Comments on: Social gaming design – Bartle types versus Web 2.0 participation pyramid

By: Flatboy

Flatboy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:54:51 +0000

I don't understand why you need to compare these as if they were incompatible. You can easily combine the two methods.
If you do that, interesting things arise. Achievers and Explorers are more likely to be content creators and active participants. Griefers are likely to be active participants but neither lurkers nor content creators. Socializers could be any of the three, although they probably won't have the discipline to be creators.

By: Jussi Laakkonen

Jussi Laakkonen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:45:41 +0000

The Bartle model and especially the dynamics between the different player types is a fascinating model for anybody interested in running a community. I personally believe that the social media pyramid is the third dimension, i.e., you have 1% creators in the Explorers segment, 10% synthesizers in the same segment and so on.

Nick Yee's Daedalus project was a comprehensive study into the motivations of MMO players, and it presents another great take on this topic:
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001298.php?page=4

By: Shelley

Shelley — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:27:17 +0000

Andrew, this is so thought-provoking! Thank you for sharing.

What do you think about games where part of the user experience is creating a piece of the game itself, e.g. Spore? How does something like that fit in?