Richard A. Bartle: Academic Papers

Academic Papers

These are my full-blown, academic quality papers on the subject of MUDs.

	Players Who Suit MUDs, a refereed paper which appeared in Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Journal of MUD Research, June, 1996. This is a local copy of the published version. Read the background on the paper for its context.
	Interactive Multi-User Computer Games, a report commissioned by British Telecom on the state of the on-line multi-player game industry at the time (June, 1990). This is a local copy (in HTML) of the published version. Read the background on the paper for its context.
	MUD Advanced Project Report, an internal memorandum (CSM-73) published in the Department of Computer Science's series at the University of Essex, January, 1985. Read the background on the paper for its context.
	Pitfalls of Virtual Property, a report written for the Themis Group, April 2004 (format: PDF).
	Massively Multihero: Why People Play Virtual Worlds, a refereed paper from CGAIDE, November 2004 (format: PDF).
	Newbie Induction: How Poor Design Triumphs in Virtual Worlds, a paper presented at Other Players, ITU Copenhagen, December 2004 (format: PDF). The associated slides are here.
	Making Places, the extended version of a paper written for the book Space Time Play (format: PDF).
	Virtual Worlds: Why People Play, a straight-to-the-point description of my 8-types model from Massively Multiplayer Game Development 2 (format: PDF).
	Virtual Worldliness, a discussion of what the virtual asks of the real. From The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds (format: PDF).
	Why Governments aren’t Gods and Gods aren’t Governments, a refereed paper which appeared in Special Issue #7 of First Monday, September, 2006. This is a local copy of the published version (format: PDF).
	Presence and Flow: Ill-Fitting Clothes for Virtual Worlds, a refereed paper which appeared in volume 10, issue 3 of Techné, Spring, 2007. This is a local copy of the published version (format: PDF).
	The Line between Play and Design, a paper presented at The Philosophy of Computer Games conference in Potsdam, Germany, May 2008 (format: PDF).
	Alice and Dorothy Play Together, a formal write-up of my Indie MMO Game Developers Conference 2009 presentation. From Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives (format: PDF).
	Unrealistic Expectations, which looks at simulation and non-simulation in game worlds. From Ring Bearers: The Lord of the Rings Online as Intertextual Narrative (format: PDF).
	Understanding the Limits of Theory, about the uses and abuses of player type theory. From Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Creating Better Videogames (format: PDF).
	MMO Morality, a discussion of some moral issues relating to the implied covenant that game designers have with their players. From Computer Games and New Media Cultures: a Handbook of Digital Games Studies, 2012 (format: PDF).
	The Decline of MMOs, explaining how MMOs have expanded to far and are now losing both their core and casual audiences. From International Conference: New Directions in the Development of Creative and Media Industries, June, 2013 (format: PDF).
	From MUDs to MMORPGs: The History of Virtual Worlds, a fairly detailed description of the early history of MMOs. From International Handbook of Internet Research (format: PDF).
	Special Issue Issues, a light-hearted analysis of the other articles in Psychology of Popular Media Culture volume 4 issue 4 (format: PDF).