If it hasn't already done so, your PlayStation Trophy level is about to dramatically increase. That's because Sony is deploying an update to the ranking system that sees the former maximum grade of 100 escalate to 999. New Trophy icons will be associated with them and your original level will be modified to fit the new ranking system. And for a lot of people, this probably won't matter very much. They'll go about unlocking Trophies here and there, maybe yearning for the odd Platinum Trophy when they come across a PlayStation 4 game that really takes their fancy. However, what about those who take the system much more seriously?
Brian English of PS5 Trophies certainly fits that description, so we caught up with the Trophy hunter to find out what a professional reckons to this update. Could it have bigger implications that the average player might not pick up on? How else could the Trophy system be improved? And what about the importance of a Platinum Trophy? Let's find out.
On the surface, Brian thinks the new Trophy system sounds great. "I really love the tiered icon system. It encourages you to "level" up in a way that displaying a number can't." However, as for the new levelling system itself, which now stretches up to 999, he doesn't see it as too much of a big deal. "It's just going to feel odd expressing it using three digits. I ran a poll and only 25.8% of people cared most about PSN Trophy level so anything that makes it more appealing to gamers is a great thing and I'm going to keep a close eye on it. More people care about their total platinum count and overall completion percentage than Trophy level."
The other side to this story then is the extra emphasis placed on a Platinum Trophy. Unlocking one will do more for increasing your level than ever before, and it's here where Brian really starts to raise an issue. "My one concern has been the trend over the past few years of certain game publishers directly targeting Trophy hunters for profit. This is a practice of taking any game, sometimes mobile or cheap Steam titles, and porting it over to the PS4 with an extremely simple Platinum Trophy and charging just a few bucks. Oftentimes, these can be completed in, not hours, but minutes."
"These titles don't even require you to advance very far into the game before giving you the Platinum Trophy. To make it even worse, they list the game across multiple regions in hopes that you won't buy the game just once, but you'll buy the same game three times, each with their own unique Platinum Trophy."
Brian wishes to stress that these games do have their place and the aforementioned practice is fine for those who desire the type of experience they offer. But, as he points out, it wasn't all that long ago that PlayStation would deny smaller titles from having a full Trophy list. "Once My Name Is Mayo opened the floodgates to shovelware Platinums, some people started to lose the perceived "value" of Trophies. I demonstrated how broken it was when I Platinumed 50 different games in one day so I was a little taken back when they stated: "Platinum Trophies will count more toward your level progression, making them even more valuable." Bottom line, a 10 minute, $0.99 game made by a single person shouldn't be as valuable as the Red Dead Redemption 2 Platinum. It should be less and definitely not more."
Brian then goes on to say that it feels like the developers of these cheap titles containing an easy Platinum Trophy are being further incentivized if anything. "Those games should still exist, just without the predatory feeling that's associated with them. I could be wrong and maybe there's another layer to this I have yet to see."
As for the future, the professional Trophy hunter hopes Sony further improves the system with real-time statistics. "Similar to those end of the year emails that show off your past year's accomplishments but always available in the Trophy menu. My entire timeline was full of people sharing their Trophy emails. The earned media alone on social media should make this a no brainer." Brian points out, as we too have done in the past, that the likes of PSN Profiles is already using this data from the backend to display statistics to users. Trophy leaderboards is another feature on Brian's wishlist, something which is already available on Xbox One as users compete for the highest Gamerscore.
So, while it sounds like he does have some legitimate concerns, Brian is staying positive about the system update. "I know I sounded sceptical about the blog post but I'm genuinely excited for this. Trophies don't get much love from PlayStation themselves so anytime they talk about them, I get a little extra excited. I look forward to breaking it all down November 12th."
What do you make of Brian English's thoughts? Are you too concerned about the added importance of Platinum Trophies and what it could mean for the games that base their entire meaning around them? Debate away in the comments below.
Comments 49
Why not tether how many points a trophy offers to how many people have unlocked it? Because, as the guy in the article points out, the current layout of this system merely rewards predatory games aimed at trophy hunters, and sort of devalues the point total overall.
