Remove online achievements from games that have no servers online.

[LU]

Some games are no longer online and as such players can never gain 100% of those games' achievements.

When a game takes it's servers down or goes offline, the achievements requiring that connection should also be removed. Not from users accounts who have them, but just from the calculation for total achievement percentage.

My suggestion is to implement a flag in the system on achievements that require server/online connection, and a check periodically to verify or some way for users to report dead servers.

There are also games that are "online" still technically, but there are no players in lobbies to join with. A reporting system for dead servers would address both of these issues.

[Crazy Tiger]

Up to the game devs/publishers, actually. Contact them.

That said, being arbitrary in what does or does not skew the count just shows how achievements don't actually have value...

[Gwarsbane]

Valve is not going to do that because its beyond their contact. If you want them removed, contact the game developer by posting in the games discussion area or find some other way to contact them.

Chances of it happening are pretty much zero. So either get used to not having 100% for a game, which doesn't matter, or ask before you buy a game to see if there are any achievements that require internet access/online servers and don't buy the ones that do.

[LU]

Thanks for the replies, but this is a Suggestion / Idea, not an invitation to discuss the perceived value of achievements.

Value is subjective. And I absolutely value the ability to look across my library and see what titles I've completed, and to what degree versus others. This helps me in choosing what games to start/finish, especially in combination with HLTB stats, etc. I also find it useful to sort titles by achievement % so I can keep track of where I am and manage my time effectively, thus giving the data point "value" to me.

I disagree with the assertion that Valve does not control its own achievements database, especially for many games that have no achievements on other platforms, or differ between them. Valve absolutely can edit this data on their end, whether initially vendor created or not.

In that Valve is actively supporting old games, linux gaming, etc. to push Steam Deck, I don't think it's a stretch they might take some interest in this. If not, so be it. But it's worth suggesting the idea.

Because you know what a Suggestion / Idea board needs? "Suggestions" and "Ideas".

And you know what it doesn't need? Your replies.

[Yzal]

Valve is not gonna touch someone else's game period because that's how you get sued.

Originally posted by LU:

Because you know what a Suggestion / Idea board needs? "Suggestions" and "Ideas".

And you know what it doesn't need? Your replies. :nonplussed_creep:

You know what this place is first and foremost? a forum.
And you what it doesn't need? a literal nobody telling people where they can or can't post when Valve already made pretty clear how it works

Everyone is invited! The Steam discussions are for everyone, new and advanced user alike!

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/

[Gwarsbane]

Originally posted by LU:

Thanks for the replies, but this is a Suggestion / Idea, not an invitation to discuss the perceived value of achievements.

Value is subjective. And I absolutely value the ability to look across my library and see what titles I've completed, and to what degree versus others. This helps me in choosing what games to start/finish, especially in combination with HLTB stats, etc. I also find it useful to sort titles by achievement % so I can keep track of where I am and manage my time effectively, thus giving the data point "value" to me.

I disagree with the assertion that Valve does not control its own achievements database, especially for many games that have no achievements on other platforms, or differ between them. Valve absolutely can edit this data on their end, whether initially vendor created or not.

In that Valve is actively supporting old games, linux gaming, etc. to push Steam Deck, I don't think it's a stretch they might take some interest in this. If not, so be it. But it's worth suggesting the idea.

Because you know what a Suggestion / Idea board needs? "Suggestions" and "Ideas".

And you know what it doesn't need? Your replies. :nonplussed_creep:

This is the Steam USER DISCUSSION area... where USERS like us, DISCUSS the ideas posted by other USERS.

If Valve didn't want us to DISCUSS stuff, they would have a submission box where you could put it in and it would just go to them... but they don't and in 20+ years of having forums... they haven't decided to set something up like that.

If you don't want people to point out problems with your suggestion or people to discuss your suggestion then don't post your suggestion on a USER DISCUSSION forum.

And again Valve will not remove stuff when it breaks no rules. Not being able to get an achievement because the online servers can't be accessed anymore is not against the rules and you not being able to get 100% of the achievements because that 1 achievement can't be gained while others do have it because they were playing the game when there was online servers is not against the rules.

So Valve is not going to mess with the achievements the game dev setup.

[LU]

Yes, this is a discussion forum. As such it has some useful guidelines on participating in the discussion. I invite you to read them. There is a link on this very page for you to do so, but here's the gist:

Be respectful of yourself and other players
Interactions with other players should not be abusive, disparaging, or inflammatory, nor create an environment that is unwelcoming.

Examples of disrespectful content include:
Insults or harassment (like calling someone a literal nobody?)

Be constructive and avoid off-topic content
Hubs and discussion threads all have their own purpose & topic. Make sure that contributions are relevant and constructive.

Examples of off-topic content include:
Spamming
Posting topics in incorrect hubs (this you?)
Re-posting closed, modified or deleted content
Derailing a discussion or topic (yea, this you)
Bumping threads

I never said what anyone should or shouldn't be posting (but actually Valve did in the Rules and Guidelines). What I said was that your off-topic and negative comments were not needed.

Was your post constructive? Was it respectful? Did your post contribute to this topic?

Or, did you jump on an achievement suggestion thread to just say achievements have no value and Valve won't do it anyway?

Perhaps start your own discussion as to the merits of achievements, or Valves willingness to hear suggestions.

