[MUD-Dev] curses and grief players

[Greg Miller]

  stoddart at slip.net wrote:

> > From: Greg Miller <gmiller at classic-games.com>
> >
> > What's fair about admin-controlled systems? "I dislike you, so I'll ban
> > you." "Kill-stealing is allowed, but PK isn't--if you don't want to be
> > kill-stolen from, go play somewhere else." "You must wear what I
> > consider your best eq at all times or be banned" Those are real rules
> > from real muds. As a player, I find them unfair. Other players may find
> > my preferred rules unfair.
> 
> If a mud has a bad admin then it's really irrelevent as to whether or not it
> has a player controlled justice system or not.  The admin can still do
> whatever they want, for their own personal amusement.

That's not the point. The problem is that no two people agree on every 
aspect of fairness. Thus, the best approach is to leave that decision to 
the broadest possible group of people.

> On the other hand a good mud admin normally doesn't have a stake in player
> affairs other than a consideration for the 'best interests of the mud'.
> Thus they're much more likely to be impartial than players whose primary
> interest is their own amusement.

Nonsense. The best interest of the players is the best interest of the mud.

> 'Mud Cop' is, of course, one of the most stressfull activities for an admin.

And being subject to the whims of admins is one of the more stressful 
activities for a player. Admin-controlled "justice" systems fall into 
two categories: those that strictly enforce rigid, easily abused rules 
and those that leave it up to admin judgement and force the player to 
guess what the rules are in any specific case.
--
http://www.classic-games.com/              http://www.indie-games.com/
Smarter than God? No, but I'm smarter than he was when he was my age.
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