Achiever - Choose your Own Path
This is just a snapshot into Bartle Player Types. To get your full, and more accurate analysis and profile, complete the Bartle Player Type Week 6 Moodle Activity
Bartle Player Types
''Everybody is a Genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.'' Albert Einstein
We’re all different, we think differently, we act differently, we play differently, and whilst we must be careful in the forming of stereotypes, if we understand the motivations that result from those differences, then we can be more empathetic to the needs of the individual.
In 1996 Richard Bartle described a taxonomy of video game player types in his paper “Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who suit MUDs” (Bartle, 1996)
We’ll cover this in more detail later in the course, but in essence, these ideas were based upon the work of psychologist David Keirsey (Keirsey & Bates, 1984) who identified four general patterns from the sixteen types of the Myers-Briggs personality model, namely; Artisan, Guardian, Rational and Idealist.
When Bartle appropriated these roles to gamers he changed the names to ones more relatable to gaming; Socialisers (Hearts), Killers (Clubs), Explorers (Spades), and Achievers (Diamonds)
In later research we see the taxonomy developed further in order to relate more to serious games (Radoff, 2011) but for now we’ll focus on Bartle’s snappier definition, and which type of player you are.
Note: Please take the results with a large pinch of salt. We are to degrees, depending upon the environment, conditions and experience, all of these things. In addition, we minimalised the test so that you could complete it quickly and easily. A longer and more accurate version of the test will be used within the module.
You Are an Achiever
As an Achiever, you want to be the best at any given game; you want to be at the top of the leader board, collect more points than anyone else, and otherwise having the highest score at the expense of all else including socialising, exploring, and winning battles. For you, it’s all about the status.
In fact, the leader board might be the biggest indicator of a game that you’re interested in, but a close second will be your own points tally and collection of loot. All you want to do is win, but unlike the Killer, you do so by playing by the rules.
Your Move
Typical Video Game: Angry Birds
Board Game: Age of Empires
Keirsey: Guardian (Logistical)
Motivation: Security
Genre/Mechanic: competition, collections, manufacturing, high scores, levels, clear objectives
Problem Solving: Persistence
Overall Goal: Have
References
Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, Clubs , Diamonds and Spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research, (1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-004-0875-6
Keirsey, D., & Bates, M. (1984). Please Understand Me.
Radoff, J. (2011). Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Games.