[MUD-Dev] "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG"

[Jason Belhumeur]

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I have been reading the responses to this article and I can't say that
anyone's put even a hint at a suggestion as to how to deal with the 
disruptive environment that d00ds tend to foster. So here's mine for what 
it's worth, take it as you will. From my experience with paper and dice RPGs 
I've found that one of the most effective ways of dealing with disruptive 
players is a technique which I believe is called 'Slamming' (maybe wrong), 
where when a group is split up or a member is incapacitated the idle player 
will take on the role of an NPC (usually a villain) and play it accordingly. 
This way a player gets to work against the others without ruining the game. 
What I suggest for MUDs and other online environments is instead of trying 
to make to d00d reform or make them leave, cater to them (hear me out on 
this). In most MUDs there are plenty of tools for the players that wish to 
be good guys, but few if any for those who wish to be bad. I think if more 
focus is placed on allowing players to play villains then the d00d will no 
longer be disruptive, but instead will become an exciting new opponent for 
the players to confront. In the MUD I am currently developing we have 
several mechanics in place for this, and it looks promising, but this is 
just a suggestion so take it as you will.

Jason Belhumeur

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