Death to the collector!

[Pete for President]

GTAIII introduced one of the most popular sidequests in videogames: hidden packages. And it fitted the scene just right - an open world for you to explore every nook and cranny, rewarding the player in doing so. In a world that big they couldn't just throw hundreds of random weapon rewards everywhere. Something more abstract was needed and therefore the very rewarding hidden packages came to life.

But now, so many years later, this form of sidequest has been abused as a lame excuse of bonus material so many times I have lost count. Shooters in particular suffer heavily from this. It gets as bizarre as "Collect all Intel" (MW2) and "Collect all Helghan Intel" (Killzone 2) - two exactly the same types of 'side missions' in two competitive games! There is absolutely no effort taken to set one apart from one another using bonus material. And the list goes on: Killzone 2 also has Helghan symbols to destroy in similar fashion, and I just read on IGN that Homefront has newspapers to collect. Seriously?

It is pure developer lazyness to throw in a sidequest like that and just assume the player is willing to explore the world they have created, sometimes even without any reward in gameplay.

I think this outdated assumption must be put to rest. Developers should think of more refreshing extra's to motivate and reward their players, enhancing the world and the game they wish us to get lost in.

What did or did you not collect? What do you think fitting sidequests would be for specific games? Discuss!

[kotora]

Well they're console shooters, that's all the depth you're gonna get. I usually don't bother that stuff because usually the reward is just a stupid achievement and if it's some kind of cutscene I can always watch it on youtube if I want.

[Jiro]

I hate collecting hidden packages. I usually just look them up on a guide after I finish the game because I'm a perfectionist. However, when you get games that give you 100 damn things to collect, I saw "no smurf you" and don't bother. It's a lame way to make things longer and, really, gives you nothing worth the effort.

[Iceglow]

I was disappointed that this wasn't a Mass Effect 2 thread.

That being said it depends on the game as to whether it's worth it. In CoD collecting the intel was just a case of paying attention as you blast through one area to the next the laptops aren't that hard to find.

Stuff like "killing all 100 flying rats in Liberty City" or Collecting all 100 flags in Assassins Creed however are annoying as hell. Especially since Assassins Creed did that not once, but about 6 times!

[Pete for President]

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Stuff like "killing all 100 flying rats in Liberty City" or Collecting all 100 flags in Assassins Creed however are annoying as hell. Especially since Assassins Creed did that not once, but about 6 times!

Assassins Creed probably takes the cake in this indeed. That world has so many options for sidequests, but they've actually used none of that potential. The crusaders to fight were a challenge now and then though.

San Andreas was quite extreme too, having different collectibles in each area. The oysters were ridiculous.

[theundeadhero]

GTA wasn't the first game by far to have this. You could easily say it was just another game that threw in collection quests. They just did it well.