Yeah, you'd see a lot of 0% completions on my trophy list!
I knew it would be Brian!
@Ralizah Yeah, that reminds me of Steam where you can see your rarest trophies. I was stuck with a Confederate flag on my profile for months because my bloody brother won the Civil War in Civilization 5 with the Confederates and I got an apparently rare achievement for it.
I was level 27 before with 69 Platinums now I’m level 396 (I think)
If I can progress through the levels quicker that’s good. Before it took an absolute lifetime to go from one to another.
...and yet, other than for the purpose of stroking your own ego, the level (and Trophies/Achievements as a whole) still mean absolutely nothing.
@GamingFan4Lyf
While I would say it’s a nice system to have for those that enjoy it, trophies have never interested me.
Really interesting article, Liam. Was great to get Brian's perspective on this!
I used to be a trophy hunter until I became addicted to ESO. Now I’m addicted to ESO achievements. 🤷🏾♂️
Meh
Good for those who care about Trophies but it's one of the things I will be deactivating the second I get my new console. I'm all for playing games how developers intended but so many trophies are an excuse to entice people into Multiplayer or carry out pointless tasks. Not to mention how jarring the ping and pop up can be during an emotional moment (I'm looking at you Hellblade!). I never missed trophies when the 360 had them and the PS3 didn't and I don't care for them now still.
“Professional trophy hunter”
What a time to be alive
@Vacuumator Their value has decreased significantly since Microsoft first introduced the Achievement system - they used to actually be hard things to get....you know, actual achievements. They were something to actually brag about - and one actually needed to dedicate one self to actually unlock an Achievement. Heck, I think there were some games that didn't award an anything for finishing the game unless it was on Hard (or Very Hard) difficulty.
Just finishing the tutorial shouldn't award a darn thing. I can understand completing the game awarding something - especially since these days it doesn't look like people actually play games to completion any more.
Basically, what PlayStation gamers consider a Gold Trophy should be the only Trophies/Achievements that exist - and you get a Platinum for getting all of the Gold Trophies.
That's just my opinion. Even then, I still won't care about the whole system for the most part.
Granted, I do slightly care about getting Achievements on Xbox because of Game Pass Quest Points that tie into the Microsoft Reward Points that I can eventually use towards Xbox Gift Cards. Even then, all I have to do is is get an Achievement on a Game Pass game (unless the Quest specifically wants you to do something specific in a specific game).
That being said, if the whole system went away, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
@pip_muzz hey man, I'm sure you can disable the trophy pop up in settings. I'm sure I have seen it there, think it's under notification or something like that. I like trophies but agree sometime the pop up can be annoying especially if you are playing something like dirt rally which requires total concentration and that pops up and next thing you wreck your car lol.
How is somebody a professional trophy hunter, how do they get paid? Is from streaming and such like, people paying to watch the ‘hunting’?
Firstly... good article, and I agree with Brian, Trophies were initially a way of increasing gamer interaction with software, extracting extra "value" from a game. Very rapidly some publishers / developers saw it as a way to increase sales to a certain subset of gamer. Thing is, no matter the system, publishers will always find a way of targeting such individuals.
Secondly... you can be a professional trophy hunter? Where do I sign up? That sounds loads better than the rubbish I'm about to embark on... not jealous. Honest.
@nessisonett Oh no, that's terrible! And hilarious... but mostly terrible, as a person from the southeastern US.
I like collecting thropies but I don’t plat all my games. In a way I think I’m kinda addicted to completing games to a 100% if possibly and not extreeemly hard or grindy like for example in Black Ops 3.
I also make achievements up in my head the game on the Switch has none build in the game itself.
The only thing I want tho is just deleting your thropies even if it would meant lowering your level. This would be permenantly.
@BrintaPap I have a bunch of achievements where I beat the first boss or whatever, stopped playing, and have 1% trophies and would just prefer to pretend I didn't even start the game. I get it.
