Bartle on Bartle

Dr Richard Bartle has spoken to IncGamers about his reputation as an authority on MMO gaming.

In an exclusive interview, the MUD (Multi User Dungeon) co-creator addressed recent criticisms that he has exaggerated his influence on the genre. He stressed that he never made most of the claims that have been attributed to him.

"The outside world see[s] me as an authority whether I like it or not," he said.  

"If you’re a journalist [for example] you are just going ot look at the history and find someone.  It’s for that reason the outside world picks me just because I so happened to have co-written MUD."

"There are many things that are written [about me], even in books, which are wrong" he added when asked why he had been consistently misquoted about his role in the creation of MUD.

"You would have thought editors would have checked, but no.”

"I always make a point of correcting people when they say that I wrote it.  If you were to say who wrote the first line of code it would be Roy Trubshaw."

Dr Bartle recently came under fire following his criticism of a torture quest inWorld of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Check out part one of the interview here.