I used to play games to beat them, then I discovered that only hampered my enjoyment of games.

Now I play games to experience them.
If the experience is good I'll play it more.
If the experience is great I might actually 'complete' the main story.

Many games I play / have played are unbeatable anyway (have no end)
Minecraft, Elite Dangerous, FS2020, GT Sport / GT7, Puzzling Places, Synthriders, CyubeVR.

I turned trophies off years ago, haven't looked at them since. (Only for tracking which games I've played)

A bit theatrical, but you got the basics at least.

If they can be beaten, yes. Back in the day, before achievements, online gaming and streaming, there was really only one thing and one thing only to look forward to, one thing that you aspired to experience: the credits. When you saw those, you had really done something. It was the holy grail.

And now the holy grail is following the path to Platinum which I think is genuis if they are done right, a platinum should take you to all corners of the game and get you playing in ways you would never do so normally. Beating games back then was good but it was always deflating. The mark of a great game used to be are you playing it a second time, now it's are you still playing after the platinum. 

Yeah, for the most part, I think achievements and trophies were a good thing. But I don't agree that beating a game was deflating. When I first beat Contra, there certainly was no sense of deflation there. Same with SMB 1 as a little kid. If anything, I was elated. It was the highest of highs, the apex of achievement for me and my friends, and that continued all the way up until the PS1/N64 era. Beating OOT, for instance, was very fulfilling, imo. 

But starting with the PS2 generation, developers began making games easier and easier and the act of beating a game took very little skill, so that sense of accomplishment was severely diminished. Now, for most games, finishing it is simply a coronation; something to be expected. I still do it, but it's not the same.

Man, not the games I play. Playing Nine Sols now for example and I'll be lucky to beat this game on standard difficulty. Tbh, I just remember months of trying so hard to beat games like Metal Gear as an Eight year old or Crash Bandicoot and when we finally did it, it was just, oh, it's over now. Cool. 

Most of the time the intention is to beat them. However, these days there are way too many games that just aren't worth of the time. Also, if it takes 30+ hours to beat in the geme clock, it's better to skip the game in the first place if it's not really good.

Hilldivers has no clear goal. It's mildly infuriating. You just... play. It feels so odd to return to Multiplayer after years.

I try to beat them, but I'll stop playing if I'm really not enjoying the game.

I typically like to beat games, but if I'm not enjoying myself, I'm not going to stick with it.