Nyasara

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people"
"Achievements don't ruin games, people ruin games"

That about sums it up. Achievements are just a system. Individuals ruin or enhance it. They're just there, it's up to you what you do with it. I like achievements. For instance, when I was in Iraq. I couldn't really talk to friends much, but I did have an intermittent satellite Internet link, so I could briefly log in to Xbox Live. From there, I could see what my Friends list was doing, what they were playing, and what they were playing a lot. This helped me feel connected to my friends back home even when I couldn't talk to them often. Plus, the Gamercard helps you hook up with friends who you may not play with often. "Hey, Bob's getting achievements in this game, I didn't know he had that? I should try to hook up with him and play!" Get away from the score, and look at the social aspect, and they're not so bad.

Except, of course, that people make them bad. People who think their Gamerscore means anything. People who pay other people to raise their score, or sit their and focus on achievements. Of course they are stupid, but that's not the fault of achievements, that's the fault of idiots.