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

[Paul Schwanz]

Michael Tresca wrote:
> 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".)

> 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."

Exactly.  The point of the article that resonated the most with me
is the notion that the social aspects of a game with a massive
population cannot be divorced from the underlying game design.
Thus, not only must such a game's residents have the ability to
influence that design within the game itself to some extent, but
also the designers themselves need to be involved in the ongoing
work of shaping of the social space.

--Phin
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