[MUD-Dev] The morality of logfiles [was 'Wild west']

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 31 Dec 97 at 10:11, Ola Fosheim Gr=B0stad wrote:

Sorry, everytime I've sent this damn message a wurm eats half of it.
I'll attempt to attach it to your reply.

> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >On 29 Dec 97 at 11:09, Ola Fosheim Gr=B0stad wrote:
> >> 
> >> Humans are likely to stretch rules as far as they can according to
> >> their own norms... :-/ I don't see any reason why MUD admins should b=
e
> >> different.  Anyway, the main issue here was what kind of rules the MU=
D
> >> should have in the first place.
> >
> >Well an adminstrator/implementor makes the rules and are not subject to
> >them.  They may violate, bend, change or enforce them at their whim.  I=
f 
> >players perceive injustice or inconsistency and can't abide it, they le=
ave
> 
> I guess we are talking about MUDs and MUDs. :*)
> 
> (Some systems distinguish between implementor, owner and
> maintainer. Which I think is a very good idea.)
> 
> Ola.
> 
>
Here followt the original reply: 
On 29 Dec 97 at 11:09, Ola Fosheim Gr=B0stad wrote:
> 
> Humans are likely to stretch rules as far as they can according to
> their own norms... :-/ I don't see any reason why MUD admins should be
> different.  Anyway, the main issue here was what kind of rules the MUD
> should have in the first place.

Well an adminstrator/implementor makes the rules and are not subject to
them.  They may violate, bend, change or enforce them at their whim.  If
players perceive injustice or inconsistency and can't abide it, they 
leave.  This is where I get back to the my house, my rules analogy that yo=
u 
didn't like.  Of course I allow murder, mayhem, stealing and all sorts of 
despicable acts in my 'mud' house.  I also allow them in my RL house durin=
g 
a FRPG gaming session (in-game of course).  My RL house rules necessarily 
differ from 'mud' house rules.  The virtual reality of the mud world makes=
 
certain offensive activities impossible to commit.  No one can in fact bur=
n 
down my house, strike me, steal from me in a real sense. Hacking and 
sabotaging a server and/or stealing code are in fact RL activities not 
virtual ones.  Should players connect outside the game via exchange of 
phone numbers or addresses and problems occur with harassment, stalking, 
etc., it's their problem, not mine.  Although I may have legal 
responsibilities of providing any connection information to law enforcemen=
t 
authorities.   

Basically rude and boorish behaivor is limited to speech at least within t=
he
context of the mud server, EMotes being a form of speech.  However, freedo=
m
of speech however does not exist within the context of an RP game, whether
the RP occurs on a mud or in a FTF game.  Unruly, obnoxious and disruptive
players are booted.  Seemingly innocuous speech between people in other
contexts can often be forbidden or disruptive to an game in-progress.  Are=
as
are provided for that OOC element.

> An admin can't erase knowledge he has gained about other people from
> his brain just like that.  The fact that he has gained some knowledge
> about a person without that person as an active information provider is =
a
> problem.  It is easy to come up with embarresing situation.  It is easy =
to
> picture situations where that knowledge is sifting out..
>

No, not entirely but largely, it's entirely irrelavent.  I observe dozens =
of
people everyday without their knowledge.  From a guy picking his nose on t=
he
rapid to a neighbor kicking his dog around his fenced-in yard. In RL
unauthorized information abounds.  The only time it's relevant is if a cri=
me
is witnessed or one accidently observes a friend or associate performing a
reprehinsible action.  Sometimes such information is actively sought.  As =
a
contractor I've been asked to authorize others to investigate me.  And
sometimes, I've refused to comply.  Aside: I always refuse drug and psych
tests on principle.  I'd likely fail the psych test anyway. ;)

I wouldn't know 99.9% of the persons logging into my mud and frankly don't
care if half of them are engaged in NetSex with each other, exchanging
personal and intimate RL details with each other.  Maybe that's an importa=
nt
difference.  But do the users _trust_ that I don't care?  Perhaps not
initially.  Trust in administration does not come instantly, unbidden nor =
is
it something that can be demanded.  It something that occurs over time
through action.

There is the peculiar moral dilemma that might occur if one accidently
stumbled onto information being exchanged about RL crimes committed or bei=
ng
planned.  I really don't know how I would handle it or whether I would
believe it.  It's very situation dependent. 
--
Jon A. Lambert
"Everything that deceives may be said to enchant" - Plato