OK, so I'm writing this right after spending a frustrating hour and a half playing the first mission of BF: Bad Company on Veteran, while at the same time trying not to die (for the "Staying Alive") achievement. I guess I should probably just go play the mission on easy for the achievement, but suddenly I realized- What am I doing this for? Not sure about any of you guys, but achievements have started to become a big part of the games I play (mostly 360, but Steam/PC too). Achievements are a great way to get us to do interesting things that we might not even think of without them, and I have no problem with the achievement system, but I am starting to feel that this "urge" to get the achievements is taking away the fun of these great games.
 
Now I have to admit I'm not big on farming for achievements involving large numbers (Seriously 2.0 .....), and I usually stay away from going too far out of my way in multiplayer to get certain achievements. But as far as the single player goes, I have a tendency to try to get as many achievements as possible. Take for example Fable 2, which I finished for the second time around two weeks ago. Thinking back from now, I find that much of the time spent playing was for achievements; in fact I had already planned out my first character with achievements in mind as soon as I started him! In the end, I got all of the achievements (Fable 2's are pretty well done IMO) and got a nice satisfactory feeling. However, I only felt this for a little while, and even though I didn't go back into my older games and start going for the achievements like crazy, I knew that the next game I got would involve achievements too.
 
So that was Bad Company, which I enjoy a lot, and find the single-player humorous in a great way and the multiplayer really nice too. When I got it, I pretty much told myself that I would not try to get all the achievements for it. I've stayed true to this promise so far, and there's no way I'm going to try to get the one for getting all the awards, but yesterday I found myself going back to the singleplayer (I had beat it on Normal already) and trying to beat some missions on Veteran. While the game's system of death and respawn in the single-player is pretty forgiving, I found it pretty frustrating to play through without dying for maybe 40 minutes, then get killed by some enemy on a turret that I didn't see. 
 
Now, what I'm wondering is what makes me want to get these achievements? I'm thinking that the mere possibility of getting the achievement without doing some silly thing like leaving my console on for the entire day "motivates" me to try and get it. When I see an achievement for beating a mission on hard, I say "I can do that!" and go for it, but while it's nice that I'm determined, I have to restate that it takes the fun out of games! I wouldn't call this an "addiction" to achievements (or maybe I'm just a completionist), but I'm just wondering if any others have or have had this problem. I've thought of some solutions, like checking out some games that I've never gone around to looking at or reading the plot for (ex. Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls Oblivion) so I will be more focused on the stories' lore and gameplay, and leave achievements for last; or getting a game WITHOUT achievements (PC I guess).
 
That's it for my post on my thoughts on achievements, I hope I can get some insight on how to get more "after-you-beat-the-campaign" fun without getting frustrated over achievements!

I like achievements, they give me incentive to do stuff I wouldn't normally do and I suppose they give you bragging rights in ways.

" I like achievements, they give me incentive to do stuff I wouldn't normally do and I suppose they give you bragging rights in ways. "

" @Hitchenson said:

" I like achievements, they give me incentive to do stuff I wouldn't normally do and I suppose they give you bragging rights in ways. "

This. Also it adds a certain amount of replay value to games I wouldn't normally revisit, and damn is it satisfying when you unlock an achievement you've been working pretty hard to earn. "

you made me open my eyes, the only reason i beat cod 4 on veteran was for the achievements. still, it's kinda awesome cause DUDE I BEAT COD 4 ON VETERAN. jk, that game was next to impossible. i really like achievements though, there's something about that little noise and the text saying "achievement unlocked" that i just can't get enough of.

I'm nearly addicted to achievements. I love getting them, and they give me more motivation to play games. However, recently I've been playing Oblivion even though I have all the achievements, and I'm still loving it. Same with Fallout 3.

Lol, I play a level of BF: Bad Company every once in a while on Veteran to grab an achievements. I like getting them, and they make me play games more than I might usually. I don't go WAY out of my way for an achievement, like collecting flags in AC or grabbing those orbs in Prince of Persia. I just like when they pop up on screen.

I love achievements because a lot of times they give you more of a reason to experience some of the fun parts of a game you really love and increases the repaly value. For me personally, I usually just try and beat the game first and then go back and get all the achievements but only if I really love the game. If i just think the game is ok i usually just go back and try to get the easy ones but nothing more. I can tell you for a fact I am a completionist, but I also dont feel like I have to get hard achievements in a game I don't like. Plus its not like you have to get achievements, if you love a game it gives more reason to play through the single player, but otherwise just play through it once, see if there are any really easy ones left, and if not just don't try and get the others.