What kind of player you are?

Different players have different goals in WoW. Some players don't seem to have any goals, or at least are not methodical about their goals. I always have a list of gear I'm working towards and I do research where/how to get it. This was especially true when I was gearing to be effective healer while transitioning from level 6x Shadow Priest to level 70 Holy. And at level 70 I set my goals on rep gear, heroics, Kara, etc.

Reading Matticus Responding to the “I Play for Personal Advancement and Gear Argument” post on the Raider’s Progress that was seemingly not happy with Warcrafter got me thinking, why do I play World of Warcraft and what kind of player I am (and what kind of players I enjoy playing with).

Playing to outstand from others through gear or other visible achievements is only part of the story (and for some, it's not the story at all). And being a bit academic, I want numeric results (that's just how I am), so I figured that the way to reflect one's play style in this case would be through The Bartle Test.

About The Bartle Test

The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences.

The Bartle Test results into "Bartle Quotient" of The Four Categories of Players; Killers, Socializers, Achievers and Explorers. The Bartle Quotient totals 200% across all categories, with no single category exceeding 100%.

I chose the Bartle Test for this post because it's relatively simple, but for example The Daedalus Project used this more expanded model to describe game interests/motivation. Here is the test for it

My Bartle Test

The Bartle Test has also been organized in electronic form, and Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology in GuildCafe was linked in Wikipedia, so I took it.

Results: I'm EASK. Breakdown: Achiever 66.67%, Explorer 73.33%, Killer 13.33%, Socializer 46.67%.

That reflects the reality pretty well. I enjoy exploring new areas and read strategies and guides offline (to gain knowledge), but on the other hand, I love to get new gear and equipment to make myself more effective in what I do (I heal). I don't care that much about having the best gear, so I would be "admired" for it, but to be the acknowledged as "great player", someone who knows how things work and is able to do what's necessary to get the task done.

On the other hand I wouldn't want to be known as "Player with great skills and gear, but not-so-pleasant personality". And all this is also what I respect the most in other players; personality. I take patient, mature & polite person over irritating, hyperactive trashtalker with super-gear any day.

What kind of player you are?