#bartlestaxonomy

Dividing player types by the reasons they play a multiplayer game.

Achievers

Explorers

Socializers

Bartle's taxonomy is a concept that classifies players of multiplayer games. Bartle did years of research back when MUD's were popular, and even though that was a long time ago, his discoveries have still influenced how the games of today are made. According to him, players fall into four different categories when playing multiplayer games. These four groups are the Achievers, the Hunters, the Socializers and the Explorers. Achievers play the game so they can become the best, they're there to get to the highest level, get the best items, and complete the best achievements. Hunters are there to kill other players and induce rage. Socializers are there because they like talking to people and forming guilds. Explorers want to find everything interesting in the world, and they'll go to great lengths to find it. While this is mostly true in multiplayer games, I think that this could apply to single player games as well. Of course, the behaviors of each type of player would need to adapt to the type of game they're playing, but we'll look at how Bartle's taxonomy could fit into The Witcher 3 and This War of Mine. In Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you role play the character of Geralt, and you have a lot of freedom to do what you want. The achievers would probably be out to complete the quests and obtain the best sets of Witcher armor, the hunters would probably be out to kill the toughest monsters and kill whatever NPC's they can. The Socializers would be out to meet the people of the Northern Kingdoms and learn about their different cultures, as the game hosts a variety of people and how they interact. The Explorers have an entire world built for them to discover, and even though it is only semi-open world, the game is packed with content for these types of players. This War of Mine could be very different, though. The achievers just might try to keep the characters alive with as much health and comfort as possible. The hunters may be out to destroy anyone within a 10 block radius of their start. Socializers may be more interested in trading with others to keep their people well, and they would probably be more interested in the lives of the characters and NPC's before the war happened. Explorers are probably more likely to seek the solutions to heir problems in far away buildings, going there just to see what they can find. In This War of Mine, all of these kind of blend together if you want to keep your alive, and it is unlikely that you'll never have to kill someone, trade, explore, or keep your characters healthy in order to even complete or last in the game. I think that Bartle's taxonomy could work the same in many single player games, but sometimes it would be more difficult to have certain groups in certain games. It's not really socializing if you're just listening to GLaDOS talk crap about you in Portal 2. Only in rather open world games, that involve characters to interact with/ kill could all four categories be fulfilled. To which single player games could Richard Bartle's research apply? What are some games where it doesn't apply?