[MUD-Dev] Criminalize Community Volunteers?

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

A loaded discussion.  I've had a few thoughts about this for a while,
just haven't gotten around to writing an rant/essay about it.

Madrona Tree wrote:

> If they are working as an agent for the corporation, they are working for
> the corporation.  If they are not, then they're working for the community.

In other words, the line between volunteer and unpaid employee is the
main question here.  Volunteers are good, unpaid employees are bad (and
possibly illegal).

Given my experiences on Meridian 59, I think that "volunteers" are
generally not treated as  volunteers but as unpaid employees.  I think
the original concept has been corrupted; people in the past were willing
to dedicate their time to improve the online environment they
frequented.  This was was partially fueled out of self-interest, because
their efforts kept the environment running better; newbies were given
information, assholes were booted, and people were helped.

Yet, somewhere along the line, this changed.  The volunteers were still
volunteering, but companies began to rely on these people instead of
just working with them.  They were organized, and restrictions put on
them.  When you are told not to upset other players (customers), that
means you are more of an employee than an independent volunteer.

[Player run helpers example snipped]

> I think anyone who is given powers above and beyond a 'regular player' in
> order to solve customer problems (I've fallen and I can't get up!) and/or
> adding content (decorating player taverns) or being the 'first line of
> defense' in deciding who should get punished and when and how much are
> working for the company.

I disagree.  If a player is an adept storyteller and wants to tell
stories in the context of the game, I see nothing wrong with giving him
or her the ability to tell those stories.  Powers such as being able to
rename items, spawn monsters, etc.  However, the line seems to be
crossed when you give them those powers, then expect them to spend X
hours per week online, running a minimum of Y events.  In other words,
you are giving the powers with the expectation of a return on
investment, IE wages paid for expected work.  This sounds like terms of
employment to me.

Now for the real rant portion of this post.  I find it disgusting that
so many people seem willing to defend this practice by saying "The money
isn't there" or that "Online RPGs just wouldn't be made" if companies
couldn't exploit free employees.  What kind of defense is that?  That's
like saying, "McDonalds can't stay in business if we have to pay our
employees actual wages.  Can we just give them a few burgers at the end
of the shift?"  How far would that fly?  It's worse in our case, because
commercial MUDs are primarily a service, not a product; and we have come
to expect "volunteers" to help us provide that service.

How many of us professional developers would "volunteer" our time to
make a graphical MUD for a large publisher that intended to make money
from it?  What if there were no chance for you to realize any profit
from it, even though the publisher is making a sizable amount of money? 
How about if you could be removed from the game for any reason at all,
even that the publisher just felt you had worked too long on it? 
(Admittedly, given the wages paid in the industry, some of us do/did
give away part of our lives, but it at least paid the rent and bought
the Top Ramen.)

Unfortunately, the distinction between volunteer and unpaid employee is
often fuzzy at best.  The law has a nasty tendency to run roughshod over
subtleties like this, especially when money is involved.  It's sad that
the selfish exploitation by some of the larger companies could cause no
end to problems for the rest of us.

(I've got more to post, but want to keep the threads straight for those
interested in that sort of thing).
 
--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
     Brian Green, brian at psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
       |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   "They're not bugs, they're 'place-
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'    holders for code that works.'"
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)         - Andrew Kirmse, Meridian 59 creator



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