More on Player Retention and the Need for Achievements/Long-term Goals

I'm actually turned off when I start playing a multiplayer game and the first thing I see is shit like "WELCOME, LEVEL 0 PLAYER, 177 XP TO NEXT LEVEL" and "HERE'S THE WANK OF THE DAY TO EARN 1000 XP!" "SHIT UNLOCKED AFTER NEXT 50 HOURS OF GRINDING: 1% MORE HP MAX, 0.99% FASTER RELOAD". I actually like that KAG doesn't track any public stats and shit (it's the reason I finally dropped Natural Selection 2, particularly because they implemented a level system after I had 300 hours in the game, and I was level 0 when they did, fuck those guys. It made choking twice as stressful since it lowers your rank, when even unfair games used to make for fun last stands). Just jumping into the game without any overhead is what makes KAG addictive and an easy default pick of game for me.

 

I've never seen a full community almost completely predisposed against achievements and vanity unlocks.

I do, however, think I have to agree. This game is fairly old. Achievements would require some work, creativity, and time to put in, and not that many players are even still playing anyways. There is very little return investment for trying to catch fish in a puddle, no matter how good your bait is.

I think achievements would have kept a good chunk of players interested in the game for longer if they were implemented upon release, but it's far too late for them to really have any positive (or negative) effect. Considering what would be needed to implement them, I see no reason why we should have achievements now, at this point in the game's lifespan of all times.

 

Hmm, no permanent stats.

Or more people will claim that I have hacks.