Why good stats matter

I'm not going to go on some kind of crazed rant about why little graphs, achievement points or 100% completion matters. Instead I would rather talk about those little behind the scenes issues that keep games ticking over and make sure that they accurately track your performance along the way. Obviously this kind of thing is more important than ever when it comes to achievements thanks to a plethora of "Get X kills with X" and other amazingly inventive ideas.

When you have a goal in sight then it really helps to know that:

A) Your progression towards that tally is being monitored, and....
B) That once you fulfill whatever mystical condition may be required, then you will be duly rewarded.

Games can help with A by having some lovely trackjing screens that show you exactly what you have done and how close you are towards completing said challenge. Good examples include The Darkness and Gears of War 2, both of which monitor your performance in terms of kills, chapter progression, games played and so on. It makes things remarkably easy to follow, and you do not end up wondering just when you will have played your 1,000th game (or whatever).

This kind of thing is sadly not as widespread as you would hope, but then it doesn't really need to be as long as the software is doing the same job quietly behind the scenes. So in either case, once you get to point B and have played your games, got your kills, or single handedly won the war then you can expect to get your reward.

.............

.....any time now.

Any second.

DAMMIT!!!!

There is nothing worse than KNOWING you have accomplished something and then being royally screwed out of your moment of glory. The issue hit home yet again as I was playing Assassins Creed Brotherhood last night. A few of us had got together in a private match (so we didn't upset the natives) to finish off some of the trickier multiplayer bonuses and snag Abstergo Employee of the Month. However, no matter how many different awards we got (and we got them all fo sho) it would not unlock for one member of my team. I will admit that I was kind of glad it wasn't me, but still felt the same pain.

We had all played the MP together and all gotten the same bonus tags and what not, so the reason for this issue is not entirely obvious. It also does not help that AC:B provides no way of tracking your progress or even seeing which bonuses you already have. Good work Ubi - and I know you can do better as I've seen the stat tracking on HAWX.

It reminded me of the horror of Gears of War, which actually had stat tracking, and yet despite my screen telling me I had 10k worth of online kills I still had to go and get another two thousand to get that damn achievement to unlock.

It just shows that these things are never as thoroughly tested as you would hope, and if you want gamers to put the time and effort into experiencing everything your game has to offer then do not shaft them at the finish line. I suppose it just goes to show that, even now, achievements are not really given the time they deserve in both a development or testing phase. Never mind that this is the exception - should it really happen at all?