MUD players

Last we had had to read a Popcap article written by Richard Bartle about MUD (Multi-user dungeon) and how the players of the MUD effect the game.

Bartle first explains to us about the 'stereotypical' MUD players which he dubs them as playing cards.

Achievers- players who create achievements within the game text ( diamonds)
Explorers- Players who explore the game world (spades)
Socializers- players who socialize with other players (hearts)
Killers-the players main reason for player is to impose on other players (club)

These players are not unique to their category, Bartle says that they have to switch between each player type to get what they want.
With Achievers they give challenges to themselves to complete or are interested in doing stuff in the game/to the game. To complete a challenge they would have to explore a certain type of area in the game to receive an item. This also goes for solciolising, by talking to other players they will gain information and discover what other players know, lastly, they would have to become a killer at some point to rid of rival achievers.
Explorers tend to enjoy surprises given to them in games and try to figure how things work. Scoring points is necessary (achievers) to get to other places in the game and by talking to other players they can be informative as a source of a games idea.
As the name suggests Socializers are more interested in the people, the game is only a setting where they all get together. Because socializers are about the the people who are playing it, by achieving points the socializers can access information on other people. Exploring the game world is necessary to understand what everyone else is talking about and becoming a killer can form relationships with other players.
Lastly (and I think the most simple one) we have the Killers, these players feel power with every kill the achieve, but to get powerful they would have to gain XP (achievers)  exploring the land allows them to discover new ways to kill people as well as new enemies and (as Bartle says) they only socialize to taunt other players.
                                                                 Interest Graph 

This intereast graph shows how the different MUD players are 'sorted' into sections.

After explaining the MUD players Bartle tells us that a balance is needed with the types of players. If a MUD has a particular large number of the same payers, it could drive away other player, this is also vise-versa as these groups of people  rely on each other.


Reading thought the 26 page article I disagreed with most of what Bartle stated, because his article is out dated, in these times his article would be irrelevant, but since he wrote the article when MUD's just came to life, his article could be seen as draft for MUD's for the future. Some of his statements still apply to MUD's now-a-days, like the balancing system of the different players, but by only having four types of players, i think that over the years new player types have been created.