[MUD-Dev] [NEC] 2.8: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy (fwd)

[Michael Tresca]

From: Marc Bowden

> It bears pointing out, if you haven't derived this result on your
> own from the evidence or experience, that if you do NOT take steps
> you'll end up with segmentation by default, into "hunters" and
> "prey" (or more accurately, "people who are part of the dominant
> group" and "everyone else".)

Agreed.  To take that point one step further, if clans are
spontaneously being created without any input on the part of the
game, that's a huge missed opportunity for the game to influence the
community.  Influence = quantifiable results = a better way to
tailor the game to players.

I find the "just let them all figure it out on their own" approach
to be a lazy way of dealing with massive populations.  Somehow, the
games can accommodate millions but can't deal with their
segmentations when businesses and countries do just that.  And the
solution is not (most of the time), "go figure it out on your own
and we'll assume that works just fine."

The above article supports my belief that communities, left to their
own devices, DEGRADE. Structure isn't just important, it's necessary
for the long term survival of the group.  Structure provided by the
game is a more evolved approach that should be adopted from the
start, not after the fact when the problems crop up.

Mike "Talien" Tresca
RetroMUD Administrator
http://michael.tresca.net
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