MoonlitSunshine

Personally, I really like them. If someone doesn't play a game cause they're worried about not getting the achievements, that's their loss! I never play a game to 100% (though I often do if I like the game) I play the game to enjoy it, and the achievements just give me yet another level of thing to try and do! I often used to find myself setting myself goals and achievements on old games as it was, so all they did was just give me some pre-set achievements as well :P

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Mr November

I'm more into story based games than achievement oriented ones. I collect the trophies but I'd just get rid of them if I could save 3 seconds of load time. But all in all, I like them.

RVCA

For me, achievements represent the dark side of gaming. They represent the shift away from videogames purely as a leisure activity designed for enjoyment... towards addictive, competitive, and compulsive gaming that brings out the worst in people. I'm not just talking about trophies and points, I'm also talking about games that track medals, statistics, hours played, etc. The mark of a great videogame (and consequently, the mark of great videogaming) is one that engages me purely for its entertainment value and no other reason.

Insane Guest

How about classic arcade and retro games with High-Scores? There has always been some form of competitive gaming in games. Now they just reward for going above and beyond in a game. While I understand that some people focus purely on the fact that those points represent how "good" you are, it's still all good fun. Achievements and Trophys take gaming a step further, you don't have to go with it, you can play a game and ignore the achievement list, and still have fun. You choose what type of gamer you want to be, one that wants to focus on the original reason games where made, which is pure-semi competitive fun, or you can stride to be the best, if that's your thing, than seeing yourself in the top 100 leaderboard among millions of players can be really rewarding.

RVCA

Yeah, you don't HAVE to obsess over trophies and stats, but their mere existence is adversely affecting videogames as a whole in my opinion. Developers across the board are recognizing an unspoken law that has popped into existence in the past 5 or so years that your game must include achievements of some sort. They're on XBL, PSN, Steam, and I guarantee the new Nintendo console (being announced in the near future) will have a similar system too.

IDK, there are several trends in videogaming that I dislike but haven't really thought about much, and achievements are one of them. For another thread: download content. FUCK THE ASSHOLE who came up with DLC.

Insane Guest

That I can agree with.
Remember the good old days, where all the content came on one ****ing disk!
****ing greedy ass video game companies! I am not going to pay $5 ****ing dollars for each additional Marvel vs. Capcom character, it's ****ing ridiculous!