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

[Robert Zubek]

Jeff Freeman writes:
 > Some of them are just kids.  Some of them are even pretty nice kids.  But
 > kids can be impulsive and whatnot.  Sometimes they just make poor
 > decisions.  This essay suggested that peer-pressure won't work on them and
 > I know for a fact that's wrong.  We had PKing Dewds in our guild in UO and
 > they didn't PK while they were in our guild, because we told them not to.

it's not that d00dz aren't susceptible to peer pressure - quite to the
contrary, as your example demonstrates. the point is that they can't
be made to care about the larger society outside of their own
close-knit circle (or, by extension, to care about the more abstract
concept of 'social rules'). a comparison with street gangs would
probably be too extreme, but comes to mind. :)

d00dz are indeed *greatly* influenced by social pressures, but those
coming from the social sphere of their group. one could say that
they really care about the opinion of their small community, and don't
give a damn about anyone else. this manifests itself in many ways
really annoying to those who aren't a part of the community - from
endless camp-outs in front of high-reward spawn points, to such
innocent transgressions as 3l337 n4m3z.  

then of course there's the hardcore rpg contingent, which really is
on the other extreme. the problem is that role-playing is such a
highly ritualized performance, that sustaining it requires significant
cooperation from virtually everyone involved. so it's only natural that the
TFRs (not a bad acronym, btw :) will require social interactions to be
full of consideration for the ongoing performances of other players. 

and the problem is that while those who like close-knit groups won't
necessarily see a problem with stepping on others' toes (it's a small
price to pay for the enjoyment from belonging to the group), the
roleplayers will feel victimized because the performance into which
they expand so much energy is being ruined by inconsiderate hordes. :)
otoh, the d00dz will resent social rules put forth by more foaming of
TFRs because not only do they benefit only a class of people they
don't care about, but also hamper their own enjoyment of the game. 
(and then of course there's those in the middle, who consider both
extremes antisocial, but in different ways. :) 

so there we go, social control freaks on one hand, and careless
antisocial hordes on the other. such nice stereotypes. :)  so what to
do about this? i'd say, in agreement with the author of the original
posting: don't try to mix the two. but also: it's much better when a
game makes a strong statement either way (such as EQ, which really
encourages you to join guilds and such, or castle marrach, which
sets out to be a roleplaying stage), rather than leave it
ambiguous. that only leads to frustration.   

just my $.02 worth.

rob
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