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

[Marian Griffith]

In <URL:/archives/meow?group+local.muddev> on Mon 27 Jul, Damion Schubert wrote:

> Yes, I'd have to agree.  Going further,  I predict that online companies
> will begin to get extremely aggressive about kicking antisocial
> people out of their online environments.  If you started
> pushing little old ladies into fountains in Disneyland, you'd be
> dragged to the gates by security in no time.

Actually I do not think it would be the gates you would be dragged to,
but yes you are entirely right. "It is only a game" clearly can not be
an excuse to spoil the fun for others.
> 
> Heavy-handed?  Yes.  But ultimately, commercial providers will
> realize that losing the $10 bucks a month from 1 person is better
> than losing the $10 bucks a month from all 50 people that that
> person ticked off.

I do not think it is accidential that ultima online, even if they try
to provide an environment that is essentially as free as possible has
created increasingly strong measures against pk and similar behaviour
up to the point that players who enjoyed such behaviour complained it
had all but wiped out the PK on that game.
But then I think that games like ultima online fit very well into the
scheme of Mr. Bartle  and needs a small amount of disruptive players.
Of course the catch is that it needs a small amount of such behaviour
or it will totally overpower the social fabric of the game.
On the other hand,  as Dr.Cat pointed out,  there is a huge amount of
people  who would not be attracted to a game like that  and who would
prefer something far more safer for their game environment.

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