Player-archetypes

FOUR ARCHETYPES:

Richard Bartle, co-founder of the very first MUD, later researched and defined player behavior in the kinds of games he had produced. Ultimately, he decided that there were four main archetypes of players split along two axes: unilateral action <--> cooperative interaction, and players <--> world.

In Rhizome, we keep each of these classifiers in mind and have built systems in order to cater to each type of player's needs. Players can be purely one type, or enjoy different styles of play depending on their mood. It's important we have something for everyone.

TYPE 1 -- ACHIEVERS:

Achievers want to take unilateral action on the game world. They want to demonstrate mastery of the game's systems, getting better and better at the game as both a player and as a character. They feel pride at being recognized by both the game's mechanics and by other players for their aptitude and dedication to the 'grind'.

THINGS ACHIEVERS WILL APPRECIATE:

ROBUST SKILL SYSTEM:

Skills increase by use -- you don't just sit around and get better at things via playtime, or by levelling up on unrelated activities in a general pool of 'XP'. If you want to be good at something, you have to practice and and get better. As skills improve, additional affects can come into play that emphasize the value of pushing those skills up. This is not a short process, rewarding Achievers for committing to the grind.

ITEM QUALITY:

All items have quality attached to them. Better materials yield better versions of items with distinct improved stats and effects compared to lower quality materials, rewarding achievers for gathering, crafting, and dredging up rare finds.

INTENSE AND DIVERSE CHALLENGES:

Rhizome offers diverse challenges from simple tasks that day one characters can easily handle, to mighty challenges requiring coordinated groups of players. Start your journey gathering herbs at the edge of town; end it slaying a ten-ton, ravenous beast, or climbing a four hundred foot sheer cliff into the cloud forest.

TYPE 2 -- EXPLORERS:

Explorers want to take interactive action with the game world. They are compelled by mystery and the sense of discovery, logging in for the thrill of going somewhere they haven't been before or understanding esoteric systems. They want to learn about what makes the world tick, and share amongst themselves tidbits of knowledge.

THINGS EXPLORERS WILL APPRECIATE ABOUT RHIZOME:

A dedicated knowledge system:

One of our most exciting features is our knowledge system. 'Find out IC' is a mantra that a lot of RPI MUDs tout, but then they don't really give you a concrete way to do that. Rhizome is different. Your character can STUDY any object, NPC, or animal in the game unknown to civilization. Return alive, and you can register your find with the Royal Academy, permanently taking credit for the discovery. The Royal Academy's library also permits for the writing of entries on any discovered entity, allowing explorers to build a repository of behaviors, material properties, and locations: all in character.

AN EVER-EXPANDING MAP AND STORY:

At launch, Rhizome has ~4,000 fully described rooms spread across 31 distinct zones, dozens of wildlife species and many named NPCs contributing to an overarching narrative. There's fetid swamps, mist-shrouded bamboo mazes, and wild oceans -- surface and deeps -- to explore. There's native tribes grappling with ancient enemies, malicious spirits in the deep jungle, and the ruins of dead civilizations to uncover.

Additionally, there's years of planned expansions!

TYPE 3 -- SOCIALIZERS:

Socializers want to take interactive action with other players. Socializers thrive off of wheeling, dealing, gossiping, and hanging out with other players in the local tavern or tea-house.

Things Socializers will appreciate about Rhizome:

EXPANSIVE ROLEPLAY COMMANDS:

Multiple languages, poses, postures, and internally facing think commands facilitate roleplay, all wrapped up in an emoting shell that is designed to be as intuitive as possible. Players, items, and self all referenced with natural language syntax, while the game engine does all the work managing pronouns, sdescs, and possessives.

ORGANIZATIONAL EASE:

The formation of societies and groups of players couldn't be simpler -- a structure, a couple of other players who want to join in, and a single sentence explaining what your purpose is, and viola, you have an organization -- a guild of crafters, a cabal of cultists, a tea-time society. Up to you, on the fly.

ITEM CUSTOMIZE:

Every item in the game that is crafted by player hands is fully customizable, both in keywords, short descriptions, and long description without any staff involvement. This, combined with inherent item quality, provides endless options to fully flesh out your character's look, and engage in socializer's end-game PvP content: fashion.

TYPE 4 -- KILLER:

Killers want to take unilateral action on other players. They thrive from a sense of competition, seeking to gain advantage and demonstrate their competency not by dominating the world, but by testing their mettle against other players. Killers, despite their name, don't necessarily only thrive on killing.

THINGS THAT KILLERS WILL APPRECIATE:

STRATEGIC GAMEPLAY:

Multiple fighting styles and weapon types bent towards specific special effects and qualities reward selection and training. A fully realized poison and venom system of different effects and strength based on venom nature and quality add additional layers to subterfuge and perfidity.

OUTSIDE THE LAW:

Organizations aren't just for tea-parties, and clubhouses don't have to be in city limits. Deep in the jungle, beyond the reach of the Militia, construct your nefarious lair: a bandit camp for raiding caravans, a seedy arena for betting on bloodsport, or a guild of thieves.

EXPANDING FRONTIER OF CONFLICT:

Meeting the natives is one thing, but not everyone is going to want to play nice. Fully fledged PvP war systems are on the horizon as the natives become playable -- and not everyone is looking to be friends.