Patch 3.0 of WoW introduced the whole achievement system, which rewards gamers for their tasks done in game.  There are currently 745 different achievements, ranging from the easy (Achieved Level 10) to the virtually impossible (“Win Arathi Basin by 10 points – 2000 to 1990″).

As a sidenote: I’ve played WoW since January of its first year and I have only ONCE EVER had a game where I won 2000 to 1990.  It seems impossible to set up and very unlkely to ever happen again.

See my gripes after the break.

These achievements could have been implemented better than its current state.  One problem that sticks out to me: why not reward people retroactively for all the achievements they’ve already accomplished?  Granted, some of them are already achieved upon logging in, but a much higher volume of them require you to re-perform mundane tasks.  For example, I’ve killed C’Thun and Ragnaros many times before, so why do i have to re-kill them just for the achievement?  Why do I have to win 100 more WSG games when I’ve won probably 5x that amount during my WoW career?

We all know that the Achievements are Blizz’s way of providing its playerbase with a timesink.  More time = more months played = more $$$.  My only hope is that Blizzard doesn’t make certain gear equippable or purchasable based on a minimum number of Achievement Points.  Imagine a great 2h Sword that is available through a drop, yet one is unable to wield it simply because he doesn’t have enough time to accomplish the achievements to wear it.  This has “qq post inc” written all over it.

If Blizz were to make these achievements purely cosmetic and use it as a way to show how “old-school” you are, then I’d be all for it.  However, making these Achievements equivalent to some sort of Arena Rating required would make me a sad puppy.