"How is getting a good roll out of the RNG to see the Squashling drop, followed by another good roll to win it, an "accomplishment" or "a result gained by effort"?"

How is not "a result gained by effort"? Grinding for a cosmetic doodad, RNG included, is the very definition of effort.

I think the achievement stuff is darn silly but it seems to make people happy which is no small thing. However, I'm mightily annoyed by all the whining about achievements *in some cases* being difficult. I'm using a very broad definition of difficult here. Parking on a holiday boss for a random drop is annoying but not hard. There's a truly strange sense of entitlement to these achievements. Some will be dead easy, some will be truly hard, and many will be your payout for a zillion hours doing nothing but seeking the ones which scratch your particular special moist place. What's the problem? If you want another flaming horse because the eyes are a different color then suck it up and go do it. It's your choice. It has no in-game benefit beyond aesthetics. In your own words: "You set a goal, you work toward it, and you achieve it."

I passed on a bunch of squashling drops last year because I knew others were excited and I'd ditch them for bank space within a week. Same with brooms. Passed on Baron mount twice pre-BC (.02% drop rate? something like that) and MgT bird mount many times as well (twice on MgT patch launch day). Could've extorted gold for my rolls but that'd've been nothing but being a jerk.