[MUD-Dev] Wild west (was Guilds & Politics)

[Stephen Zepp]

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Mike Sellers wrote:
> 
[snip stuff about player run "admin" powers}
> This probably sounds off-topic, but in addition to my other heretical
> ideas, I think as mud design matures we need to move away from viewing the
> designers of the world as the 'gods' of the world.  The current terminology
> is cute and neat if you want to feed your ego (a valid and pervasive
> motivation in mud-land), but it confuses the OOC and IC issues.  There
> should be, I think, a pantheon of gods, or a single God, or no God at all,
> depending on how you want to structure the world -- and of course, the
> admins/designers might embody themselves as one of the Gods from time to
> time, but then they are interacting with the PCs *in character.*  We won't
> get very far in terms of promoting role playing or an immersive IC
> experience if clearly OOC people keep popping in to mess around with the
> world or its inhabitants.
> 
> There's another reason too:  I've seen first-hand the ugly side of becoming
> a minor celebrity like a mud-god, and I don't just mean a swelled head
> (among other things, for every pleased and respectful fan there is a
> groupie and a truly troubled individual you are forced to deal with).  No
> good comes of it.  I think it is incumbent on mud-designers to get their
> gratification out of designing a solidly entertaining world rather than
> parading themselves around the world to the adulation of the crowd.  I've
> seen people lose their focus in their work, play to the crowd rather than
> the design, engage in petty backbiting, begin to see the players/customers
> as "the little people", and even be viciously slandered, all because of
> their vaunted position as one of the "gods" of the world.  This is
> unhealthy in more ways than I can describe, including personally,
> culturally, creatively, and even in strict business terms.  So, my advice
> is, put the gods *in* the world, and take your OOC-self  out of it.  You
> and your mud will be happier.

Amen, brother..._code_ should enforce (ooc) rules, not people. First
thing I tell perspective builders/designers/estate designers on my mud: 
Ther will be no imms on the main port when the game opens.  Out of 30+
that have stopped by, 1 has stayed.  Seems like it's rare ( we're a
concentrated group here ) for people to get enjoyment from _creating_ a
world, instead of being a "God" in one...go figure.

Zoran
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