[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun

[Michael.Willey at abnamro.com]

     ____________________Reply Separator____________________
     Subject:  [MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Killers have more fun
     Author:   mud-dev at kanga.nu ("S. Patrick Gallaty" <choke at sirius.com>)
     Date:          7/9/98 7:55 PM

>Multi-classes and classless games are the biggest contributor IMO
>to lack of online community and thus antisocial behaviour along
>with anonymity and rapid character advancement.

Really?  Do you attribute that to problems with the basic premise
of a classless game, or to poor implementation?  A poor
implementation would easily lead to overly rapid character
advancement, but on a different axis:  Expanding the scope of
abilities too fast could lead to the same problems as expanding
power of abilities to quickly, that being to put too much control
over the game into the hands of those who have not yet been
indoctrinated into your mini-society - they can challenge the
rules of the game before they have even entirely learned them.
With no appreciation for why the rules exist as they do, they
strike out randomly, damaging the entire structure like some
out-of-control teenager.  Is it coincidence that almost every
problem player I've ever dealt with has been male and under 20?

I will say that my game is skill-based and classless, and we
have very few of these kinds of problems.  I've always found
that our community was rather strong, but it's strength comes as
much from a stable and interactive administration than from a
group of players.

On your second point:  Anonymity is both a blessing and a curse
throughout the online world:  People feel free to say and do
things they would never do without the blanket of anonymity,
whether that be to speak out for a radical idea or to harass
people at random.  Do you take the bad with the good, or do you
throw the baby out with the bathwater?