[MUD-Dev] SOC: Yee vs. Bartle II

[Jaycen Rigger]

Damien Neil <damien.neil at gmail.com> wrote:

> Another problem is that the survey questions do not well
> distinguish between the desire to advance and the desire to be
> powerful.  This may seem like a distinction without a
> difference--but consider: If a given player is acquires a
> character with the highest level and best equipment in the game,
> will he continue playing?  A player motivated by advancement will
> dislike reaching the top, since he can has nowhere to climb.  A
> player motivated by power--either because he wants the respect
> that comes with it, or the ability to do things that demand
> it--will, in contrast, be happy.

> I don't really have any interest in spending a lot of time
> defending Bartle's model of player types.  I feel that it's a
> useful tool--imperfect and incomplete, as all tools for describing
> human behavior are, but still workable for many purposes.  I
> certainly don't think that Nick Yee's research, interesting though
> it may be, invalidates Bartle's.

Paolo might have been a little excited when he dismissed Bartle out
of hand.  I think both have a lot of useful things to say.  I would
say that Yee seems to have distilled Bartle's efforts.  I would also
say Yee has a long way to go, still.

Echoing other posters to these forums (under the original thread
title, even), designers are woefully ignorant of their customer's
motivations and are STILL working mostly on personal beliefs and
anecdote.  You're own descriptions sound as though they are filtered
through your perceptions as opposed to an objective look at
imperical data.  I would flatly disagree with a couple of your
motivations as you've stated them, but that's my own feeling of what
"is and isn't".

Yee makes a very strong case because of the type of behaviour model
he's creating.  It looks incomplete, but that's precisely why it's a
great subject for this forum.

Jaycen Rigger
www.urilia.com
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