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[TheBronzePickle]

Once upon a time, a guy called Bartle posted a taxonomy of gamer types. If this sounds familiar, that's because Extra Credits did a few episodes on it recently. Bartle's taxonomy is mostly built around multiplayer games, but it also applies pretty well to singleplayer.

I'd go over the terminology, but it's honestly on Wikipedia if you don't already know it and I don't want to type that much.

Undertale really, really appeals to Explorers, to a lesser degree to Achievers and Socializers.

Unfortunately, it not only doesn't usually appeal to Killers, it actively makes their preferred path the worst one.

This means, generally, that there's an entire subset of people who really can't get into the game. And, unfortunately, when you've got what's essentially an in-joke this big, people sometimes get pissed that they can't really participate.

At least, that's my take on it, and it's honestly only a part of the story. There's a lot more that factors in, like more subtle personal preferences and preconditioned perceptions, but I think this at least plays a big part of it.

[Sergarr]

Undertale really, really appeals to Explorers

how

there's almost nothing in it to explore; with the sole exception of time-travel dialog changes (and Fun-related stuff), it's linear as fuck.
I mean it hasn't been two months since release and people has literally datamined everything that was in it. And it's not a whole lot of stuff.

I'd say that Socializers are the ones that get the biggest "appeals to" rank. This game is really centered around (virtual) socialization. It rewards socialization really well, too.

[Bauglir]

Oh, I should mention that post isn't meant to say "If you don't like Undertale, this is how I think you think." More, "If you would describe Undertale as just a meme game, this is how I think you think." There's tons of reasons not to like the game, including the very simple "It just doesn't have anything that appeals to me" that needs no further substantiation.

[TheBronzePickle]

Undertale really, really appeals to Explorers

how

there's almost nothing in it to explore; with the sole exception of time-travel dialog changes (and Fun-related stuff), it's linear as fuck.
I mean it hasn't been two months since release and people has literally datamined everything that was in it. And it's not a whole lot of stuff.

I'd say that Socializers are the ones that get the biggest "appeals to" rank. This game is really centered around (virtual) socialization. It rewards socialization really well, too.

Eh, you're probably right. I've been second-guessing myself since I wrote it, anyway.

The point is made, though: the game really doesn't appeal to all tastes, and there are some people who will take offense to that, especially when it gets shoved in their faces.

[Putnam]

So undertale songs in the game itself are differently pitched.. Hmm.

Which songs have been pitched differently aside from Death By Glamour?

Snowy, Dogbass, Hopes and Dreams off the top of my head.

[TempAcc]

Toriel's theme and some of Undyne's themes also differ heavily in pitch from the versions used in the actual game.

[TheBronzePickle]

It's not just a matter of pitch.

Toby seems to have made a bunch of 'base' songs which are included on the soundtrack, but in the game itself, all of them have modified tempo to fit the mood and game.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

During genocide runs, some songs randomly have their tempo turned down extra for a nice, creepy vibe.

[miauw62]

... I had no idea the wrong number song was a Fun thing. I got it the first time I went into that room on my True Pacifist run.

Also, putnam, what do you mean by datamining stuff?

[TempAcc]

He means editing the game's files directly, which can net you

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

some fun in-game events that can't be seen otherwise, finding sprites, file names and other things that point out plot bits which were intentionally hidden from the player and were inserted in the game files as an easter egg.
From what I know, the wrong number song is used as an indication of wheter the fun value in that one file is one that will allow you to see easter eggs in game.

[miauw62]

I don't think I really get why that's bad :v

[TempAcc]

Well, its not the datamining itself thats bad, me thinks, its just the fact people are posting the stuff that got found out because of it on the internet, and there's a message by toby among the game's sound files expressively asking people to not post the secrets they find online for everyone to see, or else he won't make any more secrets :v

[monk12]

Undertale really, really appeals to Explorers

how

there's almost nothing in it to explore; with the sole exception of time-travel dialog changes (and Fun-related stuff), it's linear as fuck.
I mean it hasn't been two months since release and people has literally datamined everything that was in it. And it's not a whole lot of stuff.

I'd say that Socializers are the ones that get the biggest "appeals to" rank. This game is really centered around (virtual) socialization. It rewards socialization really well, too.

Eh, you're probably right. I've been second-guessing myself since I wrote it, anyway.

The point is made, though: the game really doesn't appeal to all tastes, and there are some people who will take offense to that, especially when it gets shoved in their faces.

No, I'd say it's definitely Explorers who would find the most joy in this game. The game actively rewards you for going everywhere and talking to everything, multiple times, in varying circumstances (including backtracking) just to see what changes. I'd hardly call it linear; sure, it's not an open-world game, but there's a LOT of different ways to get from the start to the finish, including different cutscenes, boss battles, and character interactions based on your choices. Things change the most in Genocide mode, with the entire premise of that playthrough being "what horrible things will you do just to see something new?" A game doesn't have to be as sprawling as Skyrim or DF to appeal to Explorers.

Yeah, Socializers get fun out of this game, but it's in the context of Exploring; they aren't using this game to form guilds or collaborative play experiences or anything, they're using it as water cooler talk to discuss the neat things they've discovered in the course of playing the game, all the little Easter eggs and conversations and observations that their playstyle produced which somebody elses may not have.

It's worth noting that Bartle's Taxonomy was originally made to describe MUD players. The traditional definition of a Killer or Socializer doesn't really apply to Undertale, since Undertale has no multiplayer component.

[TempAcc]

Bartle's test isn't applicable (or at least not completely applicable) to many modern games and/or pretty much anything that isn't a MUD/MMO type game, since the definitions of "killers" and "socializers" rely mostly on multiplayer experiences. Some games go well beyond the scope of Bartle's taxonomy, too, like minecraft and games in which one of the main goals is to create stuff, which is strange since creating persistent stuff has been something that was possible on MUDS before it became a thing on any other kind of multiplayer game.

But if I have to use it, I'd define undertale as a game that caters mostly to explorers, like monk12 said, and achievers, since the entire point of a genocide run is fighting extra hard bosses for bragging rights and not much else.

[pisskop]

Im apparently a Killer with a side of exploring.

[Leafsnail]

The genocide route has a bunch of story and character development on it.