Are Achievements\Trophies important to a game?

[bluestarultor]

Honestly? My opinion is no, Achievements/Trophies aren't important to a game. At least not a good one. As a recent addition, I think that they can be a nice thing to have, but I also think they can be used as a crutch. It's a delicate balance.

Achievements used to say you went out of your way and did something crazy are great in my book. Stuff like in Red Dead Redemption where you get one for throwing a nun in front of a train says you are one twisted hombre.

On the other hand, one for completing a level with no special conditions or for a first kill is vestigial. They're not bad, but what's the point? You're rewarding the player for not getting bored with your game and putting it down. Doing something once that you'd have to do at least once anyway is not achieving anything.

Ones that reward you for grinding stuff you'd be doing in any amount anyway are what I'd call a bad achievement. By making people do that, all you're doing is lengthening gameplay through repetition. Even then, I'd say there was a sliding scale. If it's a number one could reasonably get through normal play, it's pointless. If they have to go above and beyond a bit, I say they can get a nifty reward for it, and I'd call it a good implementation of a shaky system. If they need to spend as many hours killing the same beast over and over as you have in the main quest, I'd call it a desperate cry for help.