Bartle's Player Archetypes

1. Richard Bartle and the Origin of the Taxonomy

Richard Bartle, a professor in the UK, co-created the first MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) in 1978. After observing player behavior in these text-based multiplayer games over many years, he identified four recurring player archetypes. Tim notes that people have been playing online multiplayer dungeons for nearly 50 years, and the patterns Bartle identified still hold up.

Tim also recommends The Psychology of Video Games by George and Elizabeth Loftus (published in the 1980s, covering Pac-Man and Space Invaders era games), noting that its insights still apply today.

2. The Four Archetypes

2.1. Achievers

Achievers want their progress measured. They love meters, bars, percentages, and achievements. When they complete a quest, they want XP — and they want to know exactly how much XP is needed for the next level and what rewards await them there. Progress itself is the reward.

2.2. Explorers

Explorers love big maps, open worlds, and going off the beaten path. They're driven by the act of discovery — finding a hidden vista, a chest on a ledge, or a secret door. Whether or not exploration gives XP is secondary; the discovery itself is what rewards their brain.

2.3. Killers

Killers are the power gamers and min-maxers. They push the game as hard as they can — maximizing attack output, defense, and efficiency. It's not about achievement metrics; it's about dominance. "I killed everyone in this town. I have the highest possible attack output. Nothing can touch me."

2.4. Socializers

Socializers are there for the storyline and human connection. They do quests to see where the story leads, not for XP or kills. They talk to every NPC, spend time in dialogue trees, and in multiplayer games they help other players — most likely playing clerics or buff-givers.

3. Tim's MUD History

Tim played many MUDs in the 1980s and got into LP MUD in 1990. He co-created a MUD called Wintermute with another grad student at UC Irvine. He built a large dungeon with heavy exploration — including a dimensional gate at the bottom leading to various locations — and observed Bartle's archetypes emerge naturally among players.

Some active Wintermute players went on to create their own LP MUD called Darker Realms. One player, known as "Raceland" (John, in real life), was later hired by Tim at Interplay. John worked on Starfleet Academy using Tim's GANAL engine, while Tim used John's scripting system in Fallout — a fruitful cross-pollination born from MUD connections.

4. EverQuest as a Graphical MUD

Tim sees EverQuest as essentially an LP MUD with a graphical front end. The command-line inputs (attack, say, shout) were identical to MUD commands. Instead of text room descriptions, you got graphical environments; instead of typing "go forward," you moved a character. Tim was heavily addicted to EverQuest for three to four years.

5. WildStar's Path System

At Carbine Studios, Tim advocated for incorporating Bartle's taxonomy into WildStar. His lead designer and the systems/level design leads built the path system, which mapped directly to the four archetypes:

5.1. Scientist → Achiever

Players received a scan bot that catalogued flora, fauna, and enemies. All scanned data went into a journal, providing bonuses when fighting those creatures or collecting resources. Pure progress-tracking satisfaction.

5.2. Explorer → Explorer

Explorers could find secret doors and hidden routes that no other path could access. For example, interacting with a cliff face would cause ledges to slide out, creating a climbable path. Once an Explorer opened a route, anyone nearby could use it — but you needed an Explorer to unlock it first.

5.3. Soldier → Killer

Soldiers gained access to unique weapons, exclusive boss encounters, and wave-based combat events. These high-intensity combat scenarios only triggered when a Soldier was present, giving them the challenge and kill-count they craved while letting nearby players join in.

5.4. Settler → Socializer

Settlers built defensive structures for towns, earning NPC favor and unlocking special merchant inventory. They could also build buff stations for other players. Settlers embodied the social archetype — helping the community and being loved for it.

6. Classes vs. Paths

Tim draws a sharp distinction:

• Classes = the game telling the player what they're allowed to do (skills, abilities, permitted weapons)
• Paths = the player telling the game how they like to play

This made paths completely orthogonal to classes. A Warrior could be an Explorer; a Healer could be a Soldier. The path system let players express their play-style preference independently of their combat role.

Tim notes with some frustration that after he left Carbine, former colleagues claimed "nothing Tim did remained in the game" — yet WildStar shipped with the exact path system he championed.

7. Verdict on the Taxonomy

Tim's position is nuanced: Bartle's taxonomy is not a perfect model of human behavior, but the archetypes are recognizable, relatable, and practically useful for guiding system design. They worked in the 1970s MUDs and they work in 21st-century MMOs.

His advice: read about Bartle's taxonomy, think about it when designing your game, but don't feel restricted or beholden to it. It's another tool in the system design toolbox — not a commandment.

8. References

• Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1SnVddY4k0