Without looking, do many of you even know who are ranked on the front page for last tour?
It's been years since those rankings have been a serious community topic in the MA or in these forums. Back then SHawk seemed to always be #1, while players in the MA were talking about those who made the list and gunned for them. Seems after awhile it became the rule, not the exception, SHawk would be #1 and what was the point of trying anymore. Kind of removed any pretense for new players to get involved at a number of levels. A bit like the gulf of difference and expectations between all of the casual players and the ACM addicts.
It's been some years since I've watched someone on text get laughed at for telling everyone he's uber because of that number next to his ID in the roster. Drop troops to take a few towns, shoot a few tanks with a GV and land those kills. Drop a few bombs with a bomber. Resupply the HQ a few times and your spawn camping mates. Make sure you fly conservatively and land your fighter after every sortie. Your score will stay low. Meh......and not a lot of fun. Fun for the casual players is a gulf of difference from the ACM crowd. They don't define themselves by any single aspect of the game other than "am I having fun".
The accomplishments are kind of silly but, have more relevance to our current game played by the casual players. It's not something you have to man up and defend all the time like old west gunfighters in movies making a name for themselves. At least with the accomplishments acting as a self imposed informal challenge. You don't run into the level of finessing that happened back when Frenchy offered a prize at the end of his famous "Frenchy Challenge".
If you attempt to hold up ACM as the alpha and omega of the AH experience. Then complain and point fingers at the other 95% of players, who will be casual gamers no matter the MMO, as some kind of "Zerg" blight on your AH experience. What are you showing about your personal lack of flexibility and man up ability to change?
This post has parallels to the corner bar where the regulars drive off new customers in a slow economy because they have forgotten the owner is running a business.