Unlockables and Experience Points Are Ruining FPS Gaming?

Unless you stay away from FPS games because you're afraid of becoming a mindless, twitch gamer, you've probably noticed the increasing trend to incorporate RPG-lite unlockables in our multiplayer.  At first, most FPS gamers embraced this feature and found it interesting.  The first game I played that featured a comprehensive unlock system like this was Battlefield 2 and then later, and with greater success in my opinion, Battlefield 2142.  There was just something very cool about working your way up the Recon class and unclocking the various gadgets, weapons, and passive abilities that could give you an edge.

If a developer were to release an FPS game today without unlockables or character progression for their multiplayer, they would certainly come under fire.  Gamers from all over would be holding it up and declaring, "What is this... Medal of Honor: Allied Assault?  Battlefield 1942?  What do you mean I don't get 5 experience points for every kill I get or an additional 2 for every headshot?"  Hell, you could have put me into that category not too long ago. 

Unlockables and Experience Points Are Ruining FPS Gaming

Remember when FPS gaming was about skill--when the difference between fragging and being fragged was knowing how to triple jump from the ground level to the top level to grab the armor replenish powerup?  In the days of Jedi Outcast (PC), I would join servers and 1v1 duel other players for hours with no promise of experience points, unlockable light sabers, or special unlockable characters.  Why?  Because it was F-U-N.

Today, words like "fun" are determined by the number of unlockable goodies offered in a game's multiplayer.  How much content a game has is based on the number of skill levels a player can advance to and how many weapons he/she unlocks along the way.  God forbid that all the weapons and gadgets were available to you from the start anymore, right?

I played Battlefield 2142 for over 300 hours, according to my Xfire, and still haven't unlocked every single unlockable, and yet my motivation for playing had nothing to do with unlocking EVERYTHING.  But my concern is that the FPS genre is succumbing to this "completionist" mindset that, in my opinion, has ruined RPGs and MMORPGs across the board.  "What the level cap wasn't raised?!" is often a criticism of the Fallout 3 expansions and DLC.  Gamers were upset that their virtual characters wouldn't be gaining anymore levels while they played the additional story arcs, etc.  Whatever happened to playing games because you love the story, characters, world, or gameplay?