Gundato: And I can't get into most MP because of idiots who feel the need to use obscene language to emphasize how superior they are to others :p
Seriously though. If people freak out over hats, that is their problem. It is just Valve trying to spice the game up a bit and give the more casual gamers incentive to keep playing (because, at a certain point, you reach a limit on how many more achievements you really feel like getting).
You might as well get angry that developers patch games or provide any support after release. Hats (and all the other unlocks) are just incentives to keep playing. And when Valve eventually sets up the trading system, they will be more easily obtained so that you can get the hat you want (or trade five Flare Guns for an Ubersaw).
sheepdragon: True enough. However, that's the reason I cannot be bothered with many new multiplayer games. Developers try to spice it up, fair enough, but they obviously also do it to gain some profit, which isn't really wrong either. The problem is the way people play the game, and act because of it. It doesn't seem that they play to enjoy the game, but just to go around finding new items, and wave them around like an over-sized E-phallus. I don't give a shit about it, I just want to play the game and enjoy it, which can be a problem when there's imbeciles running around, trying to gain some pointless achievement, or something of the like. Of course, this causes various things, like account bans, due to players doing certain things, and attracts some, because they like the idea of achievements (derpdeherp-minds, as they shall henceforth be known as!), which turns it into more of a profit.
But this business about the hats in TF2. The controversy with those idlers and the halo, and now this. They're items that does absolutely nothing, apart from cosmetic changes. That they get so riled up over it is beyond retarded. It's absolutely, amazingly retarded to the point of Universal implosion. I can't just can't believe how... to put it quite simply, fucking stupid it is.
I've almost stopped playing online since achievements and unlocks have forced its way into PC gaming. Not that I did play much online before, but I've almost stopped to do so now, with new games at least.
But how this store will affect it, I'm willing to see. But I doubt it will make much difference. Actually, I think it might potentially make it worse, but we'll see.
Oh, and excuse my excessive swearing. I think that wording was the best way to passive-aggressively portray my feelings for how the game has turned out. It's the way I tend to do it. Not particularly mature, but that's not what I am.
EDIT:
This post turned out far longer than I had originally intended... Might as well add a /RANT here.
Honestly, I don't know why I do it, but I do it... work for the achievements and such, I mean. Like you, I realize that there's no point to it. It's merely bragging rights, and in the end, who the hell really cares? But there's a part of me that always feels compelled to do something "because it's there." As if "Ok, the developers put this challenge into the game, to the point where they've said 'If you do this, you get some kind of notice for it.'" And because of that, I feel compelled to do it. It's silly, it's stupid, and what the hell is the point? There isn't one. But I feel the need to do it, anyway.
Now, granted, I won't go "off-mission" (i.e. ignore objectives) for the specific purpose of getting an achievement. I do my absolute best to work in getting an achievement while maintaining maximum usefulness to my team. Which is how it should be done. But I realize most people don't bother, and yes, that's irritating.
But to bring this back to topic, I think a lot of the reason why people do these things is because... they're there. Like me, just the fact that someone put it in and said "Do this and you get some kind of token notice for doing it." is enough to make them think "Oh, I should do this."
I've been doing ridiculously stupid things in WoW lately simply for the sake of doing them. They don't earn me anything, I just... feel the need to do them. Sometimes they're not even fun. It's not even that I want to go up to people and say "Hah! Yeah, I did that... look how awesome I am." It's just this need for... completion, I guess. Like how people feel the need to get 100% completion at a game. It doesn't make much sense, it's largely self-destructive in a lot of ways, but sometimes people just feel that need.
