Richard Bartle

Richard Bartle

Richard Bartle, 2011
Born 10 January 1960
Ripon, England
Residence near Colchester, Essex, England
Nationality British
Occupation writer, professor, game researcher
Known for MUD1
Designing Virtual Worlds
Spouse(s) Gail Bartle
Children Jennifer Bartle, Madeleine Bartle
Website
http://mud.co.uk/richard/

Richard Allan Bartle (born 10 January 1960 in Ripon, England) 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.[1]

Life and career

A screenshot from MUD1, the first MUD

Bartle received a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Essex, where he created MUD1 with Roy Trubshaw in 1978.[2]

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.[3]

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 games can be divided into four types: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers.[4] This idea has been adapted into a popular online test generally referred to as the Bartle Test.[5] The test is very popular and scores are often exchanged on MMORPG forums and networking sites.[6]

Circa 2003, Bartle was reported as living in a village near Colchester, England, with his wife Gail and their two children Jennifer and Madeleine.[7]

Awards

Works

Games

Books

References

  1. ↑ Radoff, Jon (April 2011). Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Media Games. p. 36. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-93626-9
  2. ↑ Bartle, R: "Interactive Multi-User Computer Games", section 1.5; Retrieved on 2009-01-05.
  3. ↑ "University of Essex Module Details – EE224-5-FY: Computer Games Architecture and Design". Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  4. ↑ Bartle, R. "Players Who Suit MUDs". Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  5. ↑ "Random Dialogue: You Shuffle, I'll Deal(archived)". 26 April 2004. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  6. ↑ "Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology". Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  7. ↑ Mulligan, Jessica; Patrovsky, Bridgette (2003). Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide. New Riders. pp. xix. ISBN 1-59273-000-0.
  8. ↑ "The First Annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards".
  9. ↑ "Waving Hands from Duel Purpose". Retrieved January 2009.
  10. ↑ "Spellbinder".

External links

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