[MUD-Dev] It's just a game (?) [was: Information sharing]

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

On 09 May 2001 21:54, Greg Munt wrote

> This illustrates how social exclusion can have devastating effects
> on a player, even if they are being excluded by people they've never
> met - nor are likely to. I think that a lot of players ignore these
> harsh realities, so that their conscience is never brought to bear
> on their unjustifiable actions. I think that scenarios such as this
> are infinitely more damaging to children than offering them
> humanised bad guys to kill. Does this mean we should stop our
> players communicating with each other? That'd sure cut down on the
> game's immersion wouldn't it?

Now this is something I've seen a number of times. These things always
puzzle me when I see them happen, as the player being excluded just
seems to make the wrong social decision at every turn, constantly
getting peoples backs up. I wonder though, is it not less damaging to
perhaps learn from these mistakes in a virtual community, a practice
ground if you will, as opposed to real life where the effect may be
more damaging.

Having said that, there is a distinction between people who exclude
themselves through constant anti-social behaviour, only to realise
that perhaps in the long run it was a mistake, and those who do so by
opening themselves up for ridicule time and time again. I'm not
certain the treatment they recieve is any harsher in a virtual world
than it would be in a playground. Oddly however, I find I notice these
people more on message boards than actually in game.

Having read Dave's post about the player suiciding by cop, I at least
understand what you are driving at now. I tend to think that what we
are observing is just an inevitable part of a community, so I do
wonder if it can be legislated against in any meaningful way. Telling
everyone to 'be nice to each other' doesn't work in the real world,
let alone a virtual one where you can indeed persuade yourself 'its
just a game'.

Of course in an online game, people tend to start with a level playing
field. You don't get ostracised for being ugly, unathletic, badly
dressed & etc. If people dislike your personality than does everyone
else have a responsibility to be nice to you nontheless? If they do
so, are they perhaps doing you a diservice anyway, as negative
reinforcement (I think I have the correct term) might help people
modify their behaviour to better integrate both within and without
game.

One thing I nearly forgot to mention, is something that happens nearly
as often as virtual suicide. Players announcing that they have sold
their account, and since they are no longer playing, could everyone
please give the new player a chance. Seldom does this subterfuge work,
but its not uncommon to see people try it. If you want to allow
players another chance, you could make a game allow name changes, the
problem being of course that it would allow people to outrun their
probably deserved reputations.

I suppose the problem with a topic like this is that it lends itself
to a lot of unsupported (and unsupportable) suppositions which makes
it tough to discuss in any meaningful way.

Dan
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