Richard Bartle
Encyclopedia
Richard Allan Bartle is a British
writer
, professor
and game researcher
, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1
(the first MUD
) and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds
. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game
industry.
Bartle received a Ph.D.
in artificial intelligence
from the University of Essex
, where he created MUD1
with Roy Trubshaw
in 1978.
He lectured at Essex until 1987, when he left to work full time on MUD (known as MUD2
in its present version). Recently he has returned to the university as a part-time professor and principal teaching fellow in the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems, supervising courses on computer game design
as part of the department's degree course on computer game development
.
In 2003, he wrote Designing Virtual Worlds
, a book about the history, ethics, structure, and technology of massively multiplayer games.
Bartle is also a contributing editor to Terra Nova
, a collaborative blog that deals with virtual world
issues.
Bartle did research on player personality types in massively-multiplayer online games. In Bartle's analysis, players of massively multiplayer online game
s can be divided into four types: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers. This idea has been adapted into a popular online test generally referred to as the Bartle Test
. The test is very popular and scores are often exchanged on MMORPG forums and networking sites.
Circa 2003, Bartle was reported as living in a village near Colchester
, England, with his wife Gail and their two children Jennifer and Madeleine.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
and game researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1
MUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
(the first MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
) and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds is a definitive work on the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle, the father of MUDs. It has been called "the bible of MMORPG design" and spoken of as "excellent", "seminal", "widely read", "the standard text on the subject", "the most comprehensive...
. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
industry.
Life and career
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
from the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
, where he created MUD1
MUD1
Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
with Roy Trubshaw
Roy Trubshaw
Roy Trubshaw was a programmer at the University of Essex who co-authored MUD1, the first MUD, with Richard Bartle on a DEC PDP-10. Both of them now work together at Multi-User Entertainment with Trubshaw being the company’s technical director....
in 1978.
He lectured at Essex until 1987, when he left to work full time on MUD (known as MUD2
MUD2
MUD2 is the successor of MUD1, Richard Bartle's pioneering Multi-User Dungeon. Rather than a sequel, it is the result of over 20 years of continuous development, and is still largely based on the game's original code....
in its present version). Recently he has returned to the university as a part-time professor and principal teaching fellow in the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems, supervising courses on computer game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
as part of the department's degree course on computer game development
Game development
Game development is the software development process by which a video game is developed. Development is undertaken by a game developer, which may range from a single person to a large business. Mainstream games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop. Indie games can...
.
In 2003, he wrote Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds is a definitive work on the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle, the father of MUDs. It has been called "the bible of MMORPG design" and spoken of as "excellent", "seminal", "widely read", "the standard text on the subject", "the most comprehensive...
, a book about the history, ethics, structure, and technology of massively multiplayer games.
Bartle is also a contributing editor to Terra Nova
Terra Nova (blog)
Terra Nova is a collaborative blog for academics and professionals in game studies. It focuses primarily on the study of virtual worlds.Started in 2003 by Edward Castronova, Julian Dibbell, Dan Hunter, and Greg Lastowka, Terra Nova initially focused heavily on research and questions surrounding...
, a collaborative blog that deals with virtual world
Virtual world
A virtual world is an online community that takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. The term has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of...
issues.
Bartle did research on player personality types in massively-multiplayer online games. In Bartle's analysis, players of massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
s can be divided into four types: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers. This idea has been adapted into a popular online test generally referred to as the Bartle Test
Bartle Test
The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games into categories based on their gaming preferences. The test is based on a 1996 paper by Richard Bartle and was created in 1999–2000 by Erwin...
. The test is very popular and scores are often exchanged on MMORPG forums and networking sites.
Circa 2003, Bartle was reported as living in a village near Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, England, with his wife Gail and their two children Jennifer and Madeleine.
Awards
- International Game Developers AssociationInternational Game Developers AssociationInternational Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
"First Penguin Award" (now called "The Pioneer Award"), at the 2005 Game Developers Choice AwardsGame Developers Choice AwardsThe Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
, for his part in creating the first MUD. - Game Developers Choice Online "The Online Game Legend Award", at the 2010 Game Developers Choice AwardsGame Developers Choice AwardsThe Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
Games
- SpellbinderSpellbinder (game)Spellbinder is a 1977 pencil-and-paper game invented by Richard Bartle and first published in his fanzine, Sauce of the Nile...
, 1977, a pencil and paper game also known as Waving Hands, first described in Bartle's fanzineFanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
Sauce of the Nile - MUD1MUD1Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language...
, 1978, with Roy TrubshawRoy TrubshawRoy Trubshaw was a programmer at the University of Essex who co-authored MUD1, the first MUD, with Richard Bartle on a DEC PDP-10. Both of them now work together at Multi-User Entertainment with Trubshaw being the company’s technical director.... - MUD2MUD2MUD2 is the successor of MUD1, Richard Bartle's pioneering Multi-User Dungeon. Rather than a sequel, it is the result of over 20 years of continuous development, and is still largely based on the game's original code....
, 1980, based on MUD1
Books
- Artificial Intelligence and Computer Games, Paperback, 256 pages, Century Communications, 25 July 1985, ISBN 978-0712606615
- Designing Virtual WorldsDesigning Virtual WorldsDesigning Virtual Worlds is a definitive work on the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle, the father of MUDs. It has been called "the bible of MMORPG design" and spoken of as "excellent", "seminal", "widely read", "the standard text on the subject", "the most comprehensive...
, Paperback, 768 pages, New Riders Pub., 25 July 2003 ISBN 978-0131018167 - INsightflames, 1999, Online publication. Also 2 Paperbacks, NotByUs, "IN Sight", 422 pages, July 2007, ISBN 978-0955649400 & "IN Flames", 416 pages, August 2007, ISBN 978-0955649417
- Lizzie Lott's Sovereign, NotByUs, June 2011, ASIN B0058CX7M8
External links
- Richard Bartle's website
- Richard Bartle's blog
- MUD history page
- Terra Nova collaborative blog
- Sci-Tech Today, January 4, 2006, "Inside the Underground Economy of Computer Gaming" (see page 4)
- GameSpy interview, October 27, 2003
- GameZombie.tv, Videotaped Discussion of Hero's Journey with Lee SheldonLee Sheldon (writer)Lee Sheldon is a game designer, book author, and television producer and scriptwriter. He is the author of the mystery novel Impossible Bliss, the non-fiction books The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game and Character Development and Storytelling for Games. He was lead writer on...
- INsightflames HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
and PDF versions of the book, and link to the 2-volume print version at Cafe Press - Interview with Dr. Richard Bartle at GDC Online 2010