[MUD-Dev] Sustainable Ecosystem

[Timothy Dang]

On Thu, 20 Jul 2000, Josh Olson wrote:

> I dunno.  I think the only real(*) solution is sufficient world scale to
> maintain an adequate ratio between players and animals.  For every herd of
> deer being slaughtered, there have to be X other herds out in the wilderness
> somewhere being left alone.  Even in the real world, the only places
> ecosystems survive are where humans either don't kill the member populations
> (either by law or disinterest), or aren't present in significant numbers.
> Left to our own devices, we're a rapacious lot.

Actually, there's a "solution" to human ecological devastation which has
been in use for ages, but it strikes at the heart of traditional MUD
hunting. That's assigning property rights to resources. Different schemes
have been tried, and many have worked, ranging from "no hunting deer in
the King's forest" to tradeable fishing permits in use today.

If someone who gets something (whether resources, exp, or
entertainment) out of hunting deer owns the right to hunt the deer, it's a
reasonable bet they'll take pains to make sure the deer don't become
extinct.

I don't have any suggestions for how such ownership systems could be
implemented in a MUD without ruining everyone's fun. I do imagine it's
possible, but desinging the social structure around such a system would be
quite a challenge. The obvious approach is to place it in a system with
player-run justice / politics and inter-player strife. Then the "no
hunting in the King's woods" rule has to be enforced by players, and other
people can try to take control of the woods.

------------------------------
Timothy O'Neill Dang / Cretog8
520-321-4015
One monkey don't stop no show.




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