Achievement Point Milestones NEED better rewards

[Ezuu.8417]

I started playing GW2 7 years ago and at this point I’ve done pretty much everything I wanted to, the only things that kept me coming back were the Living Story releases and occasionally to play with friends that I convinced to try out the game.

 

Last year while trying to find incentives to keep logging in, I decided to give myself the goal of completing every single achievement in the story journal category and this really changed how I played the game. It made me do content that I never would have done, do cool events that were too much work for what they were worth, I discovered a lot of nice little stories that these achievements tell and much more… but what did I gain from it?

 

This whole thing made me realize that arenanet delivers a lot of its PvE content through achievements and there are barely any reasons to go for them. The milestone rewards are completely useless, I’m about to reach 30500 points and I’m going to receive the same crap rewards as someone at 5500, they are literally giving us the same gold you get from completing the dailies and ONE laurel which you can get from logging in for just two days!!

 

I was never able to convince any of my friends to go for achievements, they just don’t care about AP or titles, and if they don’t like the mini or skin that the achievement gives, why should they bother? They always do the same thing I used to do which is log in for the story and log out until next patch.

 

Even though I barely gain anything by doing this, by giving myself this goal I went from not logging in for months to having so much stuff to do that it’s a bit overwhelming, this is why I feel better milestone rewards are **SO** important. They could include more unique skins or even the ocassional gemstore stuff starting with black lion keys or wardrobe unlocks and at the higher levels stuff like one unlock voucher or one bank tab expansion. Yes, you could say they would be losing money doing this but I’m sure it would drive people to spend many more hours into the game which I feel it’s much more important.

 

Do you go for achievements? If so what do you think about them? do you feel rewarded by doing them?

 

[AgentMoore.9453]

I think the reason for this is that AP can be very slow to accrue for the average player. They want to make sure you get rewards, but nothing so amazing that you're salty about having to wait literal years to get with no other way to obtain it.

 

I'm all for removing the AP cap on daily achievements or expanding the rewards for upper tiers (if/when players actually start reaching it), but I think the 'shiny but not too shiny' method is the right call for something like this.

[Ezuu.8417]

> @"AgentMoore.9453" said:

> I think the reason for this is that AP can be very slow to accrue for the average player. They want to make sure you get rewards, but nothing so amazing that you're salty about having to wait literal years to get with no other way to obtain it.

>

> I'm all for removing the AP cap on daily achievements or expanding the rewards for upper tiers (if/when players actually start reaching it), but I think the 'shiny but not too shiny' method is the right call for something like this.

 

That's why maybe going for a few ocassional gemstore items is a better idea. I play with a lot of newbies and every time they see the 5k AP reward they get really excited about it. it's nice to see them going for the jumping puzzles/mini-dungeons they missed or replaying old LS episodes for more AP. Same thing goes for when they need more mastery points, these achievements are making them try out different content and I think that is very healthy for the game.

[Randulf.7614]

I agree, but Anet have by and large given up or changed direction forever on the AP system. It’s there mostly as an ongoing token gesture, but it’s never getting updated or changed.

 

 

 

[Shadowmoon.7986]

Give a unique legendary infusion at 45k. Currently 45k has no reward. The reward for ap are 2 weapon sets and 3 armor sets. The problem is after 42k, there are no longer any armor rewards at 45k, 48k, 51k, 54k, 57k, and 60k the current max. The last weapon skin is at 56k, leaving no reward for 58k and 59k.

[Mewcifer.5198]

It would be nice if thy put another set of armour skins in the rewards. But I wouldn't say its a huge priority or need.

I like to chance achievements but it's not the rewards that drive me. Its being able to see an increasingly high number.

 

mmmm video game points.

[Taril.8619]

> @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> Do you go for achievements?

 

Yes, but only 'cuz I'm a pleb with only 10k AP :(

 

> @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> If so what do you think about them? do you feel rewarded by doing them?

 

They're kind of lame for the most part.

 

Achievements themselves are rarely rewarding, at best giving some crappy exotic gear or if you do a meta achievement you get a garbage ascended accessory...

