WoW-Achievements.com starts tracking achievements as best they can
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 3rd 2008 at 3:00PM
You knew this was coming, but I'm impressed with how it's done over on WoW-Achievements.com. With points to track and players to compare, it was inevitable that we'd have a site show up to track achievements, and here it is. While the Armory itself doesn't show individual achievements (yet), they've apparently come up with a way to figure out a number per player, and there's a worldwide player list (or at least a list of the 53, 901 characters they surveyed somehow). You can also post a pic of your achievement info, and they'll update it on the site. There's no way to see your individual stats yet, but if and when Blizzard adds that functionality to the Armory, we'll probably see a couple of sites show up like this, that allow you to do more with achievements and tracking them than the official UI does.Of course, the Xbox 360 is the gold standard for achievements at this point -- while other MMOs and WoW have used the mechanic in their own way, Microsoft has built achievements into Xbox 360 profiles available online to anyone, so that's where most of the great web tools are right now. But the one that stands out for me, that I'd love to see replicated in World of Warcraft, is 360voice.com -- it basically creates a blog of what you've been up to on the Xbox that presents your activity in a readable, fun format. With Achievements build into the Armory, something like that could be easily used to power a timeline of your character, and let your friends see from day to day where you've been and what you've done. Lots of very cool ideas to develop here -- hopefully Blizzard will release Achievement info in an API sooner rather than later.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Achievements
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stariann Nov 3rd 2008 3:11PM
Wow Achievements are blah...for those of us pre-Bc'ers that grinded away in MC, AQ20-40, BWL, ONY etc...only to show "NO ACHIEVEMENT"....is pathetic at best. I hope that blizzard fixes this for those gamers who have been in it for the Long Haul. My entire guild has been running around getting these achievements when they already earned them pre-bc.
The achievements add some variety for those that are bored grinding out dailies, pvping, repgrinding, etc. I randomly /love a squirrel every now and then, now that is cute! :P
Doffencrag Nov 3rd 2008 3:30PM
"I randomly /love a squirrel every now and then, now that is cute!"
I have a guildmate who absolutely has to /love everything, even if I tell them that it is not on the list. Cockroaches, adders, spiders, etc. It's actually kind of funny.
rogue Nov 3rd 2008 4:06PM
I understand that some things just can't be tracked retroactively. But it is somewhat sad to have played SO MANY games of AB, WSG, etc. and have no achievements.
Far as the raiding stuff.. yeah... it is disappointing. But at the same time, does it really matter? Just think, at level 80 it will be even easier to go back and roll those old school dungeons over for achievements!
nsilva Nov 3rd 2008 5:29PM
Oh shut the FUCK UP!
How do you expect them to know something from 2-3 years ago they weren't tracking this information?
Vidi Nov 3rd 2008 7:28PM
actually they were tracking this info back then. In fact, they can tell you what you soldon the auction house in the first week of WoW. the Blues have shown us time and time again on the official forums that they have access to bizarrely obscene amounts of information about our accomplishments, our chats and oh so much more.
Blachand Nov 3rd 2008 3:18PM
Link dead.
JB Nov 3rd 2008 3:20PM
Digg effect. We killed it.
Glamdr1ng Nov 3rd 2008 3:38PM
I prefer the term 'Wanged' as per Penny-Arcade.
aphistic Nov 3rd 2008 6:12PM
You mean the Slashdot effect?
Stariann Nov 3rd 2008 3:39PM
"I have a guildmate who absolutely has to /love everything, even if I tell them that it is not on the list. Cockroaches, adders, spiders, etc. It's actually kind of funny."
Well....I /love them then immediate spam moonfire...just to aggravate the masses. Resto druid's need dps...lovin. :(
I wish their was more explanation as to "what I will get" for all these achievements. Yes, I understand I'll get the "title" of the achievement, but I want something tangible. I should read more wow insider to find out. *acts like she is working**
zappo Nov 3rd 2008 3:51PM
Mostly titles. It would be unfair to leave those behind just starting the game to give players a sort of advantage with achievement items.
Some of the rewards make a lot of sense. Collect a zillion pets, get another pet. Have a bunch of tabards, get an achievement tabard. Same with mounts, etc.
zappo Nov 3rd 2008 3:52PM
Man that first sentence in my post is just... wow. L2English I guess...
hold up Nov 3rd 2008 3:47PM
I never understood the point of Achievments. To my understanding they give you title or the harder ones will give you a mount/pet.
When I ask people why they are getting achievements some say "so they can get stuff with the points later". Was there a plan to have you buy stuff with these points? If so, what kind of stuff? Ive never heard of anyplace to spend achievement points.
I know pratically everyone on my server has a Jenkins title now. Kind of takes away from it IMO. Only a select few had the Hand of A'dal or Champion of the Naaru title, which was a good thing. It showed you were dedicated to raiding. Enough to go through an epic quest line, just to get your attunement. Not just walk into a low level dungeon for 5 minutes. I think those easy titles are just a waste of time. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
Jay in Oregon Nov 3rd 2008 7:00PM
I have no problem with easy to reach achievements. They give people a chance to do something fun in between raids and BGs, or while levelling. They encourage people to try something a little different.
Hardcore raider? Take a break and try out AV or EotS and get the "I won a game!" achievement.
PVP/Arena maniac? Rerun some of the older instances and revel in the ability to atomize or beat down hordes of Defias pirates and irridated gnomes.
Both (or neither)? Try buying random snacks or drinks to get those achievements, or grab some low-level mounts at 8-10g piece to get the 10- or 25-mount achievement.
feldling Nov 3rd 2008 3:53PM
I agree with you holdup... if I get an achievement, that's great, but I don't see the point on trying to get every one of them. I've got better things to do than replaying old dungeons or exploring the entire world.
If the achievements got me something -- like a cool weapon or piece of armor, then I'd jump on the band wagon, but I sort of saw achievements as another way to sucker people into wasting more time on a game that already can involve a tremendous amount of time commitment.
Sigh....
Joe Nov 3rd 2008 3:55PM
Check out the Hunter in their first screenshot! 3050 attack power!
http://i37.tinypic.com/281er7q.jpg
I must be a noob but I haven't seen a Hunter that well geared. Granted, I haven't been searching for one.
Do you have to be pure T6 to get those stats?
pudds Nov 3rd 2008 4:18PM
Considering almost all the stats on his character profile are green (buffed), its a good bet that those are raid buffed stats. My kara/badge/heroic geared hunter sits at 2500 buffed in a 5-man, so I wouldn't say its all that impressive.
Also, I believe those are tier-4 shoulders.
Salty Nov 3rd 2008 4:26PM
He has really good gear, mostly Sunwell equipment and T6. Those stats aren't unachieveable by any means -- it's what it took to kill Mu'ru and KJ pre-3.0. I can believe it's unbuffed, especially if he's MM.
macheadshot Nov 3rd 2008 4:29PM
it also depends on his talent spec. surv and MM inflate RAP and crit yet BM will give you more DPS.
Keven Nov 3rd 2008 10:16PM
What? Warhammer is the achievement MMO now? You are totally skipping over City of Heroes badge system. Now THAT's an achievement system.