The topic of this thread is in the title.

Before your next post, perhaps be willing to consider: are you about to be respectful and contribute to a human conversation?

Or are you about to insult and disparage someone for having an idea that doesn't match your own?

[Pierce Dalton]

If that's so important to you, use SAM to complete your achievs. No, Valve doesn't care.

Outnumbered but never outgunned, I like you.

[LU]

See, now that's how you contribute to a conversation constructively. Thank you!

My suggestion to Valve stands, as I do think it's in their interest and certainly within their control. They have purged games and achievements before, so we know it can be done.

With so many titles in the library now and in some cases years from original purchase, this is an issue (albeit minor) for us folks trying to tackle their backlogs with new Steam Decks. As for priority, I'm sure it is quite low for Valve, but that's why the suggestion.

I do see I could fix my library sort issues with the SAM option, thanks for the tip. Though, I'd usually rather not mess around with trainers, cheat engines, etc. on my actual owned games, it does seem like everyone is still getting away with SAM for this purpose.

Just would be nice to be able to show old games as "complete" in the shelf without hacking anything.

[Pierce Dalton]

Originally posted by LU:

See, now that's how you contribute to a conversation constructively. Thank you!

My suggestion to Valve stands, as I do think it's in their interest and certainly within their control. They have purged games and achievements before, so we know it can be done.

With so many titles in the library now and in some cases years from original purchase, this is an issue (albeit minor) for us folks trying to tackle their backlogs with new Steam Decks. As for priority, I'm sure it is quite low for Valve, but that's why the suggestion.

I do see I could fix my library sort issues with the SAM option, thanks for the tip. Though, I'd usually rather not mess around with trainers, cheat engines, etc. on my actual owned games, it does seem like everyone is still getting away with SAM for this purpose.

Just would be nice to be able to show old games as "complete" in the shelf without hacking anything.

You're welcome. I've heard that there are ways to do that without SAM too, I wouldn't be able to tell you how but I'm sure Google is. You shouldn't feel bad about it because that's the only way to get certain achievements.

[Cellsiuss]

you are asking for something impossible.

first of all, developers make idiotic achievements that are practically impossible to do all the time, even in single player games, or you have to waste hundreds of hours in a game that takes 5 hours to complete. and i say this to make one thing clear - 90% of developers dont give a damn whether achievements in their game work and whether they can be done. so asking them to take care of their games misses the point.

and on the other hand there is valve.
valve sells games that have been in early access for over 10 years and will never be finished.
valve sells games that dont work anymore.
so believe in one thing - valve doesnt care about achievements that dont work anymore and every time you write to them about it, they will refer you to developer because 'its not their game'.

so asking someone to check hundreds of thousands of games and disable achievements misses the point. no one will do it.

best solution what can i think of would be to ban multiplayer achievements in which multiplayer is not the main game mode, for example like in doom 2016. developer would have to choose if their game is mainly single or multiplayer and make achievements for that mode. thats the only solution that would be simple enough for valve to consider and so no one would have to verify anything later.

[ꉔꏂ꒐꒒ꇙ]

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

If that's so important to you, use SAM to complete your achievs. No, Valve doesn't care.

If it's important to a person, why would they cheat? it would be meaningless if they did it that way. Just because some people use SAM or whatever doesn't mean others will or would want to.

Edit: As for the OP, I think that is a good suggestion. Removing Achievements that are no longer possible to Achieve because of this/that reason.

They should just keep Online/Multiplayer only Achievements separated or something. But since Devs don't bother separating (or don't know how to) base game and DLC Achievements (on Steam, but on consoles its fine) I doubt they'd bother removing these online only Achievements.

[HikariLight]

Removing the impossible achievements would still require the devs of the game to remove them.
Steam cannot remove what they do not own.
Yelling at Valve to do something they cannot do is a waste of time.
Go yell at the devs that shut down the online portion of the game OR learn to do some proper research BEFORE you buy the game.
Also achievements have NO value, you get nothing other than useless bragging rights.

[Gwarsbane]

Valve is in a no win situation here...

Do nothing, get yelled at achievement hunters who want 100% but can't because they are too late.

Remove the achievement on Steam only (which is all they can do) and then achievement hunters who got the achievement scream at Valve because they took away something they earned just to stop people like OP from screaming at Valve. Valve could also make it so that it shows achievement hunters who did get it have 101%... at which people people are going to be screaming at Valve about all the cheaters who have 101%....

They might also get yelled at by the game devs because "they put the achievements in and Valve is taking something away from those who earned it and its not up to Valve to mess with stuff like that.



So I very much doubt Valve is going to do anything of the sort. If you can't get the achievement that too bad, you are always going to have 99% and just deal with it, or use SAM (or some other method) to get that one last achievement that you can no longer get and just deal with the fact you cheated to get 100%.

[davidb11]

Insulting and attacking everyone who explained to you why this is a bad idea is not a good move on your part, LU.

Don't be like this.

Valve literally doesn't have the power to do what you want.
They don't control the games.

Ergo, they can't edit them, or alter them.
That is a breach of contract.

[William Shakesman]

Always amusing seeing the people on the forums completely unable to understand why inserting themselves into suggestions directed to Valve and redirecting the discussion to their pet issues comes across badly to the majority of folks not from this board.