I've been trying to put a list of the most common playstyles there are for MMO gamers and this is what I have come up with so far.
- Collector - This is the person who tries to collect all of something; whether it is all the "rare" pets in a game, rare suits of armor, etc. If it can be put on a checklist, they want it.
- Completionist - This is the person that has to do it all even if it doesn't really benefit them anymore; such as finishing "green” quests or doing a dungeon crawl just because they have never visited that area even if it won’t obtain them any tangible benefits.
- Crafter - This is the person who wants to create things more than anything else.
- Explorer - This is the person who wants to see the world; every little nook and cranny.
- Ganker - Not a PvPer but someone who likes to kill other players when there is almost no chance for the ganker to lose.
- Helper – This is the person who is always online helping others finish their quests, getting them gear, even if it doesn't benefit them at all.
- Hunter – This is the person who lives for the hunt; looking for a worthy target that can give them a challenge. Unlike the PvPer, a Hunter will hunt down and purse their opponent, waiting for the right moment to ambush or strike.
- Leader – This is the person who is always organizing others; whether it is groups, raids, or entire guilds.
- Loremaster - Unlike a roleplayer, a loremaster does not "get into character" often in game; instead they just love to learn the lore and backstory of the game.
- Master Looter – This is the person who desires virtual items and will run a dungeon crawl hundreds of times just to get that one particular item.
- Powergamer - This is the person who has to "win" the game in the fastest time possible. To them, fun is in winning and the path is just a means to an end.
- PvPer - PvPers live to compete; they continually want to test their skills against other living, breathing and most importantly, skilled opponents.
- Raider - This is the person who loves to do dungeon crawls.
- Reroller – This is the person that tries out a variety of different character types and has a hard time sticking to just one character.
- Roleplayer - This is the person who creates a persona within the game and truly tries to live like that individual while in the confines of the game.
- Socializer - This is the person who, more than anything, just wants to hang out with their friends and make new ones.
- Theorycraft – Tries to determine the “best” way to build a character.
Granted, some people would fit into multiple categories. If one appears to be missing, please let me know. Or if there is a better name (or terminology) for an existing one, let me know that too.
Sean "Ashen Temper" Dahlberg
http://www.seandahlberg.com/
Comments
I don't fit any of your categories. I'm an Adventurer. I want to go on interesting and challenging quests, solve the riddle, save the damsel, protect the caravan, destroy the ring, kill the Lord of Darkness, save the land from evil. I'm not a roleplayer in the sense that I'm pretending to be some other person while talking to other players, I want to be challenged by the adventure... to be drawn into the story, to be the hero of my own epic adventure.
Unfortunatly, I can't find an MMO game that offers this kind of challenge. Woe is me, the sad Adventurer.
I found this very interesting. I fall under a few catagories I would have to say.
There are two kinds of people in this world. People who pick their nose.. and liars.
I'd call myself a...
Collector / Completionist / Explorer / Leader / Master-Looter / PvPer / Raider / Theorycrafter
I want to see and do everything, maximize my character and their stats, own others in PvP and be the best in PvE.. But that game is only fun if shared w/ the company of friends / guildies.
You missed one.
The Merchant: This person strives to make a name for him/her self by offering premium crafted goods and/or services. In addition, this person also develops a reputation for being one of the wealthiest characters on the server.
Every MMO I have played has had one of these guys.
SWG - A guy named Thompson started the South Coronet Mall, he made his fortune by renting out vendor space (there were over 100 unique vendors at it's peak). He was also one the best crafters on the server.
EQ2 - A guy named Woodknot had several master tradeskillers and sold the servers best items from his home. He was a true "platinum baron".
WoW - A guy named Eyes started "Eyes Brand" goods and services. He offers everything - for a price. He even has his own slogan, "have you seen Eyes today?"
The Merchant player type differs from the "crafter" category as many that fall into that category strive to make the best items for their own use or for guildies, not necessarily for fortune and fame.
I fall into the Merchant category, however, I have never reached the level of fame and fortune as the players listed above.
Completionist/Hunter/Explorer. I also prefer casual forms of pvp.
I'm a mix of everything I guess.... when I first start playing a game, I like to take my time, explore and build a personality for my char. I usually end up as the guild leader and I do like adventure. As I progress through the game, I often find myself studying skills and looking at the future possibilities.
Back in SWG (Pre-Cu) I had managed to make a pretty amazing template to fight with and my combat style consisted of over 20 guns on my toolbar lol...
I like to kill people but I also enjoy good PVE and RPing
So... a bit of everything.
Reroller is a pretty good description, I'm always in search of a character with an automatic "I-win" button, but have yet to find it.
Other sub categories might include Explorer, Hunter & Completionist.
