[MUD-Dev] Spoofing (Psychopaths)

[Richard Bartle]

to:>INTERNET:mud-dev at kanga.nu
Subj:  [MUD-Dev] Spoofing (Psychopaths)
 
Ola Fosheim =?iso-8859-1?Q?Gr=F8stad?= <olag at ifi.uio.no> writes:
 >Bartle is oversimplifying and selling a simple solution to a complex
 >problem with no apparent support.
        You don't understand the purpose of that paper.
        I'm not attempting to "sell" anything, least of all a solution,
simple or otherwise. I wrote that paper to try to get MUD designers to
think about what they were designing in terms of how people would play it.
I would be only too happy if someone with a proper grounding in the social
sciences were to rip it to pieces, so long as some better alternative were
presented. As far as I am concerned, the paper has achieved its objective if
online game designers now, as a matter of course, look at the kind of
players they want and think of ways to address their needs. Whether they use
my paper as a basis for that analysis is beside the point - it's a catalyst,
not a reagent.
 
 >Btw, did you notice how many references he has that has zero to do with
 >the problem he is writing about?)
        Well given that there were very few MUD-related papers that had
anything at all to say about player dynamics, that's hardly surprising. All
the references were relevant to points I was making, but very few were to do
with supporting the central thrust of the argument. However, I recognised
that and stated as much at the very beginning, where I warned that the paper
was based on my own interpretation of ad hoc data collected over time,
rather than any formal study.
 
 >Great springboard for not-so-great discussions in which that all-important
 >player motivation/psychology is neglected.
        It's not neglected; rather, the paper is pitched at a different
level. It concerns groups of players, rather than individuals.
 
 >Taking "things" at surface value isn't a good thing, especially when you
 >are dealing with humans.
        Or reading research papers...
 
                Richard