Wizards of the Coast has announced the launching of its new Beta program for achievements in Planeswalkers Points.  In addition to providing a new more accurate system to track a player’s success in Magic: The Gathering competitions, the new site adds new player goals in the form of "achievements" that can earned and that will provide players with special electronic badges for their MTG profile. 

The new system allows Magic: The Gathering players to keep a handy record of their accomplishments in the game, a record that can be easily shared with friends and fellow players via social media (Facebook and Twitter), and which rewards players, not just for winning, but also for other accomplishments (see "'Magic's' New 'Planeswalkers Points' System" for more on the new system).  To participate in the program Magic players just need to attend a MTG event at their local hobby game store and ask for a DCI membership card.  Then the player just has to go to the Planeswalker Points website and set up his or her account.

 

When the player subsequently logs in to the Planeswalker Points system, he or she will find that the player’s homepage has been augmented with a new achievements tracker.  When a player earns an achievement, the badge for that particular achievement will show up on the player’s home page and in the Achievements Beta tab.  Unlike the Planeswalkers Points, which will include a player’s past accomplishments in the game (which will be automatically transferred to the new Planeswalkers Points system), the achievements will not be retroactive.  Players won’t get credit towards achievements based on what they have done in the past, but they will be able to start earning their achievements right away.

 

Players will be able to personalize what achievements are displayed when they share their MTG profile or when another user visits their page.  The designers of the cool badges awarded for the accumulation of points and achievements have made full use of the extensive library of MTG art to create striking designs that cover a wide range of different achievements.

 

Among the various types of achievements available are "series achievements," which represent three levels of accomplishment all centered around one kind of activity with the badges progressing in a logical "easy," "medium," "hard" manner.  As a player progresses the badge changes to reflect the levels earned.

 

Other achievements such as "Format Novice," "Format Adept," and "Format Master," reward the mastery of MTG’s various sanctioned formats, while the "Store Squire," "Store Knight," "Store Hero" badges reward players for attending Magic events at their local hobby store.  "Glory Seeker" badges reward newer players by marking their acclimation to organized play after their 100th sanctioned match, while "Relentless Dedication" is a sort of roll-up achievement that marks a longtime player’s success in a number of areas.

 

WotC has also included "Cumulative Achievements" badges to incorporate the full history of a player’s accomplishments, and then there is also a special category of "One-Shot Achievements" that players can earn only once, and which remain hidden until a player has done so.