HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS, SPADES: PLAYERS WHO SUIT MUDS
- How do different styles of player relate to the game world?
- How do different styles of player relate to themselves and others?
- How does this link to your own game play experiences of online worlds?
This weeks reading I found to be very interesting, I took a lot from this one especially and thought it was interesting how such things are defined into specified terminology.
Abstract:
- Four approaches to playing MUDS are identified and described.
- The approaches may arise from the inter-relationship of two dimensions of play style.
- Action vs Interaction
- World Oriented Vs Player - Oriented.
Labelling of MUDS either being "Social"or "Gamelike".
Preface:
Trubshaw's 1978 game (Bartle, 1900; Burka 1995 - Regarded as "
Games" by their "
Players"
MUDS can be considerable value in non-game ie ("Serious") applications.
Roush, 1993.
There is a dispute over MUDs and weather they really are games or whether they're something else instead.
Game in the Dictionary = "Pastime", "Sport", "Entertainment", "Amusement".
Are MUDs
- Games like: Chess, Tennis, ADSP?
- Pastimes like: Reading Cooking, Gardening?
- Sports like: Hunting, Shooting, Fishing?
- Entertainment like: Nightclubs, TV, Concerts?
Wiz level
A Simple Taxonomy: - Organising things you see "Gamelike" aspects over "Social" aspects of MUD.
- The four things that people typically enjoyed about MUDS were:
i)
Achievement within the game context:
- Players give themselves game - related goals, and vigorously set out to achieve them. This usually means accumulating and disposing of large quantities of high value treasure or cutting a swathe through hordes of mobiles (ie. monsters built in to the virtual world).
ii)
Exploration of the game
- Players try to find out as much as they can about the virtual world. Although this means mapping its topology (ie exploring the MUDs depth), later it advances to experimentation with its physics (ie exploring the MUDs depth).
iii) Socialising with others
- Players use the games communicative facilities and apply the role - playing that these engender as a context in which to converse (and otherwise interact) with their fellow players.
iv) Imposition upon others
- players use the tools provided by the game to cause distress to (or, in circumstances, to help) other players. Where permitted this usually involves acquiring some weapons and applying it enthusiastically to the person of another player in the game world.
- Achievers = Diamonds (They're always seeking treasure)
- Explorers = Spades (They dig around for information)
- Socialisers = Hearts (They emphasise with other players)
- Killers = Clubs (They hit people with them!)
- These can cross-over depending on players mood or play style.
- Players will often drift between all four, depending on their mood or current play style. Players do not have a primary style and will only switch as a means to advance their main interest.
i)
Achievers:
- Regard points - gathering and rising in levels as their main goal, and all is ultimately subservient to this.
- Exploration - is necessary only to find new sources of treasure or improved ways of earning point points from it.
- Socialising - Is a relaxing method of discovering what other players know about the business of accumulating points, that their knowledge can be applied to the task of gaining riches.
- Killing - Is only necessary to eliminate rivals or people who get in the way, or to gain vast amounts of points.
ii)
Explorers:
- Delight in have the game exposed its internal machinations to them. They try to progressively esoteric actions in wild, out-of-the-way places, looking for interesting features (i.e. bugs) and figuring out how things work. Scoring points may be necessary to enter some next phase of exploration, but it's tedious, and anyone with half a brain can do it.
iii)
Socialisers:
- Are interested in people and what they say the game is mealy a backdrop of common ground where things happen to players.
iv)
Killers:
- Get kicks from opposing themselves onto other players, they're often bad mannered.
There needs to be a balance in all of these different types of players otherwise too much of one type causes other types of players to leave.
-
The need to maintain a balance in types of players is important with games that rely heavily on player to player count.
Player Types:
Interest Graph - is a representational structure which can chat what players find of interest in a MUD.
i)
Achievers are interested in doing things i.e.
acting on the
world.
ii)
Exploreres are interested in having the game surprise them i.e.
interacting within the
world.
iii)
Socialisers are interested in
interacting with other
players
iv)
Killers are interested on doing things to other people i.e. in
acting on other
players
Changing the Player Type Balance:
A stable MUD is one where the four principal styles of player are in equilibrium.
Balance: Whereabouts in their interest graph the centre of gravity the individual players point lies.
Players:
- Putting the emphasis on player rather than the game easy - you just provide the system with lots of communication commands and precious little else.
Wold:
- Tilting the game towards the world rather than its inhabitants is also easy: you simply make it so big and awkward to traverse that no-one ever meets anyone in it; alternatively, you can ensure that if they do meet up then they are very few ways in which they can interact.
Interacting:
Emphasis on interaction rather than action can go along way.
Acting
Without depth you have no MUD.
