Listening to the most recent Bombcast inspired me to ask this question. And yes, obviously no achievements ultimately have any real value. But I'm talking comparatively here.

Further points for discussion: Steam achievements are much easier to unlock illegitimately if you use 3rd-party programs. Also, Steam achievements have no attached points (like the 360) or rarity (like the PS3/Vita trophies). But Steam has a way to pull up a list of what percentage of players have each achievement, so you can gauge how uncommon it is that you unlocked particular achievements.

Does any of that factor into your answer?

I don't think any achievements/trophies have any sort of meaning.

In theory, no. They are just as useless - I'll even point to trophies here.

But on the 360 (and the Ps 3, allthough it takes a while longer) it's atleast easy to watch and compare to others.

Same meaning for me. Yes, it's zero, but I still enjoy it when something pops up on my screen telling me I accomplished something special within the game. Like Xbox achievements and PS trophies, I don't chase them, but if they happen while I am playing the game as I normally would, I welcome the brief sense of fulfillment.

They have the same meaning- jack shit.

@Aronman789 said:

They have the same meaning- jack shit.

Damn it. That's what I was going to say.

One has points, the other doesn't. SA<Points

Ok really I like achievements because they give me small goals to go back into a game that I finished the campaign/story for but am not ready to stop playing that game yet. All platform achievements are equal in that regard. So equal.

Normally, Steam achievements don't mean squat. They're worth less than ps3/xbox trophies/achievements cause there is no accumulative total. However, Steam achievements are worth a lot more when they have rewards tagged to them. IE, whenever they do their ticket/holiday-coal events. That's the only time I care about steam achievements.

I started playing TF2 recently and that has 394 achievements. I get some everytime I play. They barely have any meaning this way.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Aronman789 said:

They have the same meaning- jack shit.

Damn it. That's what I was going to say.

Now I'm going to start releasing long video game blogs an hour earlier then you.

I believe Steam achievements have as little meaning as Microsoft achievements and Sony trophies. I think they're all kind of dumb but whatever they're there and they don't hurt anyone.

@Aronman789:

You have far less than a day to get on that.

I will say that, due to their noncompulsory nature, PC exclusives tend to have actual, ridiculous to get achievements. As a result, I feel less inclined to pursue them. But otherwise no, they're the same thing most of the time.

Edito: I see you bring up third party software in regards to steam achievements. To that I just say I've never used achievements of any sort to compare myself to another player. It's always been about personal completion.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Aronman789:

You have far less than a day to get on that.

Well shit. How long does it take to get through Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders?

They have less meaning since there's no point or level system or any other kind of significant progress indicator associated with them.

They have less meaning to me than 360 achievements purely because the 360 was the first to do it and feel more special. But the need to get achievements in all my games has gone for me.

I think they are still good to have for seeing your progress in a game, but it sucks with games where you beat it and you have like 200pts to show for it. I'm looking at you Space Marine.

@Aronman789:

You also have to write about it.

If by meaning you mean lack of meaning then I can't really see the difference between the two. It's easier to broadcast your floppy epeen on the 360 or PS3, but it's ultimately the same thing.

@Video_Game_King: Time to take out the Mad Libs.

They are the same to me, I don't really care/pay attention to my PSN level or my exact gamerscore as for me the most important thing is completion, assuming I actually enjoyed the game enough to complete all the achievements in it. Heck, I even got every achievement (except for 1 bugged one) on Game Dev Story on fucking gamecenter of all places.

I like them as a way to get the player some additional information on cool stuff to try out in the games. Most people who put a bunch of time in hacking the pc games on steam to get those achievements are just crazy.

PS3/360 achievements have a little more value just because they accumulate across all games. I actually pushed myself to get a few achievements to pass the 1000 mark WAY back in early 2008, then later 5000, then 10000, then 15000, then 20000, and just recently 25000 Every time time I get close to changing one of the two leftmost digits, I feel inclined to find some achievements to do that. So, to me, the 360's achievement system has more meaning.

I like the Platinum trophy idea on PSN. Getting everything nets you a super-special achievement that says "Hey! You played this game way too much!" However, I've never personally gotten one.

The Steam achievements, however, don't mean much to me. I still get the same brief tingly feeling every time I see one come up, but it has never come across as impactful to me.

