[MUD-Dev] DGN: Reasons for play [was: Emergent Behaviors spawned from...]

[Sean Howard]

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

> Richard Bartle's personality types seem as accurate today as they
> ever were.

I disagree, and without meaning any disrespect to Mr. Bartle, I
think everyone's reliance on these things is preventing people from
creating a more accurate and, more importantly, usable model for
player temperment.  Don't get me wrong, what it does, it does fine -
but it doesn't do much.  It merely describes behavior, not the
motivations or causes of it. Any system where a person can exhibit
characteristics of all temperments is pretty much worthless.

We need a system where we can predict player motivations. For
instance, let's say we create a new type of MMORPG - something which
doesn't follow the same conventions. How will a killer with a
healthy side of achievement take to this new paradigm? We don't
know. We only know how they operate within a limited MMORPG style,
and even then, it's little more than guesswork.

We don't need an abstract system to know HOW players play the way
they do.  I've seen multiple websites with statistics based on
tracking software and weekly questionaires. What we need is a system
that tells us WHY players play the way they do - something that can
predict a player's involvement with untested design ideas. We seek
to predict, not explain.

Again, I've always thought that the Meyers-Briggs temperment system
is a good starting point, but in its general purpose format, it is
too easily misinterpretted by game designers who, frankly, don't
understand players who aren't like them. With such a broad base, you
can use these temperments to identify and explain away any behavior
in pretty much any way you'd like. I'd like to see someone sit down
with a statistically significant group of players and question the
hell out of them with the four types of decision making styles
(tactical, strategic, diplomatic, and logistical) and with regard to
the STRUCTURE of play, rather than merely the outcome of it.

- Sean Howard
www.squidi.net
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