Member Discussions

I'm an administrator for an rp-required game that's slowly arcing towards an exploration/conquering/trade/politics kind of phase as players are let loose into a broader galaxy to find, take, upgrade, defend, and trade amidst their own planets and asteroids. This new phase got me thinking about how being an rp game can and should color other aspects of the game.

How does your game integrate the Socialization (RP) aspects of your game into the Achiever, Killer and Exploration parts of them?

Somehow, this question hit me wrong. Maybe it was just the mention of RP and Bartle in the same sentence. :)

As a fundamental law, I'd say everything needs to have thematic integrity. For example, on an early MUSH I played (which was set in a castle), when you typed 'who', it said, "A page runs up to you and shows you a scroll." I worked on a Star Wars game where the WHO was only available if there was a 'terminal' in the cabin.

Next, the interface needs to be roleplayable. Just how you handle this will depend on the type of roleplay you're pursuing.

Finally, I try to achieve realism, but not to a point where it introduces tedium. ;)

Hope that helps.

I don't feel there's any incongruity between Bartle and RP. Most RP'ers gravitate towards the Socialization aspect. But for many, the games want to appeal to people who are Socializers AND something else. People who are socializer-achievers might appreciate politics and/or crafting. Socializer-explorers might like to find a new canonical place, conquer it and build it into a city or country. Socializer-killers might like to rp out elaborate fight scenes or be a part of militaries.

I'm not an admin, just a long time mudder and observer of mudders.

I used to play RP enforced muds a decade or so ago and on the RP muds I played, at least 3 of the 4 Bartle player types could easily be found among RPers.

For example, you had Achievers who RP'd as a means to rise up in the mud society and achieve fame, fortune and power. You'd have Socializers who would RP romance, perhaps to address needs lacking in their real lives. And since you had Socializers you'd have Killers whose primary pleasure in RP was to find ways to control and impose their will upon others, especially with the intent to cause real emotional distress.

Perhaps you had the Explorers who were RPing too. Experimenting with different character types and seeing how different RPing scenarios these different character types would yield.

At least that's my interpretation of what Bartle was trying to say years ago.

Sorry, didn't mean to derail things with that comment. But since we're here, I think it helps to realise that when Bartle said "social", he said it with disdain and was referring to OOC chat, not RP. For me, Bartle's work has always displayed too much ignorance of current games to be relevant. I think you'd be better served by reading Raph Koster, if your intention is to gain insight into game design.