Richard Bartle Visits Metanomics

Materials related to this program are now compiled here.

This Monday, March 10th, 2008, at 11:00AM-12:00PM SLT (2:00-3:00PM EST), Robert Bloomfield and Metanomics will host Richard Bartle, veteran game-maker and author of the first book on the design of MUDs, Designing Virtual Worlds.

This interview will cover how current worlds embody the tenets of his book and analyze the extent to which the current state of virtual worlds reflects the hopes Bartle had for this medium when he co-developed the Multi-User Dungeon.

More information, including background reading and event location information, is available after the jump.

Bartle has written extensively on the policy issues of virtual worlds. Please follow these links for some background reading related to Monday's event:

- For starters, explore Richard Bartle's website and wikipedia page

- His criticism that World of Warcraft delays the development of new virtual worlds can be read here.

- Read the basics on the Bartle Test, then take the test yourself.

As an aside, Bloomfield reported his results here:

SEAK

SEAK players are usually very interested in the the 'total experience' of a virtual world--meeting other people and finding the unique places within it. They don't care much for PVP or leveling, but meeting up with online friends to see new parts of the world is usually fun and exciting.

Breakdown: Achiever 26.67%, Explorer 73.33%, Killer 26.67%, Socializer 73.33%

- Read about applications of the Bartle Test to non-game worlds in an article on Terra Nova by Tomothy Burke, which also includes more on Bartle's take on various policy issues in virtual worlds, including those involving avatar rights, griefing, and intellectual property.

- Bloomfield plans to ask Bartle about academics' ambitions to build virtual worlds as serious games for research and teaching. Bartle has written on this subject on Terra Nova in the past.

- For more on Bartle's view on virtual property, he identifies five pitfalls of virtual property in this 2004 article.

- Bartle has historically been critical of the rising importances of graphics over text and content. For his perspective on voice in multiplayer games, see this link.

- Read Bartle's discussion of the forces that drive game design, and in this context. consider these "bad ideas for games"

- Here is Bartle's take on the 5 most important people in virtual worlds.