Weekend Slowdown: The (Hypothetical) 9 types of gamers

 

Weekend Slowdown? Weekend reading more like it. An interesting and well written article on the Only a Game blog, attempts to outline the basic player patterns in an attempt to classify and categorize the different types of gamers out there.

We won’t focus on the methodology and the references that the article drew upon, all the psychology stuff might bore you folks. Instead we’ll present to you guys the 9 Basic Player types that this amazing work-in-progress has arrived at so far.

The 9 types are:

Conqueror – Conquerors seek to beat any challenge, the harder the challenge is to beat the more the satisfaction. Most commonly found in First Player Shooters, where the competition is against another human being – the ultimate AI so far – and where the competition is more often than not one against many, conquerors seek to be pushed to their limits and to triumph against adversity. The article notes that Conquerors on average are younger than most players

Manager – Managers seek complexity and thrive to discover how systems and how gameplay works. They derive satisfaction in discovering how things interact, and how actions within the game play out in the long term. Mastery is their middle name. Most managers find a home in Strategy games and RPGs.

Wanderer – Wanderers seek immersion and engagement in imaginary worlds. Good stories and great characters provide them more satisfaction than the challenge that the game’s gameplay offers.

Get the rest of the types after the Jump!

 

Weekend Slowdown? Weekend reading more like it. An interesting and well written article on the Only a Game blog, attempts to outline the basic player patterns in an attempt to classify and categorize the different types of gamers out there.

We won’t focus on the methodology and the references that the article drew upon, all the psychology stuff might bore you folks. Instead we’ll present to you guys the 9 Basic Player types that this amazing work-in-progress has arrived at so far.

The 9 types are:

Conqueror – Conquerors seek to beat any challenge, the harder the challenge is to beat the more the satisfaction. Most commonly found in First Player Shooters, where the competition is against another human being – the ultimate AI so far – and where the competition is more often than not one against many, conquerors seek to be pushed to their limits and to triumph against adversity. The article notes that Conquerors on average are younger than most players

Manager – Managers seek complexity and thrive to discover how systems and how gameplay works. They derive satisfaction in discovering how things interact, and how actions within the game play out in the long term. Mastery is their middle name. Most managers find a home in Strategy games and RPGs.

Wanderer – Wanderers seek immersion and engagement in imaginary worlds. Good stories and great characters provide them more satisfaction than the challenge that the game’s gameplay offers.

Participant – Participants are social players. They do not want to stay alone. Competition is mean to be enjoyed with other people after all, however competition isn’t the end all and be all, the sense of community, and the sense of belonging is what’s most important.

Hoarder – They’re the pack-rats. They’re the guys who want to brag about their “stamp collections.” Be it a set of hard to find armor in an MMORPG, a series of unlocked videos in a fighting game, or an insanely high character level in an RPG. Accumulation is the name of the game for them.

Zoner – These folks who become intent upon the actions they make in the game in exclusion of all else. Short games played often that offer the best experience for the minimum amount of time describe these folks. Oddly, this describes both folks who don’t zone-out on casual puzzle games, and folks who don’t spend more than two or three tokens on fighting games on the Arcade.

Juggernaut – For Juggernauts games aren’t about stress, games are about unwinding and enjoying themselves. They’re almost the opposite of the Conqueror as Juggernauts want to be able to barrel through the game with little or no resistance, in order to gain maximum amusement.

Monster – Schadenfreude is the key word here. These people find joy in the misery of others. Griefers, gankers, looters, and what not fall in this category. Mischief is the point of the game for them. It doesn’t matter if they ultimately loose a gaming tournament, as long as others had a really really bad time because of them, they’re happy.

Hotshots – They enjoy being on the edge. They enjoy triumph even though they’re almost not in control. They enjoy high speeds and nail biting sequences. These folks are looking for Motorstorm on crack. These folks are looking for Prince of Persia done on a balancing wire. They look for the thrill.

There, a nice overview of the nine types outlined.

For a better and deeper explanation of each hypothetical type, we highly recommend that you head to the full article using our “VIA” link for a nice read. That way, you guys get a better glimpse at the methodology and the theories behind the classifications.

Again, as mentioned, this classification is still a work-in-progress, so some of the types may be problematic. Still, anyone of us could easily associate with two to three types.

I myself fall under Manger, Wanderer, and at times, Hotshot. What about you folks? Let us know via the comments.

Via Only a Game