Category: Uncategorized
On Achievements
I was reading Sydera’s post on the topic earlier today, and I have to say… I like achievements. Even the ones that are a pain, or require me to get into a raid I would not normally enter. Even the ones that require a raid that’s either no longer done (Ahn’Qiraj, anyone? Blackwing Lair?) or that are beyond the manpower of my current guild (No, we really aren’t prepared, Illidan).
I figure I can get to them at some point or another. Maybe I’ll end up five-manning BWL at level 80. I’m okay with that. Maybe the newly-revived Old-School Night I run will end up stomping SSC flat at that same level with fifteen people. Still okay with that.
I tend to use the achivements mostly as a list of things I can do. I do this with my enchanting, even with my reputations- bored? Okay. Grind away until the meters get a little higher, or you pick up a couple of recipes you didn’t know yet, or you can solo an instance for kicks… It’s stuff I did a lot of. Now, I can use the achievements to keep track of them. Sometimes I can even use the results to show them off- before the Bloodsail Admiral titles came out, how many people would KNOW I put a lot of effort into hating the goblins when I wasn’t actively wearing the hat?
It’s additionally rather neat because, look, some of these achievements reflect things I’ve already done or am in the middle of. Get exalted with the Argent Dawn? Yeah, I was almost there already. Cenarion Expedition and the Circle as well? Well, I was grinding rep with the Circle, that’s true.
50 mounts? I must be nuts… but I am actually working on it. (Minor digression: I am so much more into collecting vanity pets and mounts now that they don’t take up my always-limited bag-space. Is anyone else having this experience?)
50 pets? Well… at this point most of the rarer pet drops are going to my lady-friend, who is actually rather… desperate… to get a skunk. If any Horde on Arathor has a white kitten they’re willing to sell for a reasonable price, please, look me up. Anyway, once she has her pet I’ll get there. I’m not really in a hurry.
Then there’s the things I wasn’t going to do anyway, but am doing now. The Exploration achievements don’t really take much in the way of work, and they’re great to fill in the time between raids. I like talking with my guildies, but find just sitting online and talking without actually playing to be, well, flat-out boring. It doesn’t matter if the task is dull (Grinding Mag’har rep, something I still need to do, falls in this category), but I need to be doing something. Working on odd achievements gives me something to do.
What’s your take on these things? Blessing? Bane? Nervous-breakdown-inducing addition to the list of things you have to do in-game?
