[MUD-Dev] Mass customization in MM***s

[Sasha Hart]

[Matt Mihaly on players in positions of in-game power]
> On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, John Robert Arras wrote:

>> My problem is giving players institutionalized positions of
>> power.  For example, making a player the "mayor" of a city is a
>> bad idea IMO. I don't trust players who are given that kind of
>> institutional power for whatever reason. If players want to earn
>> points and then use those points to influence the direction of
>> the city, that's fine. It's just that singling out players for
>> special treatment and giving them official titles that they can
>> use to lord over other playesr is bad.

> Bad why? It works in gameplay (see Achaea/Aetolia for instance),
> so is the objection a moral/ethical one?

In light of Matt's extreme sensitivity and delicacy, I won't give
details, but I had an incredibly annoying time on Achaea the last
time I logged on for exactly this reason - some dopey player had
declared that an activity which used to be actively encouraged at
the city level was now subject to harsh punishments, but had
neglected to make this obvious anywhere. I didn't stick around very
long when I figured it out, because the player run governments in
Achaea can make in-game life lose a lot of its savor when they've a
mind to. Not that I was particularly dedicated to the game at that
point anyway.

That said, I have been spending every hour of my spare time lately
hacking a game with a core premise of players having actual power
over the world. I think it's a GREAT idea. But really, it's quite
clear that players CAN wreck each other's fun left and right IF they
get the wrong kind of tools. Appeal to "democracy" doesn't help if
the elected official is a putz, or if the majority is actually made
up of neo-nazis, or if people get bored and use the enforcement of
harsh laws as a kind of sanctioned griefing. If giving players the
tools to enact a totally annoying tyranny of the majority is the
tenor of "democracy" -- sign up me as a monarchist.

Are people having fun on Achaea? Yes, all over the place. Is Achaea
still a good and interesting game? Substantially.  Is it about
ethics or morals? Not necessarily, but if I had invested $1000+ in
the game like some people... I might have seen it differently.  As
soon as pay enters in, you ride a fine line - if not of obligation,
then of player-perceived implicit contracts with regard to
service. Which you are (sort of) free to disregard...

Sasha

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev