[MUD-Dev] NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really (By R. Bartle)

[Richard A. Bartle]

On 24 November 2004, Martin Keegan wrote:

> I do not dissent from Bartle's Points #2 and #4, though I believe
> they are at heart nothing to do with muds per se.

They're needed for the argument, though, which is why I had to state
them.

> Here I believe Bartle is homing in on something quite peculiar to
> muds - it's really very hard to substitute any mud for the
> experience a player had on his first mud, though he declines to
> share with us his reasons for this point

The trouble is, there aren't many studies that have looked at
this. I could either make the point and refer to the one study I
know that has looked at it, or I could go and do the study
myself. Then again, I could just make the statement and hope it
encourages those skeptical of it to go out and do the studies (my
preference, because I don't have - or want - social science
training).

Actually, I'd have made the point even if there weren't any studies,
as I take it pretty well as fact. I've seen it too many times to
believe otherwise.

The reason the Themis data wasn't published, by the way, was because
there was a rather large standard deviation that meant they couldn't
use it for the predictive purposes they'd intended for it. There is
another study that ALMOST shows the "first game love" feature, at
http://www.thebeholder.org/research/mmogexit.htm; it asked around
the question, but it didn't actually ask it. Thus, you can see
traces of it in action, but no real definitive proof.

> Point #3 is not some absolute law. Its consequence is only that a
> mud must be strikingly superior to a player's first mud in order
> to be accepted

Well, strikingly different. The notion of "superiority" is judged in
the light of the player's first virtual world. What people who grew
up on EQ might find "superior", people who grew up on AO might not.

		Richard
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