@guilleont You're talking to a veteran of video games here with well over 30+ years of video gaming experience and 800+ video game titles currently under his belt - not to mention numerous competition placements and leaderboard standings. Do you really think that I don't know that? Of course I know I can quit at any time, and I often do. After all, I still have to eat, sleep, answer the call of nature, work, provide for my family, etc. This isn't about that, though.
Stats have been around since the dawn of video games. Even Pong and Frogger had high scores. That's why most agree with having stats - it's, quite simply, what they're accustomed to.
However, that doesn't mean there shouldn't be a change. Stats and scores have always promoted competition, and with competition comes rivalries, anger, and even hate.
To be clear, I'm not against stats. I think that they can be good! But I also think that they should be kept to an absolute necessary minimum. For example, keeping track of the score in a sports video game, or for the developers to track metrics.
Everything else though? It needs to go, IMO. We don't need leaderboards, or really to know who has eaten the most pomegranates, for example. Why don't we need them? For 2 reasons. 1 - in the grand scheme of things, nobody really cares. Sure, you may have done some great thing, but to almost everyone else, it's just a "yeah, that's cool" kind of reaction and that's about it, at best. Most just won't care, probably because they're just trying so hard to leave their own meaningless mark to arrogantly and foolishly show off and be proud of - "look at me! I threw the most blunderbombs! At nothing!" It's an exercise in mediocrity without substance.
Video games as a whole need to prioritize the reason why they were created in the 1st place...
Fun.
...not competition. With less focus on stats and being the best, gamers can enjoy themselves in the moment, and grow memories of having a fantastic time without having someone else rub it in by self-proclaiming, "I'm better than you! My stats prove it!" When again, their attitude clearly proves otherwise. Without stats, less is placed upon being the best - you'll be more likely to get those "good game!" kind of comments. And really, isn't that what we all deserve to have?
...a good game.