Not a fan of this achievement system at all.
It forces often unnatural and counterproductive gameplay (gunner with fire extinguisher?) and it forces me to use ships I don't like. I struggled to get the Goldfish achievements because the Goldfish is my least favourite ship, playing with it was a chore and no mattaer how many games I did with it I didn't like it any better.
Thing is, if you want to give incentives to experiment and try other ships then make it totally optional and separated form leveling. It could maybe give specific cosmetic items, but leveling should be something natural, that everyone can do just playing the game however you want. Level matters to me in this game because I'm a pretty good pilot and I want my level to represent that.
I shouldn't have to cripple my stats because I was forced to play a ship I don't really like in order to level up.
But it doesn't force you to do anything. If your goal is to complete every achievement ever, then you're probably not the type to care about unnatural gameplay. If your level matters to you as you say, then that's fine. You can still reach quite a high level even if you ignore all of the achievements you don't like. I still don't understand when people say they're forced to play in a way they don't like. I don't feel forced into doing anything. I haven't completed that gunner with extinguisher achievement because it'd be silly for me to take an extinguisher as a gunner, and that's okay. If I was a completionist, I'd worry about it. But I'm not.
(Also, in my humble opinion, a good pilot is able to fly with any ship -- or at least most of them.)
Uhm... Yes it does? If I want to complete an achievement I am obviously forced to do so in the way the achievement is set up. I can't complete an achievement for the Goldfish using the Galleon, thus if I want that achievement I am forced to play as the Goldfish.
Making assumptions like "if you care about achievement you shouldn't care for unnatural gameplay" is just a logical fallacy, in this game achievements=leveling and while I normally don't care about achievements I do care about leveling. In most games leveling is tied to experience and just playing the game however you want, thus I can ignore achievement to pursue the objective of leveling up, in this game I cannot do that.
As for stats and k/d ratio not counting that is also a subjective opinion, the game provides me with comprehensive stats for my character, thus I care for said stats, be it k/d ratio, level and all that good stuff.
If the game didn't want me to care then such stats would be hidden and/or there wouldn't be a leveling system at all.
If something is a feature in the game then it's logical to care about it.
Also, I don't like the Goldfish, not even a Lumberfish, I do just fine with Squid and Galleon, thanks. I can pilot other ships, which I would argue are easier to pilot then the Squid and the Galleon (at least if you want to win), I just don't want to because I don't like them.
Back when I played Pokemon I did not give a damn about the "beauty pageants". I do not think it was logical to care about those. Feature != Something you should care about. Feature = Will make someone somewhere interested. Besides, it's a video game. It's not
logcial to care about it at all, strictly speaking. Generally, logic and emotion don't mix. Be careful throwing around the word logic. You've got your opinion, but logic is a harsh mistress who will quickly remove the substructure from your argument.
It's your right to care about levels. Or at least, it's not something someone can take away from you, but GoI doesn't have mechanic advancement like CoD. It's a different mentality. CoD and those games are actually worse! I can't get this special awesome gun until I play for 50 hours? What is that!?
Even RPGs and other games box you in MUCH more than GoI!
What? My mage can't learn meteor until level 27? Well damn it.
In Guns:
Wait, I don't get better repair tools until...oh.
Wait, I can't use the Goldfish until...oh.
Wait, I can't equip a Lumberjack until...oh.
Also I want to point out that the stats are independent of level.At least, the k/d's get you nothing.
Stats are for people who are interested in that sort of thing. You could play the whole game without ever opening the progress tab. Some folks just like
data.
It you care about looking like a high-level guy, then yeah, the game makes you do silly things to get there.
Hey man, you are the one who decided to care about levels. You get everything right off the bat. It's true that some ships are easier to fly, but I suggest to learn and become skilled with all of them! There is a lot of strategy that goes into a good GoI game, and each ship has it's part.
Welcome to Guns of Icarus: where the achievements are made up and the levels don't matter.