[MUD-Dev] Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall)

[Ananda Dawnsinger]

ObOnTopic: Commercial environments tend to be just as willing to ban
for just cause as free MUDs, though they are probably less capricious
(pay-for-play kind of demands a certain level of professionalism).
That said, I can't offhand think of any commercial MUDs which are so
RP-oriented that they will ban a player for not RPing up to the MUD's
standard.

> From: Jeff Freeman <SkeptAck at antisocial.com>
> 
>> From: "Dave Rickey" <daver at mythicentertainment.com>
> 
>> A few months back, Verant banned a player from EQ for Roleplaying.
> 
> No, the player was banned for writing a story about rape in the
> world of Norrath.  Had nothing to do with ropleplaying whatsoever.

Well, it was, presumably, a story about one of her EQ characters.

It's probably most precise to say that she was banned for having
politically incorrect fantasies and daring to make them public.
"Banned for roleplaying" is reasonably accurate.

>> "Dark Elf Torture Porn", posting them to a fansite RP board.  One of
> 
> EQ is a game for kids.  Rape, in any context, gets you an "R" rating
> (for those on the list not from the U.S. - "R" stands for "Not for
> kids"... has something to do with New Math).

At the time the story was written, the online component of EQ was
actually rated M (equivalent of R).  They've since changed the rating
to match the box (T).  I wonder if they had to remove or alter content
to pull that one off...?

And at the time, Smedley told people that "even though the game is
rated M, a lot of parents let their kids play, and we need to make
sure that the material is suitable."  Excuse me?  I thought the M
rating existed so that adults could have access to material that
hasn't been sanitized to be suitable for children?

But then, I'm not keen (<- understatement) on the idea of children's
menus in Hooters, either.

(Hooters = a "beach-themed" restaurant which exists as an excuse to
display waitresses dressed in tight T-shirts and skimpy shorts.
Fought tooth and nail to protect their right to not hire waiters.
Fine, but please don't put one in the local mall, *right next to the
carousel*, and tell people "but we're a family restaurant, we even
have children's menus".  Ahem.  End of tangential rant.)

>> The interesting thing about this was that it was RP that occurred
>> entirely outside of the game.
> 
> What I find interesting about it is that people call it RP.
> 
> The title of the news blurb should be "Player banned for writing
> torture rape story based in Norrath" instead of, say, "Banned for
> roleplaying".
> 
> Since roleplaying had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Well, unless you believe, as many people do, that you can write a
story about your character and still be roleplaying...

I'd describe it as "Player banned for bringing icky nasty girly
fantasies into our good clean M-rated fun" (irrespective of the
player's gender).  Or "Player banned for being too 'dark' and making
EQ's dark and fetishy nature too apparent."

I don't think Mystere would have been banned had the rapist been
victorious in the end, but then, I'm cynical.

   -- Sharon


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