Can We Help You Get Here?

In one of my many previous lives I attempted to develop (and did successfully build a prototype of) a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). If you have heard of or played Everquest, World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Second Life (not really a game), or any of a host of other offerings, you know what I’m talking about. I spent many hours researching the genre and developing the prototype (about 3 full-time years by my wife’s estimation—sorry, hon) as well as a business plan. What a big surprise for a geek, huh? The funny thing is that I’m much too busy to have done anything more than dabble in any of the fine products I mentioned above except as research. Talk about somebody with no life.

In the process of researching games, I learned a lot. For instance, how expensive it is to develop the code and content (in-game objects—the world itself) for a MMORPG; how much time it takes and a lot about how games and the people who play them operate. One book in particular I found was of great interest and was always referred to by authors of the dozens of other books I acquired on the subject (I have receipts and a wife who grumbled, “What do you need all these books for?” to prove it)—Richard Bartle’s “Designing Virtual Worlds” (DVW to the folks in the industry).

DVW is one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read. It describes many of the whys and hows of piecing a virtual world together—whether it’s a full 3D affair like the modern MMOs or old-style text-based MUDs (Multiple User Dungeons) to the Sims or many of the Facebook games. One subject in particular was important to me because I wanted to draw a bazillion people to my virtual world and keep them there—what motivates players, what makes them tick and what makes them stick.

Bartle describes 4 types of game playing roles that are discernible in the styles of most gamers:

· Explorers
· Achievers
· Socializers
· Killers (although I prefer the kinder term “griefers”)

Each of these kinds of players is motivated by different things and each is necessary to a functioning game environment. Note that people are not fixated in one role all the time, but change their behavior over time back and forth, although they tend to have a dominant behavior that they return to.

Like the name implies, explorers are fascinated with discovery. They want to boldly go where no one has gone before or just to answer the question “what’s over there?” Not only do explorers like to discover the in-game geometry (the “world”), they also want to uncover new facts, to learn new ways of doing things and reveal secrets best not plumbed by mortals.

Achievers want to be the best. They want to acquire skills and let the rest of the world know how much they know or how powerful they are. If you’ve ever heard someone who plays World of Warcraft (WoW) say with more than a little pride, “I’m a 45th level fighter” (whatever that is), then they are probably an achiever. All player types have or want to accrue in-game money and goods, but achievers do so more for the sheer act of acquiring. But money and goods don’t necessarily translate to a sense of achievement, because they can be spent and traded — fortunes come and go. In real life, think of your resume as a set of achievements– you can’t trade your experience away, but it can impress people and open doorways. This is what motivates achievers.

Socializers play the game for social interaction with fellow gamers or a sense of belonging to a community. Many of these people join in-game guilds and like adventuring with a close circle of friends. They often communicate with each other in-game and in real life. A couple of marriages have sprung from EverQuest and WoW, I’d venture to call the folks in such relationships “socially involved”.

Griefers, like socializers, are in the game to interact with other people, but usually in a more adversarial or competitive role. They prefer games that offer PvP (Player vs. Player) features like dueling and the ability to steal in-game objects from other players. Griefers also like to push the limits of the game system– if they can develop a script or find a loophole that lets them game the system to their advantage, they’ll use it– all within the rules. Like achievers, griefers are competitive but in more of a ‘me versus you’ way.

All of these roles (yes, even griefers) are necessary to a healthy, sustainable gaming environment. How these roles inter-operate contributes to that health.

For example, there has to be some difficulty to overcome or the game is too easy—griefers often supply these challenges. If players are not allowed to be griefers, then artificial adversaries are usually introduced, either Non-Player Characters (NPCs) or monsters to bargain with, quiz, shoot at or eat the player characters. An explorer needs obstacles or their expedition to the far reaches will be as exciting as watching paint dry. Achievers need griefers or their achievements are meaningless and don’t feel like they have been earned. Socializers need external threats to closely bind the group together into a bonded “we.” Achievers and explorers often can’t go it alone, so they must team up with guilds to slay that dragon or sail to a far away continent.

So, what does this have to do with Trada? Well, if you are not a gamer or familiar with any of the games mentioned above, you were able to possibly substitute the concept of your favorite social-networking site (if you have one) for a game. People join and visit Facebook and even eBay and Mint for some of the very same reasons that gamers play games—to achieve, explore, socialize or push limits.

I am familiar with at least two people who joined Facebook to friend as many people as they can, even though they don’t really know them that well (sound like an achiever?). I also know several people who are very proud of their rating on eBay. Some people jump on blogs and forums just so they can give grief to others who post there (sometimes called “flamers”), liking a good fight. You’ll find explorers out there if you think about it (Genealogy.com is really big with my brother, Steve) and socializers are obvious when it comes to social networking sites.

Trada is a destination for a community of optimizers (and advertisers). If you think about it every marketplace in existence is a community of some kind. We at Trada want the marketplace to be someplace you want to go. Why? Well, to be honest, it’s good for business. Your satisfaction as an advertiser or optimizer is key to our and your success.

So what can we offer people in our community to motivate them? Well, the money is obvious to an optimizer, and money spent (well) is what the advertiser wants. Since it’s primarily optimizers who work in Trada, constantly pruning and watching their campaigns like virtual farmers with a crop, I will focus on what it takes to motivate them.

Achievers want to accumulate the best statistics. The leader board is their Everest—they are happy as long as they are at the top. They want to accumulate “points” or “badges” that tell of their accomplishments—much like a boy scout. For this reason, Trada is developing a way of rating optimizers (and advertisers) to indicate their abilities and accomplishments. For instance, an optimizer may get a badge for every 10 conversions they get in a campaign in a certain time period or having 10 ads approved by the advertiser with no rejections. Having 3 of such badges may open up new opportunities, like the ability to join more campaigns or have ads automatically approved.

Explorers will want to fully investigate what can be done with keywords and ads—finding that ideal sweet spot that makes the campaign purr like a well oiled machine. Explorers need tools that give them information and they need ways to consistently recall optimal settings they have configured before. For this reason, Trada is developing more tools, better reports and the means to save and recall preferences for sorting, filtering and ranging data consistently. We’ve made experimental forays into this area with Keyword Management, but as some of you are aware, we have a long way to go and fully intend to go there.

Socializers will want to leverage the community to get the best performance for the advertiser, and thereby the best ROI for their time. Taking the attitude that a rising tide raises all boats, they will find that working together on a campaign or culling poorly performing optimizers from the campaign will make the most money. Socializers need communication tools, and Trada has already created (very) limited means for communicating among optimizers and between optimizers and advertisers. Eventually, we plan on fully integrating our community (currently on Ning) with our marketplace, with forums, FAQs, and site messaging and alert.

Griefers in Trada want to have an edge over the competition. Maybe they’ll use a custom tool that helps them generate killer keyword lists or have a secret sauce for ad copy that can’t be beat. It’s gaming the system, but within the boundaries of the rules. For this and other reasons, Trada will provide an API for accessing and uploading data more effectively and allowing third parties to develop tools to leverage that data. If these tools prove effective, then griefers can make more money by selling their custom tools to others.

Stay tuned. There’s a lot we still have to do and we want to keep you all interested and happy.