Allison's
great post about all of the Feats of Strength still available in the game got me thinking: just what kind of value do players place on
these "kinda" achievements? Personally, I never gave them much weight -- I have a few of them (I picked up the
Vampiric Batling a while ago, and I've got the
Competitor's Tabard, among a few other old-school and commemorative achievements), but the ones I've got I didn't really do anything to earn, and the Feats still available don't really mean that much to me. Unlike "real" achievements, Feats don't even give you meaningless points, and they can't be used to get you into any raids or runs that you couldn't do otherwise. They're boring to me.
I'm not that way about all achievements -- there have been a few that I've worked to get done, and there are even non-achievement items that I've pushed for in the past (I worked like crazy to finally get my
Netherwing drake, and the only achievement I got for that was
the Netherwing reputation). But Feats of Strength in particular seem passive to me, by Blizzard's design: if they happen, great, but there's not enough reward there for me to go out of my way to get them. What do you think?
Tags: achievement-points, achievements, blizard, blizzard, boring, bt, competitors-tabard, design, feats-of-strength, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, meaningless, netherwing-drake, netherwing-reputation, points, vampiric-batling, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-hot-topics, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics, Quests, Lore, Bosses, Mounts, Achievements
Nov 3rd 2009 at 8:00AM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Leelad Nov 3rd 2009 9:22AM
Only got the nethwing cheesement??
Get your butt back there and do the races!! Cheesement waiting and it would have made the rep grind a little easier.
Kia Nov 3rd 2009 9:44AM
You need voted down just for saying "cheesement." What is this, 4chan?
Mr. Tastix Nov 3rd 2009 9:58AM
What the fuck is "cheesement"? You claim to dislike 4chan but apparnetly go there often enough to know this so-called "cheesement". No really, what the hell is it?
And, for the record, 4chan isn't the problem; it's the community of the Random (/b/ as it's commonly referred to) in general. Not all of the other boards are like the Random board; filled with people who don't give shit about anyone but their own egos.
In WoW I like to think that people should blame the player, not the class. Well, in this case, it's rather similar. Blame the community, not the website. This same statement goes for the WoW Forums (which have quite a number of trolls on them). It's not the sites fault the community is bad.
Skya Nov 3rd 2009 10:00AM
What's worse is that they said it twice, it's nothing more than a "First!" post dressed up to look like a valid comment.
Leelad Nov 3rd 2009 11:57AM
I know very little of 4chan, seems you’re all well versed with it, fair play to you I hear it said in the same breath as child porn...as a dad myself sites like that are avoided
I’m quite sure i’ll survive being voted down, however.
Cheesement is what a guildie calls them on vent. Just kinda took off, had no idea that it was a crime worse than screaming “FIRST!!!” I’ll be sure to not take your kind advise and do what the hell I like in the future.
paragorillabear Nov 3rd 2009 12:40PM
OMG!!! He's back! and this time he said "advise" instead of "advice"! Can't stop trying to be cool with the hip Netz slang, eh?
juusu Nov 3rd 2009 2:11PM
In some cases the name "Feats of Strength" do apply in that it was possibly more difficult to earn the achievement in its day.
However, freebies like the Brewfest steins required no effort. You were simply playing when that achievement was possible.
Perhaps the name should be changed to something along the lines of "Elder Achievements" or "Achievements of Old", but with more ring to it.
Lyncis Nov 3rd 2009 8:08AM
They're just neat little badges of honour, though mostly just for yourself to look at. It's like wearing a pin picked up at Woodstock - most people probably won't ever see it, many who do won't recognize it, but a few people will know it for what it is and smile.
ajsteenm Nov 3rd 2009 2:02PM
I love Feats of Strength because they have the ability to show one's dedication. Especially and typically hard to earn, and without any points even, a person goes for them anyways. I myself am beginning to work on Insane in the Membrane, both for the satisfaction of doing something truly unique compared to most the Warcraft world, and also so I can finally walk into the goblin cities again without being shot-bumped into a corner to die pitifully, lol.
I still wish I had been around in the bulk of BC for Hand of A'dal, and I'm running Kara so I can attempt join the few with the vampire horse, with fangs. But last and not least, I enjoy being an owner of a Blue Brewfest Stein. Yay beer!
Bronwyn Nov 3rd 2009 3:17PM
A lot of the feats of strength don't really do anything except show that you're willing to spend money or extraordinarily lucky, or in the right place at the right time, though. Obviously one like the epic pally and warlock quest lines shows you spent time to do that really crazy quest line, but past that?
Rare mounts? All that means is you won the roll on a drop. It could mean you ground for that item for ages, or it could mean you walked in there by yourself or with a group and got it on the first drop. Stuff like the brewfest steins, baby blizzard bears, etc- you were in the right place at the right time, you hardly had to do anything. And finally you have the collector edition pets and pets and mounts from Blizzcon, etc- those mean you were willing to spend money.
