What kind of player are you?

[Doc Anderson]

A lot of different kinds of people play this game.

All of them have their own idea of the "right" way to play the game.

The builder spends hours shut away in the VAB creating new ships and then hands them to Mechjeb to see if they will work.

The pilot enjoys enjoys the challenge of manual control and says, "Mechjeb is cheating!"

The modder says, "KSP is perfect, but what it REALLY needs is steampunk parts and warp drive!"

The purist plays KSP "as God intended it" and says, "Mods ruin the game."

The sci-fi geek changed the name of Duna to Alderaan and is building a scale version of the Death Star.

The space geek duplicates actual historic missions in order to find out if something that works in fact will work in theory.

The astrophysicist transfers to Eeloo using only 1000 m/s Delta V and multiple gravity assists, and then watches it in map view at full warp.

The realist does missions to the Mun and back entirely in cockpit wiew without using warp to "really get the full experience of space flight."

All of them enjoy watching things explode.

All of them are right because all of them are having fun.

How do you play KSP?

What is YOUR idea of fun?

[EDIT] This is by no means a complete list of player types. Got another? I'd love for you to add it to the discussion.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Doc Anderson

[23278]

Wait...you mean people do things other than blow stuff up?

[Moon Goddess]

Well by your definitions, I'd be a builder/modder/spacegeek/astrophysicist But mostly builder.

[Doc Anderson]

Wait...you mean people do things other than blow stuff up?

You're right. I forgot the "Mythbusters player" who blows stuff up for science.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Doc Anderson

[Akalaël]

I whish I could estimate the time I spend in the VAB... Probably 75/80% of my time is spent here.

I also have a tentancy to stop actual mission, get back in the VAB cuz' I have a "better" idea !

[Scotius]

Exploration & Discovery. I want to get everywhere interesting. I want to see Ike eclipsing Kerbol. I want to see Jool on the horizon on Laythe. I want to see Kerbol as a small dot from Eeloo. If i have to use high-performance engine from a mod to get there in a fast and efficient way - so be it. If i have to use MechJeb to maintain steady flow of fuel from kethane mine - so be it. I won't use Hyperedit or cheaty magic teleportation engines, or tanks holding astronomic amounts of fuel. And no one gets left behind. All my kerbonauts must return home alive, or the mission is a failure regardless of what rest of the crew achieved.

[Sabor]

Wait...you mean people do things other than blow stuff up?

I try to do things other than blow stuff up

...which usually ends in stuff blowing up

I've been trying to make a working Shuttle. A delta wing, that can glide back and land at KSC without engines at all, but can also take to orbit a heavy 2.5m payload. And I think I've finally done it. I'm just adding some glitter and glue here and there and it may just be good to go. It can take payloads the size of 5 2.5m Crew modules stacked on top of each other to Orbit, and a cargo mass of about 20.0

Edited May 17, 2013 by Sabor

[Doc Anderson]

Exploration & Discovery. I want to get everywhere interesting. I want to see Ike eclipsing Kerbol. I want to see Jool on the horizon on Laythe. I want to see Kerbol as a small dot from Eeloo.

Excellent! That would be the space tourist or "See the Kerbol system on less than 1000 Delta V a day."

[Katve]

purist and pilot I don't like mods or mechjeb and sometimes I spend two hours with Orbital rendezvous and still not even consider any assist programs. I also like to plan my rockets and payloads so that they look beautiful and realistic. I just did cargo resupply for my new space station. I brought nothing real to there, but I made spacewalk around it and some other stuff like that. I bet that many of you don't do that kind of missions. Also who likes to give every program name and number flights? My current is Hawk and missions 1-10 are made and still two more to come at least.

[Canopus]

Exploration & Discovery. I want to get everywhere interesting. I want to see Ike eclipsing Kerbol. I want to see Jool on the horizon on Laythe. I want to see Kerbol as a small dot from Eeloo. If i have to use high-performance engine from a mod to get there in a fast and efficient way - so be it. If i have to use MechJeb to maintain steady flow of fuel from kethane mine - so be it. I won't use Hyperedit or cheaty magic teleportation engines, or tanks holding astronomic amounts of fuel. And no one gets left behind. All my kerbonauts must return home alive, or the mission is a failure regardless of what rest of the crew achieved.

This is exactly how i play the game I use only mods that make sence like mechjeb, telemachus and a view parts packs (no cheaty parts) and i haven't lost one Kerbal in my current save.

[Echostatic]

I don't spend a *whole* lot of time in the VAB, but I do like to make new rockets for everything I do. Mechjeb does not appeal to me, but I like some mods. My goals are spontaneous and all over the place. One launch I may be trying to place a satellite in orbit around Moho, next launch I may be sticking a new collection of parts on a space station, and next launch I may be gluing a bunch of SRBs together for Jeb to play with.

