During my search for more information on the social aspects of gaming, I focused once again on Dr. Bartle and discovered that he had created a test to deduce a gamer's type of play. These ranged from explorer, socializer, killer or achiever. This means someone who enjoys escapism, someone who uses games a purely a format to be social with others, someone who enjoys competition and the rush of besting someone at a game, or a completion focused mind that enjoys knowing they have done better on a game than their peers. Of course, like all tests the answers are never 100% accurate and there is some cross over between answers. After taking the test I was classed an achiever killer/achiever socialiser and I passed it onto other players. The results were not what I had hoped but still informative, there was no clear 'common' amongst types and I was unable to get results back off of enough participants.
I ran into a story online however stating that a person's gamer type can change over time as they experience new things, new mechanics etc. Whether this renders the Bartle test pointless or not is unknown, I am not sure it does as there is a possibility that there is a correlation between the age of a gamer and the reasons for play. When younger, I would have likely categorized myself as an explorer, trying to visit everywhere and involve myself utterly in the storyline, but I find my current description as a achiever to be an accurate reflection of my play style.
Bartle Test Link:
GamerDNA (06/05/2012), The Bartle Test, http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/, last
accessed 11/05/12
Information on test:
Jawapet, (October 2 08) http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/jawapet/102008/2712_Bartle-Test-why-players-need-to-take-it , last accessed 16/05/12
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