World of Warcraft’s achievements system will launch
with more than 500 individual achievements covering every aspect of
gameplay, including world exploration, PvE, PvP, professions, and
character development; from the purely whimsical to the truly epic,
there will be something for everyone. Some achievements come with
in-game rewards such as tabards, vanity pets, and titles. All of these
rewards are purely cosmetic and just for fun, but you’ll certainly
stand out when you proudly display them.
The top of the window displays the total number of points you’ve received for completing achievements. Below, each achievement appears with its name, description, point value, the completion date, and a progress bar (if applicable). Some achievements expand to display a list of individual components, highlighted to show which parts you’ve finished. You can also designate which achievements to track as you play, similar to the existing quest tracker. An important design goal is to provide players with everything they need to know to unlock an achievement.
It’s great to be able to see your own achievements -- but it’s even better to let the world know what you’ve accomplished. By right-clicking other players and selecting the appropriate option, you can compare your achievements to theirs. Every time you earn a new achievement, your accomplishment is announced to your guild and everyone in your immediate vicinity -- and the custom achievement animation and sound effect are unmistakable. Also, your achievements will be viewable on the Armory, allowing you to track and show off your accomplishments via the web.
Types and Categories of Achievements
World of Warcraft’s achievements come in several varieties. Some simply require specific actions to unlock, such as getting a haircut or defeating a member of each race in your opposing faction in PvP. Others involve a progress bar and require you to do something several times -- such as give out 10 hugs. Some achievements are progressive; for example, once you complete an achievement to collect 10 vanity pets, you might next be asked to collect 25. Finally, meta achievements unlock when you complete other achievements -- unlocking all World Exploration achievements (see below) unlocks a World Explorer meta achievement. Some achievements, including those that involve quests, honorable kills, items currently in your possession, skills (including professions), exploration, and reputations, will be applied to your character retroactively.-
Player-vs.-Player: This includes arena, battlegrounds, and world player-vs.-player objectives. A few examples:
-
Hot Streak: Win 10 ranked arena matches in a row.
-
Alterac Valley All-Star: Capture graveyards, towers, and kill the enemy leader all in one game.
-
City Defender: Kill 50 enemy players in your faction’s capital cities.
-
-
Dungeons and Raids: Every end boss of every raid and dungeon in the game grants its own achievement. Future achievements in this category may include ones for completing a run without any player deaths, with fewer than the maximum number of players, or within a certain time limit.
-
Professions: Advancing to each tier of mastery in a profession earns you an achievement, and there are specific achievements for secondary skills (with major professions to follow).
-
Quests: Quest-based achievements include completing a certain number of quests and completing specific quest lines. This category contains zone-specific subcategories.
-
Events: Seasonal events such as the Midsummer Festival, the Lunar Festival, and Hallows’ End have specific achievements of their own.
-
World Exploration: You’ll earn achievements by exploring each zone in the game -- and get meta-achievements when you fully explore a continent.
-
Reputations: This set of achievements includes attaining exalted reputation with each faction in the game.
-
General: These achievements tend toward the whimsical, including getting a shave and haircut (a new feature of Wrath of the Lich King), obtaining a certain number of tabards and vanity pets, falling from a great height, and more.>


