egardless of what you think of them, Microsoft’s Achievement Points aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. In the first part of a two-part feature, we took a look at the addictive system and called out some of the trends we like and dislike. Next week, we'll list a few games that are sure to help players boost their scores to the next milestone. That is, if you care about the points in the first place.

To help get a better understanding of the current state of Achievements, we asked our forum users for their perspectives and enlisted xbox360achievements.org admin Dan Webb. If you’re not familiar with the site, it’s a repository for Achievement- and 360-related news, guides and discussions. Basically, if you’re looking for tips on how to squeeze every last point out of your games, this is where you need to go.

If there’s one thing that gamers like, it’s having their egos stroked. That primal urge is perhaps central in the success of Microsoft’s Achievement system. “I'm not sure how many people would have gone through Veteran on Call of Duty 2 or 4 if the achievements were not there,” says Webb. “Granted, they are great games in their own right, but having the ability to reflect on the accomplishments down the road is a great incentive to some people.”

When we asked for their thought of Achievements on our forums, comments spanned the gamut from, “Honestly I don't care. I find the little message telling me that I unlocked an achievement to be distracting,” to a more enthusiastic, “I love achievements, there have been quite a few games that I've only trudged through or even played just for the achievements. … [If] I play a game for 4-5 hours but don't beat it I don't really feel like I achieved anything, but if I get some achievements and raise my gamerscore I feel like I accomplished something.” Overall, most respondents had positive things to say about Achievements, though it was far from a drone-like lovefest. “Achievements have changed the way gamers play, and developers have caught on,” started one comment, before twisting the knife. “They know that all they have to do is load their crappy game full of easy-to-obtain Achievements and they will play it, no matter how bad the game is.” Ouch.

Microsoft was particularly clever in the way that it implemented its Achievement system. Having a standard 1,000 points for retail games and 200 for Xbox Live Arcade games created a fairly level field. Of course, some games are notorious for giving points away like candy, and others are miserly to a fault. Having all the points contribute to a unified number gives a single reference for comparisons. Better yet, players can drill into other players’ scores and get a better look behind the number. That 30,000-point tally becomes somewhat less impressive when you see that the bulk of it is composed of games meant for children, for example.

The fact that people work so hard (and spend so many hours playing games) to increase their scores is becoming more and more accepted, too, according to Webb. “…Recently, it seems more and more people are getting the Achievement bug,” he says. “The amount of times around the forums I have read about gamers (and some of these are casual at that) looking up a list before they buy (yet alone play) the game, is incredible.”

It’s definitely clear that all Achievements aren’t created equally. After playing through Xbox 360 games over the years, it’s easy to spot developers who actually put some time and effort into the idea and those who jam it in as an afterthought.

Here are some types of Achievements that we’re particularly fond of.

Beat the game, get an Achievement
Like peanut butter and jelly, biscuits and gravy, and Xbox Live and loudmouths, some things just seem to go together naturally. It’s the same with end credits and the “Achievement unlocked” chime. When you lean back in your chair after killing that final boss or beating a high score, you’d better see some scrolling text and the words “Achievement unlocked.”

Stuff that naturally happens
Half-Life 2 is a great example of this Achievement philosophy. Players who explore the world and take advantage of the game’s setting and environment will be rewarded with a near-constant stream of Achievements. They’re handed out for making it to the next point in the story, grabbing new weapons and doing things like killing five barnacles with a single barrel or using the crane to kill three enemies. While players are also rewarded for doing crazier things (lugging around a garden gnome, for example), people who simply play the game and play it well will boost their Gamerscores while enjoying a great experience.