[MUD-Dev] selling Godhoods

[Richard Woolcock]

Matthew Mihaly wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 25 Apr 2000, Richard Woolcock wrote:
> >

> Since all the replies so far have been rather similar, I'll just reply to
> one. First though, let me point out that we won't stop promoting people
> who catch our eyes, for free. 

In that case I think you really need to decide exactly what your motive 
is.  If someone is really good, you'll promote them for free, which is 
fair enough.  However, if someone is okay (but not good enough to be 
promoted normally) then they have to pay $3000 to show that they are 
"really serious" about becoming an immortal, correct?

The problem I see with that is that if someone isn't good enough to be 
made an immortal, they shouldn't be *made* an immortal.  What you're 
basically saying is "You're not really good enough, but slip me $3000 
and I'll let you in anyway".  You're taking bribes from the borderline
cases.  What you have to decide is whether it'll be worth the potential
headaches caused by disruption within the mud.

> Further, the ultimate prize: Ascension (ie where your mortal actually 
> becomes a god in-role, rather than the person behind the character just
> being given access to a God) cannot be bought.

I would have thought such positions as in-game God, Guild leader, etc, 
would have been more suited to being purchased than those requiring 
out-of-game effort.  I'd be curious as to why you've made such a 
decision.

> > You lose a lot of staff?  Does that not mean you also need to recruit a lot
> > of staff?  As J C Lawrence stated in his post, this could prove a problem
> > should you decide to promote someone who can't afford it (and if you don't,
> > you might end up with hardly any staff, which means those who remain will
> > be so overworked they're more likely to start leaving as well).
> 
> Yes. It's probably been our fault to some extent (or to the entire
> extent), as I don't think we have done the best job in the past of
> communicating just what life as a God is like. The players really only see
> the in-role side of things for the most part (which is what attracts them
> to being a God...remember that as a God, you are quite powerful. You can
> slay mortals at will, reward them heavily, etc. It's quite a kick for
> people, though of course we require them to be very stingy with
> punishments, and stingy (but less so) with rewards). Unfortunately, that's
> only half the job. The other half are admin duties.

Note that any of your potential staff who have experience on other muds 
will *know* that being a god can be very boring and unrewarding work.  
Equally such people are more likely to have valuable experience and - if 
they do apply - be more prepared to put up with it (because it wasn't 
unexpected).  As such, they're likely to have the same opinion as me - why 
pay to work for someone else?

> > > My hope is that someone who pays 3 grand for his God is going to think
> > > long and hard about just how badly he wants to be a God, and once he is a
> > > God, he's going to want to remain a God.
> >
> > Perhaps - but if he's just paid 3 grand, he's going to expect something for
> > his money.  I can't see many people who being overly excited who, having just
> > paid you $3k, are told that they're now expected to spend their playing time
> > dealing with player problems.  Will you offer refunds?
> 
> No, no refunds. We will explain very carefully to them what is expected of
> them before signing any contracts.

If you decide that they should leave (and they've not actually broken any 
part of the contract) would you still refuse them a refund?

> > There are often cases of imms who are banned even though they don't feel
> > that they themselves have broken any of the rules.  If they've paid $3k
> > for the privilage, I strongly suspect they'd try and take legal action
> > against you.
> 
> Writing a contract which protects us against this is not difficult.

As long as you make it clear what the rules are.  Things like "You didn't 
spend enough time online" or "You're not setting a good example for the 
players" might cause problems.

> > Personally, I wouldn't pay over a month's wages just so that I could spend
> > my spare time working (rather than playing) on a mud for free, while the
> > owner was raking in profits from the players.  That's just my outlook on
> > the situation.
> 
> No, I'd imagine not. However, I've been offered, in the past, well more
> than 3k for a Godhood (and turned it down, as the two people who offered
> more...each more than 5k...were not suitable candidates). You'd be quite
> surprised how powerful the lure of being a God is.

True - but mainly to those who think it's all fun and no work.  I suspect 
you're likely to attract a fair few "rich kids" who are just interested in 
the chance to flex some virtual muscle.

KaVir.



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