Good articles. For me, the reason why I like to get platinum trophy is to extend my playtime for the games I love, so I have reason to replay it or to explore the game settings. Games like transistor which I immediately replay to get the plat, shantae half-genie hero, nier automata, god of war and others games.
Can someone please explain why trophies are 'valuable'. I play PS4 games for fun and have never even noticed or took notice as to which trophies I've unlocked.
Do Platinum trophies have an actual value or is it all just for bragging rights...
@Daleaf yes. After Hellblade I actually turned off the notifications and sounds and all. You can't disable them fully, but the only way to view my trophies is to physically view them in the menu now. Makes life gaming so much simpler. Apparently the trophies I unlock still show in my news feed, so people can still see them, but for me they're now out of sight and out of mind. Did the same in my Xbox as well. Considering games like Spiderman PS4 hand out the platinum for not having to even complete the game fully (best rankings on all challenges as an example) I'd argue I get even more playtime ignoring trophies than I do by viewing them
@GravyThief He has a YouTube channel with
guides to complete trophies.
@Vyns it’s all personal preference, some people like extra challenge of collecting them. Others couldn’t care less.
There was an incentive to get them in USA where earned reward points to use in a store but I think that got discontinued. If that was brought back world wide it would be certainly worth more getting them.
@Ralizah agreed... have it just like in ready player one the first to get the trophy gets the most points. The number of points awarded should be fixed but get bonus for being first.
I would love it if ya got some kinda store credit for say gold and even more if ya platinum a game. It could be something more people got involved in. I am always trophy 🏆 hunting
I was level 27 then it cha ged to level 396 of which I was 26%. Then I just got a trophy and went to check and now I’m back on the old trophy system and level 27 again?
@B-I-G-DEVIL Thanks for that.
@Vyns
It’s not in the slightest bit about “bragging rights”. I wouldn’t even know who to “brag” to.
They are developer designed tasks that can be literally anything; challenges which can be completely isolated from the story’s narrative or the ideal gameplay strategy and, for example, encourage a different way of playing a level. Or, yes, they can be tasks to add difficulty, such as beating a boss with only a base weapon or within a certain time.
These tasks are completely optional, but they are no more or less “valuable” as you put it, than other extraneous tasks a developer may give in a game, such as getting 3 stars in a level rather than 2 for no benefit.
If I really like a game I’ll try to do these extra challenges the developer gives me, if I don’t like the game I won’t (I have only got plat/100% on around 40% of the games I play).
Sometime these challenges can be more fun than other in game tasks. For example, they can give something to aim for in games like NMS, or even things to keep you occupied when playing games like Rocket League (score an aerial goal or whatever, which actually would never come up during standard gameplay)
They are also a nice record of my gaming history over the last 7 years. I can look through my games and remember tough challenges overcome or weird tasks completed.
Ultimately, they are no more or less important than an NPC in a game giving a task and then “rewarding” you with a terrible weapon or piece of armour. The point of playing is not the reward, but the fun snd challenge of the experience.
Have you never finished a game and thought “I wish that hadn’t ended so soon, I want to spend more time doing things in this world” well maybe look at some of these challenges the developer has given you, and forget the connotation the word “trophy” has.
Brian's trophy guides are second to none. Powerpyx are also excellent but lack the commentary that makes Brian top imo.
@Pandalulz yup or family that plays your games.
@thefourfoldroot Good gracious. Thanks very much for explaining to people who thinks it's all about some bragging rights or it being pointless. Yeah some bragging rights comes with it somewhat, but the point mainly is replayability.
I mean see typical Dishonored trophies like:
I'm not thinking about bragging rights foremost when I see trophies like this. I see replayability, different play styles otherwise I wouldn't have bothered with, more reasons to play and find all paintings or secrets. It increases longevity in the long run for a game you spent good money on.
@OutspokenGamer I mean, that would be pretty sweet. It would put pressure on Sony to vet trophies to prevent these "easy Plat" games from popping up in an attempt to Game the system.