 

Then, you have to get 500 points to get a crummy box filled with a pile of trash and a mere 1g and a couple of laurels (That's less than dailies. Logging in and doing your dailies nets you 2g and 1.25 laurels given the 35 laurels over the 28 day log in cycle)

 

With really only every 1000 points being worth something due to getting a skin at the very least...

 

Getting the 30g and 400 gems every 5000 points is nice, but jfc that's every 5000 points while most achievements give 1 AP...

 

Lets not even talk about the gold find, karma gain, exp gain and magic find bonuses which are woeful (Gold find is lel... Maybe in 400 years I'll get enough AP and log in gold bonuses to get an extra 1c per enemy I kill! Karma gain only affects event rewards, when a majority of karma is gained through consumed items such as those from dailies. Experience gain from enemies only, so relevant only if you're power leveling a character by farming mobs and kind of irrelevant for level 80's. MF, the thing that everyone questions if it even does anything and literally most of it comes from Luck capping out at 300% MF while AP only goes up to 24% so far)

 

Honestly, it feels like the least they could do is put a Black Lion Weapon Ticket in each 500 point box, so you can get yourself a snazzy skin...

 

Also, stop giving me Achievment Chests pls, since I just delete all the garbage from it anyway... Which is basically 90% of what it contains... Would be nice if they actually had anything good in them like map currencies, WvW Reward potions, Mystic Clovers...

 

It'd also be neat if they uncapped repeatable achievements... So many Agent of Entropy and Daily achievements gained... So few AP...

[Shrimpkin.4851]

I love achievements. Mini's, new titles, mastery points - I just got my 15k chest. Some I try just to see if I can do it. But there are also quite a few I'll never bother with; dungeons, raids, strike missions, because I'm incredibly bad at this game. By that I mean I just play how I like, not bothering with meta builds, dps etc., that seems to be a requirement that some people want you to have for those things. I'd like to try them but I don't want people getting upset if things go wrong, so they go untried.

 

As for the rewards, it would be nice if there was more variety, as you suggested. I might even be more inclined to try things I'd normally avoid if they had a reward I really wanted.

[crepuscular.9047]

AP rewards are fine

it's nice that it gives some rewards, even gems, but I'd do it even if there is no reward

do you earn anything from Steam, PSN, XBOX achievements? nope

[lare.5129]

> @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> I’m about to reach 30500 points

this is begginers range. Midl start from 35k. Good - from 40k.

 

> I was never able to convince any of my friends to go for achievements, they just don’t care about AP or titles, and if they don’t like the mini or skin that the achievement gives, why should they bother?

so you need find more/another/additional friends

 

[Obfuscate.6430]

I admit the rewards felt a lot cooler when I was new. I was still delighted to earn the chest armor though from the AP. The titles aren't that interesting because they have the charisma of cold oatmeal. I almost imagine an Alan Rickman-like sarcastic delivery "Wonderous Achiever". Honestly take out the 'Achiever' part because that's what makes it sound condescending.

I agree the smaller rewards need an overhaul but not necessarily to make it more bountiful or prestigious. We have enough loot-bloat as is. Rather a quality of life update: let us choose from a list what we'd like to keep or not. Do I want a Box of Fun? Do I want WvW siege blue prints? Would I prefer more Laurels, or maybe more gold? More karma or more Xp gain?

That's my take on it. I still go for achievement points even if I am not going for the rewards: that phat number is satisfying.

And like you said: going for them made you have more fun experiences - that's the truth right there. That's the real reward.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> > @"AgentMoore.9453" said:

> > I think the reason for this is that AP can be very slow to accrue for the average player. They want to make sure you get rewards, but nothing so amazing that you're salty about having to wait literal years to get with no other way to obtain it.

> >

> > I'm all for removing the AP cap on daily achievements or expanding the rewards for upper tiers (if/when players actually start reaching it), but I think the 'shiny but not too shiny' method is the right call for something like this.

>

> That's why maybe going for a few ocassional gemstore items is a better idea. I play with a lot of newbies and every time they see the 5k AP reward they get really excited about it. it's nice to see them going for the jumping puzzles/mini-dungeons they missed or replaying old LS episodes for more AP. Same thing goes for when they need more mastery points, these achievements are making them try out different content and I think that is very healthy for the game.

