My teacher finally put the kibosh on the annoying question-don't answer format, so I have some more leeway now. I'll be taking full advantage of this fact.
So, as for today's topic, I'm going to go back to Bartle's gaming types. My original post is here, and my expansion upon achievers is here. Here's the original article I'm basing this off of, in it's academic format - http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm. Today I'll look at the enigmatic killers, and develop some subtypes I see as part of this group.
A killer is a player that gets their kicks by imposing themselves on others. Theoretically, this could be in a beneficial way, as someone could make it their mission to give out objects or in game objects to other players, but it more often manifests itself as the killing of other players. I, personally, see a few subdivisions in the group that I will be explaining.
First is the Griefer. This is the popular image of the killer - a player that kills other players to have fun. These people enjoy destroying others, and often prey on the week or untalented. Basically, these peoples favorite part of the game is knowing that they've angered, or at least annoyed, someone else. On a practical note, if you are playing a game, and someone goes after you to make you mad, complement them on killing you well, and giving you an interesting time. This will generally confuse them, and at least prevent them from being as pleased by killing you as they could be.
Next is the Challenger. This is a player killer who finds people who they would have a good fight against, where the battle could go either way. They then challenge them, and fight against them to see who is better. This form of the killer is focused on proving themselves and improving themselves. They tend to be less aggressive than the Griefer, and may even allow the target to leave unharmed if they do not wish to fight, or alive, if they just wanted to see if they were better. There is no real way to spite a challenger, besides perhaps refusing to fight back. They might lose fun and go away, but usually they'll kill you for being a coward. That said, they usually pick on people with a chance of beating them, so if you fight your hardest, you can sometimes win.
Third we have the Looter. The looter is motivated by stealing objects from other players, and as such they will target players wearing the most expensive equipment. These players are often motivated by greed (needing the money from the item), and sometimes laziness (getting it by taking it off of someone you killed could be, in theory, easier than getting it other ways). They target people based on what they could get (monetarily) from them. A way one can sometimes avoid them is to appear as if you are using weak items until you are far away from them, as they may pay you no attention.
Lastly, there is the Vigilante. This type of killer targets other killers (usually Griefers and Looters), hackers, and general jerks. They may see themselves as above the rules, but may also try to defend the weak. Griefers will usually be their main targets, with Looters also pretty high up. However, they may put aside their differences with the other types to take down a hacker, which will always be their target it one is exposed. Vigilantes despise those that cheat or exploit others, and so will do much to destroy them. Sometimes, the Vigilante will also kill the guy standing around being a jerk, or arguing with a bunch of people for no reason. Some Vigilantes may also have Challenger tendencies, but will always allow the other party to back out. Generally, you will not have to deal with a Vigilante, unless you are hacking or being a jerk, in which case you probably deserve it anyway.
I would like to mention that killers that act in beneficial ways (as mentioned in the third paragraph) do exist, but I have never encountered or seen anyone do so. As such, I am leaving them out due to lack of experience.
Killers, while they can be annoying, do provide some important roles. Griefers help newer players learn skills, albeit in kind of a mean way. Those that fight Challengers generally learn a couple of things. Looters help bring rare items back into the economy, by selling some of the ones they find. Vigilantes, of course, help keep some of the other killer types in check.
This is the second post expanding upon Bartles gaming types, and I plan on finishing with the other two sometime later. If you have any ideas regarding other types of video game Killers, please post them in the comments section.
So, as for today's topic, I'm going to go back to Bartle's gaming types. My original post is here, and my expansion upon achievers is here. Here's the original article I'm basing this off of, in it's academic format - http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm. Today I'll look at the enigmatic killers, and develop some subtypes I see as part of this group.
A killer is a player that gets their kicks by imposing themselves on others. Theoretically, this could be in a beneficial way, as someone could make it their mission to give out objects or in game objects to other players, but it more often manifests itself as the killing of other players. I, personally, see a few subdivisions in the group that I will be explaining.
First is the Griefer. This is the popular image of the killer - a player that kills other players to have fun. These people enjoy destroying others, and often prey on the week or untalented. Basically, these peoples favorite part of the game is knowing that they've angered, or at least annoyed, someone else. On a practical note, if you are playing a game, and someone goes after you to make you mad, complement them on killing you well, and giving you an interesting time. This will generally confuse them, and at least prevent them from being as pleased by killing you as they could be.
Next is the Challenger. This is a player killer who finds people who they would have a good fight against, where the battle could go either way. They then challenge them, and fight against them to see who is better. This form of the killer is focused on proving themselves and improving themselves. They tend to be less aggressive than the Griefer, and may even allow the target to leave unharmed if they do not wish to fight, or alive, if they just wanted to see if they were better. There is no real way to spite a challenger, besides perhaps refusing to fight back. They might lose fun and go away, but usually they'll kill you for being a coward. That said, they usually pick on people with a chance of beating them, so if you fight your hardest, you can sometimes win.
Third we have the Looter. The looter is motivated by stealing objects from other players, and as such they will target players wearing the most expensive equipment. These players are often motivated by greed (needing the money from the item), and sometimes laziness (getting it by taking it off of someone you killed could be, in theory, easier than getting it other ways). They target people based on what they could get (monetarily) from them. A way one can sometimes avoid them is to appear as if you are using weak items until you are far away from them, as they may pay you no attention.
Lastly, there is the Vigilante. This type of killer targets other killers (usually Griefers and Looters), hackers, and general jerks. They may see themselves as above the rules, but may also try to defend the weak. Griefers will usually be their main targets, with Looters also pretty high up. However, they may put aside their differences with the other types to take down a hacker, which will always be their target it one is exposed. Vigilantes despise those that cheat or exploit others, and so will do much to destroy them. Sometimes, the Vigilante will also kill the guy standing around being a jerk, or arguing with a bunch of people for no reason. Some Vigilantes may also have Challenger tendencies, but will always allow the other party to back out. Generally, you will not have to deal with a Vigilante, unless you are hacking or being a jerk, in which case you probably deserve it anyway.
I would like to mention that killers that act in beneficial ways (as mentioned in the third paragraph) do exist, but I have never encountered or seen anyone do so. As such, I am leaving them out due to lack of experience.
Killers, while they can be annoying, do provide some important roles. Griefers help newer players learn skills, albeit in kind of a mean way. Those that fight Challengers generally learn a couple of things. Looters help bring rare items back into the economy, by selling some of the ones they find. Vigilantes, of course, help keep some of the other killer types in check.
This is the second post expanding upon Bartles gaming types, and I plan on finishing with the other two sometime later. If you have any ideas regarding other types of video game Killers, please post them in the comments section.
No comments:
Post a Comment