What type of gamer is everyone else?

We often talk about writing and designing a game for each gamer type, especially Bartle’s Player Types.  Now’s your chance to find out where you lie.  GamerDNA has hit 500,000 tests today and offers visitors a way to learn about their playstyles.  What’s interesting is that the site offers a way to chart the aggregate of everyone’s tests.

So far, of Bartle’s original Four, explorers are the highest at 38.1% of players.  However, I think this result is skewed, because explorers might be twice as likely to explore taking such a test!  Socializers are the lowest.  I don’t know if you get an output you can easily share when you complete the test (the site is lagged due to Kotaku traffic), but if not, that could be why socializers are low.  Surprisingly, achievers come in second to last at 19.1%.  Perhaps the presence or emphasis on multiplayer FPS makes the survey skew toward “Killers” who come in second at 29%.

In addition to the Bartle’s Test, there’s also the “Decades of Influence,” and FPS and RTS multiplayer style tests.  Wait a day or so until they’ve got their servers back in order, then go over there and check out your style.  Learned anything surprising?  Share your results!

Next week: Stay tuned next week for a humorous look at game writers — our first collaborative post with writer Chris Avellone, who draws a mean stick figure.

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You don’t know Austin GDC 2008 until you’ve read this

Sande trekked over to Austin to get you the latest on what’s going on at the Game Developers Conference.  Whether you attended these sessions or not, check out what you missed by reading Sande’s articles over at Edge Online.

Know Your Characters

Tom Abernathy tells you that story comes from character.  He goes further to say character inspires mechanics.  Now if only we can get developers to develop characters before mechanics and we’ll be all set!

What’s Wrong With Questing and How to Fix It

Attendees brainstorm on solutions to the seminal text box for delivering quests.  Many MMOs and games have taken a stab at it.  Added benefit of eliminating the text box in favor of icons or one-liners?  You save your writers’ time so they can focus on making a good adventure.

Future Gaming

Where will games be in 35 years?  Find out what a towel has to do with it!

Google Lively Becoming Game-Friendly

Worlds in Motion Summit reveals that Google isn’t interested in dollars.  Oh, I’m sorry.  Virtual dollars.

Other News from Austin:

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Cartoon Network Flexes IP in MMO

Building an Online Disneyland

Anything from AGDC you’re just dying to learn about?  Got any hot tips?  Click on the comment below and do your magic.

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Wizard 101 goes live!

Woohoo!  Our latest effort, Wizard 101, went live last week!  Aimed at tweens, this fantasy MMO has been entertaining adults as well.  You play a young wizard who must battle against a dark force across several worlds, all the while learning to fight magical battles similar to a collectible card game.  Whether you have a young’un itching to play a wizard, or you are, you should check it out.  Sande and I played together using voicechat over Skype (yes, odd choice) and had a great time.  For a limited time, players can subscribe for a year for only $60, and the first level is free to play.  So grab a buddy and go for a spin!

Check out user comments on this 1up review to see if it’s for you, or explore extensive notes from a beta and current player at West Karana. Interested in gameplay?  Take a look at this sped up boss battle:

Have you played yet?  See you in class!

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Bartle versus MMOs, but solutions are in sight

I cannot believe I missed this.  Our new ION buddy Scott Jennings, who’s working on an unannounced MMO, posted a link on his blog to an interview with Bartle.  It spawned a lengthy conversation in comments, with Bartle himself weighing in several times.  Here’s the crux of Bartle’s argument:

1. MMO designers don’t have the interest or ability to improve on the MMO genre in general
2. MMO designers don’t give any reason or meaning to the worlds they create

Commenters immediately went to town on Bartle, condemning him for only being a consultant among other issues.  In the interest of full disclosure, we are actually consulting on an MMO where Bartle is also a consultant.  That said, having both consulted and worked on a number of MMOs, I have to agree that if you’ve worked on more than one, you get an idea of what is innovative and what isn’t.  If you happen to work on more than one during the course of a year, you really get to see what’s going on currently in the world of MMOs.  As for Jennings and Bartle’s assertion that designers don’t have knowledge of game design history, here’s a quick refresher from a game story perspective.

On the second issue, I can’t claim to know what is going on in the minds of all MMO designers, and neither does Bartle.  However, assuming Bartle is correct, starting with a unique vision, then setting up your world and gameplay to convey it is a step in the right direction.  It’s not enough to say “sci fi world” or “fantasy world,” because this type of world could fit into any game of the genre (not for nothing, but we presented a panel on Writing for Fantasy Worlds).  The worlds of Warhammer, Age of Conan, and World of Warcraft all take place in fantasy worlds, but fantasy worlds — and fantasy games — shouldn’t be interchangable.

Hop on over to broken toys and throw your comment into the mix, or drop your comment down below and tell me if you think Bartle’s dim view of MMO innovation is right or wrong, especially when it comes to MMO game story.   

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