Sooo...

Achievements were originally a way to show off how involved you were in a game, or how much you had finished. Companies very often use them as a away to keep gamers playing, to get that one last achievement that's just that hard to get. In other words, there's really no point in getting them, apart from the sense of.. well, achievement. Otherwise, you're essentially playing a game for no reward. Not that games need rewards, mind you. They just need to be entertaining.

Now we have a MMORPFPS which rewards you for playing in another way. The more you play, the better the equipment you can wear, and the better you can survive. Not only that, if you're good, and play well with others, you can own your own planet. You get to play the game in any fashion you wish to, within game mechanics, and get the same sense of achievement when you finish conquering a planet, finally get to use that proto weapon, manage to take down another corp through subterfuge (I expect to see this within a year!) or any other type of unforced reward system. I've always found the achievement system way too forced. If I beat the game, why do I have to jump off a building doing a double backflip, and headshot someone on the way down just for 10 points? I'd feel much more satisfaction doing the same thing, but without the achievement system rewarding me for such.

Edit: after posting, I feel like I should clarify that last statement. It meant that I had the originality to look at the game mechanics, struggle through mastering them, and then pull off such a stunt, as opposed to looking at the achievement and thinking "I want that". As opposing to being told what to do and rewarded for it, I'd much rather think of something and do it and be rewarded for it.

For example, in Eve, you don't get rewarded the first time you get into a battleship, or the second, or the hundredth. Being able to pilot a battleship is its own reward. Or Hulkageddon - you're not going to get an achievement for blowing up a mining ship in highsec, but you do it anyway, because it's fun.