[MUD-Dev] Criminalize Community Volunteers?

[Jeff Freeman]

At 10:10 AM 9/5/00 -0400, Dave Rickey wrote:
>    But it could *seriously* impact the development of commercial efforts.
>For example, NWN is predicated on the notion that players will develop their
>own content and let people into their worlds, what if Interplay had to pay
>these people royalties (since this free content is an assumed part of their
>product)?

Wouldn't the same apply to paper-n-pencil RPGs?

I think the distinction there is that the company doesn't supervise,
control, appoint, reward or anything else the "volunteer labor" - in PnP
games.  Are you thinking it may still apply to NWN if they police which
games are available via their matching service?

With regard to commercial games, would the same apply if becoming a
volunteer were considered more "a part of the game".  As in "These people
aren't volunteering free labor, they're playing the game."  Give the
volunteers more of an in-context look-n-feel, perhaps even an in-game route
to transforming your avatar into some quasi-spiritual higher planar being,
who just so happens to answer gameplay questions (not because they
volunteered to answer gameplay questions, but because that's how people
with characters of that type character "play").  Hmm... Maybe ghostly-Obi
Wan in Star Wars was really a counselor/guide dodging US labor laws.

Luke: Help, I am stuck.
Obi Wan: Use the force, Luke.
Luke:  kewl.  Can I have your robe?


--
  http://home.swbell.net/skeptack/




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