Very few feats of strength actually indicate any amount of work. Sure they are "hard" to get- in that not everyone can get them. But most of them you don't get because of hard work.
Marcosius Nov 3rd 2009 5:49PM
"I love Feats of Strength because they have the ability to show one's dedication."
Or that you have played longer than anyone else.
Wyred Nov 3rd 2009 5:50PM
I worked for my champion of naaru title, both in doing a very long questline and in downing all the T4 content. I came so goddamn close to getting the hand of ad'al title it still annoys me a little thinking about it (Vashj downed, Kael'thas to P4). So yeah, some feats do show a real achievment by the player that is not the same now, and are therefore no longer attainable. Others are pretty much like you say, but that's the reason they're feats of strength and don't give achievment points.
astronautcowboy3 Nov 3rd 2009 8:11AM
I like the Warlock quest one, but for the most part I could take or leave them too. The only one's that seem worthwhile to work towards are ones that actually reward something, like Bloodsail Admiral or The Insane. The Warlock Dreadsteed quest one, however, separates the lazy Warlocks from the "real" Warlocks.
osprey0024 Nov 3rd 2009 8:13AM
For the most part, I agree with you. Except on two of the achievements: "Dreadsteed of Xoroth" on my 'lock and "Charger" on my pally. These two alone represented TONS of hard work, and getting groups to run through places that a lot of people really did not want to do. I AM proud of those. The rest are ehh....
mrdigory Nov 3rd 2009 8:14AM
I think all achievements are passive by nature and not worth doing.
geroph Nov 3rd 2009 9:43AM
I love how an opinion regularly gets downvoted here. He was not saying anything that was offensive at all but the downvote fairies just keep on trucking here at wow.com!
Backstage Nov 3rd 2009 11:20AM
"I think all achievements are passive by nature and not worth doing."
perhaps all things in game are not worth doing?
maybe playing, or posting, or reading, or anything in life is passive and not worth doing?
Skya Nov 3rd 2009 11:25AM
--posted again as my earlier "reply" went onto the the second page as a new post.
@mrdigory - That could be said for everything we do in World of Warcraft or video games as a whole. Raiding for example is a huge pit of wasted time since all gear earnt from all those hours is eventually replaced, even sooner if you're a hardcore raider since you'll see gear upgrades more often. Achievements though are something that once earned can be viewed at anytime, they don't get vendored or sharded a week later.
All told it's just a matter of personal opinion so your comment is perfectly reasonable and didn't deserve downgrading. There are many ways to play the game and it's up to each individual how they choose to play the game.
At the end of the day whatever we do in World of Warcraft will one day amount to nothing, that day being when Blizzard finally switch off the WoW servers for good. As unrealistic as it sounds given the cash cow it is we all know they eventually will, maybe not for another 5 years but it will happen.
matthewggrammer Nov 3rd 2009 8:17AM
To me, it depends how you look at the achievement. I flipped through mine, and I would sort them into two catagories:
ANYONE CAN GET:
A Brew-FAST Mount
Obtain an epic Brewfest mount.
09-28-2009
Deathcharger's Reins
Obtain the Deathcharger's Reins from Baron Rivendare in Stratholme.
02-13-2009
Onyxia's Lair (Level 60)
Defeat the classic, level 60 version of Onyxia.
10-15-2008
STUFF THAT SHOWS HOW LONG I'VE BEEN PLAYING:
Tabard of the Protector
Obtained a Tabard of the Protector from the Dark Portal event.
09-24-2009
Swift Flight Form
Completed the druid quest to obtain Swift Flight Form.
04-15-2009
The Fifth Element
Obtain an Aqual Quintessence.
01-21-2009
WoW's 4th Anniversary
Logged in during WoW's 4th Anniversary.
12-01-2008
Knight
Earned the title, "Knight".
10-15-2008
Champion of the Naaru
Earned the title, "Champion of the Naaru".
10-15-2008
Hand of A'dal
Earned the title, "Hand of A'dal".
10-15-2008
- - -
I mean, the dates are all fucked up, but the idea is there. I actually got Barons mount and Ony's death at lvl 60, but even up to level 80 you could solo/duo those. Brewfest just happened.
The rest of them really show the age of my character. Most of them look to be from the BC area, but a couple of them (Knight, Aqual Quintessence) show that not only was the character around at 60, but she was an active raider and PvPer, too.
Of course, these achievements are about as worthless as any other achievement -- points awarded or no. I'm proud of them, though. They're neat things that I can look at every once in a while and think, "yeah, I was there for that. And man, did I have fun."
All achievements are worthless. Doesn't make getting them any less enjoyable.
Rugus Nov 3rd 2009 8:22AM
> WoW's 4th Anniversary
> Logged in during WoW's 4th Anniversary.
> 12-01-2008
This just proves you logged during a specific weel with your toon (even a level 1). I would not consider it a proof of "HOW LONG I'VE BEEN PLAYING".