 

You get 400 gems every 5k achievement points which you can use to buy gemstore items.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"lare.5129" said:

> > @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> > I’m about to reach 30500 points

> this is begginers range. Midl start from 35k. Good - from 40k.

>

> > I was never able to convince any of my friends to go for achievements, they just don’t care about AP or titles, and if they don’t like the mini or skin that the achievement gives, why should they bother?

> so you need find more/another/additional friends

>

 

3k AP is the "good" point, as that's how many AP the top 10% accounts have. Anyone above 3k AP is at the top 10% of this game's accounts.

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Shadowmoon.7986" said:

> Give a unique legendary infusion at 45k. Currently 45k has no reward. The reward for ap are 2 weapon sets and 3 armor sets. The problem is after 42k, there are no longer any armor rewards at 45k, 48k, 51k, 54k, 57k, and 60k the current max. The last weapon skin is at 56k, leaving no reward for 58k and 59k.

Those AP amounts are able to motivate maybe 10-20 players in the whole game. I believe that the OP is speaking for some motivation for a _wider_ player populace.

 

OP has a point here - if you want to keep players in the game by using a lot of achievement-related content, you need to make achievement rewards interesting. And yet, for the most part, those rewards are _very_ uninteresting. Most players will simply not be motivated by 30k+ stuff, because it's way too far in the future for them - to be really interested, they need something nice being available on the way up there.

 

[DeathDealer.6731]

> @"crepuscular.9047" said:

> AP rewards are fine

> it's nice that it gives some rewards, even gems, but I'd do it even if there is no reward

> do you earn anything from Steam, PSN, XBOX achievements? nope

 

Actually, Xbox updated their achievements so that by getting them you also earn reward points that can be spent on anything microsoft sells and also includes merchandise outside of them as in, Starbucks, Gift cards, etc.

Reason being was that players were having the same gaming remorse as here. I have a 100k+ Xbox gamer score and before the changes I use to say, "Whats the point?".

The ap rewards in Gw2 is lackluster to say the least. Ive owned the game since day one, and honestly only have 3900 pts. No incentive. I could care less about the rewards since they truly are garbage. Biggest I see on my available ap chests is 15g. I can run bitterfrost collecting map currency in 1 day, salvage the 7 stacks of unidentified gear I get from it and make over 60 gold off mats.

The reward system for anet has always been garbage though. This was glaringly obvious when my group scraped and scrambled to max our monuments only to realize after getting gwam...we got some very very bad rewards in gw2.

I was never into fashion wars. I would've been happy with some quality of life items. Exclusive items only gw1 players could have. Nothing big, but nice. Instead I got skins I'll never use and some of those skins are even now handed out in game to players who never logged into gw1.

[lokh.2695]

The reward structure for AP rewards is fine.

 

the rewards themselves, well, haven't been updated. I assume the skins were designed somewhat 7 years ago now. And for the time, the skins were decent. I mean, tastes may differ, but the skins were considered shiny and flashy and something special. Of course the average gemstore outfit today looks more like a reward for dedicated playing, but that's a different discusion.

The rewards have never been brought up to date with how the game evolved and I think, that these rewards should be of the highest quality along with legendaries.

A few examples:

1)They shoud retroactively make the backpieces you get for 39k and 42k AP dyeable and design a glider for them.

2) They should add dye slots to the armors. It varies between race/gender combinations, but most armor pieces don't have dye slots, sometimes chestpiece and trousers get one or two to dye some more or less insignificant part of the armor.

3) We know from gemshop items that the tech to dye particle effects exists now. Please let us dye the flames/glow.

4) Zenith/Pinnacle weopons could be made fancier. Give them some effects. Nothing that blinds the eye, footfalls maybe or a sheathe/unsheathe animation.

[aspirine.6852]

I don't think the ap rewards are fine at all. 25k ap and 8 years and some of them give the same amount of gold as a daily chest? That doesnt sound right at all.

