[MUD-Dev] wherefor in-game artists?

[Robert Zubek]

Paolo Piselli wrote:

> Where, if anywhere, do creative types fall in Bartle's player
> types?

Nowhere, it seems. :)

This is not a criticism - Bartle's is an elegant model of the
different MUD player motivations. But it's based on a taxonomy of
the most prominent groups, and Creatives are difficult to come by in
an average MUD.

> Do these players appear in the wild, and if not, is it merely
> because mechanics prevent them from engaging in creative pursuits?

I don't think it's the mechanics by themselves that work against
them. Castle Marrach by Skotos, a text-based game of role-playing
and intrigue, is my favorite example. When I played it some time
ago, they had a surprisingly huge creative subculture (within the
limits of the text interface, of course, which constrained the form
to creative writing, poetry, etc). From what I understand, this
happened because Skotos had actively nurtured artistic expression -
from the game's very beginning they had seeded a number of
communities and social structures in which artistic creation was
valued, and nurtured their development with unique in-game rewards.

It also seems to have helped that they highly constrained the game -
it took place in one small building, with no access to weapons,
money, or player stats. This effectively selected against killers,
and the more obsessive among explorers and achievers (one could
still explore and achieve in the social domain, of course).

So even though the mechanics were even more limiting than standard
MUDs, their thoughtful social engineering allowed them to grow a
thriving creative community.

Rob

--
Robert Zubek
http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~rob <http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~rob>
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