TriXie Interviews Achieve360Points.com
I recently spoke to the founders of Achieve360points.com, the longest-running Xbox 360™ Achievement site : Kerry Studnicki " Monster 1 of 2 " and Jonathan Crowson " Monster 2 of 2. " Here's what they had to say about where they came from and where they're going.
TriXie: Who is involved in Achieve360points.com? Give us the cast of characters.
Kerry: That would be myself (Kerry Studnicki, known as Monster 1 of 2 on the site) and Jonathan Crowson (Monster 2 of 2).
Jonathan: We handle every aspect of the main website. We *could* bring in others to help us out with the work, but we feel that we would only be using people to better ourselves. Besides, it is the least we can do for everyone checking the site out. We have quite a few moderators that help us with the site as well. We currently have 7 moderators, but we're planning on adding an additional 5-10 moderators to help with the current forum load.
Kerry: Their work is deeply appreciated!
TriXie: How did you come up with the idea? Can you walk me through some of the brainstorming that went on?
Kerry: We were constantly wanting to know what achievements games had, whether they were creative and added more to the game value or not. That info wasn't readily available, so we wanted to make sure it was.
Jonathan: When we realized that there would be secret achievements, we knew that we would have a ton of unique content. During our last count (190 games), we figured there was around 882 of them.
TriXie: Once you had the idea, how long did it take you to complete it? How did you divide the work?
Jonathan: I already had a good amount of coding knowledge behind me from a couple of previous projects. I coded the entire site in Notepad (seriously) and set up all the back end on my own. I wanted to do everything from scratch so we wouldn't be held back by any limitations from pre-written software. Heck, our Marketplace code is over 1,500 lines long. Try debugging that in Notepad!
Kerry: Jonathan did all the coding and I did all the data collection, like contacting gamers for their secret achievements. That was really hard to do.
Jonathan: So, we finished our original code by January 15, 2006, and we started adding information after that.
TriXie: I see you were mentioned recently in the Official Xbox Magazine. Have you had other media attention? Can you share any links with us?
Kerry: Yes, we have a nice write-up on page 87 of the March 07 issue of OXM. We've been mentioned several times before in that publication, but this is the first time we got something dedicated to just us!
Jonathan: There is even a picture of us in that one. Kind of embarrassing to know so many people will be undressing us with their eyes.
Kerry: Other than that, just a collection of some large gaming sites (joystiq, kotaku, evilavatar, insidegamer, eurogamer).
TriXie: How do you feel about game saving? Do you think it's a fair way to build gamerscore?
Kerry: Game saving to boost gamerscore doesn't make any sense to me. Overall gamerscore is nice to look at every once in awhile, but if you didn't truly earn it, where's the sense of pride? There's no better feeling of accomplishment than when you work through a game and the "Achievement Unlocked" icon pops up on your screen. That feeling is what the achievement system is really about.
Jonathan: Absolutely. I think it is quite possibly the most awful way of adding points to your gamerscore. I wouldn't even joke about doing it. I get a sense of pride for my legit 100% completions. It saddens us that there are even services that will artificially increase your gamerscore for you for monetary value. Gamesaving is to Achievements as to what Gold Farming is to WOW. Both are cheating and should be stopped.
TriXie: Where do you get achievement info on games that haven't released yet?
Jonathan: We have quite a few sources for new achievement information, ranging from our affiliates all the way to the actual developers. I can't get too detailed on it, obviously. Some of our boys (and girls!) wish to remain anonymous.
Kerry: We work very hard at getting these lists and we put up new achievements before you will actually need them anyway (since the game isn't even out yet). We know what we're doing.
Jonathan: We find it best to deal with developers directly for achievements. Oh, and if Frankie from Bungie is reading this, we really need to talk. E-mail us! :)
TriXie: Any hints about what's next for Achieve360points.com?
Kerry: Since our inception, we've added the first ever Marketplace Map which details every single download available, Achievement Guides and Difficulties, and Sorting Features. We're constantly trying to come up with more so we can offer the absolute best experience for our users.
Jonathan: It honestly just depends on what our users want. We're there for the community and we listen to what everyone wants. We can also stand proud that our ideas are always original.
Kerry: Take our Achievement Difficulties, List and Achievement Sorters, and our Marketplace Map. All of those were due to the requests of our users. Our Marketplace Map was around before the Xbox LIVE® Pipeline even existed!
Jonathan: In any regard, we have quite a few ideas still up our sleeves that we plan on releasing when the timing is right. Quite possibly to the tune of more Community Event …
TriXie: Where would you like to see Achieve360points.com in five years?
Jonathan: Five years? What about the next five months? I want to work more closely with Xbox.com, along with every other major game website and developer.
Kerry: We'd like to see the achievement system grow, and us along with it. We'll continue to build a stronger relationship with Microsoft and the Xbox® team and hopefully shape the future of the achievement system together. We have a lot of amazing ideas. We just need to talk with the right people!
Jonathan: Achieve360Points.com is starting to be a very vocal part of the Xbox community and we will only continue to rise. I know I've said it a million times already, but honestly we are only there for the community. Developers, help us so we can help you. Contact us. We are more than willingly to work with everyone, no matter how big your house is.
