Game designer writes academic report on effective Achievements

Game designer and PhD researcher Lucas Blair recently penned an article that should enrapture the attention of the Gamerscore boosters and Trophy-fiends among you. It's a thorough examination of the different kinds of rewards developers can include in their titles, mixed in with a few suggestions for best practices to ensure said rewards are ... well, reward-ing.

There are a number of interesting comparisons in the report between the dichotomous design philosophies most developers adhere to. For instance: Should achievements be performance-based, or completion-based? Should they reward boring tasks, or interesting tasks -- which the player's likely to do without the incentive. How difficult should achievements be to unlock? It's a pretty thought-provoking read -- though, really, we think Avatar: The Burning Earth set the best example for Achievements a few years ago. Just give us those points.