[MUD-Dev] Community Relations

[Marian Griffith]

On Tue 18 Jan, Jon A. Lambert wrote:
> Dundee wrote:

> > The player was banned for being insulting to me.  

> I understand that these are very common policies throughout the 
> "mudding" universe.

> "Thy shall not insult or offend any member of the administration"
> and
> "Thy shall not insult or offend any player"

> Note that the former is usually enforced with great enthusiasm, while
> enforcement of the latter is haphazard and oftentimes explicitly 
> non-existent.

> Any thoughts as to why this is so?  

That is easy :)  The person's capable of executing the punishment are
all falling  in the first category.  So insulting an admin  means you
are angering somebody capable of immediate and definitive retribution
Insulting a player means the victim must convince the same admin that
the insult was indeed worthy of being banned for. Unless you are very
creative or persistent  the admin will have a lot more room for sober
reflection in the second case.

> Do such policies introduce a "class" system into a muds social
> structure regardless of whether the administration is faceless or not?

I think not. It is simply psychology.

> Don't such obtuse policies essentially boil down to 
>     "You can be banned at our whim"?

That is true on the other hand, but most admin try to behave. Most of
the time. But I recall a policy statement of the admin of (I think it
was)  Island mud,  that boiled down to:  admin must be irrational and
frequently kill players for no apparent reason, otherwise players can
gain immortal ranks simply by being persistent.
I admit it is not quite the same as banning, but the sentiment is the
same, I do not doubt ;)

> What is it about administration personnel that makes them so much
> more delicate and important when it comes to being insulted or 
> offended?

Nothing, they are simply capable of immediate retribution.


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




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