Because most GOG customers are not brainless zombies.

As opposed to what? Isn't playing a video game itself spending time just so you see a piece of virtual text on a screen telling you that you won?

Would that make us brainless humans or brained zombies?

True that the presence/absence of achievements will not make a good game bad or vice versa. But it's not "young" gamers that started relying on achievements.

Just for example, almost all old games had a score system and collecting treasures that did nothing* but increase that score. As kids I remember we'd often try to get that last kill in Doom, or do the extremely tricky jump in Commander Keen for that one treasure piece, just so we see the "100% Treasure/Kill bonus" at the end of the level screen. That's achievement right there.

(*granted score could give you extra lives or stuff, but you'd usually lose much more lives getting the treasure)

Lots of old games had achievements, only they weren't called as such. For many of us gaming was about saying "Yes! I did it!" even if "it" was not strictly something needed to finish the game. The only thing that has changed, is that they have been systematized, given a name and instead of just seeing it on your screen, you can have it permanently on your gaming profile.

Either. We're not prejudiced against the undead. Just against the brainless.

I don't get the point of 'achievements'. Most my games are on Steam but I just sell any achievements on and don't hunt for them.

Because gamification in video games isn't necessary.

It is to him.

No. If I have the choice between an immersive game where I can just experience the story within the game world and a game where the immersion is continually broken by popups saying "You got an achievement" ... I definitely choose the one without achievements. In many games achievements are really annoying. Or in other words: the only acceptable achievements are those that remain completely invisible.

So do naked women.

I for one am fine with putting them on all the cover art. :P

You already have the choice. Do not use GOG Galaxy to run your GOG games. I do think that an option to hide achievement pop-ups is a great idea, however.

Don't know if i am gonna respond right,but i preffer achievements where you actually unlock something in a game where you get stuff ingame not just some badge for online measurment.
And playing a game for winning it is usually the main goal and a preffered time waster,but what when you choose to do achievements where they bring you nothing worthy or special to the game than just showing off instead of receiving bonuses in game or unlocking new content that make the game more enjoyable.
Also if you win a game there is usually somekind of story,don't think most achievements will change the story of a game but they are some different challenges i do remember half life 2 where you had to shoot back the helicopter with it's own bombs to get that achievement or trying to kill every worm i think to get an achiement which only was a different longer occupation than just getting rockets and shoot down the helicopter or just ignore the worms since they don't change anything in the game really.

Yes. Exactly. I do not use Galaxy and the fact that there is no forced client is the reason I shop here and not on Steam.

The difference is, getting 100% kills / secrets in Doom or a High-Score in an arcade game was 100% internal to the game that required no external integration from the retailer that sold the game. Steam achievements however, essentially rely on being linked to a specific store-front instead of being a purely internal in-game mechanic (which both disproportionately benefits the one with the monopoly (Steam) and also makes no real sense demanding it for store-fronts like GOG who sell games as Offline Installers as an advantage that they don't rely on connecting to a server which tracks everything you do). So in that respect, yes it really is young gamers that started relying on Steam-specific achievements (as we know them today).

I also agree with Lifthrasil in finding them far more annoying than enjoyable. Aside from being immersion breaking, most are completely fake / childish padding that exist for the sake of existing and seem to be aimed more at people with OCD / approval seeking issues. In a game with 50 or more achievements (vs 1x High-Score "Achievement" in an arcade game), you can literally feel the developers struggling to think of ones to make up the numbers. Unlike the satisfaction of 100% kills on Nightmare in some of the nastier Doom levels, or a record breaking run in Outrun, etc, "Congratulations you just progressed the story / chopped wood / crafted a stick" feels completely fake and "tacked on" in many games.

Also not sure why let alone how they could be retro-actively added to games 15-25 years old by developers who no longer exist. I understand why some like them, but personally, I'm delighted that immersive plot-heavy games like Planescape Torment or Deus Ex are old enough to have avoided the "trend" of distracting you from what you're playing with 'badges' about how you're "supposed" to play them.