[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Consensus and control [was: What is a game? (again)]

[Caliban Darklock]

On 4/12/07, cruise <cruise at casual-tempest.net> wrote:
>
> Ah, so you mean Nomic games? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomic

If you're pretentious, sure. If you're not, try "quarters". ;)

> It's probably just another argument of semantics, but technically there
> is consensus in these games

Which is why they are still games. There is a consensus that players
may violate consensus under well-known conditions. Compare
"Calvinball" ;)

> Well, yeah - as you reduce the number of players, the opportunity for
> disagreement lowers. That's the easy case - what needs to be figured out
> is how to apply it to increasing numbers of players.

I think we already know how to do this.

- Heavy qualification: not everyone gets to play
- Strong self-selection: those who already play do most of the recruiting
- Ruthless elimination: those who play improperly are removed quickly

This does not dovetail well with a subscription model.