Explain PlayStation 3 trophies to me

[Sega Uranus]

I had always assumed they were basically the same thing as Xbox 360 achievements, but they are very different in a lot of ways. All for the worst, which is weird because they added them two years after other platforms had them, so they had time to plan.

First of all, are platinums exclusive to retail games and why? I thought you get these for doing everything in one game, but that is not the case.

Why so many bronze? Yakuza 3 has like almost 40 of them, then the rest are silver or gold. I realize they are supposed to be more "Important" than bronze, but their numbers seem all over the place.

Why do you have to sync them? If the console is online, why does it not update my profile immediately? I know they were added in late and are awkward, like the Xbox Avatars, but this seems like a bit much.

What are Trophy levels about? I see there is a percentage you have to pass then you become a higher rank? Does this do anything? What is it's point?




Slightly off topic: Why can you not use the word "Con" on PSN at all? I can understand getting rid of dirty words, but... stuff like poop and con are banned. I already have bad memories of spam in PSO.

[Emmett The Crab]

I agree.  Since I got the PS3 and there were no trophies on Valkyria Chronicles, I thought they were a waste of time if you don't have them on all the games.  Also having to synch them is lame, and the fact that they don't exist on the PSP account (which is the same account).  

TO be fair, when I first got the 360, I thought gamerpoints were the same thing as MS points, and that your score could be spent on DLC or XBLA games or whatever, so that score doesn't mean too much either.

[SOUP]

Instead of the Achievement system, where you just get all the points, the Platinum trophy is like a reward for getting every trophy in the game.  Some down loadable titles have them, but just the larger ones. The idea is that they're supposed to be really tough to get.

Think of the level thing as an RPG system. You get a certain amount of trophies, and you level up. The higher your level, the longer it takes to level up. Gold, and Platinum trophies help you level up faster.  This is all instead of just a straight gamerscore number like the 360 has.

[George]

AKA: Don't worry about it and play games.

[Emmett The Crab]

I didn't see where anyone was worried.  For me the point is that achievement points add a lot to the experience, but the PS3 trophy system is a let-down by comparison.  Maybe this feeling only happens to people who buy the PS3 2nd?

[George]

Making a topic about the subject is rather worrisome.

Basically

Platinums - Highest value
Gold - Greater value
Silver - Medium value
Bronze - Lowest value.

After you unlock them they go to your total called 'Level', instead of having a mass count of points entitled 'Gamerscore'. Once you level up higher, the harder it is to level up (RPG like).

[Sega Uranus]

Making a topic about the subject is rather worrisome.

Basically

Platinums - Highest value
Gold - Greater value
Silver - Medium value
Bronze - Lowest value.

After you unlock them they go to your total called 'Level', instead of having a mass count of points entitled 'Gamerscore'. Once you level up higher, the harder it is to level up (RPG like).

That is cool, but answers none of my questions.

I didn't see where anyone was worried.  For me the point is that achievement points add a lot to the experience, but the PS3 trophy system is a let-down by comparison.  Maybe this feeling only happens to people who buy the PS3 2nd?

I can agree. Besides a higher focus on online functions (not just online play), I think the achievement system is the best thing to happen to games this generation. Though in some cases, some of these make me want some games less, and some more for poor reasons.

But mostly they are the best thing for replay value since actual replay value, or unlockables. I played Blue Dragon for over three times the length I probably would have otherwise, and eventually came to kind of love it. Even though the achievements in it are garbage, and the game overall is of questionable quality.

[MadeManG74]

I know that achievements drove me to perfect my Bayonetta gameplay so that I could get that 1000 points.

[George]

"whats the point of levels"

Nothing right now. Sony will be launching a rewards program later. Right now they mean as much as your Gamerscore.

There?

[SOUP]

Why so many bronze? Yakuza 3 has like almost 40 of them, then the rest are silver or gold. I realize they are supposed to be more "Important" than bronze, but their numbers seem all over the place.

It's just the Sony version of Achievements that add up to 1000. Achievements go from 10pts to 50pts each I think. There are only 3 colours of trophies to cover that span, so a lot of the lower ones that are on the fence just get bumped down to a bronze (This just applies when the trophy lists are copied from achievement lists on the multiplatform titles).
If a game has a large number of trophies, more of them are going to be bronze, because they still add up to only a certain point value per game. For example, DC Universe Online only has 14 trophies, so they're mostly Silvers and Golds.

[Sega Uranus]

Why so many bronze? Yakuza 3 has like almost 40 of them, then the rest are silver or gold. I realize they are supposed to be more "Important" than bronze, but their numbers seem all over the place.

It's just the Sony version of Achievements that add up to 1000. Achievements go from 10pts to 50pts each I think. There are only 3 colours of trophies to cover that span, so a lot of the lower ones that are on the fence just get bumped down to a bronze (This just applies when the trophy lists are copied from achievement lists on the multiplatform titles).
If a game has a large number of trophies, more of them are going to be bronze, because they still add up to only a certain point value per game. For example, DC Universe Online only has 14 trophies, so they're mostly Silvers and Golds.

Oh, okay. That seems like a better design.

With Xbox 360 achievements, there is not much of a balance with what you are allowed to make achievement points as. There are some games that have achievements worth nothing, some worth 1, 2 or 3, and some have bizarre numbers like 321. It is a big mess sometimes.

[SOUP]

That's pretty crazy. I didn't know there were that many point values.

[Barry the Nomad]

I like the recent increase in avatar awards on the 360, I like them far more than achievements. Just about every SEGA game has avatar awards now, the sweetest being in After Burner Climax and Sonic Adventure. I'm really looking forward to the Bass Fishing and SC5 Part 2 awards, despite only really looking forward to one of those two games. If gamer score translated to ms points or free downloads, it would be pretty sweet.

[Shigs]

Avatar Awards are sweet, but as far as achievements vs. Trophies go, I gotta go with trophies. Anyone can achieve a high achievement score just by renting or buying a ton of 360 games rather than getting through the more tough spots. It only takes one PS3 game to platinum to show everyone "You Da man!" As it is, I've played a ton of PS3 games and have yet to hit a platinum. Got some gold though.

[Sega Uranus]

Something I really hate about trophies is how awkward they are sometimes. The syncing is annoying, but I have had ones unlock at random that are unrelated to what I am doing or not at all, so I had to restart a section just to get them.

Never had a single achievement mess up on me once, and I have unlocked thousands.

Something I prefer is how you kind of have to go out of your way to see how many of which kind someone has. With the Xbox 360, I have over 25,000gs now, and I really REALLY feel like a nerd about it when I just play my games a lot, I do not own too many.