The Playstation versions (PS3, 4, Vita) of Don't Starve have trophies, but the Steam version of the game doesn't have achievements. That's the root of the issue.
No, that's not the root of the issue.
That's a SYMPTOM.
The root of the issue is that Klei takes advantage of anything it can to make money, even when it means compromising on their "artistic" vision, and then continues to exploit their core fanbase for more money wherever they possibly can.
Don't Starve was put into EA. People bought it. Don't Starve got some indie cred. Fans asked about achievements for Steam. Klei says, and I'm paraphrasing here, "No. It ruins the way people play games. We're not adding them." Sony approached them, offered them truckloads of cash. Klei took the money, compromised their creative design for Don't Starve, and put out PSN versions of the game with the required trophies to be on Sony's platforms. Telling PC customers who bought your game in Early Access and said "we'd like achievements in this game, please." no because of your "creative/artistic vision" and then not taking the time to patch those in to the PC version where the original customers who are at least partially responsible for the success of Don't Starve and probably responsible for Sony's approach to get lost (still!) after you already caved elsewhere? That's morally fucked up.
Klei also told people to get lost when people asked for multiplayer and co-op in Don't Starve, because it didn't fit their vision... but now that they realized they can put a "new" version of Don't Starve out, list it at $20, give existing owners the "privilege" of 75% discount to pay to Beta test it for them and cover their "fans" by offering it "free once done" and giving out a few beta keys for free? Yeah, guess what, there's multiplayer and co-op coming to Don't Starve.
At this rate, if they found a way to make "Don't Starve Achievement Edition" and charge for it without being crucified, they'd put it out in early access tomorrow.
And Invisible, Inc. is no different. Before it even came to Steam as EA, people were asking about controller support and achievements... so much, in fact, that they added it to the FAQ. And their response in the FAQ was full of that typical smug Klei douchebaggery people seem to love for some reason.
Will Invisible, Inc. support Steam Achievements?
More than likely, we aren't opposed to achievements in Invisible, Inc., however we don’t have any solid plans on those yet.
Will there be multiplayer coming for Invisible-inc?
We have no plans for multiplayer at this time.
What about controller support?
Maybe, It’s not something we’re concentrating on right now, but if we really identify a need for it, we would consider it.
Note the
bold. This is obviously a reference to how they were opposed to achievements in Don't Starve.
Don't get me wrong -- Mark of the Ninja was FANTASTIC. And based on what I've seen of Invisible, Inc. I think it has potential to be great as well. I just really don't like Klei as a business and don't think they deserve to profit from acts of pure douchebaggery.
What are your concerns with them? I loved mark of the ninja but could not get into their survival game (totally drawing a blank on the name). Is it early access issues that bug you?
Early Access games are fine, if the developer really is using it as a venue for getting valuable feedback and changing the game for the better. Crypt of the Necrodancer is bloody fantastic.
It's more of an issue with exploiting your fanbase and going against your word and principles for the almighty dollar... and then pretending you never did that when people ask you about doing it again.
"Oh, well, we made a bunch of bullshit trophies and added a silly item that makes fun of trophies/achievements... so it's okay".
No. There are people out there who put 10s or 100s of hours into your game. And you taunt them, if they really wanted achievements, by creating new content for the game and adding achievements that reference them? Just... no.
There were tons of ways that Klei could've dealt with the Don't Starve multiplayer/achievement concerns/requests.
And they pretty much picked the worst way they could possibly handle it.
For the record, I own Don't Starve (though had I known about their "stance" on achievements, I probably wouldn't have grabbed it when I did) and was given it free for PS4/PSVita as well thanks to my PS+ sub.
If it were about trophies or achievements, I would just drop it because I could go play the game on those other platforms and have the most up to date and complete content-wise version. But it's not.
It's about the compromise of principles and artistic vision for money. About Klei doing whatever will make them the most money, regardless of their customer base and general principles of fairness.