http://mindbendingpuzzles.blogspot.com/2007/10/mmorpgs-whatever-happened-to-hearts.html
I find the Bartle test to be fascinating, and it's something that I've done personal research on its effects in online spaces. So, naturally, I can't pass up a blog post that talks about how we're catering to one over the other. The points are interesting, but are they true. I haven't played either Guild Wars or WoW. Is WoW really only for the Achiever in all of us, and is Guild Wars really just playing only to our inner murderer? If that's true, are any online games currently playing towards all of them (Well, except for Kingdom of Loathing)?
I find it to be an interesting discussion topic.
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My problem with the Bartle test is the same with so many of these poorly crafted personality test. My answer is too often C. In the Middle or D. None of the above. Also, it's pretty clear which category each of the answers corresponds to.
Well, I realize that most people aren't one extreme or another in the Bartle test, but it makes for an interesting base line. There's very few pure puzzle gamers, but some do exist and it is a demographic to consider. Hell, I don't even agree with my own test results necessarily. Still, I think the question as to whether some MMO's are missing on large portions of a demographic is relevant, and I think the suits are a good way of explaining it.
Hi Brian, thank you for the link. Since I wrote that piece I have had a bit of time to think about the issue. While I admit it is a bit over simplistic to say WOW=Achiever, GuildWars =PVP I do think that it is inevitable that games narrow their focus as they move towards end-game. In fact thinking about it now it seems pretty obvious to me that the people who will always lose out are explorers. Explorers want lots of new content to explore and new content is expensive to produce. It is much cheaper to focus the end game at achievers (who will happily reuse the same content over and over to get phwt lwt) or PVPers (who generate their own content to some extent).
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