I agree. We aren't talking about achievements as a steam addon here, but as a solid and tangible part of the game.
I think many people feel like achievements are an afterthought because 'every game has them'. This is especially true thanks to platforms like the consoles, OIS's Gamecenter and Steam which make adding arbitrary stat tracking easy through a standard interface. There's a reason that most achievements are basic and lazy; because they are so easy to implement, they are often an afterthought. Think of the amount of games with achievements like 'play for ten hours'.
Then again, there are heaps of games that use acheivemnts well to point out unknown strategies to players and force them to explore the game more than they otherwise would.
They really should be a metagame with actual incentive to pursue them. Either do them properly or not at all.
The taxidermist revamp is a chance to implement achievements in a way that is relevant and engaging, as well as helping to fill out a component of the game that has been ignored for pretty much the entire development period.
I'd hate to see it glossed over because of limited development time, but if that's the case then so be it.