Dr. Richard Bartle is a respected academic and author on the subject of virtual worlds. The Bartle test is named for him. See: Bartle on Wikipedia
richard bartle
The Game Archaeologist: A look back at proto-MMOs through the 1980s
Today I want to try something a little different as we look at MMORPG history. Rather than focus in on a single title or...
MMO legend Richard Bartle reviews the highs and lows of New World
When one of the founding legends of MMORPGs spends 360 hours in your game, chances are that he has Opinions about how you did...
The Game Archaeologist: The legacy of Ultima Online
Last week in The Game Archaeologist, we traced the history of Ultima Online’s origin, development, and testing -- not to mention one pesky in-game...
The Game Archaeologist: How Ultima Online got made
You know how there’s that yokel in every global chat channel that likes to troll players by claiming that World of Warcraft was the...
Richard Bartle’s new book seeks to intersect theological thought and MMORPG design
If you're new to our genre, first of all welcome, and second of all you should be familiar with Dr. Richard A. Bartle, a...
MUD creator Richard Bartle’s seminal book on designing MMOs is now free
When MMORPG players encounter the name "Bartle," they think less malt liquor and more a man who helped to pioneer the massively multiplayer online...
Combatless MMORPG A Tale in the Desert reboots later this month
A Tale in the Desert, which MUD creator Richard Bartle called the "most innovative MMO from the last decade," is starting all over. Yet...
The Game Archaeologist: Mirrorworld
In this column, we have previously journeyed to lands where you saw not with your eyes, but with your imagination. I speak, of course,...
The Game Archaeologist: The history of play-by-email games
For most all of human history, people who wanted to play a game together usually had to be in physical proximity with each other....
The best MassivelyOP community Daily Grinds of 2019
Last year, I counted it up: The first Daily Grind on Massively was written on November 3rd, 2007, one day after Old Massively was...
The Game Archaeologist: A brief history of Multi-User Dungeons
You know that sinking feeling when you get into something that's way, waaaay over your head and you have no choice but to swim...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs made by tiny teams
I don't really have to tell you this, but creating an MMORPG is a huge undertaking. These are some of the most complex games...
Tracing the lineage of the modern MMORPG
Do you ever wonder where the MMORPG was born? If you said, "The internet, duh," you're technically correct but also a huge smartass. But...
Crowfall promises to appeal to the full Bartle spectrum
Almost every MMO player has heard of Richard Bartle's Taxonomy of Player Types. You know, it's that chart where gamers are segmented according to...
Richard Bartle reveals the secrets and history of MUDs
If you know even a little bit about the history of the MMORPG genre, you'll be aware that these games didn't start with World...
Federation 2, a text-based intergalactic trading game from the 1980s, has sunsetted
While the common assumption about text-based MMOs is that they can and will last forever, the truth is that many of these are subject...
The Game Archaeologist: Harry Potter Online
If all goes well, later this year we will finally be treated to an actual Harry Potter MMORPG in the form of Harry Potter:...
Perfect Ten: MMOs that claimed to be the first
We've all been there. We're playing our favorite MMORPG and then self-appointed professors of game history start arguing in world chat about firsts --...
GDC 2018: Depictions of violence and war in video games and Destiny’s Sword
I love stories. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I love stories not just for their raw entertainment value, but for their ability...
The Game Archaeologist: A Tale in the Desert
Once asked what he thought was the most innovative MMO from the last decade, Dr. Richard Bartle, the creator of MUD, gave a succinct answer: "A...
