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[Column] General: RPG Personality Traits
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
For many players, the choice of the role into which they will fall in any MMO is as crucial as what their character looks like. In today's column, Genese Davis takes a look at three roles as defined in a recently released player survey. See what they are, how they play and which you are and then talk to us in the comments.
Gaming personality types are generally multifaceted and the dominance of one facet over the other is often situational. However, there are quite a few tests and quizzes out there that place player preferences and gaming personality types into different categories. In the Exploring MMOtivation column we took a close look at Dr. Bartle’s explorer gaming type, and mentioned how his test can determine whether a player falls into the explorer, killer, achiever or socializer category.
Read more Genese Davis: RPG Personality Traits.
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Comments
Lark your life?
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I would expect to score pretty low on the Role type. Higher in the Self type but highest in the Mastery type. Maybe. I've spent very little time thinking about this particular aspect of gaming.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
On the flip side I have tried to roll a character that just isnt me at all and I cant make it ten minutes before know this just isnt going to work and I delete it.
interesting quiz. I see forum topics pop up regularly about why people do or don't think its ok to play as the opposite gender- the self/role/mastery concept seems to show why some people have issues with this.
My only criticism is that the mastery player in the quiz is biased towards WoW style games. Mastery in UO or Shadowbane terms would be very different than achievements and gear. If there was a way to word the questions to determine mastery in a more general sense I think I would have had a very different result.
-Lisa Jont
I'm not exactly sure which category I fit in nor what anyone really means by 'identifying with your avatar'. Does it mean that you're delusional enough to trick your mind into thinking you and your avatar are one and the same person? Or does it mean you simply behave in the game the same way you would in real life, using the same moral code? If it's the former then I'd recommend an express visit to the nearest psychiatric hospital to whoever 'identifies' with his/her toon before it gets out of hand. If it's the latter then I guess I qualify as a self gamer more than anything else.
I recommend this educational video:
LOL ! not sure i got your point but thanks for the good laugh
MMORPG Gamers/Developers need a reality check!
I am both a Self and a role player.. I try to create an avatar who'd best represent me and what I represent out here in the real world.. I try to envision, not really the avatar being exactly ME, but a "living, breathing" entity of another world for which I posses and must care for..
Luckily for me, most games allow me to design an avatar that carries at least SOME of the same visual traits as I, but even for the ones that don't I still connect on a level that tends to have me speak about the character in third person and not being possessive when doing so. So instead of saying "My character", or "My guy", I'll say "Vyeth is.." or "He is"..
I try to give myself the idea that the character has his own conscience, but lacks the ability to act on his own..
Wreck it Ralph is how I like to envision all video game characters... lol..
Its crap like those tests that try to cram everyone into just a few categories that helped bring about the over simplified MMOs we have today.
Trying to create just a few categories allows companies to start thinking that they do not need real depth to their games, or variety and THAT is the reason why so many companies cant figure out WHY their games are failing.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
In the end it's all about trying to understand the player more so they can craft a game that they enjoy more. When you have millions and millions of players you cannot craft a game for every type of player that possibly exists. You have to break players down into groups, decide on who your market it, and where the focus of the game lies. Actually it is when games try to please everybody they fail because they end up being unfocused and pleasing nobody. If you look at Wildstar this is exactly what they are doing with Paths, and that game has depth coming out it's ass.
I duno, I took this quiz and it told me I was 40% self, 30% RP and 30% achievement based. The self thing I could've told anyone from the get go, I do try to identify with my toons in each game because that makes the game world itself so much fun, after that tho it's about what I can do in the game to get better at what I do. I have -never- role played, never want to, never intend to. I'm the guy that leaves the backstory box blank and you'll see me avoid RP hubs like they contained an awkward plague.
Tests like this, to me are more like the tests that tell you which FF7 character you are or which Dragonball Character you are. They're basically meaningless things. Anyone taking it seriously needs to seriously evaluate themselves.
I'm not surprised you ranked predominately in the self category. The cover of your novel strongly resembles you. Is it a safe bet that there's other similarities besides physical with your main character Kaylie Ames?
Thank you for the article. Any chance of sharing the link with people who have requested it here?
Edit: I note that your profile has not logged on to this site since the start of April so I'm not sure if you send through these columns for the MMORPG staff to upload. If that is the case then it's disappointing that the author does not show an interest in the discussions generated here.
Edit 2: http://www.gameongirl.com/gamerquiz/ link to quiz.
p.s. 80% Mastery, 10% Self, 10% Role when I did the test.
Even though I've been a role-player for the past three decades, I scored HIGH on Self (55%), followed by Role (25%) and Mastery (20%).
What's the use of mastering anything if there's no story behind it? I am presently playing ONLY Lord of the Rings Online, and I believe my answers are based more on how the MMORPG is constructed than an overall thought process. I love certain characters -three of which I am presently playing in LotRO-, but I cannot actually role-play them because there are no real role-playing opportunities, whether from the game or the community. If I had a game that at least tried to fit role-playing into it -I'm thinking ESO will actually do a lot of that, if my experiences in Oblivion were any indication-, then I'm sure my role would be much higher, likely 50%, shoving Self and Mastery lower.
Perhaps some control questions could be introduced for that quiz, such as "Does the inherent environment of the game have an effect on how you play that game?" Perhaps there could even be a multiple choice question about role-playing, exploring, crafting, and other elements typical to most MMOs. I understand no one wants the quiz to be huge, but I have to say that several of those questions simply did not have any manner of satisfactory answers for me; nothing fit, so I made the best choices I could. I would definitely love to have a more accurate quiz, though.
The social gaming market has gone a ways beyond the Bartle Test, and probably a lot of the MMO companies have too. There isn't a gamer test for it, but you might want to look at an article I wrote for Gamasutra a while back for an idea of what the marketing folks are thinking when they shape games for you these days.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ShavaNerad/20100510/5123/Skill_Luck_Wonder_Puzzle_Story__What_Neurochemical_Rewards_Attract_What_Audience.php
Other than marketing and the gaming companies themselves (to tailor games/ads to bring more players in), why would anyone care about and/or want yet another psychological test?
You play as you play. The fact that 'a' test defines you as primarily 'self' means...nothing. It lends no insight to you other than 'I have been defined as 'Self' so lets get back to being self in game'.
Amazing write up, where did you get your Doctorate?
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Yeah... these personality tests are (IMO) kinda cute and interesting but not really important in the big scheme of things.
They can probably provide a Aha-experience to some people, that there are different views on things (so we can avoid some more topics on the "guys-who-play-gurls-avatars-OmaGAd-are-you-weirdos" theme).
Whenever developers or other "industry-people" are trying to use tests like these they seem to simplify it a lot and go completly bonkers, which tend to end up in some degree of failure in the end.
This test seemed kinda simplified and crude as well: at times there were more than one answer that fit, other questions had no suitable answer at all.
60% Role: Storytelling through your avatar is your main attraction to a game.
35% Self: Being there would make the experience a little more fun.
5% Mastery: Trophies are a nice bonus.