[MUD-Dev] Totally OT... (Or is it?) (yes it is ;)

[Marian Griffith]

On Sat 03 Jan, s001gmu at nova.wright.edu wrote:

> On Sat, 3 Jan 1998, Marian Griffith wrote:

> > Hopefully there are enough safeguards in a society  to prevent the ptb
>   "ptb"?

powers that be ...

> > to throw out the rights for the sake of expediency.
> > The same should be true on a mud.  Players have a right to expect that
> > the admin behaves correctly.

> The players have the right to expect it, but they have no right to enforce
> such correct behavior, save through not playing the game.

This is of course the point that Ola is contesting.

> Reason being, IMHO, that "correct behavior" is such a vauge term, and
> depending on the player's culture/country of origin will vary greatly
> from player to player.

I am sure that it is possible to find something that (almost) everybody
can agree on.  However it is practically impossible  for the players to
enforce anything.  They have no control over the game, or the way it is
working. Only the people who do the coding and the people who make sure
it is running can do anything about enforcing things. I think they have
to provide safeguards against admin abuse of private information, but I
see no way how the players can enforce that.

> > (I'm avoiding to use the word rights here
> > because that's topic of another heated discussion).  Admin must ensure
> > that players do not abuse their freedom. To do so they must infringe a
> > little on the rights of all players.  As long as it is clear to every-
> > body how and why there need not be a problem.

> I would say it as Admin must ensure that players do not abuse their
> freedom, IF the admin wants to maintain a large player base.  I'm sure
> there will be some ppl interested in playing a total free-for-all game,

certainly. In fact even if they are not interested in a large number of
players at all. Players deserve at least (!) the same considerations as
you would give to any other friend. If the 'my mud is my sandbox/house'
analogy is to hold then the players ought to be considered your friends
who you invited over to play/visit.

> where even the admin fall under a wild-west type system, but I can
> guarantee I wouldn't want to play it.  I can't see too many americans
> being too interested in it either.

The administration  is outside the game,  how could they be subject to a
law-less game?  Inside the game, in a free-for-all setting, there should
not be any special powers for players who happen to be admin. Especially
not in a free-for-all game  where the chances of abuse of power are that
much greater.

Try to consider them your friends instead of your cattle?

> As designers we have to generalize about what those expectations are, and
> before creating a character, a list of the assumed expectations should be
> presented to the player, so they know what they are getting into (possibly
> altering their expectations... it's a two-way system).

Yes.

Marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey