Player Sociability Rating
I really want to make a questionnaire that determines how much of a griefer you are. Or, put another way, how sociable you are. This would be a series of questions about what you would do in a particular situation, probably in the context of a PvE server then a PvP server. An example question follows after the break.
You are on a PvE server. You see someone camping a named mob that must be killed to complete a quest. Do you…
- Invite the player to a group so you can both get the quest update together — the more the merrier.
- Allow the player to kill the mob in order to complete his quest, then wait for the respawn — after all, he was there first.
- Kill the mob when it spawns to get your quest update — why wait for the respawn?
- Kill the mob when it spawns even though you don’t have the quest and the mob doesn’t drop loot — what a sucker!
You are on a PvP server. You see someone camping a named mob that must be killed to complete a quest. Do you…
- Invite the player to a group so you can both get the quest update together — the more the merrier.
- Allow the player to kill the mob in order to complete his quest, then wait for the respawn — after all, he was there first.
- Kill the mob when it spawns to get your quest update — why wait for the respawn?
- Kill the mob when it spawns even though you don’t have the quest and the mob doesn’t drop loot, then finish the player off.
Maybe even create related questions too. For example, if you choose to invite the player to a group to complete a quest together, what if they denied joining your group? What would you do then?
Anyone have any good ideas for questions to put in the survey?
Note: I updated this from “play killer rating” (griefer rating) because it was a stupid term. And this sounds a little nicer.
You are playing as a miner, but you need money. Do you…
a. …mine for ore, which can be traded with players for gold.
b. …create a warrior alt, and treck through dungeons for loot.
c. …recall from town to town buying out all the reagents to sell on your vendor.
d. …script mine and make millions while you.
Bah.
…sleep, just to finish that cliff-hanger sentence.
I think griefer is too established to be displaced by play killer. Besides why use 2 words instead of 1….unless the words are expletives in which case the more the merrier. Good luck with your questionaire for scum-sucking pieces of lowlife crap.
You see a player fighting a large number of mobs near a treasure chest. Do you…
a. Help the player fight off the mobs and then let him take the treasure chest
b. Help the player fight off the mobs and then rush to the treasure chest while he is resting.
c. Kill the mobs and then the player.
d. Almost kill the player then let the mobs finish him off so he loses item durability.
I like the idea of a rating because really the options you’re looking at are:
A. Altruistic
B. Benevolent
C. Dog Eat Dog
D. Asshole
Personally I’m not completely ashamed to say I fall between B and C, because I will help someone who is running like boyfriend when the husband gets home early away from mobs, but I have no problem using other players as a distraction to get loot for myself. It’s a Dog-Eat-Dog and I’d rather be the eater than the eaten.
Be careful of having too many obvious answers. Those surveys tend to be rather self selecting with the answers they give.
I guess I’d hope for people to be completely honest. Maybe the situations should be a little more spelled out.
For example, I could change the wording of the question to:
You see someone camping a named mob that must be killed to complete a quest. You can only be online for another 10 minutes before going to bed. Do you…
Even then, I’d do it in a particular order. I’d invite them to my group. If they didn’t join my group, I’d try to get the kill before they did for the quest update.
You are on a PvP server. You are collecting various roots for the local alchemist to fulfill a quest. Someone else is in the area doing the same thing, which is a pain because you need 20, there are only 10, and they respawn slowly. You invite him to your group because it will go twice as fast for both of you, but he does not accept the invite. Do you…
a. Let him finish collecting his roots so he can get done faster or move on to a different quest.
b. Keep collecting roots alongside this other player even though you know it will take longer..
c. Keep collecting roots and kill the player for being a jerk and denying the invite.
d. Kill the player, collect your roots, then wait around for him to come back to kill him again.
In this case, I’d definitely do C, and if he bitched at me, I’d do D.
The first question I would have is… can the quest be done together? In WoW if you have to kill 10 rats, a group can kill 10 rats and complete it, but if you need to collect 10 rat ears and each rat drops only one ear lootable by one person, your group must now kill 50 rats for the whole group to complete the quest.
The game design often dictates the “easiest” path, and that will be the path most people take…
Right. That would have to be built into the question or answers. That’s why it’s in my collection example (“it will go twice as fast for both of you”). I might also put in a few standing assumptions, such as, “this game does not actively discourage grouping by making quest drops lootable by only one person.”
You are a higher level player on a PvP server and you are near a starter town. There is a lone new player killing lowbie mobs for one of her starter quests. Do you..
a. Buff the new player and welcome them to the game. The more players here the better.
b. Offer advice and possibly some items or cash. We all could have used a hand when we started out.
c. Nothing
d. Kill them, after all they should understand how it is here right up front.
e. Kill them and camp their corpse or spawn point. It’s fun to listen to them whine about being killed.
What are you if your answer varies wildly – from “Invite the other player so you both get credit” to “Set the other player up to take a PvE (penalized) death” depending on your mood?
How about this little twist;
You are on a PvE server. You are camping a named mob that must be killed to complete a quest. Another player stealths in behind the spawn point. It’s evident his intention is to gank the mob you have been waiting the last 15 minutes for. Do you…
1. Invite the player to a group anyway so you can both get the quest update together — the more the merrier.
2. Allow the player to kill the mob in order to complete his quest, then wait for the respawn — after all, you’re a doormat.
3. Race to kill the mob when it spawns to get your quest update — you were there first.
4. Train the bastard with every aggro mob in the vicinity, then feign or do something else to lose aggro. He’s got it coming.