(Programming being the "
nature" of a MUD and administration being the "
nurture")
Ways to emphasise Players over World:
- Add more player communication facilities.
- Make communication facilities easy and intuitive.
- Decrease the size of the world.
- Increase the connectivity between rooms.
- Maximise the number of simultaneous players
- Restrict building privileges to a select few
- Cut down on the number of mobiles.
Ways to emphasise World over Players:
- Have only basic communication facilities.
- Have few ways that the players can do things to other players.
- Make building facilities easy and intuitive.
- Maximise the size of the world.
- Use only "rational" room connection in most bases
- Grant building privileges to many.
- Have lots of mobiles.
Ways to emphasise Interacting over Acting:
- Make help facilities produce vague information.
- Produce cryptic hints when players appear stuck.
- Maximise the affects of commands (add depth).
- Lower the reward for Achievement.
- Have only a shallow/level class system.
- Produce amusing responses for amusing commands.
- Edit all room description for consistent atmosphere.
- Limit the number of commands available in any one area.
- Have lots of small puzzles that can be solved easily.
- Allow builders to add completely new commands.
Ways to emphasise Acting over Interacting:
- Provide a game manual.
- Include auto map facilities.
- Include auto-log facilities.
- Raise the rewards for achievement.
- Make commands be applicable whenever they might reasonably have meaning.
- Have large puzzles, that take 1 hour to complete.
- Only allow building by top quality builders.
"The 'feel' of a MUD is derived from the position on the interest graph of the MUDs players, from which a
'centre of gravity' can be approximated".
Small puzzles - Emphasise
Interaction
Large puzzles - Emphasise
Acting
The Social Versus Gamelike Debate:
- Competitiveness
- Anti - Social Behaviour
"There are two basic types of MUD, those which are like adventure games and those which are not."
Distinguishing a MUD from Adventure:
- A MUD is not goal orientated; it has no beginning or end, no score and no notion of 'winning' or 'sucess'.
- MUS isn't really a game at all but 'Players' are callers 'Players'... this is not necessarily true as the first MUD was programmed to be a game.
Player Interactions:
Achievers Vs Achievers:
- Friendly competition.
- Lack of time or luck to be as good as their contemporaries.
- Co-operate with one another - to perform a collective goal (usually).
Achievers Vs Explorers:
- Achievers regard Explorers as loser's because they tinker with the game mechanics because they can't cut it as a player.
Achievers Vs Socialisers:
- Achievers tolerate socialisers.
- Achievers talk to socialisers in a patronising manner.
- They feel pity.
Achievers Vs Killers:
- Don't like to loose or being battered in some grand scheme for points.
'Increasing Killers lowers Achievers and vice versa'
Killers promote excitement & intensity in the game
Explorers Vs Achievers:
- No more to life than per suing meaningless
goals so they look at achievers as nascent explorers.
- Can live alongside without too much friction.
- Numbers aren't affected.
Explorers Vs Explorers:
- Good explorers hold respect for each other.
- Generally get on well unless fake info is given.
- Enjoy each others company.
- Not many people have this type of person so it's difficult to increase
(hold onto the explorers)
Explorers Vs Socialisers:
- People whom they can impress.
- No population affect.
Explorers Vs Killers:
- Respect for killers if a Explorer kills a Killer it's a big deal for the reputation of the killer especially if they're a higher level.
Socialisers Vs Achievers:
- Like Achievers because they provide running gossip open.
- Don't like talking to achievers unless they can get them to open up.
- Men and Women relationship is arguably the same.
- Increasing numbers has a subtle affect.
Socialisers Vs Socialisers:
- Positive feedback: can talk for hours about any subject and still come back for more.
- More Socialisers = More Socialisers attracted to the game.
Socialisers Vs Killers:
- Most fractious relationship.
- Hate killers = Anti-Social motive.
- Whereas Socialisers have would have little to talk about.
- Without evil there is no good (Contrasting).
More Killers = Less Socialisers
More Socialisers = Less Killers.
Killers Vs Achievers:
- Natural prey.
- Increasing Achievers increases the Killers.
Killers Vs Explorers:
- Tend to be left alone.
- Explorers don't fret about being attacked.
- Increasing Explorers slightly decreases Killers.
Killers Vs Socialisers:
- Killers like the dreadful act of killing socialisers.
- Like a bad reputation.
- Controversy is triggered by Killing Socialisers which in turn triggers the Socialisers to talk upon these acts.
Killers Vs Killers:
- Try not to cross paths.
- Reputation, therefore avoid risking it.
- Population of killers can take a long time.
- Will occasionally work in teams.
- "Killer Killer" = Wiz - Level Players.
