The fun part about hidden aspects of games was that they weren't announced, and that they in some ways weren't meant to be found by yourself, so it was fun to find them. The downside obviously is that it also standardizes them and takes some of the adventure and mysticism out of everything. The great thing about achievements is that it popularizes these aspects of games. I'm also not saying that all achievements have been developed based off of this (because obviously there are plenty of achievements that are cheap ploys to get more playability out of games, as has been said previously - grinding achievements, for example). Obviously, I'm not saying that Achievements cover the entire scope of what one can do in a game, or what is hidden in it to discover, but generally this is the case. Before what was an informal thing that got passed around by word of mouth, created and competed upon by a small group of friends, is now formalized and standardized into something that everyone has knowledge of and can experience. This was just codified into Achievements with Xbox. Back then I'd also explore games for easter eggs all the time. Ever since I was a kid I was always a completionist I remember basically tearing my hair out trying to beat all of the Goldeneye missions under their time limits so I could unlock all of the cheat codes, or if any game offered medals I would have to get all gold (I hate Perfect Dark for this those damn challenges.). 'Achievements' have been around pretty much as long as games, they just haven't taken on the strict form of Achievements. The point is, Achievements are just this thing, you know? It's not like any of us here are going to convince you otherwise. I could go on, and I won't (you're welcome, Ars). Used to be, there was only one stupid whore visible at a time. This comes up, because after a bunch of years, I decided to put down the Britney Spears cassettes, and when I got up in the record store, sure enough, they had put Lady Gaga in place of Madonna. If it's just singing something, then I could understand it, but people are saying things about My my my po po pokerface. Seems like she's popping up everywhere, and I just don't get the purpose. What is the thing with Lady Gaga? Serious question here. Used to just be called, paste the link into your lynx browser. This comes up, because after a bunch of years, I decided to surf sites other than Ars again, and when I got it up in Digg, sure enough, they had retrofitted a facebook 'share' button into the science section. If it's just saying something, then I could understand it, but having people talking online, just to have public conversations. Seems like it's popping up everwhere, and I just don't get the purpose. What is the thing with facebook? Serious question here.

Used to just be called, finishing the game. This comes up, because after a bunch of years, I decided to play through Half Life again, and when I got it up in Steam, sure enough, they had retrofitted achievements into Half Life. If it's unlocking something, then I could understand it, but having games connecting online, just to store achievements. Seems like they are popping up in every game, and I just don't get the purpose. What is the thing with achievements? Serious question here. It's just human nature that sometimes the things we want to do don't align with the things that we enjoy or that are good for us. Games involving resource acquisition with finite resources, games with a levelling system, and games that you can easily save/load or restart to try to get a perfect game can all put me in a situation where my drive to try to accomplish something is at odds with my enjoyment. It's also not unique to achievements, though.

However, it's an extremely common irrational reaction because of the way the mind handles rewards and the absence of rewards. Yes, at some level this is just an irrational reaction by me. Sometimes knowing I've missed an achievement or have decided to skip one makes me feel unhappy. Sometimes I play in ways that are less fun because I'm trying to get an achievement. Sometimes once I get all achievements, I suddenly lose interest when I probably wouldn't have if the achievements hadn't been there in the first place. I've had my entertainment adversely effected several times. On some level, though, because the reward structure exists it's hard to ignore. I rarely feel any satisfaction in getting them. I'm usually anti-achievements unless they're particularly clever and interesting achievements. In your case, Achievements in no way adversely impact a person who does not find satisfaction in achieving those goals

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