You are on a PvP server. You are camping a named mob that must be killed to complete a quest. Another player stealths in behind the spawn point. It’s evident his intention is to gank the mob you have been waiting the last 15 minutes for. Do you…
1. Invite the player to a group anyway so you can both get the quest update together — the more the merrier.
2. Allow the player to kill the mob in order to complete his quest, then kill him in his weakened state and wait for the respawn — after all, he was a bastard.
3. Race to kill the mob when it spawns to get your quest update — you were there first. Then murder the bastard.
4. Kill the SOB where he stands and then camp his res point. You can get the mob later, after you have sent him crying to bed.
Is there any kind of mapping of Myers-Briggs to Bartle Types? I wonder if you couldn’t create a test that basically has nothing to do with games yet still shows the right indicators. Could you perhaps even give someone a Myers-Briggs test and map what it shows to how people play in-game? I’d bet there is a mapping to be found there somewhere.
Also, it’s a bit after the fact but why not integrate the “test” into a game and basically categorize their play type by their actions?
Hmm actually I see Flatfingers has quite the blog post about what I posted above…
If I were to answer your questions, I might have some trouble.
But that would be only if they were rude.
As far as PvE goes, I’d fall between A and B, and I’m not sure if I could pick either answer straight off. If I were the player camping something, and someone else came along, I would send them a tell and ask if they needed what I was camping; if so, I would ask if they’d like an invite to join? But in your question, I’d be the second person. If the person who was there first asked me if I’d like to join, I would. I would not send them a blind invite, however. Depending on the circumstances, I might send them a tell and ask if we could work together, or if they’d like help with the named. If they declined or ignored me, I would, instead, wait until they had finished. If I was snubbed, though, I’d probably gripe to friends or guildies. Or jump the mob if they didn’t engage it within a reasonable time frame of it spawning.
For the PvP server… well. I do not play open PvP games. The PvP I enjoy is RvR/faction. If I see the enemy faction, they’re the enemy and are my primary target- unless they’re much lower (at which I might chase them off, but not gank them) or much higher (at which I’d be fleeing for my life, or retreating to call in friends). I’d figure out the best way to kill both the player and the mob… so would that be option D?
What, on this PvP server we aren’t allowed to kill the player camping the mob?
1) a
2) Options should be different.
The game you are playing supports blocking – two characters can’t occupy the same place at the same time. There is a popular quest turn-in NPC in a hut with a small doorway, and several other players nearby working on completing the quest. Do you:
a) Turn in your quest and leave to go about your business elsewhere.
b) Stand in the doorway to prevent other players from turning their quests in.
c) Log your high-level character on and go afk in the doorway.
d) Kill the other players as they attempt to turn in their quests, using the stack of their bodies to block the doorway.
If the game’s fee schedule was such that you are charged for every hour your account is logged on, would your answer to the above question change?
The server you are playing on supports free-for-all pvp. You are on your way through an area when you see a call for help over the chat channels — someone is being attacked by two other characters very nearby. Assuming all players involved are the same level, do you:
a) Continue on your way.
b) Stop to help the victim.
c) Stop to help the attackers.
d) Stop to kill everyone.
In regards to the question above, assuming the server also supported full or partial corpse loot and you answered b,c, or d, would you:
a) Let the surviving characters loot everything.
b) Insist on splitting the loot with any surviving characters.
c) Loot it all yourself.
A large raid has been organized (over general chat channels) to take on a tough outdoor (non-instanced) mob. You ask to be invited along on the raid, but are declined. Assuming you have nothing better to do than to go watch the raid anyway do you:
[PvP or PvE servers:]
a) Go watch from a safe distance.
b) Go watch from a safe distance, but buff & heal the players as you feel you can get away with it.
c) Go watch, and then kamikaze yourself into the mob, disrupting the other players attacks and aggro tables — causing a catastrophic wipe.
[PvP servers only]
d) Go watch, then when they’re in the midst of a hairy part of the battle, kill their main healers.
e) Organize an anti-raid raid to wipe out the other raid.
You are playing a character that performs some kind of harvesting (mining, picking herbs, whatnot). During this play session you have decided to focus on “making the rounds” and collecting your materials. You spot a harvestable location and run/walk/fly your character over to it, only to see another player get there mere seconds before you do. Assuming the material isn’t rare, and that you could locate another node of material in the same amount of time it would take to fight the other player, do you:
[PvP or PvE servers]
a) Move on and get to the next node before the other player does
b) Ask the other player if you can either take turns harvesting it, or /roll for it
[PvP server only]
c) Attack the other player
Considering the question above, if on a PvP server and you chose distractor (b) and the other player declined, would you then:
a) Move on and get to the next node before the other player does
b) Attack the other player
Use the Virtue questions from Ultima 4-8, or variants thereof. Some of the answers were so 50/50 it was absolutely mindbending to try and pick one.
But in the spirit of the posting…
PvE: You see a player solo’ing (with great skill and daring) a named boss, but they’re about to die, and you have the power to save the player by healing them or helping them kill the boss. Do you assist them or let them die? Do you risk yourself by helping them kill the monster, or just heal them and hope to get a “thank you” (and some loot!)?
PvP: You see a player solo’ing (with great skill and daring) a named boss, but they’re about to die, and you have the power to help the monster or kill the player. Do you kill the player directly, or just help the monster kill him? Or do you help the player?
Alternately, you could ask if the helper would heal or kill either or both the monster or player, depending on the situation.