[Hesione.9412]

> @"maddoctor.2738" said:

> > @"lare.5129" said:

> > > @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> > > I’m about to reach 30500 points

> > this is begginers range. Midl start from 35k. Good - from 40k.

> >

> > > I was never able to convince any of my friends to go for achievements, they just don’t care about AP or titles, and if they don’t like the mini or skin that the achievement gives, why should they bother?

> > so you need find more/another/additional friends

> >

>

> 3k AP is the "good" point, as that's how many AP the top 10% accounts have. Anyone above 3k AP is at the top 10% of this game's accounts.

 

3000, not 30000? damn.

[Jagblade.4627]

I've been playing since 2012 and JUST hit 5k AP tonight. :s

[sorudo.9054]

achievements should not be rewarding at all besides the points, it should be quests instead.

[Vayne.8563]

AP rewards aren't there to entice you to do achievements People do achievements because they enjoy achievement hunting. Adding must have rewards will "force" people to focus on something they don't enjoy. That's sort of the structure of the whole game.

 

I don't need to run dungeons because dungeon rewards aren't forcing me to do that. I don't need to run raids because raid rewards aren't required to get BIS gear (like in many other games). The idea that you should do what's fun and play for fun is more central to this game. If you want a specific reward you can go for it, but i find this game best played where I play for fun and see the reward as a bonus.

[Mewcifer.5198]

> @"Vayne.8563" said:

> AP rewards aren't there to entice you to do achievements People do achievements because they enjoy achievement hunting. Adding must have rewards will "force" people to focus on something they don't enjoy. That's sort of the structure of the whole game.

>

> I don't need to run dungeons because dungeon rewards aren't forcing me to do that. I don't need to run raids because raid rewards aren't required to get BIS gear (like in many other games). The idea that you should do what's fun and play for fun is more central to this game. If you want a specific reward you can go for it, but i find this game best played where I play for fun and see the reward as a bonus.

 

I agree with this for the most part. It would be bad to put anything in the rewards that makes people feel like they need to hunt achievements. Especially since daily AP and LS1 has so many people way ahead of anyone who would start going for AP now.

 

I am an achievement hunter and I am only just now getting close to 20k points. I would have a lot more if I did dailies regularly instead of just whenever. I like racking up those numbers, but I also enjoy the process of completing achievements.

 

But another set of armor skins as rewards wouldn't harm anything. And would be a nice bonus to people who hunt AP.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Hesione.9412" said:

> > @"maddoctor.2738" said:

> > > @"lare.5129" said:

> > > > @"Ezuu.8417" said:

> > > > I’m about to reach 30500 points

> > > this is begginers range. Midl start from 35k. Good - from 40k.

> > >

> > > > I was never able to convince any of my friends to go for achievements, they just don’t care about AP or titles, and if they don’t like the mini or skin that the achievement gives, why should they bother?

> > > so you need find more/another/additional friends

> > >

> >

> > 3k AP is the "good" point, as that's how many AP the top 10% accounts have. Anyone above 3k AP is at the top 10% of this game's accounts.

>

> 3000, not 30000? kitten.

 

The break point between the top 10% and top 20% is ~2889 AP. If you go lower you can see an even more disturbing trend, to go from 30% to 20% you need ~1200 AP, and to go from 40% to 30% you need ~600 AP. Meaning the top 30% accounts of this game have just above 600 AP, which is literally nothing even if you don't hunt for achievements. 70% of accounts have under 600 AP which is quite telling...

[Eekasqueak.7850]

The numbers are probably skewed by bot accounts, people who gave up on it early on and similar things.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Eekasqueak.7850" said:

> The numbers are probably skewed by bot accounts, people who gave up on it early on and similar things.

 

Bots and gold sellers are at the lowest tier, 20% of this game's accounts have less than 50 AP... so that's the bots, bank accounts and gold sellers right there.

As for those who gave up early, yes obviously they inflate the numbers. To enter the upper half of the game's population in terms of achievement points, you need about 150 AP, which you will get by the time you are done with the first 2-3 zones, simply playing the game. Because at that point achievement points drop for doing anything and come by very easily, even without actively chasing them. So indeed half the accounts (including gold sellers and the like) did stop very very very early