fans: types of players
April 23rd, 2009 • posts i've written
In 2006, while studying ARGs, Ivan Askwith defined the different roles that players take on:
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Organizers network with other players, collecting and redistributing resources and keeping track of progress.
Hunters uncover new clues, often spending hours scanning game resources for fresh hints.
Detectives break code, solve riddles and determine the meaning of clues.
Lurkers observe the community’s progress, often providing statistical evidence of interest in the game.
Askwith was studying how fan communities manage knowledge in complex game scenarios like the current Star Trek ARG and Terminator Twitter Game. But these roles are not limited to complex games; they may pertain to all unanswered questions within media properties. Consider these roles the next time you’re building a larger narrative or campaign online – if you can garner fan involvement, have you offered enough things to do to occupy this entire spectrum.
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