Bartle's MUD player types

As an avid player of the online textual role-playing games known by a dizzying array of acronyms (I always liked MU* and don't attach the pejorative sense Bartle seems to give it) during the 90's, this was an enjoyable read for me. While his use of the Hearts/Clubs/Diamonds/Spades metaphor, which he claims will "make the player types easier to remember," seemed contrived (albeit quite punny) and worse yet never mentioned outside the title and the first page, this paper nailed down some good player archetypes while evoking some wonderful nostalgia.

The great part is, that we can look around and still see these player types on MMORPGs, the spiritual (if not in fact, actual) successors to MU*. This makes his archetypes lasting and potentially useful for designers today. It would also be interesting to know whether his useful seeming advice for altering the player type balances would work.

Bartle starts by asking what a MUD is like: Games? Pasttimes? Sports? Entertainment? He concludes by saying that it is like all four, depending on what you're in it for. This is certainly the "big-tent" review of gaming, and is probably a useful way to ask "which is it more like?" Looking at an axis (Bartle presents a lovely ascii one in this paper) is likely a useful way of characterization that helps preclude is-and-only-is debates.

I think the largest take-away here is to know for whom you are designing: achievers, and their quest for accomplishments? socializers and their interest in gossip and relationships? explorers and their search for the new? killers and their constant power struggle? Each type you want to support will require in-game support elements, and Bartle helps provide a heads-up on what kinds of interactions the groups will have, and what kind of equilibrium might result.