[MUD-Dev] players who "take away from the game"

[J C Lawrence]

On Fri, 5 Nov 1999 18:08:13 -0800 
Daniel James <dan at thecan.org> wrote:

> msew wrote:
>> 0) what are disruptive players?  1) what do you do with
>> disruptive players?  2) why do disruptive players appear/blossom?

> I want to dodge the questions to, perhaps needlessly, point out
> that the often 'disruptive' players are your best players, because
> they generate controversy, activity and spectacle for everyone
> else. 

Precisely.  And even when they fail at that task, they give a
target, a scapegoat, and a common enemy for your players.  The trick 
here of course is ensuring that that emnity does not generalise from 
the "problem player" to the game admins.

> A player empowered solution is more elegant, not least from the
> point of view of reducing customer service costs/volunteer GM
> time, but hard to implement in a 'fair' manner.

This I think is the real goal.  Back when (Jan/Feb of this year)
Raph and I talked (phone call) of how to design and implement player
defined legal systems and justice enforcement systems.  The basic
idea which I was pursueing was:

  -- A player or group of players claim title to a geographical area 
of the game world.

  -- They then define a legal system for that area (in essence the
justice process).

  -- Next comes "law" definition.  What is proscribed, for whom?

  -- Lastly comes implementation (manufacture, placement,
maintenence etc) of detection equipment (something has to twll you a
crime has been committed).

>From players defined by the justice process in the "guild" (for want
of a better term) would receive alerts of detected crimes, and the
process would roll into effect from there in a rather hands off
manner.  Players would be responsible for application and
enforcement, but the system would take much of the load of detection
and reporting.

  Law: BugWhump characters are not allowed in the stockyard on pain
       of death!

  Challenge: Invade the stockyard with a Foozer character and steal 
             a horse.

> Very often I think MUD's foster disruptive instincts because of
> anonymity and lack of consequences to actions. In Middle-earth we
> were hoping to address the latter, at least somewhat, with
> permanent death.

<bow>

> Daniel, at last subscribed to MUD-Dev

Welcmome.

--
J C Lawrence                              Internet: claw at kanga.nu
----------(*)                            Internet: coder at kanga.nu
...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...


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