[MUD-Dev] Life

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Mon, 2 Jun 1997 21:03:04 PST8PDT, Marian Griffith <gryphon at iaehv.nl>
wrote:

>What was really wrong of this player's part is that he involved another
>player in a plot  without in the least attempting to figure out how she
>felt about the whole situation. This is where a roleplaying game should
>still be a -game-. All involved must have fun. While it may be in-char-
>acter it wasn't much fun for the victim. 

This is completely correct. It's the major impetus for consent policies
on MU*s, but these carry their own inherent abuses; I recall one game
where several players decided they didn't like certain of my character's
fairly gained abilities, and therefore would not consent to my use of
them in their presence. This is carrying things a little far; it's like
saying 'I don't think it's fair that you can cast fireballs, so you
aren't allowed to cast them around me'. 

>> Where's the challenge in conking a six-year-old over the head and
>> killing her?
>
>This is an unfair comparison. I'm sure that Adam hadn't something like
>this in mind when he mentioned  challenge and conflict.  Besides he is
>right that even a totally non-combat rp game still revolves round con-
>flicts. Even if the conflict is planned ahead by the parties involved.

The problem I have with it is that Adam's entire notion of conflict
seemed to be fighting to the death, and no matter how it happens it's
just part of the game and shouldn't upset anyone. My point is that there
are a LOT of types of conflict, and death is not the only possible
result. There is a lot more enjoyment to be gained from starting a
long-term grudge and enmity than there is to be gained from 'Ugh! You
die now!' *THUMP*

>> One of us put him to sleep, and then we called staff
>> and said we were taking him to my basement.
>
>This was, in its own way, equally unjustified as this player's original
>act was.  While it may have put his perception of what he'd done to the
>other player into better perspective,  it still comes down to doing the
>same to him what you blamed him for doing in the first place.

He was already a wanted man, and would have been removed from the game
if we had just turned him in to the police. They had him cold... just
needed someone to see him and call a cop. And if he had shot and killed
the brother of a mafioso, an assassination would have been perfectly in
order -- when you screw with someone that has powerful friends, you tend
to get hurt. Even if you didn't know they had friends like that.

The difference was that if the cops had been called or an assassination
attempt had been made, there would have been some sort of chase and/or
scene that the molester's player might have found enjoyable. He didn't
deserve that, so we demonstrated his logic; we had a perfectly good
reason to do it. The death of the child could not be undone, and neither
could his -- but HIS removal from the game was a foregone conclusion. We
merely robbed him of the enjoyment he might have taken in that
character's demise. Our justification was his actions, not his
existence. 

>> The major difference was that he had done something to deserve it.
>
>I've been thinking hard about this topic  and have come to the con-
>clusion that  I don't belief this justice should be drawn out. If a
>player does something grossly unacceptable  then his character must
>be deleted. I know from personal experience that watching your tor-
>mentor suffer is satisfying but it left a bad taste all the same.

Deleting the character would have been unconscionable. in-game actions,
in-game consequences -- if he had deliberately harassed the child's
player through non-game methods like channels and tells, it would have
been a different story; these are player actions rather than character
actions, and would merit a different sort of punishment. However, given
the in-game knowledge we needed to recognise him and the in-game ability
to mete out our own brand of justice, we did so. Within the game
context. 

It's worth noting that he did go off and complain to staff about it, and
after some discussion of the matter, the staff member who had backed up
his murder of the child was dismissed from service and the player was
given some very pointed education on the subject of justifiable actions
in a roleplay setting. The matter was handled both in and out of game
context. 

The in-game handling provided several of the more outraged players with
some sort of satisfaction, including the player of the child, who
passively observed some of the rather extreme methods we used to take
care of the situation once the molester's player had been dismissed. We
made rather lurid and graphic descriptions of the molester's fate for
something in excess of two hours. It's truly shocking how long you can
keep a human being alive if you really try.

-+[caliban at darklock.com]+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
 I am here to grind your eyes harder into the miasmic bile of life; to 
 show you the truth and the beauty in the whisper of steel on silk and 
 the crimson scent of blood as it rises to meet the caress of a blade. 
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