Ten of our favorite Achievements
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 3rd 2008 at 4:30PM
A few readers have emailed us recently asking just what kinds of things to expect in the Achievements releasing with Wrath of the Lich King later this year. There are going to be over 500 of them (with more added later), and while there are a few standard things you might expect (getting Exalted with all the reputations, exploring the world, and maxing out your character), there are lots more that are meant to do what Achievements do best: extend gameplay.
So we hunted through all the Achievements in the beta, and pulled out ten that we really liked. Not all of these are unique (for the Alterac Valley time limit one, there is actually one of those for every battleground in the game), but all of them are great examples of why you should be excited about Achievements when they hit the live realms. From the silly to the "requires a serious commitment," here are ten great Achievements we've seen in the beta.
So we hunted through all the Achievements in the beta, and pulled out ten that we really liked. Not all of these are unique (for the Alterac Valley time limit one, there is actually one of those for every battleground in the game), but all of them are great examples of why you should be excited about Achievements when they hit the live realms. From the silly to the "requires a serious commitment," here are ten great Achievements we've seen in the beta.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Galleries, Wrath of the Lich King, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rugus Sep 3rd 2008 4:42PM
WOTLK is gonna devour my free time.
Once again.
Cowy Sep 3rd 2008 4:49PM
I have two somewhat noob questions for any kind WOTLK guru to answer for me. ^^
1. I could have sworn I saw points listed with achievements somewhere... Does this mean achievements will come with rewards that you can buy with points?
2. Does anyone have a list of retroactive achievments, that I can work on now prior to WOTLK?
I know of the 50 pets. Did that. Know of the rep ones, working on them (ew timbermaw). Someone told me to try and get mr. Pinchy or fish up a rare fish ahead of time, so I'm also working on that. Surely theres more?
Dotixi Sep 3rd 2008 5:11PM
1. Blizzard has said that these Achievements will reward points to purchase items but as far as I know the exact amounts nor items to buy have been released...I could be wrong but I haven't seen anything.
2. There was a post here on WoW Insider (late last week, maybe in the Ask a Beta Tester column) about how nothing has been released as to what Achievements will be retroactive.
Hope this helps slightly.
Niekon Sep 3rd 2008 5:12PM
currently there are not that many retroactive achievements except for maybe world exploration, leveling, and faction reputation.
While this is still in beta they apparently are resetting some of the achievements every so often. "Shave & a Haircut" was done a few weeks ago but when I looked at it this past weekend it showed as undone.
zappo Sep 3rd 2008 5:45PM
Go to http://wotlk.wowhead.com/ and check out the achivements section.
If I recall correctly, achievement points are not spent. You have a certain number that are used to unlock various wonderful magical things as you obtain more.
J. A. S. Sep 3rd 2008 6:42PM
Blizzard has said that the points will NOT be used to purchase anything, but that there MAY be rewards for reaching set amounts of total points. As of yet nothing has been implimented.
As for achievements you can pick up now, you will be retroactively awarded an achievement for boss kills if you've completed a quest that requires them to be killed. For instance, if you cleared the deadmines, and turned in the quest to get rewarded with that one staff that every level 18-28 alliance clothie wears then you will get the VC kill achievement when 3.0.2 drops. In addition to quests if you have a piece of BoP loot that a boss drops that will also count for the achievement. Basically if you have the loot, the quest, or the rep, then you get the achievement. If the achievement doesn't require one of those three things, you'll have to wait until after 3.0.2 to get it.
stevens.ce Sep 3rd 2008 4:55PM
The thing that amazes me is the level of depth in some of these achievements, and that if it is as Blizz says, and many of these will really be retroactive, how is it possible that they have all this data? I mean, do they know if I've done a bombing run in less than two minutes, or are all timed events going to have to be done anew? Will they know that I've read some of these books, because I have, but don't have them now? If so, I'm both amazed and just a little scared. :-)
Cowy Sep 3rd 2008 5:41PM
Thanks for the elaboration on my questions. ^_^ Helped alot.
As far as what info Blizz has to apply retroactivly, I have no idea. But some, (like getting the skunk pet, if you have 50 pets) probably just require having the items in your inventory. (Hopefully the system will know the items are in your inventory. :P)
Thats the sort of stuff I'd like to work on ahead of time, I just wish there was a list. Oh well, guess I'll have to stop being lazy and go look myself. :P
Bloodletter Sep 3rd 2008 7:21PM
Ever seen some of the forum posts where a GM "owns" a scammer?
Yes, they really do have much data about your toon.
Scary? Yes.
Zoidberg Sep 3rd 2008 4:56PM
"They Love Me In That Tunnel" scares me.
I sure hope I never get that one!
Dotixi Sep 3rd 2008 5:07PM
Have you been to Timbermaw Hold? Just getting Honored with those guys is like riding a ****.
vlad Sep 3rd 2008 4:58PM
fun.
stock up on books now, people will be paying 20g each for themin the AH.
Dotixi Sep 3rd 2008 5:05PM
I dont think these are the kind of books you can pick up...I believe they are the books you see laying around on tables and the like. They are lore books that tell a little bit about a story in that zone/instances.
To the best of my knowledge these books cannot be removed or picked up.
Niekon Sep 3rd 2008 5:16PM
these are the books that you can read in the various major cities and in instances.
vlad Sep 3rd 2008 7:23PM
i was thinking of things like "The Frostwolf Artichoke" or "A Steamy Romance Novel" or "An Exotic Cookbook".
kabshiel Sep 3rd 2008 11:09PM
I had no idea there were that many books ingame.
PeeWee Sep 4th 2008 10:22AM
@kabshiel
There are at least 50 books in Scarlet Monastery alone
On a side note, I wonder when they are gonna fix this broken-down skunk-ass of a comment system
Rainblossom Sep 3rd 2008 4:59PM
Seriously can't believe the "Who Sharted?" achievement (second screenshot) did not make the top 10 just for the title alone. Pure win imo.
stevens.ce Sep 3rd 2008 5:02PM
Agreed - that title is freaking awesome, as are some of others not featured. I guess it's been long enough since funny new content emerged to be reminded of Blizzard's excellent humor - Quel'Danas is thoroughly un-funny content - these achievements give me hope once again.
deadcheeze Sep 3rd 2008 5:11PM
I can't count how many AV games that I have been in where, we destroyed all towers, killed everyone of there captains, (without loosing a single one of our captains no less,) and done it all in 6 minnutes.
But on the other end of that... I can count how many players I have killed in the fiend of strife, on a hand.