Bartle’s Player Types
What is this you ask? Great question.
I'm currently doing research on MMORPG Demographics for a social research class and came across work done by Richard Bartle. Basically, Bartle gathered data inside of multi-user dungeons back in the 80s and 90s and categorized players based upon their main reasons for playing the game. He came up with 4 categories; achiever, explorer, socializer, and killer. With the data he found, he proposed various ways to go about making a MUD so that one portion of it does not totally outweigh other portions of it. If a MUD were to be successful, it would have to cater to each of these different player types. What's great about this is that, his studies are also usable inside of MMORPGs, which are generally considered the successor to the MUD.
It's pretty common knowledge among the gaming community that there are millions upon millions of people playing MMORPGs these days. GamerDNA realizes it too, and has released an online test that determines which of these player types you are. The test proved to be accurate in my instance, but why don't you take it too? If you're not sure why you play the MMORPG you play day in and day out, here's your chance to find out.
You can take the test here.
