Ha I enjoyed reading this, particularly because it's so very true. Achievements gave me a hand up when I really didnt' know what to do in WoW anymore. Before Wrath, it filled a month of my time with tedious things to do, ontop of my dailys, waiting for the expansion.
As soon as Wrath came out, the content quickly cleared through, it gave me reason to go back and do the heroics, even though I already had all of my gear-sets fully epic. I don't play wow anymore, nor shall I ever again (I gave my account to a friend who has never played before) and I don't exactly miss it, mainly because I'm hardly at home with work, and a needy girlfriend. But, with my insomnia I'm up almost 24 hours a day, and I now fill my nights with Warhammer Online ontop of EVE and TF2--- I have to say I like Warhammer Online's achievement system more. It's usually more humorous, and you find yourself getting rewards a lot more often than in WoW... Plus there are a LOT more titles, even if some of them are for something you wouldn't exactly want to put next to your name (such as clicking on an NPC 10,000 times while being naked) But all the same you have the options early on in the game... Which is one thing I see WoW missing the point on, getting people into the game early on, where as Warhammer can do it instantly. But, I digress. I really enjoyed reading your article, having played WoW for four years, these type of articles never get old.