[MUD-Dev] Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World]

[Mike Sellers]

At 01:18 PM 12/10/97 PST8PDT, Ola Fosheim Gr=F8stad wrote:
>Marian Griffith <gryphon at iaehv.nl> wrote:
>>It should worry any implementer of a mud that the action of one deranged
>>mind can drive out other players who contribute far more to the game. In
>>this respect I strongly disagree with Bartle that 'killers' have a place
>>in a balanced mud.
>
>Actually, I think the Bartle article is too simplistic and flawed in
>many respects.  Although social engineering is interesting by itself,
>it can hardly be accounted for in a simlple (an again in my opinion
>flawed) 2 by 2 scheme, with some normative rules (or prescriptive or
>whatever).  However, an external threat can make group identities
>stronger, and the virtual life more intense.  A few unlawful
>powerhungry random killers can in this sense be valuable, especially
>to powerhungry lawful players, but only if there is room for revenge
>from the society.

Rather than revenge I would say regulation, though I suppose that might
include revenge sometimes. ;)=20

I wonder though how much of our views here are related back to our
real-world experiences and politics.  Marian appears to be from the
Netherlands, Ola from Sweden I believe, and I'm from the Wild West -- that
is to say, the west coast of the US.  I disagree with Marian's statement
above because it sounds to me too much like top-down, centralized
Socialist-style government, rather than the more individualistic,
free-wheeling, sometimes too chaotic US (especially west of the Rockies)
government.  In other words, I value _most_ PKers because of the spice they
bring to the game, the extra dimensions they can provide for others (giving
them something to talk about and act on), and even just their
individualism.  I stop valuing them when they hurt others who have no
chance to respond -- just as I don't like insta-death traps that you have
no chance to predict -- but this is much more a matter of effective design
than whether PK has any place in a mud or not.  In my oh-so-western
opinion, anyway. ;)=20

Mike Sellers                     mike at online-alchemy.com
     Online Alchemy             A division of The Big Network

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