Addicted to “Uber:” improving the Gamerscore concept

One thing gamers thrive on is competition. While most people can be content with having the highest score in a game, the Xbox Live system took it to a whole new level with the Gamerscore system, which gives you points for achievements over all the games you’ve ever played. Some of highest scoring gamers of Xbox Live got to voice out their opinions on the addiction to being the best, as well as the ways by which the Gamerscore system could be improved to lessen that addictive pull.

The lure of being a top gamer, with the rewards of fame and renown, comes at the cost of both money and experience. To acquire enough games to even get a high enough gamerscore costs around £ 2000 to 2500 (US $ 3500 to 4500) for software alone. Add to that the total amount of gaming hours needed to play that many games, and you’re also sacrificing the potential for real-world experiences. Of course, accepting a gamer’s life is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself, since every gamer has to live with the consequences of his actions in the end.

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One thing gamers thrive on is competition. While most people can be content with having the highest score in a game, the Xbox Live system took it to a whole new level with the Gamerscore system, which gives you points for achievements over all the games you’ve ever played. Some of highest scoring gamers of Xbox Live got to voice out their opinions on the addiction to being the best, as well as the ways by which the Gamerscore system could be improved to lessen that addictive pull.

The lure of being a top gamer, with the rewards of fame and renown, comes at the cost of both money and experience. To acquire enough games to even get a high enough gamerscore costs around £ 2000 to 2500 (US $ 3500 to 4500) for software alone. Add to that the total amount of gaming hours needed to play that many games, and you’re also sacrificing the potential for real-world experiences. Of course, accepting a gamer’s life is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself, since every gamer has to live with the consequences of his actions in the end.

While being a powergamer confers celebrity status online (as well as friend requests and hate mail), players differed in how they thought of the experience. Gamers such as NOGGIN SHOTZ (Gamerscore: 48,171), for example, do realize that there is more to life than gaming, but doesn’t mind making it one of the top priorities. Crash 27 (Gamerscore: 41,408 – retired), on the other hand, says that you can be both a high scorer and a live a full life outside Xbox Live. At the same time, he also remarks that “Family and friends should come before games.”

One of the problems of a ranking system is that it encourages a certain devotion to play, in much the same way an MMO would have hardcore raiding guilds. Most of the high-ranking players agree that the best way to alleviate the problems associated with an obsession to be the best is to make getting Achievements more natural or creative, by allowing them to be picked up from casual play and accident rather than obsessive gaming. Fixell (Gamerscore: 43,873) remarks, “Don’t make Achievements that will take thousands of hours to obtain – no one likes them. And don’t make Achievements for playing X number of online games. If your game is fun – it will get played.”

In either case, the things gamers really have to worry about will definitely happen off Xbox Live rather than on. The problem will be getting those players who are hooked into spending more time focusing on something beyond a very large number.