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
theorycraft, explorer, loremaster.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
leader and Theorycraft
I'd go for lazyass gamer, but that doen't seem to be an option
i'm the kind of MMo'er that tries to creat a perfect char, fails to do this because it's impossible and because he's lazy then starts hanging in the cities and making guilds talking people into joining it
anyone like me?
wazzaaa!
(i don't play tmn anymore...)
Leader / Loremaster / PvPer / Socializer / (somewhat) Roleplayer
What about:
Packrat - like collector except keeps all named loot, even when long past its usefulness. This loot doe not have to be rare, just Named.
Explorer/Crafter/Completionist/Packrat/Helper
<p align=center><a target=_blank href=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm><img border=0 src=http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/20.jpg></a></p>
I believe I'm a mix of 20% Explorer, 50% Helper, and 30% Socializer.
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Currently Playing: Guild Wars 2
I suppose I'd be a "Master Looter", but I don't fall under that definition. I'm simply a treasure hunter, who likes variety in my dungeon crawls. This is why master looter doesn't really apply to me, because I'm not searching one dungeon over and over for a particular item. I clear all the dungeons for a variety of items so that I can find or trade for things I need, and so I can sell phat lootz to other players. Unfortunately, world of warcraft completely destroyed my preferred playstyle with bind on pickup.
Theorycraft + a bit of an explorer
lol... I got random itches of playing different ways.... Usually fell one day for a week or some random time also.. then hop to another one for no reason....
Im a combination of several
Collector, Completionist, Explorer, Loremaster, Socializer, and just a hint of a reroller. And my friend says sometimes I've got that hint of leadership..but honestly i hate having bossy roles sometimes ...you just gotta go if everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off hehe.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Hunter, Ganker, PvPer, Explorer..
I'm that guy that comes out of left field when you're in the most out of the way location to kick your butt.
Interesting list, I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any right now off the top of my head. Maybe I will eventually and if so, I'll post them. Right now, I'd say I fall mostly in the explorer, loremaster (good term, btw) and helper categories.
The reason I like loremaster is because game lore is commonly discussed on these forums and is considered such an important part of the game. If lore is lacking, I lose interest pretty quickly.
Oh, I just thought of another style:
Strategizer - This is the person who carefully plans an attack before entering into a big battle. I definitely do that, so I would add that to the list.
Your terms are ill-choosen. Dungeon crawl and raiding have nothing to do with each other. Raiding = 10+ peoples doing 1 fight or more. Dungeon crawl = 8 or less peoples advancing throught a dungeon(8 is borderline, 1 group, no more). You will confuse everyone with this. Crawler = enjoy adventuring in dungeon and progressing deeper. Raider = Enjoy amassing 10-100 players in order to complete 1 or more fight against NPCs.
Theorycraft is the one which would describe me the best. Powergamer (a lot), helper (significant) and socialiser (limited) would also apply to me. I would be a raider with your current definition of the term, which lack beyond comon sense cause I HATE raiding.
I score a 100% on achiever in the conventional test. I loooooooove grouping (and dungeon crawl), I hate raiding/PvP/RvR as they always ruin my gaming experience...and most players can't stand 1 or more of these 3 gameplays. I am a grouper and a soloer...and if I must, I will craft...
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I probably fall into all of them once in a while, but if I had to pick just a couple that really describe me and what I'm looking for, they'd have to be:
Roleplaying (90%) - That's really what I want to do, I want to take on a role and experience life vicariously through it. I'm certainly never 100% in character (I've seen those people and they annoy the hell out of me) but it's more fun to me to get into a world and actually be a part of it, rather than just myself moving through it.
Socializer (10%) - This is especially true when you've got a dedicated group you're playing with. Some days you just might not feel like RPing, or some major character can't make it that day, so you just sit around and talk. You can do it IC or OOC, it really doesn't matter, but I've made some really great offline friends from online communities.
Otherwise... blah. Most of the other roles I might ever adopt are short-term anyhow, dealing with a specific situation while RPing, not something I'd really have an interest in otherwise.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
Leader
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Collector/Crafter/Explorer/Helper/Hunter/Loremaster/PvPer/Roleplayer/Socializer/Theorycraft
Or to sum it up in two words: Brave Scientist.
If I actually decide to play a game, I don't half ass it. I tend to know almost everything concerning the lore, in game mechanics, and everything in between.
"By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man, man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him." -Lazarus Long
I am a gold farmer.
No I'm not in some 3rd world country being paid a minimal amount to get gold in game so my boss can sell it on ebay. For some weird reason I like to amass a large amount of gold. I don't want to be the guy ingame that has that shiny sword/helmet/chainmail/spell/... that nobody else has I want to be the guy with the most gold in my wallet/bank.
I will usually try to achieve this by resource gathering and crafting.
I support Belgiums efforts to get noticed ... at all.