Manual Unlock Requirements

From an end-user perspective, the manual unlock procedure via website isn't set up well at all. I followed your guidelines earlier this year (https://docs.retroachievements.org/general/faq.html#how-do-i-request-a-manual-unlock) for a broken achievement and never received a response or unlock. I eventually went on to unlock the achievement in another playthrough almost a week later.

If the volume of requests makes responses impossible, that suggests the current system is in need of a formal implementation on the website such that players have the peace of mind that these requests are handled appropriately.

get in contact with the person who denied it to hear the reasons why

Who are you telling us to contact? The message are, according to your own documentation, going to RAdmin. There's no person to message and no documentation of who denied the unlock request.

I have requested some manual unlocks through discord, usually because the achievement pops up on retroarch but does not get registered online. I don't have this problem with dolphin or pcsx2, it mostly happens to me with retroarch or ppsspp.

Who are you telling us to contact?
The listed moderators can see who handled the manual unlock request.

One thing that can help, the possibility to change the owner of the game if the developer is not available anymore.

I have made the Virtua Racing achievement a long time ago and i am not have the developer status anymore, but i see tickets for me but i can't change that.

People think that i can unlock the achievements because i am the last developer.

I had requested a manual unlock for

A Mini Ship (4)

using the new system ticket option "The achievement triggered, but the unlock didn't appear on my profile." and it never asked me the usual things like "Emulator version" or "type of achievement". So the achievement was unlocked in hardcore when it should have been in softcore.

The template should probably read "(Provide link to video/screenshot showing evidence and if the achievement is hardcore or softcore)" instead of just "(Provide link to video/screenshot showing evidence)" to prevent issues like that reoccurring. I know now, but not many people will on first use.

This was the message I sent to RAdmin using the new system:

I'd like a manual unlock for

A Mini Ship (4)

:
I saw the achievement unlock when I first got the canoe over a week ago but it never showed up on my profile.

I can provide a save state to show the canoe in my inventory, or post a screenshot of the canoe in use.
EDIT: Changed some wording as I realized this was talking about requesting through Discord but still think what I said has some merit.

Thank you for this.

In cases where we're playing on a mobile device and suddenly lose connection, is a photo of the retroarch menu displaying the unlocked achievement good enough?

This isn't just an issue with retro achievements in general. This goes for PlayStation, Steam, Xbox also have this very issue. I even went through their proper channels as well. I ended up having to replay the game with the problem all over again. This can be annoying as the newer the game. The longer the gameplay to get that achievement is. I've had this very problem with RetroArch where achievements have been unlocking in softcore instead of hardcore. I have had issues with PAC-MAN championships edition, Banjo-Tooie on xbox. Digimon cyber sleuth on Playstation network for PS Vita. And sonic Adventure 2 battle on steam. Specifically the chao race achievement on that one. So no platform in general is perfect. Usually if Internet is an issue in itself. But as games get ever longer in playtime these days. One has to wonder why their can't be a non server side for unlocking and then updating the achievement system when connection is reestablished.

Now I wish to ask for a feature request related to this. Can one ask for their completed achievements in Archive or offline form. Internet in my area has been not reliable. It would be nice to be able to store it off site. This would not only solve the achievement not unlocking problem if stored on a machine running achievements. But would also be a way to show friends and family if connections are poor for what you have accomplished on this platform. Just saying it would solve a lot of headaches in the end. I know other platforms will always be online only even for that PS Vita Portable. So if your out in the middle of no where those achievements will never unlock without another playthrough. Since this is open source this shouldn't be an issue here. Thanks in advance.

I have problems with playing Gex 3 deep cover gecko with achievements not unlocked with Et Tu Gecko With collecting Fly Remotes, Collectables
Here Comes The Gexonaut! But I’m using mupenplusnext we can’t mastering this game until to gets issue fixes.

Yo tengo un set que sus logros algunos simplemente no se desbloquean, y no sé hizo nada al respecto. El set en cuestión es "Lego Star wars 2 psp"

In cases where we're playing on a mobile device and suddenly lose connection, is a photo of the retroarch menu displaying the unlocked achievement good enough?

Yes, if the screenshot shows it was unlocked, this counts as proof for us.

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In general, we do not mind the amount of achievements a user requests, as long they deserve the unlock. So if you live in a location with bad internet and your emulator can't sync your profile even after multiple tries that can't be changed and you are fine to request unlocks for all of them. This forum post is just about you needing to actually give us all information we need.

In the end you guys wants us to do something, but sometimes the reports miss 90% of the information and we don't have enough people, time nor motivation to message like 30 people a day to say what is missing. If you are one of the people that fill in all correctly like above you will most likely get the unlock within a few days and all is good.

If you are one of the people that fill in all correctly like above you will most likely get the unlock within a few days and all is good.

As I said in my initial message, I'm one of the people who correctly filled out a manual unlock request and it was ignored or erroneously closed with no response. The current system's lack of transparency simply doesn't work for players who need to use it.

I'm begging RA to endeavor to improve the system so it functions in the same manner as a ticket system, where users can track and respond to the actions that are taken in response to manual unlock requests.

Everyone in the team, as well as website developers, are volunteers and work on what they think makes the most sense for them or what they want to work on.
We are aware that the current system is not a good one and already have something planned, but making it a reality takes a lot of time and a few database changes. We can't say when a new system will be implemented, but be aware that the lack of transparency is not only affecting you. For our team it is hard to say what was already addressed and so it can rarely happen that a request simply got missed.

That said, if you are sure something went wrong with your requests, please shoot a new message to RAdmin - either new request or even just a reminder message in the old conversation - so it pops up in our inbox again and we can handle everything from there.

We are aware that the current system is not a good one and already have something planned, but making it a reality takes a lot of time and a few database changes

I can appreciate a better system will take time to implement, I just wanted to make clear that the current system doesn't work for players a lot of the time. A number of other people I discuss RA with have their own stories of manual unlocks being ignored over the last few years. It's a rather common experience it seems, and an understatement to call it something of a mess in its current implementation. It's understandable since this presumably started as a courtesy to players that grew into more of a core function. But hopefully a new system will eventually be able to address these transparency issues to make things simpler and more transparent for players.

if you are sure something went wrong with your requests, please shoot a new message to RAdmin

As discussed in my first message, I earned the offending achievement roughly a week later in a 2nd playthrough so it's no longer a pending issue. If you'd like any more information so you can understand why it was erroneously closed or ignored to prevent the issue from reoccurring, you're welcome to DM me.