[Molly]

I think Muirdach summed it up very neatly. Seeing the cogs and wheels behind the stage pretty much took the fun out of playing for me. But it was time more than anything else that made me stop playing long before I became admin. The only time I log my mort on nowadays is to test some details in a new zone, but we usually use players for testplaying, since it is easier to catch someone else's typos and other mistakes.

Building, if you do it seriously and consistently is a full-time job. Time is limited, so it's a choice you have to make. Many 'Builders' stop building after they've completed their first zone, and got an imm for it. They can still be good imms, working with less time consuming imm tasks, but they are no longer Builders.

We actually encourage our staff to keep on playing, to keep in touch with the game, and many of them do, but mostly on a 'social' basis. Of course we also have detailed and pretty strict rules about what they are allowed to do - or rather not do. We've also taken several precautions to prevent any cheating. In all the years we've been on line, there has only been two cases when imms where caught at it. Both were thrown out immediately. I have zero tolerance for cheating imms.

Once you become Staff, your priorities must change. You have to look to the good of the game rather than what is good for you, your Clan or your friends. This can lead to some hard choices at times, but for people with integrity and honesty it shouldn't be too hard to make the right choice.