[MUD-Dev] Declaration of the Rights of Avatars

[Raph Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Travis Casey
> Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2000 1:23 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Declaration of the Rights of Avatars

> Suggestion:  Rewrite the whole thing in modern English.  In many cases
> you're using sentence structures, phrasings, and word choices that,
> while they were current in the late 1700's, no longer mean quite what
> they did then.

Your wish is my command. :) I liked the conceit though.

So, this is the version that I'd call "advice to any mud admin who wants to
keep his mud running and his players happy."

 A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MUD PLAYERS, COMMON LANGUAGE VERSION

Mud players are people. They don't stop being people when they log on.
Therefore they deserve to be treated like people. Thi smeans they have the
rights of people. By joining a mud, they join a ommunity of people. Rights
arise from the community. But there's always someone with their finger on
the power switch. But he's part of the community too, and should use his
powers for the common good and the survival of the community. The fact that
you can easily move to another mud doesn't mean that these rights go away.

Articles:

1. All mud players get the same rights. Special powers on the mud are given
out for the good of the mud, not because some guy is the friend of a wizard.

2. Mud players are people, and therefore they have the rights of people:
libery, property, security, and freedom from oppression.

3. Somewhere, there's a guy with his finger on the power button. What he
says ultimately goes. The mud players have the right to know the code of
conduct he is going to enforce over them, and what rules and standards he's
going to use when he makes a decision. Otherwise, they are suckers and
deserve what mistreatment they get.

4. You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt others. "Hurting
others" needs to be defined in the code of conduct.

5. The code of conduct shouldn't be capricious and arbitrary. The rules
should be based on what is good for the mud (and for the good of the mud's
hardware, software, and data).

6. The code of conduct should evolve based on the way the mud culture
evolves, and players should get a say in how it evolves. The mud admins get
to write it however they want, but they have an obligation to listen or else
the players might leave.

7. You can't punish someone for something that isn't the code of conduct.
Abusing your wiz powers is a serious crime. If you are caught in a violation
of the code of conduct, fess up.

8. You can't punish someone in a way not in the code of conduct, and you the
admin don't get to rewrite the code of conduct after the fact to make it
legal. The only exception is action taken to keep the mud from going "poof."

9. Players are innocent until proven guilty. Treat them decently until guilt
is proven.

10. As long as they aren't spamming or breaking the code of conduct, players
should be free to believe whatever they want.

11. As long as they aren't spamming or breaking the code of conduct, players
should be free to yell, chat, gossip, post, or otherwise say whatever they
want.

12. You're probably going to want admins. Admins get special powers for the
good of the mud, not to make them feel cool. They aren't an entitlement
because the imp is your cousin, and if you're not using them for the good of
all (which includes not using them at all and shirking your admin duties)
they should get yanked.

13. Players might have to pay to keep the mud running. They should know how
much they will have to pay beforehand. You shouldn't have different pay
scales for different players unless those other players actually involve
more costs. If you do let people buy greater privileges, then you should
allow ANY player to buy these privileges, and not bar some people from it
because you don't like them. Also, payment doesn't mean they get to have
godlike powers to fry other people with--they still have to obey these
rights.

14. Players have a right to know why the admins did things the way they did,
like why they playerwiped or moved an area or whatever. In particular, why a
given immort banned one guy for spamming but let the other off the hook.

15. No exceptions to the code of conduct--it applies to everyone.

16. Don't playerwipe/data wipe unless the mud can't survive unless you do.
If you do have to wipe someone, make it up to them somehow.

17. Let people hang out wherever they want with whoever they want in the
mud, unless it's causing mud slowdowsns or something.

18. Players have a right to privacy. Don't snoop them or spy on them or
rifle through their mail unless you are investigating a code of conduct
violation.

19. There's probably stuff missing in this doc.


-Raph





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