Social Roles

Roles people can receive or take in relation to each other based on gameplay features.

This pattern is a still a stub.

While Bartle's paper "Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who suit MUDs" does present categories for gamers that do have aspects of social roles, these describe player preferences. The pattern described here looks at how gameplay features can evoke Social Roles.

Social Roles often

Using the pattern

Examples of possible Social Roles are:

• Banned – players not allowed to play the game.
• Outcasts – players excluded from social interaction with the other players.
• Recluses – players willingly isolating themselves from social interaction with other players.
• Motivators – players providing or advocating activities and experiences in the game without seeking any in-game benefit.
• Negotiators – players negotiating between two other players.
• Mediators – players performing actions for other players, either through their own actions or by taking over other players' possibilities to influence the game.
• Helpers – players actively helping other players perform actions in the game.
• Violators – players trying to affect other players’ gameplay against their will through explicit actions.
• Dominators – players trying to influence other players to perform specific actions for the player’s own in-game benefits.
• Exhibitionists – players performing actions in the game to gain the other players’ attention.

Relations

Bragging, Guilting, Team Combos Roleplaying, Social Dilemmas, Possibility of Anonymity, Multiplayer Games, Enforced Player Anonymity, Helplessness, Massively Multiplayer Online Games,

--- Functional Roles Scapegoats Spectators Cooperation Chat Channels Communication Channels Social Interaction Player Kicking Game Masters Internal Rivalry

History

New pattern created in this wiki. However, the concept was introduced in the paper Socially Adaptable Games that was presented in 2005..