[MUD-Dev] Griefing

[Jaycen Rigger]

"Brian \"Ayavaron\" Ross" <ayavaron at gmail.com> wrote:
 
> The topic was thoroughly analyzed and explored throughout the
> article, but it leaves one with the question, "What do you do
> about it?"

I spent a lot of time thinking about the kind of system you went on
to describe.  I even started developing it before I came to the
revelation that I didn't want that kind of system in my game.
 
As I was considering the game mechanic for this, I realised I was
watching it unfold (with no game mechanic support) on a different
server I was helping out on.  What it did on that server was to
become their downfall.
 
This server recently received an influx of fresh, experienced
players.  People I consider "role players".  Most got driven off
after the Dev/Admin added some systems to support flagging
characters as "evil".  The reason was so many of the "jerks" wanted
to play evil.
 
You can go on forever trying to figure out how to tag and bag (or
catch and release if you're into that idea) naughty player
characters, but you'll never get it right.  You get more griefing
when you build in systems to support it.
 
And that's what you're doing when you write systems that provide for
bounty systems, jails, and "flagging as criminal".  You are now
supporting a behavior you know you don't want to see.  You're
creating game mechanics that work to accomodate players who do
things you don't want them to do.
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