[erkha343]

I guess I would be the astrophysicist, I need realism and good mission planning. Plus I will start studying astrophysics in January

Edited May 17, 2013 by erkha343

[CoriW]

Well, I'd like to answer this, but I'm not exactly in some of your definitions... They're too black and white.

1) Personally I am both! I spend hours in the VAB trying to get my ships just right (In fact I just spent the past 8 hours designing an Eve lander/launcher), and I do have but this is where the black and white thing comes in... You see, I have MechJeb but mostly just use it for information, as well as the Smart ASS, but that's hardly "handing it to MechJeb" as you put it.

2) What a coincidence, I am both here as well! See this is where "Plugins" come in, not mod nor stock. I don't really like mods because they tend to add lots of parts and stuff to the game that may or may not be balanced, or may just clutter up my parts list, which I don't really like. However I do quite like plugins, like KerbalAlarmClock, Haystack, and CrewManifest. (Although I do use Kethane, but that's just as a placeholder until resources come out. So I'm not really pro-mod or anti-mod, definately pro-plugin though.)

3) I am neither! I just like to play the game sort of randomly. (I find this funny how so far I haven't been in one particular "category" that you've listed.)

4) Once again, neither. Although I might try an all cockpit mission some time now that you've mentioned it, we'll see. As for the astrophysicist, I think I'd screw it up. xD

5) I do like watching things explode! As long as there's no Kerbals on board... In those cases it's horrifying!

[Tw1]

My style is not quite covered in any of these.

I tend to play a few days to a few weeks at a time, making use of all the time I get on a planet between windows, and waiting ages to send something out to Jool, as warping for a whole year would mean missing things.

Apart from that, I'm somewhere between the explorer, who wants to find things out, and the builder, who makes lots of crazy things.

But they are mostly to add to the evolving story of my space program, like the kerbal cannon I'm hoping to make, which could be an innovative way to return kerbals to the station without a rocket...

I suspect this is one of those cases where most people aren't strictly one, but may lean to one or the other.

[spudcosmic]

I would call myself a builder, because I like to spend alot of time making efficient rockets and neat new designs, but I also am a competent pilot, and made sure I could do everything without MechJeb before I got it. I really only use it for the information and the smart A.S.S and restrict myself from the autopilot.

[wolfedg]

You might add the Spacecraft Engineer who tries to make realistic looking spacecraft. (NOT 20 Jumbo fuel tanks tacked together with 200 struts and overshadowing the entire launch pad)

[Chocki]

I am a builder. I have spent the last 3 days designing, testing, scrapping, redesigning a 3 vehicle setup to mine kethene and send it to an orbiting converter. All done via remote (no kerbals).

I am currently stuck trying to figure out a way to transfer resources from a ground based miner to a lander storage vehicle. Lazer systems would work, but feels "cheaty" to me. Docking ports are problematic considering uneven terrain. I started to try the lazer robotic arms, but they cause a huge unbalanced effect once in orbit. Next up for testing is combo of KAS and damned robotics to see if I can make a simple arm to drop an attachment point onto another attached to the lander.

[astropapi1]

Well, by your definition, I'm a Space geek.

[SecondGuessing]

I'm a builder, but I don't like mechjeb. I spend most of the game in the SPH, albeit with brief, explosion-filled interludes.

[Doc Anderson]

Yes, my definitions were too black and white. It was hyperbole to make a point. It was exaggeration to say "How ever you decide to play, you're not doing it wrong, you're doing it exactly right ... for you." It was also all I could think of in the couple of minutes it took to write the post.

So keep adding to the list. I love to hear what you are doing. It gives me new ideas to try myself.

Keep it going.

[AHO]

I would be an astrophysicist. I like my flights to be as efficient and smooth as possible. I also use mechjeb a lot.

[JonoRig]

By these restrictions I'm mostly just a builder, I love the creativity, but not so big on the flying manual, though I do under certain circumstances, like mucking about haha, plus my game is crammed with mods, either aesthetical ones, or ones that add more science. Needs MOAR science tools! But that's only my mainstream play. I play around doing other stuff. Like atm I'm using a camera mod and Trying to seed the solar system with cam satellites to capture the prettiest pictures I can of SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!... And the planets too I guess

[Uncle Mort]

Also a builder; I want to design spacecraft that perform their purpose perfectly and are aesthetically pleasing. Not there yet.

[flyfire2002]

A pilot modder I am...but i dont like the idea of warp engine...

[capi3101]

By the definitions, pilot/purist/space geek/astrophysicist. I love to build stuff but the "purist" part conflicts with the builder definition.