September.pdf