Bartle's Taxonomy - What Type of Player are You? - Extra Credits
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Part of the problem I've always had with Bartle's thing is that I can only classify myself as Killer, and there are no redeeming characteristics. It exists to make other people mad, which has never been the goal... But there is a saying I've seen pop up a few times recently... It's something like: All models are wrong, but some are useful.

Balancing an MMO Ecosystem - Getting a Mix of Player Types - Extra Credits
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This is the part where I think Bartle's model is useful, even if it feels wrong to me. Is CF overbalanced toward the Killer type? Is this the cause of the shrinking playerbase? That seems like the logical conclusion of the two videos to me, but not being a socializer, explorer, or achiever type, I can't say for certain if the game is missing the elements that would draw those players, or if those elements have become less prevalent or less fun.

Different Kinds of Players, Running the Game #11
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This one is a model I prefer, and I also find it useful when running DND. I'm not sure the Mad Scientist is quite as bad as he believes, but it definitely depends on the kind of game. The interesting bit here for me, and why I bothered posting the video, is actually in the very beginning. The difference between Player vs. Audience Member... This is the place where I think the Rambo mentality of CF has gone amok. After all, is a Rambo that doesn't have an army of goons to kill Rambo anymore? When it becomes a handful of Rambo's running around, what is the Audience Member to do? I think the de-emphasis on group play has probably hurt audience members the most. They didn't want to lead the group, but they wanted to be a part of the group battle... Anyway, just some thoughts.