It might also mean that Trophies would actually become challenges again - because Sony won't hand out free games to people for just finishing the tutorial on a bunch of games.
And third, I might actually care about them.
it's just like big grinding game inside the trophy system to get Platinum icon next to your level. no thanks I will keep playing quality games.
and thanks sony to support cheap publishers to abuse the trophy system.
@nessisonett Coming from such a PC person, that's hilarious!
@Ralizah You have websites for that. I personally used metagamerscore because it also tracks most other systems.
@Vyns For me, trophies and achievements are a big metagame that I really like, just like you could be passionate about any particular game. The trinkets in themselves are pointless, but with resources like psnprofiles and metagamerscore it becomes quite addictive.
It's like playing an IRL version of a cool rpg where the grind is acquiring trophies and achievements.
It's also like an old school arcade game with the online leaderboards.
It is also like a sport game with all the stats and graphs you can look at: completion rate, number of trophies per day, average score, etc.
It is also like a cool logbook of your gaming adventures. Some trophies / achievements have cool memories attached to them and you can more easily get access to those memories that way.
It is also nostalgic for me because it reminds me of myself as a kid when I was playing Mega Man 2 or Super Mario Bros 3 again and again and I would give myself challenges to make the game more fun or to hone my skills. You now have resources like retroachievements so you can do judt that. You can play 30 years old games with added trophies via emulation. It can be a ton of fun.
Anyways, sorry for the wall of text. If you need to remember one thing, it should be that I like trophies because I find them FUN.
@Turbodream supporting silly games for digital trophy is so dumb behavior and sure as hell indicate that who playing them not a quality player.
@nessisonett F in the chat for this poor soul
Professional trophy hunter? So is this his actual job? Ime confused?
Playing bad cheap games just to collect trophies is as bad as wasting time with one of the many crappy games on our phones.
I haven't a clue what level I am or if I have any. Where can one find out?
@wiiware Same. I usually finish the game then go for the Platinum if I really enjoyed the game. I also make goals if I really loved the game. Like the 500 Legend of legends badges in Death Stranding. The only game I Platinumed on finish is Maneater, I just couldn't resist clearing all the areas. Gods that game was a lot of fun. XD
In any case I like the new trophy system, it just seems like more fun.
To me sometime weird happened. Yesterday I was on the new system with level 207, today I'm back on the old one with 12.
I do not understand what the heck is up with that. LOL.
@HellOfaHunter Well, people complaining about what games other people play are pathetic.
Ironically, the only bragging I see is from a bunch of insecure naggers bragging about the quality of the games they play.
I don't even know why you replied to my comment. It has nothing to do with mine. All I was saying is that people that like trophies like them because it's fun for them (for various reasons).
Anyways, nobody cares about your number of platinums. If someone want to plat Hannah Montana it's their prerogative.
@Salt_AU Not a bad idea in theory, but in practice it would mean that most players would loose points down the line, since rarity tends to drop with time and accessibility (sales, giveaway, popularity). Sony would probably not want a system where some players can loose a level, espevially now that the scale is way bigger (1-999) (even if rarely happening).
Also, a game rarity can vary greatly just by the database you use. Sony rarity stats are always way higher (more rare) than dedicated servers like psnprofiles.
I have achievements on Steam that are marked as very rare just because the game I played was very niche.
Your system would probably just push people to play niche and obscure games to game the score.
@thefourfoldroot Awesome comment. I see you. It's exactly how I feel. A great way to add extra gameplay to games I already love.
@Turbodream
This too. Nice comment.
I like trophies, but not the new system. Players who were maxed are still maxed. Also, giving more weight to platinums does nothing for me. I’d rather pass on to the next game than waste many hours on a platinum trophy. Finally, those games (from Ratalaika and others) people are dissing, may have easy trophies but most are really fun to play and many are a throwback to simpler times.
@Stocksy Brian isn't a trophy hunter for fun, he does guides and his channel is pretty big with over 900k subs.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2tHrgdOPDtQRidMS946Fw
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