Oh, and one last thing. Achievements are not my E-Peen. Certainly I like seeing what other people have done, but I don't really think much about it or put much weight in it.

Oh, and one final-definitely last thing. This one's for all of you saying they don't mean anything - as far as that goes, video games themselves don't really mean anything. Taken logically, they're one of the biggest money and time wastes ever invented. They do very little for us, and what little they do, other things that have more practical applications can be done and for less money. Entertainment is really their only end.

I only care about my PS3 Trophies, and even then I don't really go out of my way to get them most of the time. I don't really bother to check anything achievement related on Steam, so while it's neat when one pops, I mostly don't care.

Steam achievements have the same meaning i.e. none

I don't care about gaming achievements at all. If you tell me you did some sick ass shit in a video game, I'll take your word for it.

While I do believe all of them are meaningless, the 360 and PS3 achievement systems are certainly a bit more compelling since there is an overall progress of sorts that's reflected through numbers be it points, levels or what have you. It's really the same reason people love MMOs or really anything with a good sense of progression.

@Aronman789 said:

They have the same meaning- jack shit.

They all mean nothing to me.

considering i used an easy tool to get all the TF2 chieves a year or 2 ago when they had items tied to them .....no there not the same for that reason

Less for me. Probably because I use my PS3 a lot more.

mm, depends.

There is no option for us that think Achievements mean nothing at all. No matter what format.

They have the same meaning... so nothing.

I never gotten the borderline scary obsession with achievements.

Steam achievements have no meaning.

They are all meaningless, so yes they are all equal in their pointlessness. They could actually have a little more meaning then the others though, because when the next iteration of consoles come out those points will most likely be reset or not carried over, while Steam/PC never has revisions.

Steam achievements and PSN trophies mean nothing to me without an accumulated numbered value.

All achievements are meaningless.

I think they are equal, Steam achievements are easier to get though because games are usually like 70% cheaper there than on consoles.

I also want to say that I found the conversation between @Video_Game_King: and @Aronman789: hilarious.

I like trying to get most or all of the achievements in my 360 games, but I don't care too much about Steam achievements.

More meaning. Even though I try getting platinums in my PS3 games, whenever I see that a Steam game has achievements I'm more inclined to buy it, even though I rarely care to get them all.
 
It's bizarre.

Achievements are pretty bad overall. Choosing one story option over another one is not an achievement, and there's no challenge in it. I'm all for the idea of achievements, but man, they could have better implementation.
 
I prefer not to have all my achievements lumped together and made as an average though.

I think it depends on the individual achievements. If they are things that are fun to do or make you play the game in a specific and interesting way, it doesn't matter if they have a point value or not, because they are still worth pursuing. That said I tend to ignore even those achievements on steam since I play offline quite a bit, and steam for some reason doesn't allow achievements to be earned offline.

Trophies, achievements, and steam achievements mean 0 to me. I don't give a rats ass. I used to care about 360 achievements when it first came out. Then people started to game the system with shit games like Avatar. It was then that I realized it was just a bunch of bull shit. Then, people started calling them "cheevos" and I wanted nothing to do with that shit anymore.

HOWEVER

When Steam says, "Get these achievements and get a ticket you can redeem for raffle tickets/prizes"?

Now we're talking.

Less meaning than consoles.

I will never understand the people that hate on achievements or even claim that they have no meaning. It's fun to compete with your friends to compete for score. Also in some games that don't have rankings (Gears1, MVC2, SSF2HDR) your best bet at seeing your opponents skill level is checking their achievements, which isn't always indicative, but they usually skew one way.

When an achievement pops up on XBL, I'd say roughly 3/4 of the time (as long as nothing critical is going on in-game) I'll hit the guide button to see what it was and how I earned it. I don't think I've ever once checked a steam achievement in-game. Also, I think the score is a bit more prominent on XBL and having a rigid structure (1000 points per game and a certain amount beyond that for DLC) makes me more inclined to pay attention to point values. I have no idea what the rules are in regards to steam achievement points.

All achievements are meaningless bro. Internet gaming forums are meaningless bro. Games are meaningless bro. Life is meaningless bro.

B. they are all meaningless to me.

Personally, I would say they're roughly the same; achievements can truly be great when they challenge you to play the game better or in new and interesting ways.