Minecraft’s Creator Ponders Adding Achievements

Noting that a lot of people dislike achievements, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson says he's still a fan of them, and thinks they could be useful to his runaway indie hit as a type of guide leading newcomers through the game, rather than implementing a heavy-handed tutorial that stifles creativity.

"I've had the idea to make achievements kind of like the in-game questing," Persson told Indie Games. "So you'd be able to see the first achievement in a tree of achievements, and you have to unlock the top ones first before you can unlock the ones further down."

The first achievement "tree" might concern basic tasks, like chopping down a tree or killing livestock, and then using the resources to complete other achievement-oriented tasks. "Hopefully it would encourage people to try new areas," Persson said.

He thinks that the paths could then "converge into a big task, like kill a dragon or something, which would put a kind of narrative into the achievement tree."

Interview: Markus Persson On Bringing Achievements to Minecraft [Indie Gamer, via VG247]