One of my goals in 2020 is to obtain 20 Platinum Trophies. 20 Plats in 2020 just rolls off the tongue nicely. But if there’s one thing that will stop a completionist in their tracks, it’s online trophies. I’ve Platinumed several games that had some truly painful online trophies (I’m looking at you, Tomb Raider reboot). But rather than make a post about “the 5 ways online trophies are the worst”, I’d rather offer up some helpful feedback in the hopes that it will give us better trophy lists. Yes, even better online trophies.
1. Be Concise
I know that developers are proud of their work and they want folks to experience everything they have to offer, even in the multiplayer. But adding a trophy in for “unlock all gun attachments/skins” or “reach max rank with each class” is too much. You want people to enjoy the online component, not play it in a way that they won’t enjoy. I know it may increase someone’s playtime and keep them from selling the game but trust me: it won’t.
2. Not-So-Max Rank
This one will probably get me some flack but hear me out. Code Vein is one of my favorite games of 2019 with a decent trophy list. However, the trophy “Exalted Reputation” is, to put it bluntly, ridiculous.
The problem with this is the game is designed to give you very little reward, thus artificially padding out your gameplay by roughly 20 hours. They did just patch in 3 new Tower Dungeons to somewhat remedy this but it isn’t a great fix (especially since the majority of the community is grinding out the first depth maps). Tomb Raider reboot had this problem too and it lacks any long-term thought. You want trophies dealing with leveling up to be obtainable. Perhaps a trophy for reaching rank 5 and 10 would do wonders. Think about it: it gets someone to at least try the multiplayer long enough to figure out if they like it or not and should be somewhat obtainable, provided developers don’t nerf the XP gains.
3. Unlikely Scenarios
Overwatch and Batman: Arkham Origins have some doozies in their line-up that require you to complete some very specific, very unlikely parameters. For example:
Admittedly, the one above has a higher likelihood of occurring through natural gameplay than much of Overwatch’s. At the same time, however, how many players are going to be in that exact scenario? Trophies like this practically beg players to go into a private match with friends to replicate this exact scenario to obtain it. Rather than making trophies like this, create a scenario that’s more likely to happen. For example, “As a Hero, take down all players on the other team”. I know that sounds impossible, but I remember the Heroes in Arkham Origins being pretty OP. And speaking of unlikely scenarios, Blizzard, come on. You can’t think I’m that good.
4. Timers
Timers are just never good to begin with, honestly. Sure, speedrunning trophies (like in RE2 Remake) are perfectly fine, in my opinion. But getting a set amount of kills in under 5 seconds in multiplayer is just bonkers. These kinds of trophies are designed to force you to boost using friends, especially if you’re not very good at multiplayer, to begin with. These just come across as more frustrating than anything. I don’t recommend building a trophy around the use of timers.
5. Simply Don’t Put Them In
In a perfect world, games simply wouldn’t have online trophies. Especially for someone who gets into a game years after release, and goes for the Platinum because they enjoy the game but can’t because some of the trophies are now unobtainable because of discontinued servers. The most recent reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has no online trophies. Yeah, that’s right.
No online trophies
There is a trophy for completing the game on Veteran or Realism but that’s about the only one that will give any moderate gamer difficulty. And it makes getting the Platinum a lot of fun. I’d go so far as to say that Call of Duty Modern Warfare’s trophy list is a perfect example of a perfect trophy list. Add to the fact that I find the story one of the best in the series that I can see myself returning to it again and again.
But if you are having trouble making good online trophies, it’s better to simply not include them. It’s okay to not have any online trophies in your game. If it is an online-only game, then I hope these tips are accepted and discussed among devs.
But what about you, Deer Reader? Which trophies/achievements frustrated you the most? Let us know in the comments below.