[MUD-Dev] curses and grief players

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Greg Miller wrote:

>   stoddart at slip.net wrote:
> 
> > On the other hand a good mud admin normally doesn't have a stake in player
> > affairs other than a consideration for the 'best interests of the mud'.
> > Thus they're much more likely to be impartial than players whose primary
> > interest is their own amusement.
> 
> Nonsense. The best interest of the players is the best interest of the mud.

Nonsense. "The players" don't have a collective best interest. Each
player's best interest may differ dramatically. If Bob gets off on
pkilling, then it is in his best interest if the mud allows it. If Bill
hates p-killing, then it is in his best interest if the mud bans it, all
other things being equal.

And while I disagree strongly with this argument, many if not most people
on this list would argue that they know better than the players do what is
in a player's best interest. Thus the argument about whether the admins of
a mud should or shouldn't encourage marathon playing. Those people clearly
believe that they know what is in a player's best interest better than the
player does.

Further, since the mud is not composed solely of the players, it seems
highly unlikely that the best interests of the mud could possibly exactly
align with the average best interests of the players. 


> > 'Mud Cop' is, of course, one of the most stressfull activities for an admin.
> 
> And being subject to the whims of admins is one of the more stressful 
> activities for a player. Admin-controlled "justice" systems fall into 
> two categories: those that strictly enforce rigid, easily abused rules 
> and those that leave it up to admin judgement and force the player to 
> guess what the rules are in any specific case.

And having it controlled how, by voting among the players, is somehow
better? I fail to see how that isn't case #2, as the players can simply
change their minds at any time and on any case.

--matt




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