Xbox Live (XBL) introduced most of us to the world of online achievements. In every game you play there are anywhere from 200 to 1,000 points you could earn for many different things. Reaching a milestone (like finishing a chapter, slaying a boss, etc.) award points along with collecting a certain amount of items, gaining a certain amount of points, and other achievements in the game. A good example would be in the game Halo 3 where clearing any mission on a normal or high difficulty or Guitar Hero III where beating the most difficult song (Through the Fire and Flames) on the hardest difficulty grants an achievement.

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The achievement window.

Since the introduction of XBL many games have followed suit by adding in ways for you to track whenever you do something noteworthy and some follow through by adding a way for you to show the world online. Even right now I’m able to display my “awesomeness” by linking anyone to my Xbox Live account’s gamercard one of the many services that allow you to show others your score.

World of Warcraft is going to be following suit by having their own form of achievements. They will not being part of the infamous Micrsoft Xbox Live service but they’re very similar. Actions such as living through a very long free fall, killing instance bosses, obtaining a certain amount of gold, and other similar feats will give you a certain amount of points that you can view both in game and show others on the armory. Much like the games on XBL you’ll find that many of the points are just given to you for your dedication to the game. Hit level 10? Have some points. Hit level 20? Have some more.

To get an achievement score higher than others you’ll find that you’ll have to go out of your way to score some of them and this is where the score becomes important. Everyone can easily get the points for leveling up, clearing 5-man instance bosses, farming gold, reading books, and getting haircuts. Everyone can’t get the points for the 25-man raid dungeons and the others can be a near endless grind (reputation at exalted with everyone is the longest one I assume). So those who go out of their way can boost their scores higher than the average player to something brag worthy. Gaining every achievement would mean that you’ve got something powerful to show (or even a really high one).

Here are some examples of achievements that you can obtain. This information is fresh from the latest build of the beta so it’s probably going to change from the live game. There are a total of 445 current achievements and I'm sure more will be added and many removed between now and launch. This is to give you a general overview on what kinds of things are consider achievements. Keep a look out for a more detailed list of things you can start work on now coming in the near future here at Ten Ton Hammer.

General: In the general category you have most of your random and miscellaneous achievements. Some are rather easy like obtaining a non-combat pet, falling really far without dying, owning a tabard, the riding skills, reaching level 10/20/30/etc, and weapon skills.

Quests: The quest category you have 1,000 to 1,500 quests as the top ones with daily quests, nesingwary, gold rewards from quests, and completing a certain amount of quests in certain zones.

Exploration: Exploring zones to 100%.

PvP: Full of achievements that range from getting a certain number of honorable kills, getting the killing blow on certain classes and battleground specific ones (like getting a Frostwolf Howler and taking 50 graveyards in Alterac Valley).

Dungeons & Raids: Basically killing certain bosses on certain difficulties grants you certain achievements. A funny note about the beta is a temporary achievement for soloing Onyxia.

Professions: Getting to certain skill levels of professions get the major ones where as there is currently some specific ones to Cooking, Fishing, and First Aid. Fishing up certain items, bandaging at certain times, and a Portal reference with an achievement named “The Cake Is Not A Lie” where the goal is to bake a delicious chocolate cake.

Reputation: Gaining exalted with various reputations give the majority of these.

World Events: Doing things during most holidays give you achievement points.

Feats of Strength: None known by me currently. It looks like it’ll be things that you do that are noteworthy but won’t give you any points.

That’s what achievements currently look like in the beta. They’re probably going to change a lot between now and launch since a lot of the content isn’t finalized. From what we’re able to see they look pretty sweet though! Stay tuned to Ten Ton Hammer for more previews from the beta.

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